Disclaimer: The characters of Le Chevalier D'Eon do not belong to me. Appearances by original characters and tweaking of historical facts.

Chapter 54 – Thorns on the Rose

"Max, it is all for the…" D'Eon grasped Milien's arm as the last stragglers left the courthouse.

"Unhand me, you liar! You know he spoke the truth," Milien pulled his arm free. "They'll kill him in there…"

"They wouldn't…" D'Eon said. He had expected this from his nephew. Milien had been sullen since he grudgingly agreed to the compromise. Still, there was a risk that Robin could be killed in a prison brawl or die from goal fever. Prisons weren't known to be healthy places, unless the prisoner was fortunate enough to have help from high places. The duke of Orleans was still out of town. Perhaps a discreet bribe to the warden's pocket would give Robin a solitary cell out of reach of any prison riff-raff who might wish to harm him.

"The pansy bothering you, Mil?" Cagliostro hiccupped. He was clearly drunk and leaning heavily on Lorenza's arm. D'Eon could barely recognize the poet. She had aged since they last met. Maybe he had aged too. Max had been a mere child when he used the poems to rescue his uncle. Now he was a young man, as D'Eon was when he first entered the knighthood.

"Let's go," Milien shrugged and strolled out. He hated to admit it but it could have been worst. If the charges had been treason and sedition… Milien shuddered. He was going to watch his step in the coming days. Jean Paul would not appreciate his plans to destroy Robespierre being brought to nought.


"Auguste… ooh, that tickles…" Natalia gasped as the king kissed the lobe of her ear. The queen had been obliged to oversee one of her theatrical rehearsals that evening and Auguste wanted some time in Natalia's company. Dinner was taken in the privacy of her chamber, with them feeding each other morsels. Now clad only in their undergarments and tumbling about among the bedclothes, Natalia thought it now safe to breach the question she wanted to ask the king.

"Auguste… ah, I have to know… How are things improving between you and Marie?" Auguste paused in his ministrations at her words. "Why?" he pouted like a spoiled little boy.

"France needs a dauphin, you know that too…" Natalia replied.

"You make us sound like some bull. We can do it with Her Majesty, if we pretend she is you…" Auguste said impishly as he undid the ribbons of her corset.

"Auguste!" Natalia gasped. It would never do if he cries out her name while going about his business with his wife. The queen had blond hair, but she was a small woman. Natalia was tall for her age and her gender, like her mother was, so her uncle always said. Soon she would be taller than the queen. Natalia idly wondered what it would be like to carry Auguste's child in her womb. Uncle D'Eon would probably die of shock and possibly shame if that happened. He was such a prude. She yanked the corset and chemise over her head.

"Natalia… you drive us crazy. We love you…" Auguste moaned as he cupped her breast with one hand and slipped the other down to her bare bottom…


Soon it was over. An exhausted Auguste slumbered beside her in her bed. Natalia laid back and gazed sadly at her sleeping lover. A narrow shaft of light from the fireplace lit his features. There was a soft tapping on the door. Natalia arose, felt about for her chemise. Failing to find it, she grabbed Auguste's discarded shirt instead and threw it on. The tapping became more insistent. Natalia rubbed her eyes and pulled aside the bed curtains.

"Max?" she recognized her brother silhouetted against the glow from the fire. "Looking for this?" Milien inquired as he held out her chemise. His boot tapped a steady rhythm against the carpet.

Red-faced, she grabbed the garment from him. "How long have you been here?" she asked in a whisper. "Enough to verify that His Majesty enjoyed your company in bed…" Milien replied tartly. He watched bemused as his twin fumbled with the king's shirt. It hung baggily on her slender frame. Natalia shed the shirt and pulled the chemise over her head.

"Quit looking, we aren't children anymore," Natalia whispered and shoved her brother lightly in the chest. As children, they had often shared their baths.

"Max?" Milien suddenly bent over and clutched his chest. "Max… you're bleeding…" Natalia peeled back the cloth of his shirt. Blood was starting to seep through the bandages underneath.

"It's just a flesh wound," Milien gasped. "I'm fine, Lia." He had been surprised by a gang of Jean Paul's thugs outside a coffeehouse the night before and received a slash across his ribs before he could draw his sword. "Nonsense…" Natalia forced him to sit down in a chair. She rolled up her sleeves and inspected the wound. "Lorenza fixed it… ow…" Milien choked back a gasp of pain as she peeled back the bandages. The wound was raw and fevered. Lorenza had dressed it sloppily. It had not been cleaned properly.

Natalia poured out a basin of water and started cleaning it with a towel. "You have another on your thigh…" Blood was starting to stain his breeches. "Wait…" he cried out as his sister knelt down and tugged on his breeches. "Come on, Max, you don't have anything I haven't seen before…" Natalia teased as the breeches finally fell to his knees. This wound was deeper and starting to ooze pus. "You didn't even bother to have this properly cleaned, did you?" Natalia dabbed gently at the raw wound on her brother's thigh.

"Max, quit it. The secret police are after you… even your fellow revolutionaries are after your neck. There are other ways…"

"Like whispering in his ear when he's in bed with you?" Milien nodded over to where Auguste was snoring. "Lia, there are those out there who want you dead…"

"Max, I can't leave him…"

"Sure, I know… Duty to France. Like uncle… I suppose I should thank him for not letting them exile Master Robespierre."

"Uncle D'Eon did the best he could, within the circumstances. Leste majeste is a serious offence. He even bribed the warden so that your master could have his own cell. As for Auguste… Max, have you ever been in love?"

"Yes, once with a little black-haired hussy, until she turned out to be spying on me for her dear Mama." He had enjoyed Charlotte's company until he got the feeling she was keeping an eye on him for Madame Roland. He hated to admit that he missed sharing his bed with her. "Your tongue says one thing but your heart says another," Natalia chided. "You like her, don't you?"

"I don't…" Milien looked away. "I suggest you marry her, run off someplace quiet and start a little family. Uncle will love it to have a pack of little imps calling him Granduncle. He'd spend his days sitting by the fire telling them stories, while they play him for a monkey…" Natalia continued her teasing. "Max, your happiness is mine as well. I know I cannot be his wife, Max. No matter we love each other. France cannot accept a bastard like me for a queen."

"You believe he loves you then?" Milien pulled up his breeches. His sister had dressed his wounds after cleaning them.

Auguste yawned and stretched. It was time for him to leave. Milien kissed his sister on the cheek before darting silently to his secret passageway. Natalia gathered up the discarded bandages and threw them on the fire.

"Natalia, oh, you are up…" Auguste sat up sleepily. "Come join us. It's cold out…" he yawned.


It was only a few days later that the first attempt on Natalia's life was made.

Their Majesties had accepted an invitation to attend a tea at the Austrian embassy. Given her position as royal mistress, it was no surprise that the ambassador did not extend an invitation to her. She had expected that her relationship and influence over King Louis XVI was not well-received, even by her former patron, Empress Marie Therese. The Austrians tended to be more prudish. So Natalia was alone in the rose gardens. She cared little for the company of nobles who wished only to have her influence the king in their favour. The Duke of Orleans often sought her out to bounce off some ideas for some policies. But he was away…

Taking her book under her arm, she sat down on a swing under the shade of spreading chestnut tree beside the lake. The Memoirs of a Marquise promised a bit of afternoon leisure. She was almost drowsing when something caused her to glance up. She was no longer alone. There were three, no, four men approaching her. Something about their movements was wrong. They did not walk with the noble's strut but clung to the shadows. Instead, she saw that they were masked as they closed in.

"Who goes there?" she shouted and leapt to her feet, ready to flee. She was unarmed and outnumbered. The attackers moved forward silently as one. Hampered by her skirts, she was swiftly overtaken and seized. One clapped a handkerchief over her mouth, stifling any screams for help.

They manhandled her over to the little pier stretching into the lake and shoved her in. As soon she hit the water with a loud splash, the assassins turned and fled. What they failed to account for was Natalia's swimming abilities. Most noblewomen and a good many French gentlemen did not swim. However, Natalia had been swimming since she was a child, and was an able swimmer. Still her heavy skirts threatened to drag her down. She struck out for the pier pilings and clung onto them, coughing and spitting water.

She scanned the surroundings for any sign of her attackers. Finally convinced there was no danger, she started the climb onto the pier. It was a cold and weary trudge back to the palace. Etienne was horrified when he encountered her on the garden path.

"Nat, what happened?" Etienne gasped.

"I fell into the lake…" Natalia lied. She did not want her uncle to know about the attack. Uncle D'Eon had more than enough on his mind with Milien's coolness and revolutionary fervour. "What are you doing here?" she asked. The captain should be at home with Sir Rochefort, meeting a potential fiancée. "Well, I met a friend and…" Etienne started.

"Give her your coat, Etienne…" Milien stepped out from the shadows. "Etienne, he shouldn't be here… atchoo!" Natalia sneezed.

"I insisted, Lia… he comes to the lake or I introduce his future-in-laws into the speeches of the coffeehouses," Milien said. "Honestly, I think I did him a favour. Marquis d'Bonville's daughter is probably in the family way by some manservant… She has the morals of an alley-cat and the tastes of one."

"How did you know she would be in danger?" Etienne marvelled. He stared at the pair. The resemblance between Milien and Natalia struck him. "Are you two related? Lord, did Master D'Eon have two children out… OW!" the hapless redhead bent over in agony from the punch Milien dealt out. "That person is not our father," Milien said.

"You mean you two are brother and sister? Milien, you should not be mixing with the rebels… especially that Maximilien Robespierre guy…" Etienne muttered, shaking his head as he handed Natalia his coat. "Jeez… look at the time… I must go apologize to Sir Rochefort and the Marquis…" Etienne rushed off to fetch his hat, which had been knocked off by Milien's punch. The twins were left alone.

"I will be careful, Lia. Not to get caught. But you…" Milien took his sister's hand in his. "What happened was not accident. You don't fall into lakes…"

"I will try not to be killed," Natalia replied. She was certain that some persons would be very surprised when she showed up at the next court function unharmed.

"Have Etienne near. Don't go off alone…" Milien stroked her hair.

"Then I will risk Etienne as well… Why? Why do they want to kill me?" Natalia allowed herself to be hugged by her brother. It was getting cold.

"You know why… It is the same why Master Robespierre is behind bars. There are some who want to stop us from changing France," Milien kissed her on the forehead. It was a goodbye kiss. He had to go off before the guards discover his presence. He was no longer the duke's clerk and had no reason to be the gardens of Versailles. He wished he could be with Natalia all the time to protect her but he knew it was impossible. Natalia would have to fend for herself.


"Natalia!" Auguste and Marie Antoinette looked up in alarm when she trudged in still dripping lake water. Captain Etienne Rochefort bowed to the king and queen but did not bend the knee as he was supporting Natalia. "I had an accident on the lake shore, but Etienne helped me…" Natalia smiled.

"You need a doctor, and to get warm… You'll catch your death of cold… Captain, get the doctor!" the king commanded. They had endured a tiresome reception with the Austrians and had expected to relax in Natalia's company. Natalia was good with a violin and excelled at making intelligent conversation. Etienne hesitated. "Hurry!" Marie shouted. The captain hurried off.

The queen rang for her maids of the chamber. They needed to get Natalia undressed and into bed.

Author's Notes:

Someone wants Natalia out of the way.