The King's Eye

Chapter 14

     My fingers lingered at my lips as I gazed in the mirror. Five days. We had five days to try and prevent an uprising, and all I could think about was his lips on mine, the way he let his fingers slide up past my knee as ravenous as a wolf. As if he had been dreaming to go even further. I knew it was guilty as sin to want him in the ways I wanted him. Intertwined with me until we became one.

I quivered at the thought, heat rising through me to my face. It was that thought that had kept me from leaving the house for over a day. That thought made being bedded by Francis as soon as he arrived more bearable, I just had to close my eyes and pretend he wasn't Francis at all.

When he was satisfied, he had left the room and headed to his study. The creaking of the trunk revealing what he was examining, the muskets for his rebel forces. If he had forces at all.

Quietly and slowly I had followed behind him, listening from the doorway as he talked with a man about the plans ahead. If we rally the people on the streets, our victory would be imminent. He didn't have forces of armies and trained soldiers. No. He had people struggling to survive who were desperate. I could only imagine the bloodshed desperation caused.

Elodie peeked through the door to see if I was awake, and then let herself in, closing the door behind her. Walking across the room to the window, she ripped the curtains open to reveal the afternoon sun. The movement of carriages along the street refracted across the walls. "Do you want to talk about it?" She said, meeting me in the mirror, a brush already in her hand pulling at my matted hair.

I didn't meet her gaze, still staring at my reflection. I could feel my fingers digging at the edge of the vanity. "No, but I know you do," I sighed.

Her hands moved gently through my hair, careful to not tug at my scalp. "I've already yelled at Jacques, so I don't plan on yelling anymore." She let a smile grace her face. "But I need you to know your actions have more consequences than his. We are women, we carry more burden." Setting the brush down she began separating my hair to braid. "And your husband and Jacques don't look similar."

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at her finally. "We didn't. I stopped it." I turned around on the small stool. "It was only a kiss." And those fingers carelessly on my thigh.

She smirked. "Yes, because only kissing is how you got leaves and tangles in your hair."

"I swear it, Elodie. It was nothing more." No matter how badly I wanted it to be.

Pinning my hair in place, Elodie slipped the silk pins in one by one. The braid she had wrapped around into a bun sat low at the base of my skull, caressing my neck. "The Duke has requested you eat with him tonight," she said quietly.

I nodded in reply. "Of course, he is my husband after all." Walking across the room, she followed behind me with my corset already in hand. "Elodie?"

Hmm she said as she wrapped the corset around me and began to loop the laces through.

"How are you and Jacques so close?" It was a question I had wondered since my wedding night. Something I couldn't wrap my mind around. She acted so casual with him, even yelling at him when he needed to be put in his place. Sisterly.

Pulling the strings in, I let out a breath. "Tomas...Tomas was his older brother." I could hear the wobble of her lips as she spoke. The pain that echoed from her saying his name made my chest heavy. "I grew up with them. All three of them."

"Three of them?" I turned to face her, the laces wrapping around me. "He never talks about his family," I admitted. Jacques had never said anything about himself other than his longing for me.