Chapter 2
Chapter Two
The palace doors burst open with a warm energy Alex hadn’t felt in years. With Duchess Laure on her arm, Alex entered the sunlit grand foyer that she had torn through hundreds of times in her youth. The footmen bowed, while maids rushed to curtsy before her with wriggling excitement.
The greeting was unexpected and overwhelming for Alex, who had been living so far from high society. But it filled her heart to see the happy faces she had grown up with.
“We are all pleased to have you home,” the Duchess said.
Alex ran her fingers across the fine carving of an armoire and breathed in the scents from her childhood: potted lavender, polished wood, warm bread. Just then another maid hurried into the room and upon seeing Alex, dumped her tray of biscuits.
“Oh, mademoiselle you are here!” she squealed as she hugged Alex around the neck, knocking Alex off balance. “It has been no fun here without you!”
The Duchess laughed while Cosette, the head maid, tutted at the girl who was still clinging to Alex. “All right then, have your hug and clean this up,” Cosette said. The girl huffed and dipped down to clear the mess from the floor.
Alex stifled a laugh, knowing just what it felt like to be scolded by Cosette. In the years Alex had spent as a ward to the Duchess and living under this roof, Alex’s mischievous nature had not escaped Cosette’s firm hand. Especially when it came to Alex training with her sword in this very foyer.
Cosette turned to Alex. “It is very good to have you home, love.” She squeezed Alex’s hand warmly. “I haven’t seen you since, well... Since...” Cosette faltered.
A hot burst of shame hit Alex’s gut. She had hoped that she had stayed away long enough, but it seemed that what she had done had not been forgotten.
Alex folded her shawl over her arm and looked at Cosette.
“I am very happy to see you Madame Cosette,” she said.
“I promise not to cause any trouble while I am here.” Then she grinned, a playful child again.
“I know how you hated it when I would steal chocolates.”
“You may have all the chocolates you can fit in your cheeks,” Cosette said. “It is these silly maids I worry will stuff you to bursting.” She pointed behind her to the giggling girls trying their hardest to do their duties.
“Come, chère,” said the Duchess. She guided Alex to the parlor while the staff whisked in and laid the tea setting out.
Cossette chirped orders until everything had been placed, fluffed, and situated. “Out, out,” she said, clapping the staff out of the room.
“My goodness, Alex,” said the Duchess. She rested herself on the couch. “It’s been so long.”
“Six years,” Alex said. Almost to the day, she thought.
“You were just sixteen,” the Duchess said, reaching forward to prepare the teacups. “Far too young to be on your own.” She tsked and shook her head.
Alex looked down at her hands, feeling guilt stir within her.
She knew she had caused the kind woman to worry by running away without a plan, in a storm of anger and shame.
In hindsight, Alex now understood that she had been too young to leave, and entirely too young to start working as a guide, no matter how good she turned out to be at it.
But she hadn’t been able to stop herself.
If Alex could go back and do things differently, she would.
If she had been smarter—stronger—maybe she wouldn’t have caused the humiliation and disgrace to her former guardians that prompted her to leave in the first place.
Maybe a lot of things would have been… different.
When she left Chevalerie six years ago, Alex swore to never return —she didn’t deserve to return.
Then, from the hand of an innkeeper in a town Alex frequented, she received a letter from her former home.
It had stated simply that they needed her and the skills she had honed on the road.
For just a second, her shame forgotten, a chance to redeem herself became all that mattered, and she got back to Chevalerie just as soon as she could.
Now, here she sat while the Duchess poured her a cup of tea.
“Are you happy to be here once more?” the Duchess asked, tinkling a spoon in her own cup.
“I am just happy to be at your service,” Alex said.
“Well, you will talk with my husband about that matter,” The Duchess responded, looking cross. “You know how I feel about your situation. I think you’ve punished yourself long enough.”
“I am not punishing myself,” Alex said, uncertain if she was even telling the truth, but at the same time hoping to convince the Duchess that she was.
The Duchess put her hand on Alex’s knee and asked the question Alex knew had been coming. “Have you seen Philippe yet?”
At this, Alex tried not to roll her eyes too hard.
She knew she might see Philippe while she was here, but when she’d ridden into town today, he was the first person with whom she made eye contact.
He was not the coddled boy, fresh from a peaceful tour that she had fallen in love with years ago.
His brown hair, lightened by the sun and grown out from the tight cut he’d once worn, was swept back imperfectly from his face.
He seemed thicker and rougher and far more rugged than she remembered.
He was a man now, she realized with a bit of a shudder, a war-hardened man.
His eyes were the same, though. Those warm, searching eyes were exactly the same.
She’d felt a flush go through her when she saw him.
She no longer had feelings for him. That had been nothing more than a childhood infatuation, but she hadn’t expected to be so insanely attracted to him again, either.
In her mind he was a careless boy, but standing there in the market was someone different.
He was strong, experienced, and bold to stare at her the way he did as she had ridden into the city.
She had refused to let it shake her. Instead, she’d winked at him and had planned to continue to the castle without any further interaction.
Then, suddenly, he was there, next to her in the stables.
And some other woman came out of her, born of too many fantasies of what could happen if she came across him on new footing.
She was proud, confident, and sexy. Yes, very sexy.
She had licked the scar right on his face.
What had she been thinking? She would laugh at the absurdity of it if she wasn’t sitting with the Duchess and holding a hot cup of tea.
Without warning, there came a commotion from the hallway. Philippe walked by the parlor doors and did a double take when he saw Alex and Duchess Laure sitting together. He looked flustered, a mess.
“So, she is staying at the palace, then?” he asked.
“Yes, mon ange, for now,” replied the Duchess.
He started to say something and stopped. Then started again and stopped. Then turned his head and walked away.
“What is wrong with him?” Duchess Laure asked.
“He had already come to meet me in the stables, Madame. And excuse my language but,” Alex said, looking down to hide a grin. “I do believe I knocked him on his ass.”
“Oh,” said the Duchess, nonplussed. She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure he deserved it.”