Chapter 19. The World Forgot Him, But She Never Could
Corinne watched worriedly as Madame Hélène tended to Louis. Any anger she may have felt towards him had melted when he'd collapsed after fighting with Count Philippe. She was glad for Aramina's help. She wouldn't have been able to get him very far by herself.
Aramina wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Corinne hadn't realized she'd been shaking. "He'll be fine. He's strong and Mama knows what she's doing."
Corinne looked at her. "I still don't understand. How did you find us?"
"A giant floating thing just outside the city? Not one of Louis' best ideas."
"Oh."
"Exactly."
"All right, but you talk like you know him." Corinne said. "It still doesn't make sense."
"It's a long story. Come with me." She gestured for Corinne to follow. Corinne looked back at Madame Hélène and Louis. "He'll be all right, Corinne. I promise." Aramina tugged her from the doorway and led her to the sitting room.
"Have a seat, Corinne. I don't know how much you already know, so I'll just start from the beginning." Corinne nodded. Aramina continued. "It started twenty years ago. Mama had just started working at the palace when it was announced that the queen would have a baby. Count Philippe was thirteen at the time and had been the sole heir for the throne. At least until the queen's baby was born.
"Mama said the entire castle was silent. Except for the queen's screaming. Her labor lasted well into the next day and the doctors said she wouldn't survive it. And they were right. The queen died and a prince was born."
"Louis." Corinne whispered.
"Yes. Mama said she heard one of the doctors say it was better she died. That way she wouldn't ever have to see the monstrous face of her son."
"But where do you come in?"
"All right, so five years passed. The king didn't care what his son looked like. He loved Louis and intended to make him the next king of France. Count Philippe was pushed to next in line, in case anything happened to the prince. So, he made sure something happened."
Corinne gasped. "So that's why…"
Aramina nodded. "Count Philippe poisoned him and threw him out on the streets to die. Mama found him and brought him here. She said he almost didn't make it. But he did. I was just a baby then. And he couldn't go back to the castle, so he stayed with us.
"Mama said it took him a long time to get used to us. And when he did, I had the best brother ever. We played together all the time. For one game he would play the flute mama bought and try to hypnotize me. I always pretended it worked because it was fun. Looking back, that probably wasn't my best idea."
"But-"
"Stop interrupting, Corinne! Do you want me to tell the story or not?"
"I'm sorry. Please continue."
"Thank you." Aramina smiled. "Anyways, Louis always wore a mask when we played. 'People do bad things to me when they see my face,' he said. Me and mama didn't care though. I grew up with it, so it's normal to me. And we were happy for a while. Then one day, he just left. He was fourteen and we didn't see him again until four years later. Wherever he went, he came back angry at everything. He found the passageways and started living there. Mama would bring him supplies every week and well, you know the rest."
"Wow," Corinne breathed, not quite believing it. "That's… a lot to take in."
"I told you it was a long story."
"There's just one thing I still don't understand. Why did you keep insisting that Count Philippe and I were lovers?" Corinne asked disgusted. "After what you just told me? Why?"
Aramina blushed. "If Viveca or Renée ever woke up and you weren't there, it would be because you snuck out with your lover and not with a masked man in the bowels of the castle."
"But why Count Philippe?"
"He was the first one to come to my mind, all right? Besides, he made it very obvious from the beginning that he wanted to bed you."
Corinne shuddered. That was an image she didn't need.
"And the more people that people thought about the Count, the less they thought about Louis. I did what I could to keep his secret safe."
Corinne still didn't like it. She understood, but she didn't like it.
"I was hoping you'd get together, you know." Aramina said. "Louis needed someone to love him differently from the way mama and I love him. And you do. You two deserve each other."
Corinne was about to say something when Madame Hélène entered the room. She rushed to the older woman.
"How is he?"
"He'll be fine. He's very strong." Madame Hélène smiled. "But he needs to rest and so do you. You're more than welcome to stay here for the night."
"Thank you, Madame."
"Come then. I'll show you where you can sleep It's been a long night."
...
I like this chapter. You get to learn a lot. Like staying up till 2am to finish a chapter is probably a bad idea. But I promised, so here it is!