LES DÉSCENDANTS

~Chapter 5: Un Peu de Mal (A Little Bit of Harm)~

"You don't leave friends in difficulty."

~Montparnasse, Les Misérables, Volume 4, Book 6, Chapter 3

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"Something beyond the wishing...that must mean G knew about the artifacts...and this is old parchment, 1815 at the latest..."

"Enjolras..."

"A secret love affair, two families turned against each other..."

"Enjolras..."

"It looks like we've run out of wishes..." Perhaps a limit to the magic...

"EN-jolras!" I raised my voice, and his head snapped up to lock eyes with me.

"E will watch over our Elena..." he continued. "Someone knew about me; the person who wrote this note, someone knew this was my destiny before I knew it myself...this is your parental lineage, Elena! Perhaps it could hold all the answers..."

"Enjolras, just..." I snatched the letter out of his hands, shoving it into a drawer and immediately shutting it. "I want us to slow down. What we might find...I don't think we are ready for it. Our minds...they haven't had time to process the barricades. Why add more?"

"I hardly process anything; ask Combeferre if that's what you are looking for."

"So stubborn, Enjolras, we need rest! You made promises, yes, but as I have always said, we need to heal, or we will not be ready for whatever's next. One foot outside these walls and they would have you dead, Enjolras! We need to slow. down."

He paced, restless.

"This isn't just about a few Guardsmen anymore, is it, Enjolras?"

"Elena, don't-"

"This is about you, and your father, and a vengeance."

He spun angrily. "This is about the PEOPLE! It has always been! I feel like a caged animal, a caged animal being forced to watch its mother...die. At his hands!"

Whether he meant his motherland of France or something closer to home was unknown. I rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know this is about the people." I sat him down, took his hands. "But you've yet to let me in about your own upbringing."

"You have not asked. I have nothing to hide."

"We didn't have the time before, Enjolras! Now we have the option to slow down, process everything..."

"We don't have the time now!" he roared. "The least I can do is solve the mystery of your parents, and you will not even allow for that! France is suffering; the Guard was always after me before and yet here we sit." He stood again, pacing. "Stand."

"Mmm, before there wasn't ruined gunpowder involved; it's different now," I pointed out, and he made an annoyed growl, staring out the window, hands clenching the sill.

"I will not be able to 'slow down' until they are no longer a threat to our citizens. Until my father is put in his place. And until your parents are found." His eyes darting, he glared outside.

I approached him quietly and stood to one side as he calmed down, brain calculating. Footsteps approached the bedroom doorway.

"Combeferre, what news?" Enjolras spoke, back to the door.

"Still occupying the Musain, Enjolras. Your father was spotted there."

Enjolras clenched the windowsill so forcefully that his fingernails left marks there. "What else?"