The King's Eye

Chapter 30

Thunder began to fade into the distance, as I lay there watching Jacques's chest rise and fall. It was peaceful to watch him sleep so deeply, knowing what his mind constantly fought. What even my own mind fought in the dark of night.

I slipped on his now dry shirt, and walked over to Elodie's door. Sliding the chair back from under the doorknob, I was careful not to scrape it against the worn and warped flooring.

Stirring, Jacques shifted onto his side, arms crossing over his chest. My eyes ran along his body trying to absorb all of him into my mind. It was as if being together still wasn't enough. I needed all of him.

He let out a heavy sigh, his eyes fluttering open. "Sophie, the sun hasn't even risen." His arm extended out, motioning me to come lay back down beside him.

"Didn't you have something to tell me?" I teased as I picked up my robe from the ground.

He perched himself up on his arm, eyes glazed with exhaustion. The sheet we managed to find in between rounds of love making—if that's what we could call it, we were practically animals—slipped away from his body revealing all of him to me once again.

I felt my heart race as I took in every inch of him, but just as quickly as he exposed himself his pants were back on. "I want to show you something first." He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in. "I'll need my shirt back, though." His eyes dipped down. "Though I think you could make this the latest trend."

I could feel my eyes roll to the back of my head, as he poked at my nose and watched me shimmy off his shirt. "You just want me naked so you can have your way with me," I strutted past him, mindful of my swaying hips and his tightened pants.

"Since the day I helped you out of that carriage," his lips suddenly found my neck as he held me from behind.

"Jacques," I giggled, a feeling of happiness and safety I hadn't felt since I was wed to Francis hit me like a crashing wave. "I need to get dressed."

"Do you?" He said, teeth gritting against my skin.

"Yes." Elodie said from the doorway. "She does."

Jacques placed my robe around my shoulders before I could even react. "Elodie."

She held her hand up to stop me. "I heard enough to know what the hell you two have been up to." Her eyes narrowed on Jacques, rage ablaze in her pale eyes. "You happy now?"

"Elodie that isn't fair—"

"Fair?" She yelled back at him, not giving him time to respond, "You want to talk about fair?" For a moment I thought she was going to hit him again, but her expression turned to sadness. "What isn't fair is that Tomas died and you lived, but I live with that every day. I live with the fact Tomas went to the gallows and he will never know his son."

"You think I don't wish I was dead instead of him?" He stood closer to her. "I live with that every day, too, El." He dropped to his knees, begging. "I hate myself more than anyone ever could, but that does not mean I don't deserve to know love."

Elodie looked at me dumbfounded. I nodded not to agree, but to share the emotions I felt toward the man she now cursed.

"I love Sophie." He said it proudly, his chest open. "I love her enough to live and not wish for death."

Tears slipped down her pale cheeks, barely noticeable in the dark of early morning, her hand gently cupping his own tear covered cheek. "I-I know that feeling."

My stomach sank as she walked back to the room and shut the door. A moment later she threw my clothes out of it through a small crack, before again closing it.

The robe Jacques draped around my shoulders suddenly felt too warm, weighing me down as I collapsed into the seat closest to me. For a long moment my eyes locked on the pile of skirts and corset that lay before that door, the sounds of muffled sobs piercing through the quiet. "I need to talk to her."

Jacques gave me a wary look as I braced my hands on the table to stand up, but he did not object. He walked to the pile of clothes and picked up what he could, laying it on the table next to me. "I'll help you dress," he said plainly. All the light that had been there before had dimmed away.

⚹⚹⚹⚹

Elodie had left the door unlocked to mine and to her surprise. She turned to me as I shut the door. In the somber light of her oil lamp I could see just how swollen her eyes were from crying. How red her face had become. The burst vessels from heaving away pain. My heart cramped at the sight of her like this. She had lived alone in her mind for too long, and her exploding like champagne shaken too many times made that clear.

"I want to say something," I said as I saw her mouth open to stop me. "Please?"

"Sophie, I don't...I don't want to hear it." She turned back to face the window, sniffling as quietly as she could.

I nodded, understanding her feelings the best I could. "You see Tomas when you look at Jacques." A statement, not a question.

A heavy sigh left her, leaving her slumping further. "He leans into his right hip when he stands for too long, just like him. He sighs like him." Her chin tilted up, and from around her brow bone I could see fluttering eyes to make the tears go away. "They are alike in many ways. Even how he looks at you." She faced me, giving up on holding back the tears. "It's how Tomas looked at me," her voice broke completely as her hand rested over her heart.

"I–"

"I know I have been so hard on you. I know that." She stood up, making me flinch. "But I begged for this job, Sophie. I have nothing to fallback on. I have no one, but my son." She brought the back of her hand to her mouth as if to hold out a sob. "I pleaded on my knees to his majesty when I visited Jacques after he was hired, after Tomas was born, and if I lose this job my only other option is a brothel."

I reached for her. "Elodie, I—-"

"I don't want sympathy." Hands waved in the air at me. " I just want you to understand why I'm taking this so seriously. Why I take no risks."

Without thinking, I said, "Bring him here."

"What?" She looked at me wide eyed. Her pale eyes were full of shock.

"Bring your son here." I grabbed her hands. "Send word and have him brought here, I will have whatever debts you owe for his board paid."

"Sophie, I can't have you do that." She shook her head. "That is–"

"What friends do." I smiled at her, letting go of her hands. "He is only a babe and he needs his mother...and his uncle." I gestured to where Jacques now leaned against the door frame, teary eyed

She bowed her head, hiding the tears that were streaming down her face. "Thank you."

"I have to go, but write a letter and I will have him brought here." Kissing her cheek, I began to follow Jacques out the door.

"Thank you," she said again.

"You named him Tomas?" I stopped to give her one more hug. She nodded, wiping her face with a soiled handkerchief from her corset. "I can't wait to meet him."