The King's Eye

Chapter 55

 Voices. There were so many voices coming from inside the room.

Elodie and I leaned into the shadows outside, our ears directed towards it. I liked to think we were safe on the other side of the wall, but I knew even in the shadows of the hall we were exposed. There was nowhere to hide, now. There was nowhere safe.

"If they are hungry, there is plenty of food. We could–"

"That is not what they want, Antoinette," his majesty cut her off. The defeat in his voice made me sink back further into the wall.

The rustling of skirts on carpet told me her majesty was walking around. "But if they need food—"

"Damn it, Antoinette." The sound of the king's hand slamming down on something was followed by the wailing of a child. The Dauphin, who I pictured still nuzzled into his mother's arms. "They are here because they are well beyond hunger! We would look oblivious to their plight if we offered them cake. Do you know how foolish that would be? Do you?"

Her majesty did no not respond, too focused on her upset child.

In the months I had worked under the crown I had found her to be more charitable than many would consider. Often her character was assassinated by slurs and falsities despite her time spent aiding shelters. Knowing her heart was in the right place, broke mine.

The voices that stilled me earlier murmured over the silence, deep in a discussion I could not hear. "What is it they want?" His majesty finally asked, responding to whoever was talking.

"They want you to return with them to Paris," Matis's voice was a cruel velvet. His lack of emotion abrasive.

"And if we do not?" Her majesty's voice was closer than before, fear holding onto it at the edges.

"Then you might as well hand over your heads to be piked."

My knees buckled under me, my body sliding down the wall slowly until I hit the floor. Elodie already sat there quietly. Her face perfectly portraying the emotions I knew she was going through. Contradictions of the heart in full effect. Everything in me said to reach for her hand, to embrace her, but she was not the kind of person who wore her feelings. My interference would only make it more real.

Sniffling, she brought the sleeve of her dress up to her eye and dabbed away any evidence of tears. "Did you ever think it would come to this?" She whispered. Without letting me answer she continued, "I think he knew all along. He saw all the signs and kept his promises." Using her hand to wipe her face again, she let her head fall back. "We were so young. You never think..." she trailed off. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

I did not know how to respond to her, my mind still focused on the threat to the crown. Mumbling under her breath, she continued to let out her internal thoughts, letting them spill over word by word.

On the other side of the wall silence had replaced the voices. The stillness of the room and lack of deep sighs made me nervous. "Do you hear that?" I whispered, cutting off Elodie's continuous murmuring.

She shook her head, eyes off in the distance.

"Elodie they have all stopped talking," I realized, pushing myself up onto my feet. "Why did they stop talking?"

Grabbing at my hand as I inched toward the door, I yanked from Elodie's grasp. "You cannot go in there."

"Why not?"

"It could be a trap, Sophie."

"Now you want to be reasonable?" I growled. "Now?"

"Sophie–"

"You can stay here if you want," I growled again, my face inches from her. "But I cannot be afraid. I cannot sit here and wait out in the open while my husband and sister are missing. That only puts us all at risk." She reached for me again, but my fingers were already lacing over the doorframe and steadying me through its threshold. "We have changed places somehow, Elodie. And for some reason you have lost your strength in all this...all I ask is that you find enough of it to survive to see tomorrow. As your friend I am asking you to find your strength so you do not die."

I did not look back at her. Walking into the candle lit room, I was met with faces of comfort and familiarity.

Jacques sat at a table with his body slumped over, his head in his blood covered hands. I watched as ragged breaths lifted the blades of his shoulders up and down. He had taken off what was left of his shirt, his exposed torso covered in gore from the battles of the night. To watch him dance with death had been nerve wracking, but he was never in danger. I had to believe that, even with the cuts across his skin.

"Sophie," Anne's voice came out as a sob from the other side of the room.

My husband jumped from his seat as my name left her mouth, all the tension and defeat leaving him. Without words we exchanged what our hearts wanted to say. You're here. You're alive.

Before he could take me in his arms, Anne's found their way around my neck. Her tear covered face sinking into my shoulder as she said my name again. I pulled her away from me, my hands finding their way to her arms and took in her tousled hair and blood smeared gown. "You are not hurt?"

"No," she placed her hands on my shoulders, letting our foreheads rest against one another. "No, Jacques and Martin kept me safe."

"I am safe as well," Martin added from his spot against the window. The night of horrors had made his age more clear, two hard lines permanently placed between his brows. Brushing his fingers through his soiled gray beard, he gave me a playful smile, lightening the mood for only a moment.

"Wait," I startled back. Moving away from Anne, I took in the somber room and its dark furniture. We were the only ones here. Counting us and counting again, my mind frantically tried to process who was missing in disbelief. "Where are the king and queen?" I looked behind me in the corners to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. "The dauphin?"

"Gone," Martin answered warily.

"But I heard them. They were here. They were all here...Matis?"

Jacques reached my side, his steps staggered with exhaustion. Brushing a strand of crusted hair back from my face, he frowned. "He took them. The king and queen have been abducted willingly."

My breath caught in my throat, the weight of disbelief falling into me. "No. No, that is not possible. He has no power over them. How could he just take them?"

"Matis is far more powerful than we were led to believe," Martin sighed. "We have all failed tonight."

"He won, Sophie." Jacques let his lips rest against my forehead, his warmth radiating through me. "Tonight he won. And he took the crown and showed just how weak it is."