Chapter 13: If I Said I Loved You
Louis moved stealthily through the shadows. He crept towards the palace stables, quickly locating the hidden entrance to his tunnels. He cursed and ducked into one of the empty stalls. A stable boy was tending to one of the nearby horses. There was a reason he hated using this entrance. But it was closest to where he'd meet Corinne and he was eager to get back to her. Taking another look at the stable boy, Louis decided to have a little fun with him. He let out a low chuckle. The boy stiffened.
"W-W-Who's t-t-there?" He asked shakily.
Louis laughed again, louder this time, and rose to his full height. The boy nearly fainted. Before he had time to do anything however, Louis reached into his pocket and threw a smoke bomb of his own design to the ground. It sparked to life and Louis laughed once more before disappearing through the smoke into the passageways. He smiled to himself. The boy would be telling that story for weeks.
Satisfied with his bit of mischief, Louis hung his cloak in his bedchamber and started towards the training room. He was quite shocked to find it empty. Had she seen his note?
"Corinne?" He called out. "Are you here?"
No response. He was about to go check her room when he caught a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye.
"Louis!" She shouted, charging at him. Louis reached for his sabre, but quickly noticed she did not carry a blade. What was she doing then, he wondered as she approached him. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and he instinctively jumped back, but she held on. She tugged down on his collar until his face was mere inches from hers and pressed her lips against his.
Louis froze. What was happening? He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Was this even real? His head swam. Corinne released him what could have been hours or seconds later.
"W-Why," he demanded breathlessly, "w-why did you j-just do t-that?"
"Just love. Just live. Just give all you can give, and take what little you deserve."
Louis choked. He stumbled backwards. She had seen it. She had seen it. Did that mean she knew? Oh God. Did she? His voice shook as he struggled to get the words out. "Y-You know then?"
"Yes."
It felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.
"You love me," she stated. Louis winced. She was never supposed to find out. Would it be too late to have Philippe kill him? Anything would be better than this right now. He bolted for the door, but she caught him by the arm.
"No, Louis this isn't a good thing! It's wonderful!"
He turned to face her. "Wonderful?" He asked obviously confused.
"Yes! You see, I, uh," her cheeks flushed, "well, I love you too."
"You what?" Had he heard her right? Corinne loved him? Impossible.
"I love you, Louis."
Louis shook his head. He couldn't believe it. He didn't believe it. "This can't be real. I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming."
"You're wrong, you know." She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"So, I'm not dreaming?"
"Nope."
"And this is real?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
Corinne laughed. "Yes. I'm sure. You'll just have to get used to it." She kissed him again.
"I-I think I might be able to do that."
"Good."
...
It took thirteen chapters, but we made it! The moment you've all been waiting for! Now, don't start thinking we'll be ending anytime soon. We're only at the halfway point. We still have fourteen more chapters to go. See you all next week!