Debut

[somanyopinions]

To think, an entire life could be bent toward the goal of grace and poise, yet still a person's self-possession could be utterly ripped from them in the space of an instant.

Anne's emotions, typically so tightly controlled, had spiraled helplessly from her grip, unraveling with each neat click of Rochefort's departing footsteps. Clutching onto Constance, she sobbed, shaking like she hadn't since she was a child, her mind so muddled with shock and fear that she found herself unable to move from the floor despite knowing, distantly, that to linger was further madness.

How had she not known? How had she not seen? What a blind and reckless little fool she had been, putting them all at such risk, throwing the Dauphin's lineage into question—

The Dauphin.

All at once Anne scrambled to her feet, light-headed and unsteady, and hastily gathered up her skirts to run into the hall. Her mind was racing— Constance. She could give the baby to Constance. There was little hope for Anne herself, but there might yet be time for Constance to flee, and she had escaped unnoticed with the Dauphin once before.

Breathless, Anne sprinted toward the nursery, only—

Only the corridor had changed, unfamiliar in the blink of an eye, pale sunlight exchanged for a dark and richly paneled hall. Startling, she tripped against a carpet runner and fell hard against the wall, jarring her shoulder with a wince. The fabric of her skirt still gripped hard in her fingers, escaped hair wild, she leaned there, eyes wide and muscles stiff as her heart hammered in her chest.

Comments

[averygoodshot]

Is there enough time, even, to go into all the details? Does Aramis have the fortitude to face Porthos's reaction to said details?

He takes a deep breath. "The Queen," he starts. "And her son." His son. "Are in danger by the man who replaced the Cardinal in the King's court."

[praiseandglory]

"Rochefort," Porthos states, his gaze dark and his desire to hurt the man, preferably repeatedly, clearly etched on his face. "The Dauphin's still in Paris?" he assumes, or why would they be in a hurry to go back.

[averygoodshot]

"Yes. And under Rochefort's hand. The King is ... unable to see clearly. We must get the Dauphin before - "

Before something bad happens. Before Aramis has yet another reason to want to kill Rochefort.

[praiseandglory]

Sometimes - not that he'll ever say so out loud - Porthos thinks that their King was perhaps not made for the job. But it's not for him to judge, of course, even when he can picture that happening so clearly. Just as it had with the cardinal before.

"Well, come on, then," Porthos states. "What are we waiting for?" He will ask for details later, once the Queen and the Dauphin are both safe.

[averygoodshot]

There will be more talk later; Aramis vows to explain to Porthos all of it. But for now, he gives his friend a relieved and grateful squeeze of the shoulder and leads their way back to the Queen.