In the Shadow of the Sun by EM Castellan

Author:EM Castellan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

CHAPTER XIII

Louise bumped into me with a little cry.

I let out a gasp, my instinct the only thing that drew my arms back and prevented me from setting fire to our gowns with my candlestick.

“What—?”

She didn’t let me speak. To my shock, she drew back and snapped: “Out of my way.” Upset strangled her voice and she didn’t meet my gaze. After a couple of steps she regained her balance and made to carry on along the corridor, but my own temper flared.

“Mademoiselle de La Vallière!”

I seldom used what my mother called “the royal tone,” but if one of my ladies thought she could behave this way with me, she was sorely mistaken. Louise stopped short in her tracks, surprise wiping her features blank.

“Your … Your Highness?”

“What on earth do you think you are doing?”

Her face crumpled and she dissolved into tears, and regret at losing my temper tore through me. I rushed to her side.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

She hiccupped, for a moment too distraught to speak. A quick survey of her clothes and skin allowed me to think she wasn’t physically hurt, but her state of distress was enough to send my pulse racing.

“I need to see the king,” she said between two sobs.

Confusion settled my heart for an instant. “But … weren’t you with him?”

She shook her head. “The queen felt unwell, so he was called back to the château and I stayed at the canal. But I need to see him now.”

“Well, if he’s with the queen—”

She gripped my arm, her red-rimmed eyes intense. “No, you don’t understand, I have to see him. You have to help me!”

My annoyance resurfaced. I liked to think of my ladies-in-waiting as my friends, and I wasn’t an absolute stickler for formalities, but the hour was late, I was tired and feverish, and my patience was running thin.

“Whatever is the matter with you?” I pulled my arm back. “I don’t have to do anything. The king is with his pregnant wife. He shouldn’t be disturbed, and if you really think he should, you are going to have to convince me first.”

Louise’s jaw went slack, then more tears spilled down her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do—”

Her behavior was so uncharacteristic that compassion squeezed my heart. She was my friend, after all, and I couldn’t possibly leave her in this state. I had to know what had brought on this fit, and I had to take her away from prying eyes and ears. I turned to the two guards by Philippe’s door, who stared ahead with impassive expressions.

“Would one of you accompany us to her rooms?”

One of the men took a step forward and gave me a nod. I handed him the candlestick and linked my arm with Louise’s.

“Come on.”

I steered her down the corridor and gave her my handkerchief. She blew her nose in a manner that would have made my mother frown, her breathing still ragged.

“Oh God,” she said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.