“Yes, Monsieur le Roi. Lady Catherine gave me a poisoned cup of tea and left me to die. It was the same poisoned tea she used to kill my father, Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois.”
The king nodded once and turned his severe gaze on Alexandre.
“Bald-faced lies, Monsieur le Roi,” Lady Catherine said with a wounded expression on her face. “I don’t know why my stepdaughter, the girl I housed and cared for after my dear husband passed away so suddenly—of a long, protracted illness, might I add—would turn on me like this, but she is lying to you.”
“This is not the time to plead your case, Madame de Louvois,” the king said. “You will have a chance to defend yourself at the trial. Now is the time for your daughter to speak.”
I squeezed Alexandre’s arm as she began to tremble, attempting to impart some comfort or peace of mind in any way that I could.
“Lady Alexandre, did the woman standing across from you, Lady Catherine de Louvois, your mother, poison your stepsister and stepfather, her husband? Did she also attempt to use a love potion on my son, Monseigneur le Dauphin?”
An uncomfortable silence descended on the room as Alexandre stood completely still next to me, her eyes locked with the king’s. I would have thought that he would lose patience with her, but he met her stare with a pensive one of his own and waited for her to speak.
The advisors arrayed behind him fidgeted and pressed their heads close together to whisper amongst themselves. Prince Louis tugged at his lace cravat and frowned at Alexandre.
I was nearly about to poke her to make sure that she was still breathing when Lady Catherine’s voice rang out, so loud that I flinched.
“It’s all right, ma jolie fille. Just tell the king the truth, and all this can be over.”
Her tone was soothing and gentle, as if she were talking to a frightened child. I was suddenly unsure for the first time since entering the throne room. Lady Catherine was putting on a magnificent performance. She seemed to be a loving mother who only wanted what was best for her child.
What if Alexandre couldn’t go through with it? We would all be in trouble then, and none more than me.
“If you tell him the truth,” Lady Catherine continued, “we can go home. You, me, and your sister. We can put this nightmare behind us and move forward. You don’t have to be afraid, ma coeur. I know that you care for Cendrillon, but that doesn’t mean you should lie for her. She isn’t your real family. I am your—”
“Maman, that’s enough!” Alexandre said. She tore her arm from mine and stepped in front of me to glare at her mother. “Cendrillon isn’t the one trying to manipulate me. You are. Did you think that you could just ply me with a few pretty words and I would lie for you again? That isn’t going to work this time, Mère. You tried to murder Cendrillon, and you would have succeeded if I hadn’t stolen the antidote from you and given it to her. I watched you buy the poisons, and I overheard you telling Severine that you murdered the marquis. I should have said something then, but I didn’t, and I will regret that decision always. If I’d been braver, Cendrillon might have been spared all the pain you put her through.”
Alexandre’s words petered out as she stopped to catch her breath. I’d never seen her like this before. There was such anger in her eyes and conviction in her voice. The only person who had ever stood up to Lady Catherine was Severine, and that was only when her mother denied her something that she wanted. Never Alexandre. Until now.
“I will not let you hurt Cendrillon. She isn’t lying about what happened, and neither am I.”
Lady Catherine didn’t seem upset by her daughter’s outburst. The expression on her face remaining placid, as if carved from stone. Frighteningly placid. It was never a good thing when Lady Catherine was so still. There was nothing she could do to harm any of us here, but that didn’t stop me from taking Alexandre’s arm and guiding her back to her previous spot beside me, where I could shield her from her mother’s gaze.
“I see,” said Lady Catherine at last. “And I suppose you choose your illicit friendship with the servant over your own mother as well?”
“I’m proud of who I am and whom I love,” said Alexandre. “It’s more than I can say for you.” If only Elodie were with us to see Alexandre at this moment.
“I believe I have heard all I need to,” the king said, a small smile curling his lips upward. “From this moment forward, Catherine Monvoisin de Louvois shall be stripped of her title and status at court. Even if she is declared innocent at trial, she will no longer count herself amongst the nobility of France. Guards, remove her.”
The same two guards reentered the salon and approached Catherine. She didn’t resist as they took hold of her arms and drew her toward the door. Alexandre turned her face away as her mother approached, the trio’s path from the salon bringing them uncomfortably close to where we stood. Just as it seemed like they were going to leave without incident, Lady Catherine broke free from one of the guards and grabbed my arm roughly. Her nails bit into my skin as she wrenched me forward until our foreheads nearly touched.
“You must be overjoyed to have finally won,” Catherine hissed, her breath cool against my ear.
Even after spending so long imprisoned, she still carried the faintest whiff of rose on her skin. The scent turned my stomach, bringing back the memory of falling to the floor in the sitting room as bruise-dark spots spread across my body. I tried to pull away, but her grip was surprisingly strong, and I was still frustratingly weak.
“You just couldn’t leave anything for anyone else, could you? You had to have it all! You’ve even stolen my own daughter from me.”
“Is that how you see it?” I asked. “That I’ve stolen from you? I haven’t stolen anything. Papa’s assets are rightfully mine. You made sure that I had no access to them after you killed him. If anyone here is a thief, it’s you. In addition to being a murderer. Everything you took was always mine in the first place. Except for Alexandre. She isn’t mine or anyone else’s. She is her own person, something you never cared to acknowledge as you used her for your own ends.”
“Guards, remove her now,” the king said, his voice booming across the salon.
The guards easily overpowered Catherine and hauled her from the room. She stopped fighting them, but her eyes never left me. The only thing to break her hateful stare was the closing of the double doors behind her.
Before they shut, I caught a glimpse of a panicked Elodie arguing with one of the valets standing watch just outside. I wasn’t looking forward to having to explain all this to her.
“Are you all right?” Alexandre asked, clinging to my arm worriedly.
Unfortunately, she clung to the arm that Catherine had grabbed. I could see little crescents in the skin where her fingernails had dug in. They stung a little and were probably going to bruise. Once again, I bore the marks of Catherine’s anger, hopefully for the last time.