The Painter's Apprentice

Chapter 7

 I don't know what Destan hears over the orchestra, but the look on his face makes my blood run cold.

Lafayette appears at my side. "Did you hear that?"

I glance between them and strain to hear something, but I only hear the sounds of the ball and the crash of water on the tiered fountain in the grotto. Then there's a whistle and a gold firework explodes overhead.

Destan and Lafayette both flinch at the resounding boom.

"Fireworks?" I ask, hoping that's the answer.

Lafayette shakes his head. The crowd gasps and applauds as more fireworks light up the night sky in red and blue. Destan moves us away from the dancers and draws the ceremonial sword at his waist.

"Are you armed?" he asks Lafayette.

Lafayette lifts the handle of his eagle-headed walking stick and reveals a cane sword concealed inside it. "I left my pistol at home tonight."

A young nobleman, stinking of sweet spirits, stumbles into us. He stops at the sight of drawn weapons. "Are you dueling?" He raises his voice. "Philippe! There's going to be a duel!"

I don't know who Philippe or this young man are, but I shove the glassy-eyed youth away. "What's going on?" I cry.

"Sounds like a disturbance—" Lafayette pauses. "On the Paris side of the palace."

My stomach lurches. How can he hear something that far away when I can't hear anything at all?

Destan places a reassuring hand on my elbow. "We'll know soon. Palace guards will be here shortly."

"If something is the matter, we are far too exposed out here," Lafayette says. "We need to get everyone someplace safe."

As if on cue, the Cent Suisse, the king's personal guard of Swiss mercenaries, flood into the grotto. Wearing bright red coats with blue facings and armed with gold halberds, they swarm the king and queen and send the entire ball into chaos.

Their captain finds Destan in the crowd and makes his way to us. "The Garde du Corps are assisting the Gardes Suisse at the south gate," he says. "Rioters swarmed the guards and a few have entered the palace."

"We need to move the king and queen to a more defensible location," Lafayette says.

"The Orangerie is close," Destan suggests.

The captain nods then passes the orders to the guards. They begin to usher people out of the ballroom grove and direct them down to the Orangerie, which was built beneath the south parterre. Lavernia finds us in the chaos. "What is happening?"

"Rioters in the palace," Destan says as he grabs my arm to lead us through the crowd. His eyes never stop moving, like he's trying to discern where an attack will come from.

"Go," Lafayette says to Destan when we emerge from the grove. "See to your men. I'll make sure everyone is secured in the Orangerie."

Destan looks at me with real fear in his eyes. He pulls a long knife from a sheath hidden in his jacket and hands it to me. "Can you—"

"I can take care of myself," I say, sounding more confident than I feel.

"Fine." He looks down at the knife. His hands are gentle as he adjusts my grip on it so the blade faces down towards the ground. "But that's how you hold a dagger."

My brows furrow in confusion and he holds up his arm as if he's trying to protect himself.

I mimic the gesture and now the blade sticks out towards my attacker. "I see — now go."