Chapter 27
Silence reigned in the FitzStewart household. Silence and dread.
The children (who hadn't been told about what had happened) had long since been sent out with their nannies while three out of the four remaining adults – Margaret, Noel and a now exhausted Dr Potts – were in the sitting room, nursing lukewarm teacups in their hands. Laurens had been given a room upstairs – weak as he was, he couldn't do anything but rest.
It hadn't been easy, but somehow Potts had managed to save the butler's life. He was still very much in danger – infection had yet to be ruled out – but for now he was hanging in there. His wounds were the stuff of nightmares: both of his legs were broken, so was his left arm, he had two black eyes, a broken nose, several broken ribs, a stab wound to the abdomen, a split lip and there wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't covered in bruises. He'd been lucky that the stab wound wasn't deep and that it hadn't hurt any vital organs – otherwise, he would have most likely bled to death on the spot. Since he'd been wearing numerous layers of clothing on the day of the attack, they had somewhat protected his abdomen when he'd been stabbed.
would take him a long time to recover – probably months, Potts believed – but as long as he was able to tell them what had happened to C.C. and the baby, they'd be satisfied. He'd actually woken up and spoken some when Potts had first started treating him, but he hadn't been able to say more than a few (if vital) words: C.C. was alive. Alive, but in dire need of help.
Laurens had managed to tell them that Joseph had sent her away somewhere until she had her baby, whom he'd sold to her captors. The last thing he'd said before falling back into unconsciousness, was that she was going to be kept alive until the child was born. Then, she was to be executed.
It had left everybody else's minds racing, with nowhere for the thoughts to go. Margaret had tried to explain as best she could to her husband what had happened – she'd seen Niles with some sort of ring in the room where they'd found Laurens, but she hadn't been able to make head nor tail of why he'd thrown it away so violently, or why he had insisted on returning to the palace, rather than coming with them.
Potts could only guess that that had something to do with the prince's father, as so many things often did. The couple hadn't been able to fault that logic, either, especially not with Niles and C.C. having to keep their marriage a secret from the man, simply to preserve their love and their growing family...
But after that one point – that it had something to do with King Joseph – the trail had quickly grown cold. Much like their tea, as they sat and waited with it, all deep in thought and none particularly thirsty.
It was hard to be, after a day such as theirs. And it wasn't even over yet – Niles would have to return at some point, to hear if there was any news, and the hours before would be relived all over again.
In truth, all three people sat around that table were concerned about telling him. They didn't like to be the bearers of bad news, but somehow bringing no news felt even worse.
It felt like swinging on a great pendulum, back and forth between two outcomes, with no idea which one you would find yourself stuck with, in the end. It was frustrating anticipation, and none of them were prepared to tell the man who'd had the worst day of all that there was nothing to make it better yet.
Well, two of them were thinking that. Noel was staring into his cup with the kind of anger that burned hot enough to make the tea warm again. That was, if he didn't accidentally crush the fine-bone china first!
The prince had promised to protect his little sister, no matter what, and yet this had happened! He'd looked them all in the eye and told them that she'd be safe from everyone and everything, and mere months later, he'd let her get kidnapped!
He didn't care if anybody protested at that choice of word. Niles could've done anything to make sure his lodge was protected – more guards, a watchman or several on the road – and yet he'd been lax about it! He could've sent C.C. off to France the minute he'd known she was pregnant, but he hadn't done that, either!
At best, it was a stupid decision. At worst, it was pure selfishness that he had kept her there when he knew damn well that it wasn't safe.
And Noel, right then, didn't see an awful lot of difference between the two.
Had his father been alive, he was certain he'd be disappointed in him – he'd failed C.C.. He'd failed his family, and Noel didn't think he'd be able to live with that. He should have never allowed her to marry the damn prince. He should have taken her away from that damn palace the very first moment she'd showed up at his door on the arm of that arsehole!
He'd known that his sister's union with the prince would spell trouble for her, but instead of actually telling her, he'd stayed quiet, like a lily-livered coward! He'd failed her as a brother, and she was paying the price.
Noel had to shut his eyes tightly – he didn't want to think about what those bastards could be doing to her right then! Still, the images kept coming, like tidal waves, hitting him with growing strength and making him feel like he was being dragged into the depths of a pitch black ocean.
"Sweetheart are you alright?"
His wife's worried voice brought him out of his dark thoughts with staggering speed. Unfortunately, they were replaced with others. Different ones, despite the kindness and love she was using to keep him together.
He appreciated it, but what could he possibly tell her? No, he wasn't alright, and here was a list of possible violations being carried out right then on his sister that made him not alright? Or how about no, and it was all his fault for not stopping C.C. from becoming the legal plaything of a prince who'd clearly loved himself more than he had his wife?!
He should've known that would be the case. Prince Niles had been famous for using women, before he'd married C.C., and his tendency to put himself before them had clearly carried over! He might not have been sleeping around with whores left, right and centre (as far as Noel knew, anyway, even if this did make him have his doubts), but this proved that he didn't love her like he'd said he did.
It made Noel wonder a small amount if the prince had actually loved her at all, and not just thought her some fanciful novelty that would end in his bed, like things always did.
He regretted ever attending their wedding, that was for certain. He'd never have given his blessing if he'd known that Niles wouldn't keep to even the most basic of the vows that he'd made...!
But he couldn't vent all of this to Margaret. She had enough of her own worries, as it was, and he didn't think it would be right of him to push all of his feelings onto her. Especially not when they were so angry, they could become hostile.
He wanted to save all of that for when the prince arrived.
He could easily complete the job that he'd nearly carried out on the cad before, now...
"As much as I can be, my love," he replied to his wife. "There is no need to concern yourself..."
Not with things that didn't have to concern her, anyway. Not this time, when she would already be too nervous to do much except pace if she didn't have a tea in her hand.
Noel could handle the responsibility by himself. Margaret either knew this, too, or she had simply chosen to accept it, so she left it at that once she'd gotten an answer.
In truth, she was still quietly wondering why her husband had gone so silent, and why he'd dismissed her question so quickly; even in his gentle insistence that he was fine, there was an underlying something to his entire form that made her worry. But she couldn't tell what that was, and over the next few minutes, she tried to puzzle it out.
She was still muddling it over, occasionally engaging in short chat with the doctor while her husband continued to sit silently, when they heard the front door of the shop bang open and closed, before heavy footsteps dragged across the floorboards into the back of the building.
Niles had arrived at last.
He shuffled into the room, looking every inch a man who'd been beaten down by life, before being beaten several inches below the ground for good measure. He looked like he was in mourning – his entire frame appeared to be sinking into some shadowy pit from whence it could never return, and his whole body position and facial expression suggested he was tense, like he was holding in a scream that he longed to be able to release into the wide, open world.
But how could he not look that way, when his pregnant wife was somewhere out there, frightened and possibly hurt, and he had barely an idea of where to start looking for her? Margaret could see the excruciating pain that he must've been in, and it broke her heart to not be able to put a complete end to it.
She was going to get up, go to him, and start to try to explain that Laurens had spoken a bit (to try and soften the blow and offer hope), but a flash of colourful clothing dashed past and made it to him before she could.
Noel snarled directly into the prince's face the moment he was within a good distance, "You've got some nerve, showing yourself here, after what you've done!"
Margaret's jaw immediately dropped, "Noel! What is the meaning of this?!"
How could her husband do such a thing?! The poor man had already been through the most terrible experience imaginable, and yet here he was, berating him as though it were his fault?! What kind of a person did that, when they already knew what he had been through?!
"You don't have to get involved, Margaret," Noel warned her over his shoulder, before turning back to the prince with a scowl. "I'm taking care of this, once and for all! Just like I should've done back before C.C. married him!"
Margaret had the terrible realisation then that this was what had been keeping her husband so silent before. This burning resentment that had clearly been building inside was now coming to the surface again!
And that was what shocked the most – that it simply had been below the surface. She'd known he'd hated Niles at the start, but when they'd seen that he truly loved Noel's sister, that had looked like it had all gone away!
Noel hadn't felt the need to be the protective big brother anymore. Or, it hadn't looked like he had...
She could only stand and watch, horrified, as her husband verbally laid into the prince again.
"This is all your doing," he spat at Niles. "If it weren't for you, my sister would be here, right now, and everything would be right with the world! But you had to go and be selfish about it, didn't you?! You left her by herself and now, look what you've done!"
Niles was too miserable to even argue with him. He knew that Noel was right. If it weren't for him, everything would be alright with the world. C.C. would still be in it; living and laughing and loving the right person – a man who could protect her, and keep her in the life that she deserved. Just as he had failed to do. He'd been selfish to keep her at his lodge, rather than send her somewhere more secure, and now she had paid the price for it!
Her and their unborn baby. They'd barely gotten to start a life together, and yet hers had already come to an end! And every little stupid decision that he'd made had led up to it all happening!
His love. His family. He'd ended them both, without even realising. How could he be such a stupid, useless, selfish bastard, who didn't think of the consequences of his actions?!
He'd thought he was past that stage of his life. But he'd clearly been wrong.
And he could only burst into tears as a reply to Noel's vicious but correct words.
He never should've even come! Not to stay for any length of time, anyway. All he was doing was hurting a family – C.C.'s real family – that could be left to grieve with a simple message, and not the presence of the man who'd doomed her...!
If it weren't for him, they'd all be living the happiest lives they could, together, and he had torn that apart...just as everything was tearing him apart, right now. It was a fitting punishment, for what he'd done. He could only hope his beloved could forgive him, wherever she and their baby were.
Even if he didn't deserve it.
"I'm...I'm sorry-y-y!" he sobbed, unable to contain himself. He had to get it all out. "I did everything – I swear, I tried! I could've killed my father when...when I returned to the palace! I grabbed him! I punched him, several times! I would've beaten him to death, if he hadn't told me...if he hadn't told me C.C. and the baby were dead...!"
Noel hadn't been intending to listen intently (he'd have preferred to let it all fall on deaf ears), but he soon hadn't been able to help himself.
And something stuck out.
King Joseph had told his son that C.C. and the baby were dead...?! That wasn't what Laurens had seemed to suggest, in the moment he'd been awake and lucid – he'd said she'd been sent away somewhere!
Laurens had no reason to lie. He'd only been doing his job when the killing had started, and he'd gotten caught up in the moment C.C. had been captured. But Joseph had every reason in the world to lie; especially if he wanted his son to stop looking for the wife he had married in secret...
Noel thought he could fall down at that moment, feeling like he was dropping out of the air even as he thought. It was a lie – all of it! And therein was contained the real evil, behind this entire plot!
It took a special sort of monster to lie about murder, simply so somebody who was alive would never be found! And what a monster that made King Joseph! Lying to his only son, simply to get his own way?! How cruel, selfish and barbaric could one person possibly be?!
Noel imagined the faces of his own children then. He'd never even dream of lying to them, about anything! He didn't see how one man who could claim to love his son would do the complete opposite by not telling him the truth!
He couldn't do it. He just couldn't!
But even if Joseph's words had been completely and utterly evil, it had been Noel's that had pushed Niles over the edge.
Noel felt his own heart sinking into his stomach, his skin burning with the shame of knowing what he'd done. He'd been an embarrassment, to his sister and to himself, with his overprotectiveness. He'd been far too harsh on Niles; he realised that now, just when it was too late.
How had he not seen it before? The prince was clearly completely distraught; the jeweller didn't think he'd ever seen someone cry so hard in all his years, and it only got worse as the man sank to his knees before he fell entirely to the floor! It told of utter heartbreak, fear beyond words, unimaginable pain...
Things he'd thought Niles didn't really feel – couldn't really feel, over losing C.C. like this, but it was now becoming obvious that he'd been wrong.
He didn't even know how he'd begin to make up for it, either. What could he possibly do? There weren't any words that could make this better, were there? All he could probably try to do was calm the prince down, and even that felt like something of a cop out.
But he couldn't just leave him there on the ground either, could he? Nothing would be made better at all if he stayed there. Perhaps some...comforting words? That had to help encourage him off the floor, didn't it?
He tried crouching down and reaching out to pat awkwardly at Niles' shoulder.
"Oh...Your Royal Highness...it's...it's alright..."
"Of course it isn't, you daft prat! Out of the way," Margaret interjected, shoving Noel away from the prince. "Come, sir, sit down. Let us offer you a cup of tea…"
Niles wanted to say no. To refuse their kindness and run away in shame, probably somewhere where he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. He'd failed the two most important people in his life and, by extension, to these good people – people who had welcomed him in their home and into their family with open arms.
He was unworthy of them. He was unworthy of life.
But, frail as he was, he couldn't really deny Margaret, nor did he resist when she gently walked him to the nearest flat surface – a sofa – on which he could sit. Actually, it was more like collapse. A steaming teacup was soon in his hands, and his sister-in-law was sat at his side, gently rubbing his back as he continued to sob his eyes out.
"It's alright, brother dear, it's alright," she said in a soothing, motherly voice – the type of voice his own mother would always use to console him whenever he got hurt, back when he'd been little.
Not that it was helping – no amount of kind words would ease the searing pain that the loss of his wife and child had caused. No amount of kind words would ever lessen the guilt that now weighed down on him. No amount of kind words would make life have meaning again.
He was done. There was nothing to look forward to; no dream family to go to at night, no loving wife to have and to hold, no warm, happy home to build alongside the love of his life. It had all been taken away – ripped from his breast with ruthless indifference by a tyrant who he'd once thought a god among men.
He'd been nothing but a blind fool. A blind, stupid, unreliable fool, and his wife and child had paid the price for it.
If only it had been him, instead. He would've insisted – begged – that the brutes who'd done the deed had taken him in place of her! He didn't care if he was the heir, he would've made them do it!
Anything, to keep his love and their precious little one alive.
He would've seen that they were quick about it, or else threatened his own life if they even thought about so much as touching C.C.. They would've either obeyed, or he would've been dead. His father – the bastard who had done this, as he would forever be known – would've had to find somebody else to take the throne after him.
Ironically, he might've had to accept the baby then...
It hurt too much to think about. It was a better future, in his mind – one where C.C. had lived, even as his widow, and their child had grown to become the next monarch. A king or queen raised by a beautiful and kind princess, who had never gotten to sit on the throne that would've been rightfully hers...
He would've watched over them, instead of them over him, and he would've blessed their daily lives whenever possible. Even...even going so far as to bless a marriage, if C.C. eventually met some tall, handsome, powerful nobleman, who could make her happy and treat their child as though it were his own.
He would not wish her to be alone, as he was. And would always be.
"It's not alright..." he shook his head, managing to get that out, even though it hurt his chest to try and speak. "I've lost everything...! My wife...my child...oh, God...!"
The pain had grown so much that he could only dissolve into a fresh round of tears.
It shattered Margaret's heart to see him in such a state – especially when she knew it was a lie that had gotten him to think such a terrible thing in the first place! They all knew that Joseph would say any awful, evil thing he could to keep his son from being happy with the woman he loved, but it only seemed to be Niles who hadn't realised that it was a lie!
How horrible had his father been to him, when he'd told him?! How malicious and nasty could the words have been said that the prince had believed them straight away, without any evidence to the contrary?!
The entire kingdom knew that Joseph was a cruel, vindictive man, but what had he done before that had been so vicious – to his only son – that the murder of a pregnant woman could be considered real without a doubt?
Margaret hoped she'd never have to find out, otherwise she thought she might storm up to the palace and give the king a beating! She knew all these years that she'd been living under a tyrant, but seeing the man's son – her brother-in-law, who loved his wife so very much – utterly destroyed by his untrue words made her blood boil hotter than the water she'd used to prepare the tea!
But she couldn't let her feelings get the better of her. Not when she could relieve the prince's suffering, long before she'd ever manage to cause the king any whatsoever.
She hesitated, before reaching out to gently lay a hand on his arm.
"Your Royal Highness, there is no need to despair!"
Niles obviously heard her words, because he looked up with tear-stricken eyes and an expression that shouted from the rooftops that he not only didn't believe her, but that he was also angry that she'd said such a thing.
"How can I not despair?! My wife and child were murdered and I couldn't stop it!"
He nearly didn't finish his words, the pain hurt so badly in his chest. It was as though his heart had not only shattered, but burst too, and now the shards were ripping through him like arrowheads in the most dreadful combat he'd ever seen...
He wished it would kill him. He wanted to end it all, right then and there, so that he wouldn't have to suffer without his family. England could go hang, without his beloved or their little one there beside him – none of it was worth it; not the crown, nor the power, nor the people...
Especially not some of the people. Men he'd see dead, for what they had done to her! Done to the baby, who'd yet to even see an hour of life!
He'd find them all. And the warrants for their executions were already signed when–
"Your wife is not dead, sir!" Margaret's voice cut clear across his vow, desperate but comforting, too. "She has merely been taken away and is being held captive!"
The shock of the statement was enough to get Niles to stop crying, but it didn't mean that he believed it. How could he? His own father had said what he'd done! It was obvious to anybody and everybody how much he'd always hated C.C., so why wouldn't he just get rid of her when he'd had the chance?! Letting her live for longer than necessary wasn't like his father at all.
But...where would Margaret have gotten the information about C.C. being held captive in the first place? There hadn't been any clues at the lodge, that suggested anybody was heading in any particular direction!
He sniffed, and used the opportunity to wipe at his eyes, moving his arm out of her hand's reach, "How do you know? My father told me in person, while I was beating it out of him – how did you get your information?!"
"Laurens woke up," Margaret replied immediately. "Briefly, anyway. We heard him say that C.C. had been taken to a noble house somewhere against her will! They plan to keep her alive until she gives birth, because the child has been sold to the family who lives there. Then, she will be executed. He could not say where they lived, or who they were before falling unconscious again, but we he important thing is that your wife is alive right now, and so is your child!"
If it were possible to feel like one had been running, only for a brick wall to suddenly materialise and cause you to slam right into it, that was how Niles felt on hearing her words.
Laurens...he'd managed to tell them, in a short spell when he had been awake?!
The prince's eyes snapped to the doctor, demanding clarification and confirmation without speaking the words.
Potts nodded earnestly, "It is true, Your Royal Highness...! He was conscious for a short period of time, in which he managed to tell us what Mrs FitzStewart has already explained. Your lady wife is alive and your child will be as well."
Niles didn't even feel it, as he dropped his cup of tea on the floor. Nor did he hear his own cry of bewildered relief, mixed with fear at the thought of his wife living on time dictated by her pregnancy and the rage of his own father lying to him.
Lying to him, as though he thought he'd forget all about his love the moment he'd thought she was dead, when she was truly alive and living on time borrowed before she was executed!
As though he'd move on and never hurt or think about her or their baby – the baby that Joseph had sold as though it were some common trinket, not a living, breathing little miracle! Not his own grandchild!
If it were up to Niles, the only person who would never be remembered by history would be the man who'd carried it all out in the first place! He'd see to it that his father was erased, the minute it was possible!
All he could feel after that mental declaration was a strange relief in his chest, like the pieces of his heart no longer tearing through him but starting to tentatively make their way back to where they belonged. It wasn't joy – he wouldn't feel that yet, but it was a thousand times better than unending and unimaginable pain.
And all he could hear was the echo in his head, ringing louder and louder until it consumed every other thought, making him dizzy as it did.
His wife was alive, their baby was alive, his wife was alive, their baby was alive...
They were alive. They were not gone from him completely, and he could get them back! He could have his family, just as he wanted, whole and happy and complete, and he'd curse his father into his own grave with retaliation over the lie that he'd told him!
He'd show Joseph that he hadn't won. He'd get C.C. back – he'd send out every man he had looking, day and night, until they found her! He didn't care how many hours it took, it would happen before the baby was born!
As much as he didn't want to think it, he had to face the fact. They were on a time limit, just as Laurens had warned them. She'd have outlived her use (in those monsters' eyes) as soon as the baby was born, and there would be no other option but to get rid of her!
Time was running like an hourglass that had just been turned over, and the grains of sand were running fast.
He leapt up from his seat, not knowing what to say, do or where to begin. He was almost sure he wanted to burst into tears again, relief washing over his entire being.
His love was alive. She wasn't alright, but she was alive, and that was more than he had been able to hope for before. Now that he knew, he could find out wherever she was and get her back.
They had to start looking right away, if they had a hope of finding her before it was too late! The baby wasn't long due, and the days would go by faster than he wanted them to, whether he liked it or not.
He had to get to her, before the baby came. It was the only way to get his family back – to stop his wife's murder and their baby being sold!
The mere idea was sickening. It was beyond wicked, and part of Niles still struggled to believe that his own father had been capable of doing something like that. Another, much more sensible part, though, wasn't in the least bit surprised. His father was ruthless – he was willing to do anything and everything, if it meant getting what he wanted. It was just that he'd never imagined, not even for one second, that he would ever attempt against his own son's happiness.
Clearly, his father was more of a stranger to him that he'd previously thought.
Maybe…maybe he'd never really known him.
That was a depressing thought to have. He'd never thought he'd have to choose between his father and his own family. Still, the choice was clear, and Niles would gladly cast his father out rather than spend one single second away from his wife and child.
He had to get moving on a plan of action, and the first step would be to ask around as much as possible. He'd do it as subtly as possible, too, by sending out messengers, pages, friends, mercenaries – anybody he could pay to get the job done, or trust to give back what he needed, without asking questions – to get him whatever scraps of information they could pick up. He'd ask around the court and the council, too, to get a picture of exactly who his father had been seen talking to most recently.
If he could get some names, he could draw up a list of suspects.
And then he'd send as many men as he could get to go and search their homes.
It probably sounded easier like that than it would be in real life, but he was past the point of caring about what was easiest. He was getting his family back, one way or another, and he wasn't going to let any little complications stop him from doing that!
It was, at least, the beginnings of a plan. But he had to return to the palace if he was ever going to get started. So, bidding his remorseful brother-in-law and encouraging sister-in-law farewell, he and Potts began to make their way back to the palace.
He intended to tell the doctor everything on the way, of course.
After all, he was going to need at least one person at court that he could rely on to keep this rescue mission a secret.
Joseph knew that he was going to be bruised when he woke up in the morning, and the cut on his lip might sting for a while, but it would all be worth it in the end. He'd had worse war wounds and battle scars than what Niles had inflicted – if anything, he'd had worse injuries from whores at the brothels, when they'd gotten overexcited!
The boy had gotten soft. Probably because of that pregnant slut, too. She'd certainly managed to turn everything else upside down around the palace; it would only be making an educated guess that she'd worked her whore's black magic there, as well.
It was better that he thought she was dead. He wouldn't go looking for her, that way. The girl would have that little bastard, who'd go to a good, decent family, and then she'd disappear off the face of the Earth.
Just thinking about how his plan was going perfectly had given him enough peace of mind to continue working, but it wasn't long before he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Trying not to sigh aloud in too much frustration, he put down his quill and turned in his chair, "Enter."
It was Marie who entered, which nearly made Joseph roll his eyes. He should've known that she'd come running as soon as she'd heard what'd happened! Niles had probably told her everything, and now she was there to scream at him to do something – to tell the truth, to get the girl back to court, to make up with his son, as though Joseph had done anything wrong whatsoever...!
He wasn't going to back down, though. He knew he had done the right thing, no matter what his wife thought of some stupid little whore who could've had it easy, if she'd just known her place.
It might've even been his bastard that she'd be carrying by now, if she'd done that. Not that he would've let her keep it there – they'd have both been out on the street before you could say "FitzRoy", at best, or she'd have been made to "deal with the problem" at worst.
Either way, he was more than prepared to stand his ground against Marie.
"What do you want? Have you come to tell me what a terrible excuse for a man I am, before demanding that I permit my son to flaunt his whore at court?"
He'd expected her to spit an insult back at him for referring to the Babcock girl in such a manner. After all, that slut had been her favourite lady-in-waiting, and was now her so-called "daughter-in-law". She might have been angry at her before, but marriage between the little slut and Niles had to have turned the tide on that little fact, didn't it? Them being legally declared man and wife could only have magically restored the girl's honour, thereby allowing her back into Marie's affections.
Marie had probably been in on the whole conspiracy to get them paired off from the start anyway, in the hopes of preventing the girl from being used as the prime venison she was – Marie had been so dead set on the two of them being able to spend time together, "getting to know" one another, as though men and women could ever be friends!
Women weren't for friendship, and love was...well, whatever it was, it wasn't important to the conversation! If he had to say such a thing to his wife, he would've expected her to start cursing, and shouting and berating him for everything that had gone on.
But what he got as he waited for her answer was...the complete opposite?
Instead, Marie offered him a smile as she came in, hands folded meekly in front of her, but her hips swaying some, from side to side.
"Why on Earzh would I do zhat, mon amour?" she purred, starting to grin. "I came 'ere because I...oh, mon Dieu!"
Her face fell drastically in that moment (in the same time it took for Joseph to become confused at the term of endearment), and she rushed to his side, clutching at his arm with one hand, all the while gingerly touching his face with the other.
"What did zhat eediotic boy do to you?!" she cried out, though it was more like gushing, and practically turned into gushing when she half-climbed into his lap and started planting butterfly kisses along his cheeks. "Oh, my poor, brave 'usband...!"
Even with her breasts almost directly in his face (which he enjoyed and appreciated very much), Joseph still couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing.
What the Devil had come over her?! Why was she being like this? Hadn't she come to lecture him for making their son cry? She wouldn't be on his side for such a thing! She certainly never had been in the past!
...Wouldn't she? She was being awfully attentive, and was prattling on about how they had to get his wounds seen to by Potts as soon as possible. What…what on Earth was going on?! His wife usually barely tolerated his face, let alone wanted to kiss it and caress it as though it belonged to a lover!
Had…had she hit her head? Was she delirious? Was she sick or mentally unwell?
"What are you doing, woman?" he snapped. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"What eez zhe meaning of what, my love?" she replied, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Can't a wife be concerned for 'er 'usband?"
Joseph scowled, "In your case, the answer would most definitely be "no"! Now, I won't ask again – just what do you think you are playing at?!"
He wasn't going to stand for any...unusual behaviour, especially when he knew that it meant something was amiss! And that wasn't simply the fact that Marie wasn't shoving those magnificent breasts of hers into his face and staying there for as long as he liked, either! Even if that was something that was slightly amiss, it wasn't something he was going to question – he was annoyed, but he wasn't blind! Any hot-blooded male would understand, and expect him to mount first, ask questions later (if he even cared about them by the end of it!).
There were so many strange occurrences happening recently, it made Joseph wonder of anybody in the palace ever paid attention to the things that he regularly ordered them to do!
But, again, that was a thought for another time. He was still waiting on the answer that Marie had yet to give, because she was still going around planting kisses on his cheek, and had moved her hand down to start massaging his chest a little bit over his shirt.
She was smiling, too – openly and teasingly, like she had surprises in store that only she would know about...
"Why, mon amour, I am 'ere to congratulate you on such a masterful up'olding of what eez only right and fair. Getting rid of...zhat girl like zhat? Eet was a stroke of absolute genius!"
Joseph scoffed – "that girl"? Was Marie still upset with her? Why would she be, though? The girl had gone and married Niles; she'd made him give up the life a young stallion and practically castrated him, which was what Marie had wanted all along. And that kind of baited trap – the promise of a fine young filly opening her legs – was one Niles would have fallen into, genitals first. But marriage – the thing that had ultimately doomed his son, like it did all men eventually – had also been the perfect thing to raise the girl in Marie's esteem. It had been all she'd needed to be back in her favour, and knowing his wife, Joseph was certain Marie had forgiven the Babcock slut's past misgivings the moment she'd seen a ring on her finger. She was soft like that…
She forgave too easily, and had a soft spot for young love, if such thing existed. Typical of the French, of course, but he'd have imagined that after a lifetime in England, it would have toned down a little.
"You aren't fooling anyone, woman," he spat, pushing Marie off his lap and onto the ground. "You are waiting your time – you could offer yourself on a silver plate, and I'd still never tell you what happened to that little slut of yours."
"And whoever said I wanted to know what 'appened to 'er?" she replied, smiling wickedly at him from her position on the floor. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't be 'appier zhat she eez gone for good!"
Joseph halted in his tracks. He'd been about to return to his work and commence in ignoring Marie until she'd figured out that she wasn't going to get anywhere, but he couldn't help listening to what she'd just said. She sounded so...earnest...so insistent and...and truthful? There was a hint in her tone like she was relieved – was it the relief of a woman who had been holding what she really felt in for too long?
"Really?" he asked, doubt still permeating his tone but not as sure anymore that they weren't, in fact, on the same side. "You are pleased about the death of your once favourite lady-in-waiting, whom you once took everywhere with you? The one you favoured far above anyone else from the moment she arrived at the palace? The woman for whom you accepted being used as a slut over and over, only to give her and our son some "alone time"? The one woman who became your daughter-in-law, thus "curing" our boy of the life you hated him having? And who was carrying...well, a bastard, but a bastard of your flesh and blood?"
He wanted to see her try to answer that. If she was lying, it should surely be impossible – he knew Marie; she'd never celebrate a death of someone she loved, no matter how much she tried to present otherwise!
She was just as soft as their boy, if not softer. He'd had a disadvantage from the start, with her as a mother. The weakness had clearly been inherited, on some level, and it was all being brought out now. But there wasn't going to be any need for worry. Now that Niles thought his slut was dead, he might toughen up a bit and they wouldn't end up with the weakest king they'd had since the days of John Lackland.
It would teach him to be stronger than his mother, at any rate. She had gotten up from the floor and was trying to curl herself up in his lap as best she could, small as a cat and weepy as a child, even as she tried to explain.
"Absolutely not! I...I did like 'er, at first. In zhe beginning, before everyzhing began to 'appen. She was a nice girl; good breeding, manners, education...perfect! I 'ad imagined zhat zhem bonding would teach Niles 'ow to be a decent man...! A proper gentleman and a good 'usband for 'is future wife. I admit zhat, at one point, I did also consider 'er to be an excellent marriage candidate for our son – 'e was so smitten! And 'e looked so 'appy… I zhought she was zhe one…" she said and shook her head, suddenly looking ashamed or...angry? "But I was wrong about 'er. She eez no wife material for any man! She eez nozhing but a slut 'oo willingly gave away whatever honour she 'ad, long before she married Niles! I confess, I do feel sorry for zhe child; even eef eet eez a bastard, eet 'ad no say een zhe conception. But Niles can have more children een zhe future. Wizh a proper, upstanding wife zhis time. Not even marriage can erase zhe Babcock slut's sin, no matter what anyone zhinks!"
Joseph's eyes shot down to meet here's, brow furrowing, "It...it can't?"
He'd been so sure that Marie would have forgiven the girl for having slept with Niles the moment she'd learned the two had gotten married! But...well, it seemed as though he had been wrong, too. It seemed Marie was ruling herself out of being a conspirator, behind this infuriating elopement happening in the first place!
His wife shook her head to answer his question. She even looked as though she was tearing up.
"She showed 'er true colours een zhat moment! She 'ad been nozhing but scum off zhe street for all zhat time, and she was using an innocent, angelic face and voice to worm 'er way eento my confidence! I should 'ave seen zhrough zhat little act, but..." she dropped her gaze away from his, overcome by sadness and anger and shame. "Eet was too late by zhat point. 'E came to me not long after, to say zhat zhey...zhat zhey 'ad gotten married,"
Joseph felt a burst of anger shoot through him. So, Marie had known about it all along – she'd been a co-conspirator behind his back! His own wife had tried to keep a secret from him about their only son, when the reputation and status of the whole kingdom was at stake!
"You traitorous conspirator! You knew about their marriage all along and you kept it from me?!"
Marie looked up at him desperately, her eyes tearing over.
"Yes, I knew! But I am no conspirator of any kind; I swear I was going to tell you! I told Niles I would – I told 'im zhat eet wasn't right! I told 'im...! I said zhat I would tell you eef 'e continued on like zhis, but 'e zhreatened...! 'E said 'e would kill 'imself, and C.C., eef I even tried! So I stayed quiet, so I would not lose my only son! But I knew zhat as soon as zhe baby was born, nozhing could be done, and I was so scared and wanted to ask for your 'elp, but I...I was just...overcome!"
She threw her head down onto Joseph's chest after that, weeping out of bitter regret and anger that she had not done anything sooner. Not that the king had anything to say about that.
His anger was starting to fade away – shouting had released the frustration, and the rest was being quickly overtaken by Marie's explanation.
It wasn't completely gone yet, though, even if it had cooled off some. He completely agreed that she should be disappointed with herself for letting their son manipulate her in such a fashion! Niles wouldn't ever kill himself – he knew he was too important for that – and yet Marie had believed him!
Joseph was disgusted with Niles for having taken advantage of his mother's weakness like that. He could feel his anger turning on the boy, rather than Marie. She had, after all, only been what a woman was in the end; helpless and afraid. That was purely in the nature of her sex, and Niles knew that as well as Joseph did. He shouldn't have taken advantage of it. Not this time, or for these reasons, anyway.
Weaknesses were only to be exploited in enemies, and in women who needed a few flattering words sent directly to their egos to make them open their legs. It wasn't a tactic to be used to keep the people who were on their side silent! Marie had only been trying to help, even if it had been a rather pathetic attempt.
But that didn't really matter now, did it? He'd fixed it all, and had saved their dynasty and country's worldwide reputation.
He could let whatever annoyance remained with Marie go. She'd learned her lesson, and they weren't ever going to have this problem again for her to have to learn it twice.
He brought an arm around her back, patting it, "Well, there is no need to be now; as you know, I have handled the matter. We'll never have to think about it ever again."
"I do know, my lord, and for zhat, I believe you deserve a…reward."
Had Joseph not been looking at Marie and seeing for himself how her sorrowful grimace morphed into a seductive smile worthy of a whore, he wouldn't have believed those words had come out of his wife's mouth.
Between his own, treasured son punching him in the face for a whore and his frigid wife suddenly being all over him like a mare in heat, he could safely say his day had been anything if ordinary.
"A…a reward?" he managed to choke out as Marie's hand travelled to his chest and slipped beneath his shirt – she knew it drove him crazy when she ran those delightfully long nails of hers up and down his chest.
"Why, yes! 'eroes deserve zhem, don't zhey?" she purred into his ear, having started to grind her bottom against his crotch ever so slightly. "I'd certainly be delighted to give you my gratitude…"
Joseph couldn't hold back a groan as Marie actually reached into his pants and gave him a playful squeeze.
"All my gratitude…"
Well, now this was more like the sort of treatment he should've been getting from the start! Her hand hadn't been down there in some time, and he knew that, as much as he could have whores galore touching it, his mighty sceptre had missed a queen's touch. He could certainly leave the work he'd been doing for now. It didn't matter quite so much as him getting the reward he'd just been promised – besides, he could always let Niles earn his way back into being forgiven, by letting him complete it all...
Not that that would be the only thing he'd have to do. But it would be a start.
And speaking of starting, he was almost ready to leap up and turn the queen over on his desk. If she really was grateful, she'd let him take it just how he liked...
"If that is the case, then prepare yourself now, woman," he growled hungrily. "I'm going to take you for the ride of your life–!"
Before he could stand up and make her turn around, Marie quickly put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks.
"Not now!" she told him quickly. "Tonight. Een my chambers. I know you especially like zhe window zhere..."
Joseph had to stifle a groan, practically feeling his manhood – that mighty sceptre of his – turning blue in the frustration. Why did she have to be such a tease about it?! Why couldn't he have his reward when he wanted?
He was thinking of saying something in return, but his mind got to thinking more deeply before he could. And the more he thought about it, the more it did seem quite tempting, actually. Marie was right – he'd used her in that window a lot, so all the kingdom could see his prowess. And he could let the anticipation build for a few hours, before he finally got his delicious reward...
So, he let out a calming huff and started to smirk, "Alright. Tonight it shall be."
The queen smiled and planted a kiss on his lips, before getting out of his lap.
"Come before dinner. You will not 'ave to wait so long, zhen!"
Joseph couldn't help but agree with a smirk, already thinking of all the things he'd do to her body that night. If it was his reward, then he was going to get it in every position and fashion that he enjoyed, and he was going to make the most of it.
But little did he know, as he went back to the paperwork on his desk, that as she walked out of the study and left him to it, Marie was smirking too.
She was already having similar thoughts about what she'd do to him that night, and how it would all play out before the end. She had the idea ready in her head, she just needed it to go exactly the way she wanted it to. The first step was paying a visit to all the nearest apothecaries, healers, doctors and chemists to get exactly what she needed.
One thing she'd agree on with her husband was that he was definitely going to get exactly what he deserved.