Chapter 17

Minerva hated Ombra Castle the moment she saw it. Unnecessary riches, all glorifying one man and his kin while the rest of Lombrica could barely find the money to feed themselves and pay his taxes, which he raised almost every year. Even right outside its gates, there were beggars and waifs starving to death. She would probably have been one of them if she hadn't gone back to Ivo after all. It had been the right choice, she reflected. He was a good man, deep down. How he had become a fire-raiser was a mystery to her.

The daggers hidden in various places in her clothing scraped and bounced uncomfortably as the horse moved forward. It gave her an odd feeling of being dangerous. She had never been able to hurt someone before. She didn't quite like it, it made her almost want to hurt someone.

No one in the castle objected much to two beautiful new maids, so getting in was fairly easy. Their quarters were right above the dungeons, but it turned out they didn't have to go that far. Their first night in Violante's service, who should be playing music for the Laughing Prince himself but the Piper. Her Piper. Ivo. He was dressed more splendidly than she had ever seen him, and it took her breath away.

"Don't stare." a fellow maid whispered. "I hear at Capricorn's place it's a different girl every night. You want none of it, trust me."

"I'll keep that in mind." during a lull in the music, when Cosimo and the Laughing Prince had started to make their rounds to the nobles who had made the most generous donations to the royal coffer, she stole over to him with a silver coin and seated herself in front of him.

"What tune--" he froze when he saw her. "What are you doing here?!" his eyes flashed around the room, hoping no royalty saw their exchange.

"I'm saving you. I figured Firefox would mess things up somehow and you'd be in need of a beautiful woman to help you escape." she imitated his usual bravado with satisfaction.

"You need to leave. Now! They'll kill you if--your highness!" his gaze suddenly shifted to just above her. Minerva turned and saw the Laughing Prince right behind her.

"And who would this be? A friend?" he leaned over to look at her, eyes flicking from her to the Piper and back again.

"I'm one of Violante's maids." Minerva had the sense to say meekly.

"And you thought this minstrel would be nice and play you a tune? No, I'm afraid he's anything but tame enough to do that." the king of Lombrica put his hands on her shoulders and looked at the Piper over her head, a veiled challenge in his expression.

"I just wanted to hear one song in particular, your highness." she said quickly.

"What song would that be, little maid?" he chuckled.

"I'm not sure if you know it," she said, turning to the Piper. "It's called I'm Yours." The irritation and fear left him as he smiled at the memory of their first night together.

"I know it." he said softly.

"Well, play, minstrel, play, but whatever you do--" he paused to wink cheekily, apparently having heard stories as well, "Have her back by morning. And don't make any sounds you don't want the guards outside your door to hear." he left them to regale the rest of the hall with his laughter.

"I guess that means we can go back to your room." Minerva wiped a fleck of nervous sweat from her forehead.

"Oh, no, my lady. You paid for a song, and I shall sing for you." the Piper smiled, looked her dead in the eye, and sang their song in a way that could charm the wings off a fairy. When he finished, Minerva was embarrassed to find she was staring, but he just smiled and took her hand, leading her away with only two royal body guards following them.

***

"God, I love you." the Piper groaned as he stretched himself out next to her on the luxurious bed the Laughing Prince had provided.

"I'm guessing the face that I infiltrated Ombra Castle shows how I feel about you." Minerva said wryly. She curled herself into his arms, but he lifted her head up so their eyes met.

"I want to hear you say it, though." he sounded so uncertain, as if she was really going to say she didn't love him!

She sat up, took his head in both hands, looked deep into his eyes, and said, "Ivo of Lorenzia, I love you, and I always will."

"Good." he relaxed. "Now tell me how you got here, and how you got that beautiful dress I tore off you earlier."

"Firefox came riding through the village and told me what happened to you. I figured he probably wouldn't get the information the Laughing Prince wanted in a week, so I came to get you. Because, you know, I don't only exist for us to have cute little romance scenes."

"We don't?" the Piper asked. Minerva glared at him. "I mean, we don't!"

"Right."

"Right...so how do you intend to get me out of here?"

"We'll deal with that tomorrow. Let's just relax right now." she curled into him like a babe seeking its mother's warmth. He embraced her and sighed contentedly.

"When I first met you, you were just another maid. I would have had you and left you like just another maid." he mused.

"Why didn't you? I've always wondered what exactly made you change your entire lifestyle for me."

"When you saved me from the spider in the mushroom patch. Do you remember?"

"Of course I remember."

"I had never met anyone who would do that. Everyone else who's seen me get freaked out by a spider laughs or thinks I'm a crybaby, a scaredycat. But you...you were compassionate. Nice. That was when it started."

"What's 'it?'" she asked.

"Love, I suppose. I didn't think of it as love; I tried not to think of it as anything. I didn't want it to happen to me. But I had the bet with Firefox, so I dismissed it, and tried to get it over with sooner."

"Is that why you came to the maid's quarters that night?"

"Part of it. Another part, the part I wouldn't acknowledge, was that I honestly wanted to see you again."

"And I rebuffed you like a bitch." Minerva smiled ruefully.

"You kind of had a right." he conceded. "I wouldn't have trusted me either. And that was another thing that set you apart from everyone else. You didn't want me. I hadn't been rejected in almost seven years. At that point, it was almost an issue of pride. But then, you again showed how superior you are to the other maids."

"When the were making fun of you for being afraid of spiders."

"Right. Again, you didn't seem to enjoy other people's fears like they did. I don't know if it's more saying something about my life than you when I say you're then nicest woman I've ever met..." he laughed. "But that's how it was, you were, and still are, the nicest woman I've ever met."

"More says something about you." Minerva grinned. He laughed again and continued, not wanting to stop.

"When he first touched in the courtyard..." he leaned down so their foreheads touched, an involuntary shudder escaping his lips. When he mastered himself, he finished, "It was the first time that had happened when I touched a woman."

"It was the first time a man had ever touched me like that." she whispered.

"I'm glad. I was glad then, too. I could tell it by how easily I got you up against the wall, and how you reacted when I touched your face." he traced her cheekbone, pushed her hair behind her ear, and trailed his fingers down her jaw, reliving the moment in the courtyard. This time their lips touched and they drew back, breathing heavily.

"Tell me more." she said huskily.

"The next day, I didn't see you around. I didn't know what you thought about what had happened, so when Firefox told me he'd found you sleeping on a tree I naturally went with him. I heard you mumbling in your sleep, and I realized I wanted it to be me. But even knowing I was the only man in your life, I wasn't sure. I was so surprised at how anxious about that I was, thinking back. For a long time I had that paranoia, that you were nowhere near as serious about it as I was."

"I felt the same way. Although I had more reason to think that." she murmured.

"How stupid we both are." he sighed. Minerva laughed humorlessly and buried her face in his chest. He whispered in her ear, "And when you got mad, I felt...awful. I felt like a dirty, evil...fire raiser."

"I didn't want you to be. When I thought you were it damn near broke my heart."

"Well, I couldn't let you think I was. And I couldn't let you get lost in the Wayless Wood alone."

"I would have been fine; I go in there all the time."

"Still. It made me forget about not wanting to care."

"One question--why did you insist on doing it in a regular bed? Why didn't you want to do it in the forest?"

"Oh, I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to. God, I already wanted you so badly, and realizing you wanted me too--But, I felt like I needed to show you some respect."

"I didn't want your respect. I just wanted you."

"I know. But I wanted you to want it."

Minerva smiled sadly. Eventually she whispered, "I should never have left you."

"No." he agreed, grinning back.

"Really, I shouldn't have. I had no idea what I would do when I got to Ombra, I would have been begging in the streets, my child with no father figure. You..." she kissed his cheek. "You might live among the scum of the earth, but you will be a wonderful father, I know it."

"Thank you." Was that a tear? No, it couldn't be. Minerva kissed him, resolving this wouldn't be her last night spent like this.