The Three Musketeers (IN EDITS)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

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After a week of grafting over the Duchess of Montpensier and her demands, Arianne was reassigned to washing duties.

While it was much more demanding and hard work, it changed the flow of things.

On her second day on washing duty, Arianne sat on the back steps overlooking the vast gardens of the palace, with Violette as they ate their lunch together. The weather was not yet cold enough so they wanted to make the most of the time.

"The Duchess is not a bad person..." Violette explained as she nibbled some cheese. "She is a person of her upbringing. She is wealthy and a heiress and sought after. It is not her fault people would take advantage of her if given the chance. The tough exterior and demands are all a facade." Arianne nodded, knowing that Anne Marie was a nice person and always had been but she was a product of this world. She had seen the good side to her and the bad side - not only from her week abiding her command, but from their childhood too. Anne Marie was caring and kind and playful - but she could be ruthless and stubborn too.

"What about Lady Eloise?" Arianne questioned, wanting to get as much of a background of the different courtiers as possible so she knew who to avoid.

Violette grimaced. "Someone I know always used to say that if a man mistreated you, he was threatened by you, and if a woman mistreated you, you were more beautiful than her. Lady Eloise mistreated all female palace staff to the point that Nina refused to send us to her anymore and she had to bring her own from Flanders."

This was not exactly the thing she wanted to hear.

"Girls!" Nina's voice came from behind them and they turned, looking up at her and smiling. "Ah, there you are."

"Here we are!" Violette replied, and Arianne noticed their dynamic was different than it was between Nina and the other maids.

"When you are done with lunch, the Queen has requested Caneles and croustades for dinner tonight. She is entertaining."

Violette nodded as Arianne nudged her as Nina left them to eat.

"You have to teach me how to bake!"

***

Christophe found another room. His time in the Louvre had only been for a few years. While spending the first ten years of his life in these halls, his mother and father had moved him and his siblings to Saint-Germain-en-Laye where they lived away from the chaos of Paris. It was in Sant-Germaine where Christophe had been declared King as his father took his final breaths.

Moving to the Louvre was a change he needed and wanted. He wanted the court to be at the forefront of Parisian life and he also couldn't be in the same place his father had died.

While Mazarin and Gaston had tried to convince him to move away from Paris after the assassination attempt against him, Christophe refused to be scared away.

He walked to the windows of the room, pulling the dark, dusty curtains open to let some light in and coughed as the dust settled.

It was a room filled with trunks.

As he surveyed them, he saw his father's crest imprinted on where the locks would be and curiosity got the better of him.

Of course, there were other more important things to do, but he had to know what was in these chests.