Disclaimer: The characters of Le Chevalier D'Eon do not belong to me. May contain spoilers for the anime.

I was wondering how life is like for the little Dauphin. He is closer to Anna than to his mother (I am supposing that Marie is his mother, not grandmother as would be historically accurate, Marie looks far too young to be a grandmother.)

Auguste: Little Prince

I know the Father loves me
For he told me in the rising sun…
I know the Father will care for me
For he told me in the smile of certain someone…

The weather has been so dreary since the funeral. I spent the entire day indoors trying to paint. My attendants tried to cheer me up with their games but it is not the same. I want to paint a sunrise but there is no sun today, only more grey rain clouds and fog. I overheard one of the guards complaining that it is as if Heaven is mourning our Queen with us.

I miss Anna's smile and her laughter. I am alone. Mother and Anna are both dead. Broglie told me D'Eon and Robin will not return, they are dead too. I do not like Broglie much. He is so stern-looking. I have not seen Father since the funeral. I rarely see him or Mother because they were the King and Queen of France and must attend to their royal duties. You see, I am Dauphin Auguste, heir to the throne of France. I don't want to be king, I have told Anna once. It is too difficult. Anna only smiles and tells me that one day I will grow into a fine king.

I try to learn but the lessons are just too difficult. I just want to play with my toys and Anna. I used to play with Mother's page, Robin, long ago. He used to piggyback me about and climb into trees to get my kite when it gets stuck. We used to play horsie, but Mother said I was growing up and getting too heavy to ride on Robin's back. Robin also needed to do his work for Mother and I shouldn't keep him from it. The last time I saw Robin, he was speaking with D'Eon, Anna's beloved, in the corridor outside Father's room. I understand they were going on a mission for the sake of France.

I was jealous of D'Eon when I heard that Anna was going to marry him one day and leave the palace. I didn't want Anna to go. But Anna loved D'Eon even though he seemed such a bore. She promised she and D'Eon would continue coming to Versailles so I could meet her, if Mother allowed it. I was looking forward to seeing Anna in her bridal gown. It was going to have white and pink roses on it, she told me. It wasn't ready yet so they buried her in her pink dress. She had been stabbed, I heard the others whisper. The maids are still trying to get her blood out of the carpet in that dining room.

Mother was poisoned. They kept her coffin lid closed because the poison had started to rot her body. I never got to see her face before they set her to rest in the royal crypt. I weep into the chair Anna once sat in. I know I shouldn't. Big boys don't cry, Robin once said. That was the time I lost my temper and threw a toy horse at him. There was blood but Robin only smiled as he held a hanky to his head. I know I would have cried in his place. Mother scolded me for that. Princes shouldn't throw their toys about, especially at their servants. I like Robin. I was sorry I hurt him.

Sir D'Eon had cried for Anna. He loved her so much, much more than I do. He promised he would find out who killed Mother and Anna, and punish him for it. He wept here, right by the writing desk where she wrote her letters. It is looking less and less like Anna's room, now that she is gone. Soon, it will be Emily's room.

"Your Highness?" I wipe my tears. It is Emily, the attendant they have chosen to take Anna's place. Emily is not Anna. She sounds so bored when she reads to me. Time for bed. She will read me that same story about Sleeping Beauty again. Anna never repeats her stories unless I ask her to. Sometimes, she tells me little stories about her childhood summers spent with D'Eon and his sister. Robin used to tell me such exciting stories, until Mother told him to stop because they sometimes gave me nightmares. Robin's stories can be scary. His tales speak of the dark catacombs of Paris, knights and of past battles fought. I wonder why he has not returned to the palace yet.


D'Eon! I call out but he does not hear me. He raises his candle high, seeking something, or someone, among the dusty bones. He stands in the darkness of the catacombs with his drawn sword catching the feeble candlelight. I try to warn him but the words do not come. The enemy is near, the monster who took away Anna's and Mother's life is close. He suddenly stumbles, clutching his stomach. He has been hurt. D'Eon's sword clatters to the dust. Blood stains the dust beneath him. He falls. I see the dark shadow over him. It runs him through with his sword. The good knight is dead, slain by the ogre who has already slain his princess.

No, stories aren't supposed to end this way! I run for help. I run until I see the river. Robin is there on the bridge. He is fighting with his short sword against the same monster that just killed D'Eon. His sword breaks and he falls over the side of the bridge into the river with an awful splash. I run to the bank. The current is dragging him away. Robin does not even try to swim for the shore. He bobs like a broken doll. His eyes stare unseeingly up into the clear starry sky. I believe he may be dead. The water around him has gone all red. The river drags him away into the darkness as I scream for him to come back.


I awake still screaming. It was only a nightmare. Emily does not come like Anna does when I have my nightmares. She is a much sounder sleeper than Anna. I know Mother will not be there for me. Alone, I climb out of bed. Maybe I can find Father. I pull on my dressing gown and slip on my slippers.

I have asked Broglie whether there will be a funeral for Robin and D'Eon. He only shakes his head and tells me not to worry about such small matters. I only need to know they were dead. No, it is not alright. I can still see D'Eon lying among those bones in the dark and poor Robin sinking into the river… I regret not insisting that D'Eon remain in the palace to have his wounds treated. He had been limping badly when he came for Anna's funeral… I could have asked after Robin then… perhaps…

But it was only a nightmare, wasn't it? Maybe D'Eon and Robin are still out there, hunting that monster. They're just away on a mission. One day they will return to the palace and tell me that the monster has been punished. Broglie doesn't know everything, does he? He told me that I will be king soon. How can I when Father is still king?

I walk down the corridor towards Father's bedchamber. It is late, but not that late. It strikes me that there are no servants or guards about. This is odd. The smell! It stinks like the time a rat died behind Mother's dresser and no one noticed until the smell started. The smell then was not as bad as this. I pad onwards. It seems to be coming from Father's room. The door is ajar. I peer within and gasp.

The thing that sits in my father's bed… oh God, what is it? It looks like a man, except his skin has gone all green and mouldy-looking and that smell!

"Where's Father? Where is he? What have you done to my father?" I shout out as I enter the room.

The wretched thing lets out a startled sob and wails. "Broglie!" I know that voice. That thing is my father. Broglie enters running from the next room. He gasps when he sees me. "Your Highness, I beg your pardon…" He takes me by the hand and hurries me out of the room and down the corridor towards my bedchamber.

"What happened to Father?" I ask. My heart sinks to my slippers.

"His Majesty is sick…"

"Then get him doctors!" I sound like a frightened child. I don't want to lose my father so soon after Mother and Anna. I will be so alone if he should…

Broglie places his hand on my shoulder. It is a rare gesture from him. "They have been sent for. Until your father recovers, you will have to rule France in his stead…" he replies. "It is late and you must get your sleep, Your Majesty…" I understand in that instant that I am king. My father will not recover. I can see that truth in Broglie's face.

"You may go back to my father. I can walk the rest of the way. Bon nuit," I shake his hand off my shoulder and bid him goodnight. I am not a little boy now. I must remember that. I will study hard and become a strong king, a good king. Someday when Robin and D'Eon return from their mission, they will be proud of the king I have become. I will be a good king just as Anna always believed I would become. Someday…

Author's Notes:

I started off with Auguste as a scared little boy. Somehow, he matures in the course of this fic.

I pictured Auguste growing up in the palace and Robin would probably be hanging around somewhere, since he is Queen Marie's page. It is also ironic in that Robin and D'Eon will never return. D'Eon has all but cast aside his former identity and Robin has taken on another identity altogether as a revolutionary. In fact, the historical Maximilien Robespierre (the identity Robin takes on) was a strong advocate for sending King Louis XVI (former Dauphin Auguste) to the guillotine.

Bon nuit – good night in French

Outtake:

Many years later, French Revolution. the former dauphin is lying with his head in the guillotine with Robespierre/Robin holding the rope.

Auguste: I'm sorry about that horse.

Robin: Sorry is not enough. (takes off his hat to show a bald patch where he got hit by that toy horse so long ago)

He pulls the rope and- SLICE... Plop.