The King's Eye

Chapter 5

 I would say 'I hadn't seen anything,' I thought, as I slammed the door shut. An audible gasp left my lips. There was no way I knew what the queen was up to with her liaison. It was innocent. But footsteps rushed to the door and I found myself running down the hall as fast as I could, my fingers pulling at the skirts of my dress to avoid tripping. The sound of heels echoed behind me.

"Sophie!" Her majesty's voice rang as I rounded a corner and out of her view. "Marie-Sophie!"

A hand grasped my arm firmly, yanking me through a once hidden door. The small space left only inches between me and the masked man, whose hand was cusped over my mouth to prevent me from screaming.

In the narrow hallway the only light was from a candle, past the mask he was only a silhouette, but I could see his finger leaving his mouth. Be quiet, he said with no words. His other hand that was cusped over my mouth lowered and gently caressed the arch of my back as we stood face to face, mere inches apart. If I tripped forward and our lips met it could truly be an accident. The rising and falling of our chests were labored, anxious, but the gentle pressure of his fingers made me feel warmed. Grounded.

"Sophie!" The queen's voice cried out as she ran past without knowing of my presence on the other side.

Once the footsteps disappeared, I finally whispered in relief, "How?" In the darkness I could see his head tilt as if in confusion. "How did you find this? How did you know to help me?"

"Sometimes it's good to be a servant and to know all the best hiding spots." I could see his shoulders shrug, the words leaving his lips on a smile. "And as for saving you," I could hear his smile. "Your bare feet are quite loud on the parquet." I could feel his smile through his fingertips on my back.

I shuddered. "A servant?" His head nodded as I finally took in the smell of fresh hay and earth from his clothes. His somewhat unkempt hair moving with his nodding head made me wish the light in the hall made him clearer to me. "Why do you have a mask if you–"

He put his finger back up to his lips quickly, the sounds of steps coming back into the hall on the other side of the door. I again remembered his hand pressing into my back, almost as if he was pulling me closer. The clicking of the heeled shoes on the wooden floors echoed. Louder. Louder. Until they stopped in front of the hidden door. It took everything to not let my knees buckle under me in the small space, the world seeming to close around me. Around me and him.

The door swung open revealing a maid fumbling with linens. Too focused on getting a grip on the mountains of fabric she held, she barely noticed us as she attempted to enter the hidden passageway, and when she did realize she stood there frozen in shock. It felt like an eternity of staring at one another, but as my eyes examined the linens she held I noticed the splattered color of red across them and her ghostly white face. Her lip sucked in as she saw where my eyes had wandered.

"What happened?" My hero's voice demanded an answer.

The maid shook her head glancing between him and me frantically. "T-The Duk-ke s-said to be—" she fumbled over the words. "D-d-discreet." Her strawberry blonde hair peeked out from under her bonnet as she looked down the hall, eyes still filled with panic.

I took a step out of the secret hall, making room for her to pass by. Within seconds she had brushed past us and disappeared into the darkness of the hall, her shadow bobbing into the distance.

"Sophie," his uttering of my name came natural. Smooth. "You may want these." Still not looking at his face, his hand reached to me holding the uncomfortable shoes I had abandoned on the balcony. My hands nervously grabbed at them, but he pulled them back slightly making me take a step closer to him. I lifted my gaze to his, our eyes meeting in the light. "I don't know what the King has asked of you, but I have a feeling we may be seeing each other more often because of it." He placed the shoes in my hands gently, his familiar eyes still locked on mine. "At least, I hope that is what happens." With a broad grin on his face, he made his way back into the darkness of the hall and disappeared in the direction the maid had gone.

I had noticed him enough in the light to see his walnut curls before he had left. "Jacques." I whispered in thanks.