Chapter Seven: A Detour and a Lesson in Passion
The ride the carriage rocked slowly over bumps, and jolted over sudden holes. The passengers of the carriage were silent. Each lost in their own thoughts. Henry sat across from his parents. His eyes studied the passing scenery.
This was supposed to be one of the happiest trips of his life. He had made plans for this trip, oh his grand plans. And now they were dust scattered in the wind. Meaningless, empty.
He had told the servant Paulette to make the Baroness believe that he wished to marry Marguerite and that he would take care of the rest. But so much had happened since then. When he said it, he imagined that he would ride to Le Pieu's whisk Danielle away, ride to the Palace and be married.
Then after a little alone time with his new bride, he and his parents would get all dressed up and head to the manor of the Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent. The family would arrive and make idol chit chat, catch the Baroness in a few lies and return home. The next day, they'd send a carriage for them. Of course the Baroness and Marguerite would think that this invitation to the Palace was a sure sign of a proposal in the works. How shocked they would be when Danielle and Henry came into the court, arm in arm, crowned and in love. Then in front of the entire court they would be forced to beg Danielle for their lives. Danielle, being the compassionate creature she was would, no doubt allow them to live. But she would have the satisfaction of stripping them of all nobility and sending them off to forever man the horses.
But that fantasy died the second he laid eyes on Danielle in Le Pieu's office. This wasn't going to be as easy as he hoped. There may be no happily ever after for he and Danielle.
He didn't enter the drawing room of the Palace expecting to tell his parents everything. It just happened. Somehow he needed proof of his own bad luck. His parents took the story surprisingly well. And Henry wondered why they hadn't asked why Danielle refused him. Come to think of it, his mother had acted like she already knew. But how?
And Henry didn't like the way mother had spoken to him in his bedroom. She seemed to be a little too knowledgeable on the subject. Henry could not argue however that she didn't make a few good points. It was stupid of him to think that Danielle would just jump into his arms and be happy that she had been saved. The poor girl was hurt, and humiliated, and scared half to death.
No. If he were going to fix this, he'd have to find some other way to get through to her. The Prince act wasn't going to cut it.
He had to think of something.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Danielle had never been so happy to see the river in all her life. She stepped out of the dense forest and unto the very beach she had first met Leonardo Da Vinci. She was surprised to feel herself smile at the memory. She had been swimming alone at the time. Leonardo was trying out one of his inventions right in that very spot. How startled she had been to look up at the sky and see a man walking on water. Had she died? Was this Jesus? She asked no questions, simply screamed, knocking him clear out of his shoes.
That had been a good day, just like all the other days leading up to the masque. Then everything she held so dear seemed to disappear all at once. She felt the tears come again, but stopped herself before they were shed. 'No. No more tears' she thought to herself. She was sick of crying.
Danielle perked her ears. She could have sworn that she heard something odd. She stood very still. There it was again. Rusting in the bushes, and she thought she heard voices. Angry voices.
"There she is!!" A gruff voice came from behind her. She spun around quickly to see an overweight man and skinny boy about her age standing on the edge of the forest. They were pointing in her direction. Danielle assumed that they were some of Le Pieu's men. She spun her head wildly for a moment, scanning for an escape route. If she ran for the woods she'd be running into the waiting arms of the thugs. And besides the terrain was a lot easier to climb down then it was to climb up. Danielle had no choice but to run for the river and dive in. she heard the crashing of waves behind her as the two men fallowed her into the river. She swam as fast as she could, but her dress was weighing her down. She never looked back at the men but she could hear them cursing and complaining as they struggled against the current.
Finally she reached the beach on the other side of the river. She crawled unto the warm sand and struggled to her feet, sure that Le Pieu's thugs were right behind her. The trail up the cliff was steep and narrow, but adrenaline was surging though Danielle's veins, and she made it to the top swiftly.
Once she breeched the hill, Danielle allowed herself to turn around and look down on the progress of the two men. She was puzzled when she did not see them on the trail. And as she took a few steps back she could clearly see the beach, and they weren't there either. Finally, she scanned the river itself and was shocked to see that the two men hadn't made it across the river. Instead, they had retreated back to the opposite side and even from this distance she could hear them shouting.
Danielle laughed at this. It was nice to know that when push came to shove she was still a fighter. After a few minutes she realized she had a more serious problem. Her house was on the other side of the river. What was she going to do now? No doubt, she couldn't just cross the water again, and who knew how many men Le Pieu had scouring these woods. Danielle remembered that the river bent about a mile down, leading the water in the opposite direction from the manor. So fallowing it was out of the question.
What to do. What to do?
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"How much longer?" Henry asked his mother impatiently.
"Relax, dear." The Queen said reaching over and resting her hand on her son's.
"It's not too late to just call the whole thing off." Francis reiterated.
"No." Henry said flatly. "That woman and her vicious daughter have tortured my lovely Danielle for over a decade, they must pay!" Henry's eyes grew wild, and he heard his mother draw a quick breath.
"I understand this Henry, and for once we are in agreement. However, I do not understand why this couldn't have been done at the Palace. Why must we enter their home?" Francis studied his son. He sat by the window, his elbow resting on the wall of the carriage. His cheek, which was flushed considerably with anger, was resting on his closed fist. His left leg bobbed up and down continually. A sure sign that he was nervous.
"Because. Because I want sit across their table knowing what the servant woman has told me. I want that horrible, ugly girl, and that evil witch of a woman to look me in the eye and lie to me!! And then after all is done and they feel confident in their position, I want to take everything they have away!! I WANT, I NEED to see all the blood drain out of their faces when they realize that I don't give a DAMN what happened at the masque!! That I love Danielle, and that's never going to change." Henry shifted so that he was facing his father, his hands making wild gestures as he spoke. To Francis, the passion in Henry's voice was striking. For years Francis had hoped to see this kind of determination arise in his son. He had pushed Henry to learn hunting, and riding. Paid the finest tutors to teach him math, science and history. Hoping every time that Henry would find that one thing that drove his being. That one thing that he could commit himself to fully. A few times Francis saw the beginnings of conviction brewing in his son, but it always fizzled in a day or two.
But this, this was totally different. Henry not only showed passion, and conviction. But Francis had noticed his son had been a lot more mellow and talkative around the house. Merry, in fact. A few of his best, most trusted servants had stated that Henry was a lot less hostile, and negative. One in particular reported that his eyes twinkled and he had a certain bounce in his step.
Who could have guessed that after years of tutors, lessons, and fighting the thing that motivated Henry would turn out to be a common servant girl?
"Of course, son." Francis simply replied. Henry regained his position of staring out the window. When the carriage changed angles as it began to climb, and Henry could see the hay stacks in the distant field a devilish smile crept over his face. He had climbed this very hill just this morning. The first time it was love and hope that drove him closer to his destination. This time it was revenge.
He wasn't sure which time was sweeter.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The wind creaking through the forest had picked up a bit, and soon a rash of goose bumps perky up on Danielle's skin. Her dress was soaked still, as well as her hair. Her teeth chattered wildly as she made her way through the thick brush that was the forest floor.
Danielle had weighed her options closely, unable to find a solution to her problem. She had stood on the high cliff overlooking the river for a long time, thinking to no avail. It was only the pinks and reds of sunset that spoke of the severity of situation. Soon the sun would go down, and the air would grow cold. She was soaking wet, and unless she either found shelter, or made a fire, then she was sure she would perish. If not from the cold, then from some hungry animal.
It was then that she realized that the Gypsy camp wasn't very far from the river. If she could make it to the camp before sundown then surely the Gypsies would offer her food, and possibly some dry clothing. After all, it was less then a week ago that she and Henry had feasted and danced with them. They had to remember her. They just had to.
And if by some off chance Le Pieu's men were still out looking for her, Danielle knew they would never mess with the Gypsies.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Paulette, I thought I already told you to dust that chaise!"
"Yes, and I did Madam."
"Well, do it again!! Louise, where on earth are the appetizers? The Royals will be famished from their long trip!! Are you trying to kill them!!"
"No madam, I just finished slicing the ingredients, I just need to arrange them on a plate."
"What ARE you waiting for!! Are you people all dense!! The Royal family is on their way to this house at this moment! And if they have less then a glorious time, and things do not turn out the way I wanted, I assure you, you all will pay!"
Maurice could hardly tame his laughter as the Baroness' shrill voice echoed through the house. She had been screaming and threatening since the Prince's initial visit that morning and as the time drew nearer and nearer, her voice grew louder and louder.
"Can you believe her?" Maurice heard Jacqueline's voice as she dashed into the kitchen. He turned around and giggled at the look of merriment on Jacqueline's face.
"She certainly is beside herself, isn't she?" He asked laughing,
"Indeed she is." Jacqueline wasted no time in beginning to arrange appetizers in an elaborate pattern on a plate that was way too fancy. "I have to admit, this is rather fun."
"I agree. Might I say something without you being upset of me?"
"Of course you may."
"I'm quite glad I received the opportunity to see what a lovely lady you are, Jacqueline." Jacqueline said nothing, although her cheeks reddened considerably. Maurice turned back to the vegetables he was chopping.
"THEY'RE HERE!!! THEY'RE HERE!!" He heard the Baroness shriek.
Outside, Henry and his parents exited the carriage and lead by their Servicemen made their way to the front door. The door swung open before the lead Serviceman could even knock. The Baroness, wide eyed and sweating was wearing the most expensive dress she owned with the biggest set of pearls Henry had ever seen around her neck.
"I announce the presence of your Royal Highness', King Francis, Queen Marie, and Prince Henry of France."
"Your Highness'," the Baroness responded, "might I begin by saying what an honor it is to have you here."
"The pleasure is all mine," Henry boasted, "Please, may we come in?"
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Okay, I know this is a horrible time to do this, and you all are going to kill me, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say a few things. First off, I'd like to give a big, big THANK YOU to all those who have taken an interest in my story. Although this is not the first fan fiction I've written, it is the first one that I've ever let people read. It is also my first Ever After fan fiction. I wanted to thank all of the nice people who've given such great encouragement and support with their reviews, don't think for a moment that I do not appreciation it!! I do!!
I also wanted to say that I know that reading a story with such a serious subject matter can be hard, and I'm sure a few of you wish they did not start reading. But as I stated in my author's note in Chapter one, Danielle's pain is a reflection of my own pain, and therefore, this story is deeply personal to me. I know it is not a fun story to read at times, but I feel it was one that needed to be written. Thank you all for giving this a chance, and for proving that not all tragedy is in vain.
If you have any questions or comments, hell, if you just wanna talk, my email address is Moonfire013@yahoo.com. Or if you feel like chatting live and in person, so to speak my SN on AOL is Moonfire013. Again, Thank you all!!
Until next time,
Treasure Life,
Blessed Be and Merry Part,
Azriel Roman Brock