"Danielle, wait." Danielle kept walking through the courtyard. For the second time today all eyes were on the Prince. All eyes accept the pair that mattered, that is. What was it with him and crowds today? His mind reverted to his initial thoughts after Danielle had slapped him. This had to be a joke. A sickly thought out and written, horrific joke to pay him back for being so stupid.
Danielle's injuries, he knew however, were not a joke. She had been struck several times apparently; one particularly brutal strike was across the face. At first Henry thought that the marks on her wrists were from being tied down. With a rope or irons, and knowing Danielle she had strained against them. But, when they had sat down together at the table in her "bedroom" he thought twice. There were gaps in the bruising as if she were bound by multiple strings. He studied them as she gazed whimsically out the window. Fingers, he thought suddenly. Somebody had been grasping her wrists with their hands, and their fingers had left that distinct bruising pattern.
But who would be holding her down, and why? No doubt Le Pieu was the culprit, but what was Danielle struggling against? He had to find out.
"Danielle, whatever happened, we can fix it. Together." She stopped walking and slowly turned to face him. "I promise" Henry finished.
"I'm afraid Sire, this is out of your control." She spoke slowly; she wanted to make him understand, without having to admit what she had done.
"The name is Henry, if you don't mind." He grimaced slightly. At the masque he had ordered her to address him by his title, one of his many regrets for the evening. "There must be something I can do to…"
"I assure you, there isn't." Danielle cut him short. "I'm afraid the only thing I can tell you is that I shall always cherish what we had. And I'm sorry I ruined it." Now Henry was really confused.
"Danielle…"
"I'm sorry." She said, and he saw that she was crying, her face twisted in misery. He made no effort to hide his own tears. He cried freely and openly as she took a few steps backward. Before she turned away for him she mouthed the words "I love you". Then she took off running.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Henry sat alone in his bedroom. He couldn't believe how much his life had changed in one day. He went from being a mindless servant to the thrown, to a jolly, love filled romantic, to feeling frantic and rejected.
There was something very wrong with Danielle's behavior. It was almost as if she were a different person. The woman he knew as fearless, and stubborn, and yet one of the softest most loving human beings ever. She was intelligent and funny and full of energy and fun. The Danielle he saw today wasn't. She looked so pale and so helpless. Lifeless in fact. Like an animated doll. The Danielle he saw today was nervous, tired and sad.
Henry knew he would never be able to close his eyes again without seeing the fear in her eyes when she had slapped him in the bedroom. That was the first time he had ever seen her frightened. What made it worse as that she had been frightened of him.
Henry knew he shouldn't have grabbed her, not after the way she had jumped at the table. But he was so desperate for answers, happy to see her, and terrified of losing her again, that it was just a reaction. She reacted out of self-defense. In her mind, he was trying to force her to stay, and she didn't want to. So, she did whatever it took to get out of that situation. But why was she on the defensive all of a sudden?
He had to know, so he had followed her outside, careful to hang back a few yards. He didn't want her to think he was giving chase. But instead of answers all he got was a shrug off. A goodbye speech.
He had cried when she took off running, oh god had he cried. He wasn't sure what had brought on the tears. Her goodbye, or his frustration. Nonetheless, the tears came. He hadn't realized he was dizzy until his knees grew weak and then it was too late. Laying on his back the sky was calm and a little cloudy. He lay there, on the ground of the courtyard until Laurent showed up inquiring as to what to do with Le Pieu.
He had no choice but to release him. After all, he had no proof of what he did, or if he even did anything. Henry did however promise him that once the truth came out, Henry would personally behead him.
He wanted to run after her, but he didn't. For some odd reason she was very skittish, and after the slapping incident, and fallowing her to the courtyard, he sadly knew he had already pushed her paranoia buttons.
Heart heavy, Henry, Laurent and the rest of the Royal Guardsmen left the estate of Pierre Le Pieu with no answers, no purpose, and no Danielle.
Henry had arrived home and met with his parents in the drawing room. He laughed sadly at their puzzled expression although he wasn't sure what they were confused about. After a few moments of idle chit chat Henry let is guard down and told the stunned King and Queen everything.
About how he and Danielle met in the apple orchard, the kiss at the Gypsy camp. How Danielle tried to tell him the truth, but he shrugged her off. He told them about all his fantasies of a life with her as his wife, babies, and happiness. To Henry's surprise his father, the Crown King of France wept when Henry explained what had happened at the church that morning. How being with Danielle meant having no excuse not to grow up and be a man.
Henry's tone grew seriously when he revealed what Paulette said at the Baroness's house. It was the Queen's turn to cry when Henry recounted stories, of abuse, starvation, exile and greed. She gasped as Henry revealed that the Baroness had been lying to her. Danielle was not engaged, and she wasn't a lowly servant. She was prisoner in her own damned home.
Henry did not tell them about Danielle's odd behavior, or the bruises. That was something he wanted to save for later. Henry took a deep breath at the end of his testimony. And soon the conversation shifted from heart felt unburdening to justice. The Baroness had lied to the Queen, and Marguerite had fallowed her lead without so much as a blink. That was grounds for immediate death. But Henry seemed to think that death was a little too dignified. He wanted to make their lives long and hard. Make them wake up and wish everyday that they were just a tad bit nicer, hadn't hit her so many times.
After much talk, a plan was formed. Jacqueline would be spared punishment because both Henry and Laurent had appealed to the King and Queen on her behalf. Paulette had told Henry the Jacqueline often snuck the servants medicine for their ailments. That she frequently warned Danielle about the Baroness's plotting, and Laurent had witnessed her helping Danielle lifts heavy barrels of vegetables at the market. All that and the fact that Jacqueline had not lied to the Royals conspired to set her free.
The plan was set into motion, and Henry had resided to his room for a moment of brief introspection. He sat down on his bed and pulled Danielle's shoe out of his pocket. He rolled it over in his hands a few times, hoping it contained some of Danielle's life force. But it didn't. Or if it did, he couldn't feel it. He felt so empty.
"Henry?" The Queen opened Henry's door and walked in. Henry heard her sigh when she saw the look on his face. She sat down on the bed next to him. Henry took the opportunity to ask his mother a question that had been on his mind since they he left Le Pieu's.
"Mother, when a man forces himself unto a woman, what kind of … damage does that do to her?" The Queen's mouth dropped open. She was stunned. She couldn't have heard that correctly.
"Why Henry," She began, unable to determine how to answer. "Why would you ask such a thing??
Henry, spoke clearly in a matter of fact tone. "When we raided Le Pieu's office Danielle was in there with him. She had the biggest bruise on one side of her face. Her bottom lip. It looked like a savage dog had bitten it. And her wrists had the oddest pattern of bruising I had ever seen. They were finger marks, mother. Someone had held her down. That was just what I could see, I can't imagine…." Henry trailed off.
"You can't imagine the damage beneath her clothes?" The Queen guessed.
"Yes. And the whole way home and the whole time I was talking to you and now sitting up here I keep asking myself why a man would hold a woman down. And why a woman would fight so hard to be free, and I keep coming up with the same god damned answer, and I don't like it!! I don't like IT!!" Henry stood up abruptly. He clenched and unclenched his fists angrily.
"Did Danielle tell you she was raped, Henry?" Henry locked eyes with his mother. Soon his expression melted, and for the first time he let the severity of the situation sink in. Pierre Le Pieu had taken the most beautiful girl in the world, held her down and force himself inside her.
Suddenly it all made sense. Danielle had told him that he couldn't fix it. That the situation was out of his control. She was right, he couldn't fix it, but he would make sure that the responsible party was punished.
The Queen watched the rush of emotions spill over Henry's face, and almost as if she could hear his thoughts she said, "First let us handle the De Ghent's, tomorrow we'll deal with that madman."