I Must Save the Evil King

Chapter 24

"Lady Rousseau?" I never thought I would be happy to see Thibault in my life. Yet somehow standing at the top of the library steps, with him smiling at the bottom, I was overjoyed to see him.  

When I was making my way out of the library with Camilla I was racking my brain for an excuse to stay free till midnight. Perhaps I would tell the carriage driver I was too ill to come back. But then the issue becomes where to stay tonight, that Emilee would not kill me for staying at.

But there he was. Waving at me from the bottom of the stairs. The perfect excuse. 

"Thibault!" I smiled brightly. 

He looked confused. I hurried down the stairs and grabbed his hands in mine. 

"Let's have lunch!"

The lunch had only bought me another couple of hours but all I needed was for Thibualt to invite me to stay overnight and I would be set. Emilee would have nothing to complain about, I was only accepting an invitation from a high-ranking friend. 

"What about you?" I looked up to see Thibault and Camila staring at me, both looking incredibly awkward. I had been completely lost in thought eating a bread roll. 

"Yeah..." I looked to Camilla who was trying to mouth something to me. Book? Glue? 

"What would you like to eat," Thibault gave a strained smile. "So I can order it." 

"Oh I'm not hungry," I gestured towards the basket of bread that I had already eaten half of. 

"I-" he stuttered before sighing. "I am being tortured," he whispered as he got up to give the kitchen our orders. Once he was out of earshot Camilla leaned forward. 

"Why are we eating with him?" She whispered. "I thought we hated him?" 

"I'll tell you later," I smiled at her trying to be reassuring. I don't think it worked.  

"Thibault!" I smiled brightly when he returned to the table. Camilla smiled too, though it looked incredibly unnatural. It's a good thing she wasn't an actress. "We were just wondering about how your um.. sword practice has been doing recently. Have you won any interesting duels recently?" 

"Yes, actually," He eyed me, obviously suspecting ulterior motives.

"Oh really please do tell, Camilla has such an interest in swordsmanship," He looked to her surprised and she nodded hesitantly. 

"Well since you asked-" I never noticed but Thibault has a faint scar right above his left eyebrow. I wonder how he got it... Wait is that a butterfly behind him, I've never seen one that big. 

I was startled out of my trance by the sound of Camilla laughing. 

"You're lying. The prince?" 

"I swear on my honor as a knight," He put his hand up "He carried it everywhere until he was 10!" 

"The fearsome prince!" She could barely get out the sentence through her laughter. Thibault was laughing too, in a display that left me very confused. 

"HAHA!" I fake laughed. "That's so funny! Camilla, why don't you tell Thibault about that time we-"

"Oh! And he used to suck his thumb too! We had to bribe him with candy to get him to stop." I had to sit through an entire lunch of this. Thibault tells the lamest jokes that Camilla would laugh at regardless. By the end of it, I was certain he was lying, just inventing more and more crazy stories just to keep her laughing.           

Either I am going crazy or he is trying to make a move on Camilla. 

I better be going crazy.  

As the sun started to fade into a softer afternoon light our carriage rounded the corner parking in front of the restaurant. I got up hesitantly with Camilla, hoping that Thibault would stop and ask us to stay longer. 

I looked at the sidewalk which was raised a good half a foot above the street. I have an idea but it requires a good actress. Sadly I don't have one of those so I'll have to do it myself. 

I slowed down my pace, so Thibault and Camila were walking slightly ahead. Then I stuck one foot over the edge and fell into the road. 

"Ah!" I shouted as I fell, trying to sound surprised. It wasn't hard to be dramatic. The roads were made of brick and where my arms and legs hit it I was certain I would bruise later.  

"Lady Rousseau!" Thibualt shouted in shock, while Camilla ran to my side. 

"Ah!" I wince, grabbing onto my ankle. "I think I sprained it!"

Camilla moves my hand to look at it, surprise dawning on her face when she sees it not even slightly red let alone sprained. I covered it back up with my hand, shooting her a look that hopefully said play along, please.   

"This is important," I whispered as Thibualt motioned the footman to come over. 

"Yes- Well it certainly is-" The footman stepped closer to help but Camilla put her hand up. "I just checked and it is most definitely broken!" 

Broken? 

"Oh yes! OW! It hurts so much!" 

"Oh, my poor lady! Struck down in her prime, by a crack in the sidewalk! We must speak to whoever paved this road instantly! They must pay!" 

"No.. no my beloved friend, do not let others suffer misfortune on my behalf!" At this point people had stopped what they were doing to stand and watch out performance. Thibault and the footman seemed at a loss as to what to do with us.

"We should get you back to the manor-" began the footman, I stopped him with a dramatic cry. 

"No! I mustn't go in the carriage! It is too shakey my ankle will heal wrong!" 

"How dare you even suggest that! Don't you know someone with an injured ankle can not take carriage rides!" What did I say earlier about Camilla being an awful actor? I take it back, shes perfect. 

"If that's the case then why don't you stay at my family's house." Thibault offered hesitatnly. 

"What a great idea! Footman come back in the morning, to bring me back to the manor. With this ankle, there is no way I could make the ride back with out causing severe damage." The footman looked hesitantly, obviously, he knew it was improper for a single lady to spend a night at a gentleman's house.

"What if you can never dance again?" Camilla cried dramatically, shoving her face into my dress. Later she would tell me she she did that to hide that she was laughing not crying.       

Our performance won the footman over and he begrudgingly agreed to come back in the morning. Camilla helped me up and I made a show of walking carefully, even wincing once or twice for show. 

I think Thibault bought it. Either that or he didn't mind me and Camilla staying the night. 

He bought it.

"Are you sure about this my lady?" Camilla whispered in my ear. 

"It's important, I promise I'll tell you when I can," This didn't seem to sway her as she looked upon the Sardou house. It was certainly a sight to behold, its dark stone and gothic arches were framed by the two simple white houses next to it. It looked from another era entirely, or perhaps like me, it was from another world.

"I've just heard Lady Sardou is a little.. well crazy."

"She seemed normal enough when I met her," Camilla sighed giving up on her argument. We were already here anyway. What was the point in backing out now?             

Duchess Sardou didn't matter right now. The biggest challenge ahead of me would be getting out of this house and making it to the meet-up point. I may be an excellent actress but I'm not sure I'm a great spy.