Page 79 of A Treachery of Swans

“It can’t be,” I whisper.

But it is. I know it with horrid certainty.

It all makes abrupt, awful sense—the secrecy, the alias, the mask he is never seen without. And how else could he have possibly known so much about the Couronne?

Regnault isn’t merely Bartrand de Roux’s descendant.

HeisBartrand de Roux.

SCENE XXXThe Dauphine’s Apartments

Night Deepens

Thud thud thud thud.I pound desperately on the door to the rooms that have become a prison. I have dismissed the guards that were standing on either side, leaving me alone in the snaking corridor.Thud thud thud thud.I try again and again. My breath is short, my pulse erratic. No answer. The silence feels pointed, grimly stubborn. “Come on,” I mutter, raising my fist for a final attempt.“Please.”

Thud thud thud thu—

This time the door whips open.

And there she stands.

Marie d’Odette d’Auvigny, a silver flame against the dark of night. Her hair tumbles around her shoulders in frizzing waves; her eyes are bleary, and the light of the candelabra highlights the pillow creases on her cheek.

She’s never been more beautiful.

“Marie,” I say breathlessly.

If the Swan Princess is surprised at the sight of me, she gives no indication. Her face has that impassive politeness that she wore the first night at the Théâtre.

Shame gutters the pit of my stomach. “Marie, please.”

She begins to close the door. I push back before she can, and we grapple momentarily. It’s Marie who lets go first, her eyes hard.

“Please, there’s something you need to know.”

Still no reply. I release the door, open my palms before me. “Will you not even speak to me?”

“What do you want me to say?” she replies finally, her voice even.

“Anything.” Shout at me, be angry with me. Anything but this apathy.

“They said I am to be your pet,” she says. For the first time, genuinehurtcreeps into her voice. “I thought it was a lie, but when I asked to see you, they told me you wouldn’t speak to me. I… I feel like an absolute fool. I saw the signs, but I disregarded them, because I… because Ilikedyou. Tell me, was there ever any truth to our friendship?”

Yes, there was,I want to tell her. In a fleeting moment strolling through Verroux’s streets, in a quiet dawn when I held her in my arms. Beneath the full moon by the old dock, bulrushes rustling around us.

“They wanted to kill you,” I say. “It was the only way I could think of to keep you alive. I was… I was trying to protect you.” I offer a grin. “Consider it payback for throwing me to the wolves the moment you stepped back into the palace. Now we’re even. I tricked you, and…” I trail off as I notice Marie’s startled look of confusion.

“What are you talking about?” she asks. “I have only ever tried to help you.”

“My father said you had been telling people I misled you, that I—that I corrupted you.”

Her brows furrow. “I— Perhaps I said something of the sort. But I had a ruse to maintain. I had to keep my standing at the court if I was to free you.”

“And how does marrying Aimé factor into this?” I challenge.

“If I’d broken off the engagement, that would have destroyed not only my chances at success, but my family’s reputation. Besides, I could have helped you far better once I had the authority of Dauphine. Surely you, of all people, understand that!”

I blink. She did all this… to help me? After everything I did? “But… you’re not… you’re not angry with me? For the necklace?”

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