Chapter 8:

She's Alive!

"Corinne?" Louis managed to say. He didn't want to look the girl in the eye, fearing he'd break down in tears in front of them all.

"Louis." Corinne said, stepping into the light. Louis looked at her, still making sure not to look into her eyes. She was more beautiful than he remembered. Her shiny blonde hair had grown longer, she was taller, she was wearing a light pink dress that reached her knees, and had pink boots, her smile was the same though. Finally he got the courage to look her in the eye. Her eyes hadn't changed either. Her eyes were still full of life, ambition, determination, kindness, and bravery. They sparkled in a grayish-blue color like a sky after a storm. Louis, however, felt like behind the blue orbs was something else, like knowledge, it was like she knew something bad that they didn't. The other girls ran and hugged her happily, but Louis didn't know whether to feel happy because she was finally back or resentful because of what she put him through. He shook his head, he had a frozen heart that was solid as a stone, it wasn't going to melt easily. He ran out of the forest quickly, not noticing a pair of blue eyes watching him. He sat down on the bench in front of the forest. He didn't feel like going home.

"Louis?" Corinne asked as she came over to him.

"Go away." He whispered. Corinne looked down sadly, this was just what she had feared, Louis wouldn't want to see her after she left him for so long.

"Louis... I'm sorry." Corinne whispered.

"You've been alive this whole time, and you didn't come back, didn't tell me or anything." Louis said, his anger growing.

"Louis..." Corinne got cut off again.

"Why did you go into hiding?" Louis asked, "why did you never come back until now?"

"I couldn't, Phillipe was still here, and I couldn't suddenly show up, it would put your life in danger." Corinne said, sitting down beside him.

"Well, I still don't see why you didn't leave me a note or a sign or tell me or do something that would let me know." Louis said.

"Phillipe has men hiding in secret all over this place. If they saw a letter from me, they would kill you. If they heard my voice, same thing." Corinne said. Louis shook his head. Corinne sighed in frustration, Louis was going to be harder to convince than she thought. Louis stood and walked back to the castle.

"He'll get over it." Viveca reassured Corinne.

"Yeah, he won't hold a grudge." Aramina said.

"I don't know, ow!" Renée exclaimed. Viveca had stepped on her foot, and gave her a disapproving look. Corinne smiled at them.

"Well, at least you're happy to see me." Corinne said.

"He is too, he's just... shocked." Aramina said. Corinne smiled at her, but she didn't believe her. Louis didn't seem very happy to see her, he seemed resentful. Miette rubbed her head against her mistress's leg. Corinne's frown vanished, and turned into a smile.

"We're not getting anywhere just standing, let's go home, Miette." Corinne smiled. She didn't know how much longer she could stay up, she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep the last few days.

The four girls and Miette walked to their apartment. When they got to it, Corinne fell on her bed, and breathed in deeply. It felt so good to be home. The other three girls fell asleep instantly, but Corinne, once again, couldn't sleep. Millions of thoughts and questions were flooding her mind, her head started to hurt. She breathed in, this was going to be a long night. As if it wasn't long enough already.

...

"Corinne, wake up." Viveca said. Corinne blinked a couple of times until she could see her three best friends clearly.

"What?" She asked in a tired voice.

"We're going to be late for work." Renée answered, impatiently.

"Oh, right." Corinne said. Work. The only other thing she dreaded. The work they had to do at the castle.

"Come on." Renée said, tossing Corinne her maid dress. Corinne caught it, and sighed. She went to get ready.

...

"So what if the girl is back?" Octavian asked.

"It means that Calista is no longer needed here." Louis said. Calista glared at him.

"You mean you're going to get rid of me, for that wannabe musketeer. She's not even a musketeer, she just got a lucky break. Most of it was because the villain was an idiot." Calista said.

"Um, he wasn't an idiot. He tricked us all into believing that he was kind." Louis said. Calista laughed.

"That's because you were idiots." Calista said.

"Calista!" Octavian warned, "Do not insult the King."

"But you can't just kick me out." Calista shouted, "We have a contract."

"That's true." Octavian said, "And by law you have to marry royalty so you don't have much choice, your highness." Louis got up, and left without another word. After they were sure that he was out, Calista spoke.

"How could you let this happen you idiot. I thought you said there was no way for her to come back." Calista shouted.

"That's what I thought, I mean she jumped off the roof, and I was sure that Louis said she didn't survive." Octavian said. Calista glared at him.

"That girl is the only thing holding back the marriage." Calista said, "We need to get rid of her."

...

"Welcome back, Corinne." Madame Helene smiled.

"Glad to be back, Madame Helene, and... thanks... for everything." Corinne smiled. Madame Helene nodded, and went back to cleaning the windows. She wasn't as strict as Madame De Bosse so she helped the servants instead of ordering them around. Corinne took her broom, and started sweeping the stairs. Viveca, Aramina, and Renée followed her. For a few minutes none of them said anything until Viveca broke the silence.

"So, Corinne, how exactly did you survive?" She asked. It had been the question they all wanted to know the answer to.

"Well, I have Madame Helene, and an old friend to thank for that," Corinne smiled, "When I told Madame Helene about it, she suggested I use the old trap door that nobody knew about. When I looked down it meant that they have to open it. So while Phillipe was talking about how 'brilliant' he is, they opened the trap door, and I jumped, falling on the mattress. They closed the door just in time."

Aramina interrupted, "But who was the girl one the ground?"

"Yeah, and where did you go after that, you had to go above ground to get food, but no one ever saw you." Renée added curiously.

"I'm getting there," Corinne laughed, "My old friend, is an artist, and designer. Her name is Kristen, she makes mannequins that look very real. So she made one of me so you all could be fooled into thinking I was really dead. After you all went inside, I went out. After that I ran away to London."

"So, Madame Helene was in on this?" Renée asked.

"And the thing on the ground was a mannequin?" Viveca asked

"And there was a trap door underground no one knew about?" Aramina asked.

"Yes to all of the above." Corinne said. Calista came in.

"You three," She pointed at Viveca, Renée, and Aramina, "Get out. I want you to go clean my room. You, Blondie, I want to talk to you." Viveca, Aramina, and Renée hesitantly left the room.

"So, Corinne." Calista said, "You're back?"

"Who are you again?" Corinne asked.

"I'm Calista, Princess of a neighboring country." Calista said.

"Oh, I read about you in the newspaper, but once I saw the word princess I threw it away." Corinne said.

"So you don't know about my engagement to King Louis." Calista said. Corinne stopped, Louis was getting married? Wait, that's what Calista wanted her to do, she wanted her to break into tears, but Corinne wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. Corinne kept sweeping the stairs.

"Didn't you hear me?" Calista asked, "He doesn't care about you anymore. You can just go back to where you came from."

"I didn't come back just for him, Calista." Corinne said, "I came back to get my old life back." Calista sighed, getting Corinne out of the King's life was going to be harder than she thought. Corinne got done with the stairs.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, your highness." Corinne said, politely, and then walked out the door. Calista frowned, guess she did have to get rid of Corinne the hard way. She needed a bag, and a place where no one would go to.

There's chapter 8. Hope you enjoyed it. Guess what Calista is going to do to Corinne.