The dining room was magnificent, the walls draped in rich velvet and beautiful landscapes painted in oil. The table was set with beautiful china and a large bowl filled with oranges and berries of all sorts. I noticed that there were far too many place settings at the table for the dinner I’d expected.
A tall, thin man who looked as if he had been born in the palace’s starched uniform bowed to us both forcing me to stop perusing the room around us.
“What would you like to drink, Your Grace? We have tea, lemonade and a delicious madeira wine that would suit this evening’s fish course nicely.”
I couldn’t tell if the question was directed at Avery or myself, but Avery took the lead.
“A glass of wine sounds perfect, thank you, Claude. What would you care for, Genevieve?”
“The wine sounds delightful, thank you, but could I also ask for a glass of water? I don’t want to risk overindulging.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
With another bow, he left us to our own devices and I turned to Avery, feeling a frown crease my forehead. Had he known we were having more guests?
“Avery, that table is set for eight. Who else is joining us?”
His gaze roved the table and his mouth formed into an “oh.” Before he could answer, the double doors behind the table were flung open, revealing King Bayard and Queen Ines, followed by the King Father Victor and Duchess Celeste, and then the prince and princess. Without a moment’s hesitation, I dropped into the deepest curtsy possible, my knees nearly touching the ground and the crown of my head pointing at the royal family.
The protocol was the only thing keeping me from hyperventilating at that moment. This was not at all what I had expected. I had never been this close to the entire royal family in my life. I’d hardly even been in the King’s presence except for my knighting ceremony, and even then, it had been for a mere quarter of an hour.
“Please rise, dear girl,” Queen Ines’s sweet voice rang out. I held my pose for a few racing heartbeats longer before I rose, keeping my eyes on the floor. She laughed lightly. “You are practically family at this point. That’s what we’re here to celebrate.”
“I - Your Highness?”
I rocked back on my heels. My voice was several octaves higher than usual and I hated it. I sounded like a silly school girl. Beside me, Avery was standing with his mouth agape. With a shake of his head, he turned to me and placed his mouth near my ear.
“Genevieve, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Are you all right?”
“Please pardon me, your Highnesses. I need to use the restroom.” Without waiting for a response from everyone who outranked me, I fled from the room.
AVERY
I watched as Genevieve ran from the room, her skirts held up so she could stride as if she were wearing trousers. As soon as she was gone, I whirled on my family, my cheeks aflame with anger.
“What in the Goddess’s name were you thinking, springing that on us? It was just supposed to be Mother and Father. I was going to ease her into the whole ‘part of the royal family’ thing,” I roared. They all stared at me for a moment, then Bayard snorted, drawing everyone’s attention.
“She’s a knight, I would have thought she’d be braver than that.”
Ines swatted him, a frown on her painted pink lips.
“You didn’t tell me that she wasn’t aware we were coming to dinner, Bayard.”
“In my defense, I didn’t tell you that we were coming to dinner until an hour ago.”
“That isn’t a defense, my boy,” Father growled. “Really, you ought to take more care with your schedule.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my temper in check. This was an entirely typical family argument, but it shouldn’t have been happening.
“That doesn’t change the fact that no one told me and I couldn’t tell her, and now she’s hiding in the restroom.”
My mother’s eyes were the only ones focused on me now.
“Go after her, Avery. Apologize to her for me and bring her back when she’s ready. Everyone will be nice, I promise.”
That last bit was in a tone that I was familiar with from childhood. My mother would allow nothing else. Nodding at her, I ran after Genevieve, guessing at where she had turned.
There were all number of places she could have gone. The palace was full of all kinds of passageways and easy places to hide, especially in the royal wing. Hopefully, one of the servants would have actually pointed her to the nearest bathroom. After asking several, I found one who had seen her.
Instead of sending her to the restroom, however, one of the maids had pointed her to my chambers. Why she had done that, I had no idea, but at least it would make it easier to find her. When I reached the door, I paused. I couldn’t hear anything through the thick door, but that wasn’t surprising. The rooms were designed to be nearly soundproof. I rapped my knuckles against the door three times and waited. After what felt like an eternity, I heard the shuffle of slippered footsteps and then the door opened.
She had gone pale and her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.
“Oh, Genevieve, I’m so sorry. I had no idea - Mother didn’t mention and my brother is… well, he’s a pain in the ass.”
She yelped, eyes widening at my words.
“You cannot call the King a pain in the ass in his own palace, Avery!”
I shot her a wicked smile that seemed to calm her somewhat.
“I didn’t call the king a pain in the ass. I called my brother a pain in the ass. It’s different.”
“It is not,” she groaned and opened the door wide enough that I could actually walk into my own room without running into her. “If you insist on talking like this, will you commit treason in private, not in the public of the hallway?”
“Gladly.”
It was warm in the room. I guessed whoever had shown Genevieve to the room had stoked the fire, as I distinctly remembered banking the coals before I’d left for the main hall.
“May I say something?”
She sighed, waving a hand at me.
“You may, but if you come out with any more surprises, I may flee the palace entirely.”
I nodded, knowing my face was as serious as I felt.
“Genevieve, since meeting you, you have become the light of my days, and I soon suspect you will become the love of my life.” She gasped but I continued. “I know that my family can be a lot to handle, which is why I was hoping to ease you into it, but they are going to love you nearly as much as I do. I promise to protect you from anything they can throw at you, physical or verbal.”
She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“Can… can I have a few minutes to collect myself?”
I nodded, wrapping my arms around her until I could hear her heartbeat fluttering against my chest. She laid her head against my shoulder and took a deep breath.
“We can stay here for as long as you like. They will wait.”
GENEVIEVE
By the time we re-entered the room half an hour later, I felt much more at ease. Avery’s hand was wrapped tightly around mine, the way it had been ever since we left his chambers. Even looking into the faces of the entire royal family, all three generations, I thought I could handle this. I gulped as Claude announced us to the room, and plastered on a smile that hid all of my misgivings.
Those royal faces in varying shades of brown from the lightest of balsa wood to rich teak all smiled back at me with what looked like genuine affection. I glanced at Avery and saw the truth of his love for me in his eyes. I could do this. We could do this.
Together, I was fairly certain we could take on any enemy in the world and be just fine. And that included his parents. King Father Victor rose from the table and gave me a slight bow, which surprised me.
“I would like to apologize for my family, Ser Genevieve. We did not mean to surprise you with extra company. This dinner came together at the last minute for my eldest son and his family. If you’d like, I will happil
y send them away,”
That shocked me. I glanced at Avery again and saw that he was as surprised as I was. But I didn’t want him to send them away. Not yet, anyway.
“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness. I look forward to spending time with your entire family.” I took a deep breath. “What is on the menu tonight?”
King Bayard began to answer, but Claude stepped up with an artfully decorated menu. It was to be a four course meal with a mushroom salad, white soup, a tuna pie with soy, ginger and shallots, and a raspberry trifle for dinner. They were going all out. Avery squeezed my hand, and I knew it was all going to be okay, as long as we were together.
CORMAC
I let my gaze travel around the apartment I’d been living in for the last fifteen years. Everything I owned had been packed into crates and baskets. Despite the fact that the walls had been cleared of everything and washed down, the room didn’t feel empty. Just like my heart, it was full of all of the memories I’d made here. It hardly felt real.
I’d cooked my first meal in the city in this kitchenette, hosted several different apprentices and learned more about myself in this room and this forge than I had in the first forty years of my life.
Everything was changing, and I couldn’t wait to start the next chapter of my life with Poppy as equal partners, my heart safe in their hands.
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Praise for Learning Curves
The depiction of mutual affection and familial acceptance results in a sweet love story, and readers looking for tenderness without drama will be charmed.
Booklife
To sum up my experience with Learning Curves: I think it will make you laugh. It’s a current book with little nods or name drops that those in the bookish community will be able to enjoy, but those that are just picking up a good book won’t mind either. There will be some quiet, slow smile moments of contentment. There are a couple of instances where a slight hint of sadness creeps in, like the tiniest puncture in a balloon that begins to leak. In the end, though, there is a warm glow and it makes everything worth it
The Hermit Librarian
Acknowledgments
I have a lot of people to thank for helping to make this book happen.
To Chris, for making dinner on nights when I couldn’t drag myself away from the computer and listening to me whine about everything my characters were doing without permission. You are the light of my life and I look forward to sharing all the rest of my days with you.
To my mom, who swore she’d still love me even if I had six eyeballs, which I promptly put to the test by dying my hair bright blue.
To my sister, who answered a lot of really ridiculous questions for me as I was writing this.
To Amara, Abigail, Lina and X for all of their cheering and support while I worked my way through the many iterations of this novel.
Last, but never least, to all of my readers. You all are the reason I’m able to do this, and I am so blessed to have every single one of you. Thank you for reading my stories and telling other people about them. I honestly never believed anyone but my close friends would buy these books, and I am delighted to be wrong with each book I sell.
Also by Ceillie Simkiss
Learning Curves Series:
Learning Curves (#1)
The Ghosts of Halloween (#1.5)
Wrapped Up In You (#2)
Elisade Universe
An Unexpected Invitation (#0.5)
A Knight to Remember (#1)
Other:
Second Wind
About the Author
Ceillie Simkiss is a queer and neurodivergent author and freelance writer based in southern Virginia. She has bylines in the Danville Register & Bee, VIDA Magazine, Culturess and Global Comment. She blogs regularly on her website, CandidCeillie.com and is the owner and editor of LetsFoxAboutIt.com.
She loves nothing more than curling up in bed with a book and her many furry creatures, but playing silly video games is a close second, even though she’s terrible at them. She also writes as Candace Harper.
It is easiest to reach her on Twitter or via email! She would love to hear from you!
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