The King's Eye

Chapter 40

When the latch finally clicked on the door I found myself holding my breath. On the other side Jacques hesitated to leave, the shadow of his boots coming through the crack underneath the wood that separated us. Part of me wanted him to crash through it. Wanted him to splinter it to pieces in anger. To let loose the rage I knew bubbled in his blood. The other part of me knew if I let him in here I would cave. That I would let the wall my fever built up come crumbling down. That he would have his way, and deep down within me I would bury this betrayal as if it never happened.

Twisting the lock shut, one more click filled the silent room, and as it ricocheted through my bones I noticed the footsteps trailing down the hall. I gasped for air, my hand going for my throat.

He had left...and I had let him.

Panic took root in the form of uneven breaths, leaving me grasping for the door handle. Before I could turn the lock back over, fling the door open, and run down the hall after him, a light stilled me.

"Sophie?" Elodie rubbed at her eyes, holding the lit candle up to her face so I could see her clearly. "What time is it?"

Light danced along the broken glass on the floor in the room, a sea of glimmering waves moving with Elodie's every shift. "Late," I whispered knowing she couldn't hear me across the room.

Candle after candle began to flicker as she lit them, revealing the true destruction I had caused. In my rage earlier I let go in a way I never had and destroyed everything in my path. Her majesty could hang me for this. She could throw me into a jail cell and forget I ever existed.

Tattered curtains lay on the ground, ripped from the rods that once held them up. Vases that once glistened in the morning sun lay scattered in mishap piles. My hand was on my chest as I fully took it all in. I had lost my mind in the wake of my fever. Fully and truly.

"You won't be able to sleep in here until I have the maids clean in the morning," Elodie said through a grimace. "Her majesty has made arrangements-"

"I can clean it up," I sighed. "I have to many things to think through to sleep tonight."

"You need to rest." She rolled her eyes sweeping some glass into an empty chamber pot with her hand. "If you get sick again, Jacques will kill me."

Grabbing the chamber pot from her, I set it on the desk. "I will handle him."

Her fingers touched my arm, raising the hairs on my neck. "Sophie, what happened?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Nothing."

"Sophie."

"I pulled the dagger from his throat," I said through a shaky breath. "I saw my hus-Jacques. I saw Jacques do what everyone told me he did. What he told me he does. And then I pulled the dagger from his throat." My hands were shaking. My entire body. "His blood is on my hands."

"Jacques feels this way after every kill." Elodie hugged me, pulling me into her arms without hesitation. "The only difference is he deserved to die, Sophie. What he did to you," she pulled away to look me up and down. "You can still see his hand prints on your arms." Her face soured as she looked at me. "Did he?"

"He tried," I said, biting at my lip. "He said he was taking back what was his and then he...he tried." The memory of running through the halls as I escaped Francis's wrath made my stomach lurch. His grip on my skin. His raised voice.

Elodie gave me a look that told me she knew I wasn't telling the truth, but she did not pry. "I'll help you clean," she finally said. "You shouldn't be doing anything too strenuous."