Author stuff: So, the plot thickens like bacon and cheddar broccoli soup! ...that actually sounds really good right now.
I had this headcanon back in season 1 that Alya had a lot of siblings, mostly sisters. Which, she kind of does, but I thought it would be more. Basically, there's quite a few OCs in this chapter.
And Lila is here.
Chapitre huit
Following The Leader
Marinette felt his words pierce straight through her heart. Help him capture Chat Noir? Would it really be that easy?
It would. The stray cat – for some reason or another – seemed to like her. Luring him away from his Green Men would be easy enough…
But his Green Men! She knew many of them. They were honest to God, good people. They wouldn't hurt a living thing. Would his capture condemn them to the same or worse fate?
She was about to ask when the door opened.
"Felix, I wanted to talk to you about – oh."
Standing in the doorway was his fiancée. Up close, the young woman was inordinately beautiful. She looked roughly the same age as Marinette. Her dark hair was pulled neatly back and made her face look sharp and elegant. Her moss green eyes had a clear view of the room.
The woman took one look at Marinette and frowned. She withdrew a small dagger from the folds of her skirt and stalked straight toward the bound girl.
She hefted up the bound wrists and… cut right through the rope. Her grip on Marinette was soft but firm, sort of kind if nothing else. She pulled Marinette to her feet.
"Really, your men should know better than to bind an innocent girl," she said, letting go of Marinette's slender wrists. "It's not as if she committed some sort of crime."
One of the guards started to protest, but he stopped when the lady shot him a glare that sent ice running through Marinette's veins. She didn't pity the man.
The woman held out a hand to Marinette, her face melting into something of concern.
"Come along," she said. "I would rather not leave you with these… mockingstocks."
Marinette accepted the hand and allowed herself to be pulled out of the room. Before she could leave, however, she was stopped by the duke's voice.
"Damoiselle Marinette," he said, "think about my offer. I'll be awaiting your answer."
The woman snapped the door shut, cutting off her fiancé from saying anything further. The agitated look on her face spoke more than any words could.
"Idiot," she said, hissing. Seeing the look Marinette was giving her, she brushed back an imaginary loose strand of hair and straightened. "Not you, damoiselle. My fiancé and his guards. They're all idiots. How could he? What does he think you've done?"
"He believes that I've befriended the vigilante, Chat Noir," Marinette said softly, feeling admonished despite the other woman's anger being targeted towards others.
"And have you?"
"Not really, no. But he won't leave me alone. He came to my bedroom last night."
The woman snorted.
"A lover?"
Marinette felt herself flush. Well that was an... interesting assumption, to say the least. The woman chuckled starting in one direction down the hallway. Marinette followed after her.
"You're the baker's daughter, correct? I thought I recognized you. The bread you and your mother make is lovely. I don't think we could get something of that quality in Paris."
"Oh, um, thank you. My lady."
"Lila," the woman said, wagging a long, elegant finger at her. "My name is Lila. I hate formal titles, no 'my lady' or whatnot."
"I… Marinette. I'm called Marinette."
"Yes, I heard. It's a lovely name. I've always liked names that begin with 'M'. I also like names that begin with 'A'. There's something powerful about them." Lila hummed and kept walking. She turned down a different corridor and disappeared. "Unlike names that begin with 'F' or 'R'. Really, who names their child Roald? That was that guard's name, Roald."
Marinette quickly followed after her, listening to the fabrics of her skirts whisper across the ground.
"Excuse me, my… Lila," Marinette said, correcting herself. "Where are we going?"
"I'm leading you out of the manor so you can head home. I trust you can make it there just fine? I recall an ankle or foot injury…"
Honestly, she hadn't even thought about the stupid injury in a couple of hours. At the mention of it, however, a persistent throb started up.
"I'll be fine," she said. The boulangerie wasn't too far from the manor. Back when she was little, the servants used their oven to make food for the duke's family. They had picked it up again since Felix Agreste had arrived, but she hadn't spent much time at the boulangerie to really watch them.
"Good. I'd rather not have to send guards with you. They can't really be trusted."
Marinette wanted to ask what she meant by that, but she never got the chance. They reached the gates quicker than she'd anticipated.
"I'll leave you here, mademoiselle," Lila said, nodding. "It's not too late, so you should make it home with no problems."
Marinette curtsied – really, a failed attempt at being graceful – but the fine lady didn't seem to mind. The guards standing at the gates looked unimpressed, however, but they said nothing.
She slipped out into the night knowing she had to do one thing: She had to talk to Alya.
She had been to the Sanglier Bleu countless times – as an adolescent teenager, too young to know better and too old for an early bedtime. Mostly, back then, it was to visit Alya when she had freetime. It had been years since then. Now, they were older, and she was far more wary of the glances men gave her when she walked past.
Alya's mother – a matronly woman, short and lovely – smiled warmly at her when she saw who had entered. Her long, brown hair was pulled back and hidden behind a kerchief.
"Marinette," Marlena said, wrapping the girl in a hug. "Look at you. When did you grow into such a lovely young woman?"
Marinette felt her skin grow hot. Alya's many sisters joined them. She didn't recognize half of them – they, too, had grown so much.
"What are you doing here?" Alya said, approaching the group, though she only had eyes for her friend.
"I came to ask you a question," she said, feeling her hands twitch nervously.
"It couldn't wait until the morning?"
She shook her head.
Alya sighed and grabbed her wrist – not even noticed how red and raw they looked. Marinette let out a hiss. Her friend looked down and frowned. She wanted an explanation.
"Can we go somewhere private?" she said, looking around nervously. Alya nodded and led her back through the kitchen to her family's private quarters.
"Alright," Alya said, sitting down on one of the neatly made beds, "start talking."
"Felix Agreste had me kidnapped this afternoon," Marinette said, following her to the opposite bed. "He had me taken to… You know, I think it was his private study, but I'm not sure. Anyway, he had me taken to this room, and he talked to me about Chat Noir. I didn't get to tell you this morning, but he – Chat – visited me last night. He said that he would help me. Apparently, the duke had some people – a person? – watching me, and they saw Chat. And he said that if I helped him capture Chat that he'd pardon my father."
Alya didn't say anything. Her face remained placid as she listened. If any of this was a surprise to her, it didn't show. She waited for Marinette to continue.
"And I came here because I need your help. I don't know what to do. If I help the duke, Chat will be hung, and who knows what will happen to all of you. And if I help Chat, there's a possibility of him still getting hung, all of you getting hurt, and something bad will happen to Maman and Papa. I can't win either way."
"Mari," her friend said gently, "people are going to get hurt anyway. But it's our decision. Marinette, just… let things happen. Let the pieces fall where they want."
"But –"
"We'll be fine. Promise."
Marinette frowned and looked away. She didn't like it, but she couldn't control her friends. She sighed in defeat.
"Come on," Alya said, standing up. She offered her hand to her friend, who took it. "Bet the duke didn't give you anything to eat while you were there."
"Thank you." Marinette allowed herself to be brought back through to the kitchen when she stopped. "Alya, is it possible to… I mean, is there any way I can… Can you let you-know-who know that I want to speak with him?"
"What is he, some kind of dark wizard or something?" Alya snorted. "What does the princess wish to see her brave and heroic knight again?"
Marinette felt herself grow hot, shushing her friend and looking around. No one in the kitchen was paying attention to them. She hated that stupid nickname. She just wanted to speak with him one more time to see if she really could trust him to help her father.
Alya chuckled.
"Alright, alright," she said. "If you want to see him that badly. Eat something first and then we'll see about getting you up to see him."
"He's here? Where?" Marinette rose to her toes to see out into the gallery where people were dining and drinking.
"Not here – in one of the rooms. Look, I can't take you up now. I've been gone too long. People are going to start asking where I am. Give me a bit, and you can have whatever talk you want to with him, okay?"
Marinette sagged but nodded. If she had to wait, she had to wait.
Alya led her to a table right next to the kitchen door. She would be in eyesight and earshot in case anything happened or she needed something. No one would bother her there.
A bowl of hot soup and a large hunk of bread – one her own mother had made that morning, no doubt – was brought out by one of Alya's sisters. If she remembered correctly, the girl was the youngest of the six of them. What was her name again? Danielle? Delphine? Doriane?
The girl smiled at her and patted her on the cheek, leaving her to eat in peace.
The girls would periodically check on her when they passed by, as did Marlena when she could. The youngest cleaned the bowl away when she'd finished eating, leaving her with nothing but her thoughts.
It wasn't long before the girl just younger than Alya – Marinette knew her name, Urilla – came over to her.
"Damoiselle Marinette?" she said. "Maman doesn't want you to walk home alone. She requests that you stay here tonight."
"But –"
"Please, follow me."
Urilla started back through the kitchen, pausing in the doorway while she waited for Marinette to follow. The kitchen had quieted down. Only a few people remained in there, most cleaning the dishes. They didn't look up as they slipped past.
Instead of going straight into the family's sleeping quarters, Urilla went up the stairs just to the left of the door. They went up one… two flights before Urilla took a sharp right and started down one of the hallways. It was quieter, and it smelled like fresh laundry. The stench of ale and beef was left far below them.
Urilla stopped in front of one of the doors and knocked three times. The door itself was inconspicuous, no different than any of the others. There were muffled voices and shuffling coming from inside, and then silence. After a moment, the clicking of the lock was heard, and the door opened.
Nathaniel poked his head out, clearly about to say something. He looked between the two women, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
"We can continue this at another time," he said, turning to whomever was still in the room. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."
He nodded to the two of them, leaving the door open for her to slip in.
The moment Marinette was out of the way of the door, it clicked shut behind her. She wasn't sure if Urilla or Nathaniel had closed it, but it didn't sit quite right with her. She was alone in a tavern – a private bedroom in a tavern – with a man. Her mother would be so disappointed.
She scanned the room, looking for him. He was sitting at a table near the window, eating. The spoon was halfway between the bowl and his mouth – which hung open at the sight of her. He gaped at her.
"Damoiselle Marinette," he said, as if in utter disbelief. "Princess. What… To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She watched as he transitioned from surprise to flirtatious. Really, someone ought to collar him.
"We need to talk," she said.
Author stuff cont'd.: Ah, those dreaded words.
So, quick question. Would anyone be interested if I posted some of my research on tumblr that expands upon the culture of this time and goes into a bit more of the history? It might take me a while to post them, but I'm just curious if anyone would want to kind of wanted to see everything that I researched.