The chevalier de Lorraine became the subject of gossip that day. People were all looking at him, talking about him and this had made him excited. He could now understand why Guiche was always so complacent and overbearing. Some people were born like this. Their life would be empty without attracting hatred and jealousy. The chevalier once thought he was different from Guiche, but now he realized how exactly they were the same.
He did not attend the King's party. Instead, he waited at the palace gate since the early evening. As he was getting frozen in the cold wind while everyone else was enjoying the music in the hall, he started to regret this decision. The king's brother would surely go to the party, yet he was waiting with an empty stomach like an idiot. Perhaps the prince would belittle him for being so desperate. It couldn't be inappropriate for him to appear before the King that evening. After all, he did nothing wrong and even the king could not blame him without excuse. Something had been messing up with his mind since what had happened in the afternoon.
Just when he was getting more and more miserable, he saw a group of young nobles coming out from the hall. They talked loudly when approaching the palace gate. Judging from the colorful wear, these people must had been at the king's party.
The guards turned to the group of young nobles, trying to keep them in order, but the young nobles seemed to be distracting the guards on purpose.
The chevalier was still wondering what had happened when one of the men suddenly dashed towards him, face hidden under an enormous hat. It was easy to ignore that man because of his deep blue wearings among so many outshining colors, as if there was a shadow sliding between lights. The chevalier was narrrowly knocked down by the man. He tried to set himself straight but he was dragged away by force. The kidnapping happened so quickly and the chevalier didn't even had time to shout out for help.
A second later, he gave up calling for help, instead he followed that villain closely to an arranged carriage nearby. It was a carriage with only two horses.
"Do you often ran away from the palace like this, your highness?" He asked the man who had just kidnapped him. "I suppose the party is not over."
"It is not the first time." Replied the duke of Anjou when he threw away that big hat on the seat carelessly. The next thing he threw was a small package, which was caught by the chevalier. The Prince then smiled and knocked heavily on the carriage ceiling. The carriage instantly started to move.
"Just as quick and neat as you should be." The duke commented the way chevalier had captured that small package he thrown.
"I may say the same thing for you, your highness." The chevalier flattered the prince, then he opened that package. He felt his eyes watered when he saw a half of roasted duck inside.
"I want to kneel down before you and kiss your shoes!" said him before taking the first bite on the duck hastily. It was dark in the carriage and impossible to see the expression of the prince, but there was a musical laughter filling in the air.
"I always believe I am good at hiding." The chevalier was chewing the duck. Nothing could made a hungry man happier than a mouthful of delicious food. "But how on earth are you always able to find me without any difficulty? You did it twice: first time behind a tree and now in the shadow. "
"More than twice, if I may say." Replied the Prince. But he paused a little before answering that question. "I think it is your hair. It gives you away. People like you always attract attention, do you not know that? "
The Chevalier didn't need anyone to tell him how handsome he was, but he never considered his hair something to be proud of. One of his mother's maids used to complain about his hair to be "as untidy as straw", he could imagine her mouth drop if she but heard what the Prince just said.
"You are the second person who says so." Replied the chevalier with a grin. He was hoping for the prince to ask who was the first one.
But the Prince did not say anything more. When the chevalier looked up again after finished eating, he found the latter in some kind of somber silence.
"I like everything that shines." Add the prince.
The chevalier noticed the air had changed for unknown reason. The simple happiness he felt a minute ago was replaced by nervousness. He felt more comfortable earlier and he would try to get that feeling back.
People tended to be bolder with a full stomach. So the chevalier wiped his mouth and hands clean with a handkerchief before squeezing himself by the side of the Prince in the carriage. The Prince did not make any objection but only slightly moved.
"You too, your highness. You always attract attention." Whispered the chevalier into the Prince's ear, at the same time he was slightly leaning his body towards the king's brother.
"Lier. You did not recognize me at the palace gate." Replied the duke of Anjou. But he wasn't really unpleased. "You have to admit, my dear chevalier, between you and me, I am the one who is better at hiding. In fact, I bet you can't even find anyone better in court."
The Chevalier didn't even try to understand those words, he stopped thinking the moment he heard "my dear chevalier" from the prince's lips.
"So maybe you can teach me." He reached out to the prince's shoulders and turned him towards himself. There he could see a patch of naked skin. He almost successfully touched it with lips before he was pushed away.
"You smell like lemon duck." laughed the prince, hand on his lips, preventing him from kissing.
The Chevalier wrinkled. He felt like being teased as if he was once again seven years old.
"Why bringing lemon duck if you don't like it?" He sounded upset, "You told me to look for my beautiful horse so I waited for a whole evening. Now it is nearly dawn. You know I have to leave Paris in the morning and you know I won't be seeing you for days!"
Pretending to be angry, he went to sit opposite.
The duke seemed to regret teasing him like this. The chevalier moved away once again, luring him to continue to approach until there was no more space in the carriage. It did not take long for the chevalier to start half avoiding, half welcoming the prince's touch.
"Is that a scratch of gunfire? " Asked the duke of Anjou in a low voice. His eyes were fixed upon the chevalier's neck where there was a scar covered by his cravat. "I've never been at war. You know."
If there was anything that the chevalier wouldn't wish to talk about, this would be it. Not willing to answer, he kissed the prince' wrist.
The carriage stopped at this moment.
"What happened? " The Prince turned away. But the chevalier couldn't care less about the carriage. The only thing on his mind would be the smell of the carmes and lavender somewhere deep beneath the hair and cloths of the king's brother. He tried to catch that perfume in the air but it was disturbed by the wind coming inside the carriage.
The window was now open.
Their carriage stopped by the River Seine and the Notre Dame de Paris. It was nearly the all soul's day. People were waiting on the bridge to get into the cathedral. The carriage without the royal golden symbol was stopped on the road.
"It is almost time. If we don't get through the bridge now, we will be late." Said the king's brother.
"Late for what?" Asked the Chevalier.
The duke made no answer. He opened the door and got off. The Chevalier tried to grab him.
"Are you mad!?" cried the chevalier, "You didn't bring any guard and there are all the civilians!"
The duke of Anjou turned his face to him, eyes brightened with the firelights flashed from the top of the cathedral.
"You have a choice to be mad with me or go back to the palace safely." Replied he earnestly. He did not hesitate for even one more second before disappearing in the crowd.
The chevalier's heart was suddenly filled with excitement. After all he was kidnapped by the prince, wasn't he? His jumped off the carriage and tried to follow his kidnapper. He could not believe how fast the prince had run. One minute ago he could still see him by the riverbank but then he was lost within a blink. The entire ile de cité was covered by pilgrims and it was so hard to catch a young man running among the crowd. He was just starting to get nervous when he caught the king's brother standing at the entry of an alley. Being afraid to lose him again, the chevalier rushed to him and caught him by the waist tightly.
"You are truly mad…" He almost bit the prince's ear.
"No talking," came a simple reply, "listen carefully."
He was just about to ask what they were supposed to listen when the answer was presented to him.
It was the sounds of the bells from the cathedral. Once a year on the all soul's day, the priests of Notre Dame would sing and pray for the dead. A hundred bells would sound together with both variant ones. It was a mystery how wonderful it could be at that very moment and at that very location. Maybe the reason was the misty thin air, or the enclosing semi-sphered wall where they were standing, but it was definitely the most beautiful music the chevalier had ever heard.
The king's brother closed his eyes and leant backward to rest his head on the shoulder of the man behind him, a lock of his black hair was covering his face but he didn't even realized it. The chevalier's eyes were fixed upon the prince when the twilight started to break the darkness. He could see a slight blush on the pale skin. Never had he desired so much to kiss someone in his life. He could sense the craving from deep inside his heart, but he restrained himself just not to disturb the prince the slightest. He felt like he was cradling an angel when he saw a smile appearing on that very face he was staring.
He did not let go him even when the bells stopped. He chose to wait patiently for the prince to open his eyes.
"It was five years ago in the Reims cathedral-"
The chevalier did not interrupt the king's brother by asking any questions. Not when he knew how important this explanation could be.
"The coronation was a long piece of opera. There were a bunch of people wearing splendid dresses that I couldn't even remember. The Bishop Simon Legras was reciting a long prayer in Latin and I was holding the crown of France in my hands-It is so heavy by the way, one cannot imagine a human head can even tolerate the weight –", he paused a bit and chevalier could see his eyes became misty, " then I heard the bells. The first one sounded like distant thunder. My ears began to hurt so much and it was not comfortable. I knew the bishop hadn't finished praying but I saw the sunlight coming from the highest window of the cathedral… So I made a decision to put the crown on Louis's head without more waiting."
He couldn't help curving the lips when he was talking about it.
"So the light was shining on him with that golden crown. He looked up to me and gave me a smile. How can a man actually glow like that? I will never know. But I swear to you at that moment he was the sun. And the bells were ringing again for him. This time there were a hundred at least. Big ones, small ones with sharp and deep sounds, I realized I had never heard anything like that…"
The Prince talked as if he was dreaming. It took him a while to notice the chevalier was still staring at him.
"I am so sorry." He apologized anxiously, "Am I boring you?"
"No, your highness, you will never." Replied the chevalier.
"I was told I never know when to shut up." The duke smiled bitterly.
"It depends on who's listening." Answered the chevalier swiftly. He could imagine who had said that, after what happened in the afternoon.
He was still fixing his gaze upon the prince. If there could be water burning in light, he had witnessed it in the eyes right before him.
"I cannot get rid of it." continued the prince, "even I have been struggling my entire life, that beam of sunlight became my curse. It ties my hands, it binds my will, and it makes me incapable of loving and being loved. From that day until this moment, all that I have ever heard are lies."
The chevalier slowly cupped his face in both hands.
"Maybe you just need to give yourself more chances and give others more changes," said the chevalier, "After all there are always more lies than the truth, so what? Why should you judge a man by his words?"
"Is it your talent to make complicated things simple?" asked the king's brother.
"Is it not a good talent?" smiled the chevalier, "We should go back now, your highness, I bet the musketeers are out of the palace and running all over in the city."
"I can't walk anymore. " The duke of Anjou sat himself by an old, abandoned chariot, irritated, "I broke my shoe heel while running over the river bank".
The chevalier banded down to have a look.
"It is the shoe, not my foot." The prince kicked him.
"I heard that one should tend to the feet of a wild horse most carefully." Said the chevalier, "Stay here, I will be back."
The duke of Anjou couldn't believe that the chevalier would actually leave him alone. He was just opening his mouth to protest before realizing the chevalier did not really leave. He stopped at the corner of that alley and knocked on a door.
A long-haired woman dressing almost nothing answered the door, her hands on her waist.
"My dear," the chevalier beamed at her most charmingly, "can we buy a pair of shoes, a hammer and several nails with one silver coin?"
The shoes were ready, but one of the heels turned red.
The duke of Anjou was still sitting on the old broken chariot, looking at the chevalier coldly.
"I will never wear them, they are too ugly." He turned his face, "but I don't know you repair shoes."
"Oh I don't." replied the chevalier, "I suppose you remember me as a stable boy when I was seven years old. My father had been the king's horse master and I have seen how they… well, I have to admit that red tips are extremely rare."
There was a moment of silence, then the king's brother burst into laughter, he laughed so heartily that he had difficulty to stop himself.
"Put those shoes on me!" He finally ordered, still laughing.
"Aren't they too ugly for you?"
"I change my mind." Replied the prince, "Put them on me, my dear chevalier."
The king's brother was now wearing a pair of shoes with one red heel.
"Do you know what kind of woman you have spoken to?"
"Of course I know, your highness, I know these things well."
"And you still dare to let wear these shoes?" Asked the duke, "Do you know what my brother will say about this, what other nobles will say about this?"
"I guess that means my life rests in your hands, your highness. You need to make up a story for me or you might lose me forever." said the chevalier, "If you choose the latter, I hope you will pray for me on the All Souls' Day when you come here to listen to the bells again."
The prince got up from the old chariot.
"It is a tentative choice to make." He drew closer, trying to kiss the chevalier.
There was suddenly some chaos in the alley and they had to break apart. A troupe of musketeers was running inside the narrow walls.
The man leading them jumped off from the horse, holding a big hat in his hand. It was the very hat left on the carriage by the prince earlier that evening.
"Your highness, Monsieur, my name is Fabien Marchal, the captain of the fourth troupe of king's musketeers. I will escort you back to the palace by the order of the king."
Fabien Marchal had a stern face. He glanced at the chevalier with the corner of his eyes.
"I understand that your highness did not use the royal carriage when leaving the palace. Considering the currently situation, I would suggest your highness to go back in the same manner to avoid attracting unwanted attentions." He spoke defiantly.
"Do what is necessary." Replied the king's brother with the same calmness.
Fabien waved his hand. The chevalier saw the carriage they used before quickly enter the alley.
"It feels good to be free from the reins, even just for a few hours." The Prince grinned at the chevalier, "I should not bother you any longer. You have your mission to fulfil. They will give you another horse. "
Chevalier nodded hesitantly.
"Goodbye, my chevalier."
"Goodbye, my prince."
His eyes followed the king's brother when the latter got on the carriage and closed the door behind him.
The musketeers were preparing to leave as well, somebody put the horse rein in the chevalier's hand. He didn't even look and quickly dropped it.
With everyone staring, he pushed away the two musketeers standing in front of the carriage and pulled the door open.
The duke of Anjou was startled at the chevalier's behavior. The blond boy shut the doors and gazed at him, panting hard, and eyes full of tears.
"If you really want to hear the truth, I can tell you the truth, your highness. But you will not find it romantic or even as honorable as you may imagine."
The king's brother looked as if he was stunned. He sat there with eyes widely open, speechless.
"It is gunfire, that scratch you have seen." Said the chevalier, "The Spanish almost killed me on battlefield. If I did die I would have been buried in some place far away, without a tomb. But I don't want that, I don't want being away from you, because I am a coward!"
He dashed towards the prince and grabbed him tightly. He was knocking their bodies so hard that the king's brother was pushed down on the carriage seat and he kissed like a dying man desperately looking for air. Without a pause, he was pulling and tearing the other man, pressing him between the carriage seat and the soft cloths, trying to stop him from every last-ditch of struggle and reaching for somewhere warm on the skin.
Suddenly the blond boy felt a grasp, he still remembered how the king's brother had been strong enough to stop him when they were fighting as boys. He regretted that he should consider this earlier. The sun had risen outside the carriage, but the window had been closed and it was still too dim to see clearly in the darkness.
He felt the hand left him, and he heard the knocking on the carriage ceiling.
It was the order for the carriage to start to move.
And the chevalier was pulled back to the soft lips in the darkness.
棋子