Childe of Passion

She rounded a corner and there was a gang of them. Ten or so, cloaks and daggers, standing around a home that looked familiar. Louisé couldn't place it with incompletely satisfied hunger booming in her head. All she noted was the group of men. They reminded her of a pack of street dogs and she was surprised they were baring fangs of their own. She hadn't attracted their attention yet, but she didn't care. They were in her way and that's what she cared about. There was enough tension in the air that she knew if she walked that way, they would want explanations. Always uphold the Masquerade, Childe, Sébastien's voice whispers in the crevices of her mind. As if he were standing beside her, ordering her, Louisé remained perfectly still.

A shrill scream broke the strained silence. Louisé lost interest with the men in exchange for the window that burst open, one of the panes breaking and falling to the ground with a sick crack. A body, blood staining the front of his nightshirt, was shoved out the window with no ceremony. The body, who she could not recognize for his head being turned, smacked against the ground the same way the wooden window pane had. A man threw his hood back and Louisé was not surprised to see the scarred face of Guise sneering down at the body. He spat on it and kicked it over with his foot. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny's dead eyes stared in her direction. Others followed their leader and removed their hoods.

Louisé's eyes went wide and her fingers cut into the stone she hid behind. It wasn't the dead man that shocked her. The Huguenot was before his maker now and beyond her help, even if she had chosen to help him. It wasn't the way Guise lifted his sword and chopped off the man's head that left her aghast. No, it was the young man who stood by Guise's side. heart didn't need to beat in order to tighten so painfully. She turned away and stared up at the night as the men scattered. Reinforcements were coming and fast. Louisé had no time to consider anything but how to get back to the Louvre.