Page 109 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
Another laugh.
“She’s too modest to say,” Dimitri replied, “but she’s fiercely intelligent, an excellent reader, a solid seamstress, a brilliant shot, and not too bad on the piano or vocals, actually.”
“The piano?” Alexei raised a black brow. “You’re rather good on the piano too, cousin, if memory serves.”
“I am.”
Alexei glanced down at his hand, as if second-guessing his words. It occurred to Adeline that it would have been a long, long time since he had heard his cousin play. She wondered if she should return the compliments he was bestowing on her, big him up—
“Would you like a tune?”
Alexei smiled, pure warmth. “I would like little more.”
Dimitri got up from his seat and moved towards the petite grand piano by the side of the room. Adeline, sensing she would be required, hovered beside him.
“Sit next to me,” he whispered. “I want to try it by myself, but in case I can’t…”
“I’ll have your back,” she told him, her left hand hovering over his.
Dimitri looked up at her. “And I, yours,” he said, with an impossible weight to his words. “Should you ever require it.”
She wanted to tell himalways,that even if she never needed anyone to sweep into her rescue, she wanted him beside her, ready to fill that space if she ever needed him, but she was conscious of the prince’s presence.
Dimitri’s fingers fell towards the keys, he started to sing, and her thoughts turned to felt, awed by the wealth of his voice. It took her a moment to realise she was supposed to be singing along.
Even if I never, ever need you, I will always want you,she realised, offering up a silent prayer.Please. Find a way to keep this person in my life.
And she knew then, if she didn’t before, that this transcended want, that she needed him more than she had ever needed anyone, and terrifying as that was, she was bolted to the floor and would never, ever be able to turn away from him.
Chapter Twenty-five: The Ladder in the Library
Later that day, Adeline stacked shelves in the library. The rest of the servants had been a-flutter all day, even with most of Alexei’s own attendants providing for him, and the servants’ quarters were too crowded. Mrs Minton had put most of them up in the attic, but they still swamped the kitchens and common room when not attending to their prince, and Adeline had duly asked Mrs Minton to find her a quiet task after finishing the rest of her chores.
Clarin, naturally, was nowhere to be found, and the entire library was at her disposal. Usually, Adeline would be delighted by such a task, but the quiet didn’t settle around her as easily as it always did, still carrying the echoes of the day, the notes of song.
The door creaked open, and Adeline looked up, heart thumping unnaturally as Dimitri stepped inside. “Evening,” he said, grinning wildly. “I hoped I might find you here.”
“Your cousin satisfied with his accommodations?”
“Satisfied with everything, as it happens, but particularly the wine.” He leant against the desk, tail flicking back and forth at his ankles. “He’s decided to retire early. Long day for him.”
“I imagine so…” Adeline turned her gaze towards the stack of books needing shelving. Dimitri stared at them too.
“Let me help,” he said.
“I’m sorry?”
“Come, Mistress, assign me a task.”
“You’re just here to spend time with me.”
“Well, obviously,” he said, tugging a smile from her. “Doesn’t mean I can’t be helpful too. It’s absolutely ludicrous that I have two mostly good arms not being put to good use when everyone’s working themselves to the bone. Put me to use.”
Adeline’s smile widened. “All right,” she said, heading towards a nearby ladder. “Hand me that volume, there.”
If Dimitri objected to becoming her pack mule, he did not voice it. Instead, he hovered beneath her every climb, diligently passing her volume after volume, recounting the day’s events and the things he’d discussed with Alexei.
“What do you make of my cousin?” he asked at one point, as Adeline scurried up a particularly high ladder.
