The Painter's Apprentice

Chapter 10

After the opera, Hadrian never sends me an invitation to tour the gardens. Even Lavernia seems more distant and I only have Destan to thank for that. I don't know what the two of them did to upset him, but I do know he wants me to stay safe — to keep my head down so the Fae don't discover that I can see through their glamour, but I'm not sure I can sit idly by while they slowly destroy France like an untreated wound.

My deep unsettling quickly begins to affect my work and it gets harder and harder to sit down and paint. When I know Destan and the majority of court is out on a hunt in the Grand Park, I do what I always do to clear my mind and get my brush moving, I find masterpieces of artwork to inspire me.

As I suspected, the King's State Apartments are nearly empty as no one has any desire to be there when they know the king won't make an appearance. I meander around each room, pausing to admire the paintings that catch my eye, but I only make it through three of the salons before I feel positively gorged on beauty.

Still, I wander into the Diana Salon and crane my neck to look up at a painting of the famed huntress that spans the center of the ceiling. Before I get lost in it, a shrill laugh echoes through the cavernous chamber.

My head snaps down and I look over my shoulder to see a pair of women glide across the floor. To my mortification, I seem to have caught their attention.

"You can always tell a commoner," the darker-haired woman says to her companion. In opulent silk gowns and with white feathers tucked into their curls, they look like they're dressed for the post-hunt banquet.

A wicked grin passes over her friend's lips. "And how is that?"

I think I recognize them as two of Queen Henriette's ladies in waiting. When they pass through a column of light from the windows, I recognize the telltale shimmer of a glamour on their faces.

"They're always staring up at the ceiling."

The other cackles. "There's nothing worth looking at up there," she says to me.

I fix my eyes determinedly to the floor, though I know just how withering of a glare and a harsh word I could throw their way.

"Mademoiselle Florette!" A man's voice draws my gaze away from my feet.

Lafayette strides through the chamber, his eagle-headed cane in hand. A warm smile deepens the lines around his eyes. "It's a pleasure to see you about. I hope your days haven't been quite so exciting."

I breathe a sigh and my anger fades. "No. Things have returned to normal it seems."

His brows push together. Lafayette takes my arm and we head back towards the Hall of Mirrors while the courtiers head in the direction of the king's private apartments. "And yet you do not seem thrilled with the prospect of normalcy?"

I check to make sure we are out of earshot of the two ladies. "I'm not sure. Life at Versailles has never been my normal."

"No? And where does your heart belong?"

The phrasing of his question takes me by surprise and it makes me think. "I thought it belonged here. I wanted Morel to bring me to Versailles for so long, to be surrounded by all this beauty, but from the moment I arrived I have felt out of place — like I've stepped into someone else's shoes. Paris was my home for as long as I can remember, but after the attack, it feels like a stranger to me."

"A stranger?"

"I've lost the pulse of the city. The pains and hopes of its people were far from my mind when the Children of Marat attacked Versailles. I was so preoccupied with trying to make my place here that I forgot how the rest of France lives. Now I can't stop thinking about them." We take a seat on a bench in front of the windows in the Salon of Peace. "I can't go to parties and banquets without thinking of those starving on the other side of the palace gates. When I sit down to paint I can't even pick up a brush. My heart just isn't in it anymore."