The King's Eye

Chapter 8

   I hugged my knees to my chest as I laid fully under my blanket. Golden light glowed against the thin material, warming me after a long sleepless night. Bathing couldn't remove the layer of discomfort I felt, so I tossed and turned for hours. The feeling of exposure consuming me.

When I made it back to my mother and Anne after...

My father was already pacing the room, too excited by his meeting with the king. He spoke of lands and a new title. He would no longer be just a lowly merchant. He had become something. And as he gallivanted across the room for the next several hours, the world stood still. I couldn't make out the details he spewed, nor did I know what the title he was promised was. The tone of voice my mother had said enough. She got her way. I helped her win.

News of the Dauphin's death had not yet made its way to my parents, and so I said nothing to ruin my father's moment.

Pulling my knees in tighter, I squeezed them as tight as I could until breathing was too hard to do. In the bed next to me Anne stirred, her bed squealing as she stood up and walked across the room to the wash basin. The splashing of water in the bowl was chaotic and messy, each droplet making my ears ring.

I couldn't shake the lack of emotion on Francis's face. The inhumane way he had stood at the end of the table ready to hold me down.

"She isn't ready." Anne said.

I hadn't heard anyone enter the room, but then I heard Elodie's voice. "I have orders from his majesty." Her light steps reached the side of my bed, and her shadow against the glowing light in the sheet told me she knelt down to me.

Pulling the sheets down to expose my face, I looked at Elodie with tears welling in my eyes.

In a hushed voice she whispered as her fingers traced loose tendrils of my braid. "You must get up, mademoiselle." I shook my head gently. "Sophie, I know you'd rather hide in your bed. You deserve to." She admitted, a look of sympathy on her face. "But you have a duty to his majesty."

"Why is she so important?" My sister walked to the other side of my bed.

Elodie's strawberry blonde hair looked like fire in the beams of sun that came through the window. Her light eyes narrowed at my sister, before looking back down at me with urgency. Her face screamed just get up, Sophie. But I couldn't move.

Anne persisted, her annoyance growing. "I asked you a question."

Elodie again looked at Anne. "Because she is the bride of his nephew." She sighed before looking down at me. "And she must prepare for her wedding."

I leapt from the bed, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "What are you talking about?" Putting my face in Elodie's, she took a step back, surprised by my sudden closeness.. She struggled to speak, though, and didn't reply. "What do you mean prepare for my wedding?" I hadn't realized it, but my hands were on her shoulders. "We're in mourning, Elodie." My hands were shaking on her. "The Dauphin hasn't even been buried, what do you mean there is a wedding?" I asked again.

The world began to spin around me as I fell to my knees, Elodie almost toppled over me as she fought against the grip I had on her. I couldn't breathe. My hands grabbed at my throat in panic, the air leaving my body as if someone had punched me in the gut. I heaved as I hit the ground, the lack of vomit coming up burning through my throat.

"Water." Elodie demanded from Anne. Her voice came out muffled like my ears were under water.

Drowning. I was internally drowning. I heaved again, this time bile came up.

Frantically, Anne ran to the other side of the room. Within seconds she appeared in front of me, holding a ladle of water. Elodie looked at the ladle and then Anne. "We have no cups." She hissed.

Elodie rolled her eyes before saying, "Drink, Sophie."

Anne brought the ladle up to my lips, the water dribbling down my chin as I fought them. But when I finally took a sip of it, the water glided down my throat cooling the warmth that had risen through me. I settled against the edge of the bed, panting. "I can't marry him."

Elodie knelt before me, her pale blue eyes scanning over me. "You have to." She frowned, knowing who I had to marry. What kind of monster he could be. "And you will." Offering me her hand, the strawberry blonde stood up. Tears ran in rivulets down my face, the drops falling onto my lap. Two weeks ago I would never have imagined my life this way. I exhaled at the thought of lost freedom.

I would never know that happiness again.

⚹⚹⚹⚹

After Elodie asked Anne to leave the room and I had calmed down, she turned to the far wall and waved. A hidden door creaked open to reveal Jacques waiting on the other side. My arms quickly covered my chest as I remembered I was still not clothed, my chemise thin and the sun unveiling against the fabric. His brown eyes met mine with a wink as I tried to hide my blushing. I could still feel his warmth wrapping around me from the day before, his strong arms somehow gentle.

Elodie handed me my robe, and I appreciatively put it on with haste. "Jacques and I have petitioned to be a part of your household to his majesty." She said, when Jacques reached us. "I would be your dressmaid."

He nodded, his eyes still fixed on me. "And I would act as your personal secretary."

"I know this is happening quickly." Her hand squeezed my hand. "But, we aren't going to let you be alone. Not after what he did to you."

Jacques's eyes darkened as I looked at him. "I intend to keep my promise."

I slumped onto the edge of my bed and nodded. "I have questions that I need you to answer." Looking between the two of them, I watched the confusion grow on their faces. "Whose blood was on the sheets you were carrying the night of the ball?"

Elodie gulped, looking to Jacques for approval. He nodded without hesitation and spoke for her. "It was the blood of another maid." His eyes looked to the ground, trying to hide the cringe that flickered through them. "The Duke of Berry has a twisted idea of pleasure."

"How did you know where I would be?" I asked him, trying not to think of how pleasure could lead to so much blood.

"The king had me watching you after you left the ball." He admitted it easily. "I requested to be the one to do so."

"Why?"

A half smile turned the corner of his mouth upward, before Elodie coughed uncomfortably. "Enough, we have to get you ready." Grabbing my arm she lifted me up and began to walk towards the door Jacques had come through. "The queen has requested that you are married at sunset and no later."

"She seems so sad about the death of her child." Jacques huffed, following behind us by a few steps distance.

Elodie seemed to be baring her teeth as she turned and sneered at Jacques. "She is rushing the marriage because she needs distraction from her loss."

"So her ladies, say." Jacques spat back before opening a door and slipping through, leaving Elodie and I to go on in the hallway alone.

I could hear Elodie sigh ahead of me, her shoulders slightly hunched forward. "I know you have more questions." She said plainly. "I can answer them while you get ready."

Opening a door she beckoned me to go in, the sun beaming across her face. I stepped through the threshold into a room with a steaming bathtub and large floor to ceiling windows. The gold on the walls glittered against the wooden floor like sparks. On the opposite side of the room next to a body length mirror stood a mannequin. The taffeta gown that it wore stood out against the white and gold walls, its lavender hue drawing attention. The layers of fabric under the skirt waterfalled down to ankle height, the cape behind the shoulders scraping against the ground. It was my wedding gown.