V.
The letter from Lord Voland stared up at him from the desk like a death sentence. But it was not the sum he requested that Stéphane took issue with. That was to be expected.
He understood now, that no amount would ever buy his safety.
"Master Eduard," came the voice of a servant in the hall, and Stéphane hurried to put the letter out of sight.
Not quickly enough. Eduard knew something was being hidden from him the moment he stepped into the office.
"Ah, Eduard, I was hoping to speak with you. There's some business in the south that requires my personal attention, so I regret I must leave you for a few months. In the meantime, I believe you are quite capable now of handling the estate—"
"Is this about that business with Voland?"
Stéphane's surprise must have shown on his face. Eduard chuckled. "I know all about it, Father. The separate ledgers, your deal with that cardinal, how Voland has been blackmailing you in exchange for his silence. I've known for some time."
"You've gone through my personal records." There was no other explanation.
But could Eduard not see there was a reason he was kept in the dark? Did he not understand Stéphane only did it to keep his son's hands clean? "You should have minded your own affairs, Eduard."
"And you should not have written it down, where it may be used as evidence against us! You think this only affects you, Father, but it's the Narcisse name that will suffer for it if word gets back to the crown, or the Vatican. Your legacy—my inheritance. Not to mention everything you've worked so hard to secure, gone, if my engagement is called off due to this. I am involved whether you inform me or not. So I took the liberty of educating myself. Is that not how you raised me to be?"
Resignation settled over Stéphane like a pall. "You must feign ignorance, then. Even on pain of torture, you cannot reveal that you know anything."
"But it won't come to that, Father. I've given the matter plenty of thought, and I have a solution. One that may leave our family in an even stronger position than before this mess, if I play my hand right."
"Whatever it is you think you can accomplish," Stéphane said, "the risk is too great. I cannot send you into harm's way for a mistake I made."
He slammed his hand down on the desk, able to take the fury that had been building within him no longer. "Devil take that Voland! Take that lesson to heart, Eduard, that the men you think are your friends will be the first to stab you in the back!"
"Never fault a man for seizing an opportunity you presented him yourself. Is that not what you've always told me?"
And as Eduard stood there calm as a statue, his hands clasped behind his back, while Stéphane could not keep himself still, he realized that was a lesson long ago learned. Eduard may have been a stubborn lad, but he was also a quick study. And he was, above all, his father's son.
"You forget I am still on good terms with the lord's son," he said, careful to keep his voice low. "I know, for instance, that Voland is taking his family to court for the king's tournament. No doubt he will try to get an audience once there. But it will take time. The king will surely be occupied with his gloating over Calais, and his thoughts will be turning toward England. In any event, he will have far more pressing concerns than the Vatican's missing taxes. While Henry is thus distracted, I will keep my eye on Voland for you, and send back word about his intentions. By the time he can try to make his move, I will have a plan in place to block him."
"What do you have in mind?"
"It's better that you don't know all the details. Plausible deniability and whatnot. Suffice to say, King Henry owes you a great debt for your generosity during his time of need, and as I doubt at the moment he has the coin to repay you, he may think a judgment in your favor to be a more than fair settlement. All the more so if said generosity were to suddenly dry up."
Not a bad start. And flight, while a simple solution in the short term, was no guarantee of survival.
Still, the boy needed to be warned: "You must realize this is not a game you can hope to win if you cannot win absolutely. If you think it a small thing to bribe a king—"
"I think no such thing. But I know he holds you in great regard, and I know what we stand to lose if I do not try. All I ask is that you trust me. And for God's sake, burn that ledger.
"I will send you a signal when it is safe to return to court," Eduard said with a smile that for one moment, despite the danger and the scruff of beard, made him look a boy again. "A gold sash, flying from the highest tower. It will be my white sail to you, Father."
And you will make an Aegeus of me, Stéphane thought with a chill of premonition. He knew how that story ended, having told Eduard it himself.
But he could not allow himself to dwell on the worst. If Eduard failed, it could mean both their heads.
Notes: So, names again. I've seen it spelled "Verland" and "Voland" on the interwebs, as well as some others that seemed way off the mark, and, in absence of DVD subtitles, vacillated before settling on the latter spelling. In any event, he's the man referenced in episodes 2.01 and 2.02 whom Eduard is trying to get plague given to.