Chapter 18. Do Monsters Bleed Red?

Corinne stared up at Count Philippe wide-eyed. At least three other men stood on either side of him. With the wrecked balloon behind them and the Count in front of them, they were surrounded. Count Philippe smirked viscously.

"I can't say that I'm surprised to find you with him, my dear," he drawled.

"Leave her out of this, Philippe!" Louis hissed.

"Gladly. For now."

Louis glared at him.

"You just couldn't stay dead, could you, Louis?" He taunted.

Louis rose to his feet. "And you simply couldn't die, could you, Philippe?" He drew his sword.

"I wonder, do monsters bleed?"

"You'll never find out."

"We'll see." Count Philippe lunged forward, his blade centered on Louis' chest. Louis ducked and the two began to fight.

Corinne looked between them feeling a little scared and very confused. Louis and Count Philippe knew each other? She knew that Louis hated the other man, but she didn't know why. This made no sense.

"Louis, what's going on?" She asked him. "What's happening? Why is he here?"

He shoved Count Philippe back. "Not now, Corinne!"

"You haven't told her," Count Philippe threw his head back and laughed. "You haven't told her!"

"You worthless piece of-"

"Tell her, cousin. Tell her who you really are."

Louis growled and swung his blade across Count Philippe's stomach. He jumped back, it had barely missed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He turned to Corinne.

"NO!" Louis tried to fight, but the Count pushed him back.

"Louis Rousseau," Count Philippe swung his blade at Louis. "Crown prince of France, heir to the throne, died fifteen years ago. Or at least, he was supposed to. You see my dear, he has a nasty habit of never doing as he's told."

Louis yelled, renewing his attack with greater force.

"And a nasty temper as well. Even as a child he was like this."

Corinne's head spun with this new information. Louis and Count Philippe were related. Not only that, but he was also the dead prince. Her Louis? She couldn't believe it. There were no portraits of the prince anywhere in the palace and Aramina had said the phantom living in the cellars had killed him… Count Philippe said he was supposed to be dead as well, and Louis hated Count Philippe. Still none of this made sense. She turned back to their fight.

Louis' eyes were hard and angry. He threw himself recklessly at the Count in such a way that he would have scolded her for weeks if she'd done it. She rose to try and help, but the Count's men blocked her path. Corinne watched helplessly as he stumbled and fell. Count Philippe stood over him.

"You should have died years ago," he spat. "Such a waste of a good poison. Expensive too. Oh well. Goodbye, cousin." He raised his sword to deliver the final blow.

That blow did not come, however. Instead Count Philippe collapsed to the ground. Behind him stood Aramina with a rather menacing looking tree branch in her hands. The Count's men took one look at their employer, then at the red-haired girl. Without Count Philippe's confidence, they dropped their swords and ran. Aramina smiled triumphantly.

"Aramina?" Corinne asked. Absolutely nothing made sense anymore. "How did you-"

"There's no time! He could wake up at any second!" She was referring to the felled Count. Gracefully, she stepped over him and helped a Louis to his feet. "We have to go to Mama's, Louis. The castle isn't safe for either of you anymore."

He nodded and held out a hand to Corinne. She refused to take it.

"Please Corinne," he pleaded. "I'll explain everything later, I promise. Please don't do this." His brown eyes were filled with pain.

Corinne sighed. "All right." She grabbed his hand. They started following Aramina through the trees. "But you had better explain."

"I swear I will."

Suddenly, Louis stopped walking. He stumbled and fell back. Aramina and Corinne caught him before he could hit the ground, noting with horror the fresh blood staining his shirt.

...

Can we just take a minute to appreciate how bad ass Aramina is? Because she is. And yes, I did just trade one cliffhanger for another. It keeps you on your toes. See you next week!