The King's Eye

Chapter 31

  Dawn grasped at the edges of the sky in fiery red streaks as Jacques and I walked hand in hand down the street. On the outskirts of the city we were just Jacques and Sophie.

No titles.

No prying eyes

I wanted to hire an artist to paint this moment of us. The way his eyes glowed in golden hues when the sun crept up on his face. Shadows from his hair casted across his brow. Lip curling up at the side just enough to dimple his cheek. Jacques was very much like a painting on his own.

It was happiness in its rawest form, the way my chest didn't feel burdened by the life I was forced into. My body felt as if it were floating in a calm sea, weightless. Maybe it was more than happiness.

"We're almost there," he said, biting at his lip. His free hand flexing and turning back into a fist over and over. For a moment I swear I saw the mask drop, but he glanced over at me and smiled like him. Like Jacques. And my nerves calmed.

He stopped at the edge of an alleyway, hesitating before continuing on through the mess that filled it. Along the outskirts of the wooden building on either side, weeds spring up thick and wild. A path that had been walked often between made them curve inward in green arches.

At the end of the alley the street opened to a dirt path that faced the back of a weather-worn church, its gray blue bricks dulled. The stained glass windows that faced us above the altar were just as vibrant as the day they were probably created, though. The imagery of a fallen Angel was clear even from where we stood.

"I come here after," his jaw feathered as he contemplated his words. "Assignments. To clear my head."

"You go to mass?"

"No," he huffed out a laugh. "I haven't been to mass since...my mother's funeral." His expression softened. "I sit under the oak tree," he pointed to the towering leaves behind the steeple.

"I don't understand." I looked up at him, my free hand wrapping around his arm.

"Tomas and Gabriel were buried in a mass grave here." He sucked at his teeth. "I come here to sit with my brothers. To sit where I belong."

"You don't belong here." I said, brushing a tear that stuck to my lashes. For a long while we stared ahead at the tree, the sun now meeting eye level with its branches. "Can we sit together?"

He nodded, squeezing my hand. "I'd like that," he kissed the side of my head.

Our approach was slow, the leaves becoming clearer with every step. As we passed through marked graves my stomach sank. Jacques's brothers would never have that luxury, unmarked in a hole with others. Strangers. I liked to think at least they were near one another somewhere under the grass and soil. Jacques at least knew they were here.

Helping me sit down, he sat so his back lay against the trunk. The grass around his legs was dead and flattened from sitting there frequently.

"How often do you come here?" I finally asked. The question eating at me.

He tilted his chin up as he said, "Too often." In the corner of my eye I could see him picking at his cuticles. "I came here before my brother's died, too." Angling his head to look at me, he frowned. "My brothers and I were arrested together for a single crime, but I was wanted well before that."

"You stole together before, though."

"I wasn't wanted for those jobs," he shook his head. "I was hired by a noble before I worked for his majesty, to take care of those who got in the way."

"Is this what you wanted to talk about?" I stopped him before he could say anything else.

"Sophie I've lied to you and I—"

"Jacques. We all lie. We are human." I brushed my thumb in sweeps across his cheek. He trembled under my touch, but I refused to let him say it. Something deep within me knew whatever he had to say would ruin this fragile moment in time that finally made me feel whole. "Last night was not a lie. You and me," I kissed him briefly, letting our brows rest against one another. "We are not a lie."

I could see his throat bob as he swallowed down the tension, his fingers brushing through a loose strand of my hair. "No. No, we aren't."

"Then I do not want to know," I felt the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as I said it.

He ran his fingers up my arm, crossing across my collarbone and up my neck. My body shivered under his touch. "This war," he said scooting down to lay his head on my lap. "I don't know if any of us are ready for it, Sophie."

"Do you think it will be like in the English colonies?" I brushed his hair with my fingers.

He sighed. "I think it will be worse. Lafayette is determined, especially after fighting for the colonies and seeing their success." He shifted to lay on his back. "Sophie promise me if it goes awry you will leave."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Leave?"

"Leave France. And don't come back until it's safe." he added, "Some nobility are already fleeing because they fear the crown will be removed entirely. No one is safe."

"Jacques, my husband, is a rebel. I can't leave, he would forbid it." I shook the idea from my mind.

Sitting up to meet my eyes, Jacques's eyes were lit up in a way I had never seen. "Your marriage isn't legitimate, though."

"Only we know that."

"So?" He was serious. Dangerously serious. "If your marriage isn't true, you don't have a husband."

"Jacques what are you saying?" I suddenly felt fear creep up on me.

"Marry me." Shooting up to his knees, Jacques knelt before me as if to beg. "If not because of love, marry me so I can keep you safe. So I can get you out of your duties."

"How do you know Lafayette?" I asked him, steering away from the conversation at hand.

"What?"

"You said Lafayette is determined. How do you know?"

"You didn't want to know."

I nodded. "You're right. I didn't." Maybe I was a fool not to and maybe I would pay the price, but my heart fluttered in my chest in a way I had never felt. That look of lightness was still painted on his face. "You would really marry me? Against the king's wishes?" He smiled. "Jacques it is treason, to undermine his majesty in this way."

"I know." He kissed me, pulling me to my feet and embracing me. "You are worth it, though."

"I feel like I don't know you enough to wed you like this." I took a step back, wrapping my arms around me in nervousness.

"Sophie. You know every inch of my body and have every inch of my soul at your disposal. I am yours. You are mine. We can learn about one another in our eternity together." He held both my hands gently, his thumbs brushing gently against my skin. "I love you isn't enough to tell you how you will consume my entire being until my body has become one with the earth."

"Are those your vows?" I asked quietly, choking back the tears.

"No. That's just the start." He pulled me back into his arms, letting my head rest against the warmth of his chest. I could smell the beginning of sweat forming on his skin, a sweetness that clung to him. "I vow to let you choose your path."

I kept my face hidden against him. "And what if I chose this one with you?"

"Then you choose us." He said, kissing the top of my head. "You choose our secrets, our lies, and everything in between."

"I choose us, then."