Page 2 of The Agent and the Outlaw
Daphne grinned at me and stood. “Ah, well. You’ll have to fall in and out of love on your own time. We’ll be late for our meeting with the Order. Once they have this report in hand, they’ll issue the formal execution order for Sade, then the real work begins. They’ll most likely want you to see it through.”
“Good,” I replied. “I don’t often feel compelled to carry out assassinations, but after all of this,” I gestured to the file, “I’ve never wanted to deliver justice so much.”
“Yes,” she said, pulling on her cloak and picking up her domino mask. “It will be good to see it through and put this whole case behind us.”
“Of course,” I said. “I think after this assignment, I’m going to take a little rest. Perhaps spend some time in the country or go on a grand tour around the continent. I’ve earned a bit of fun.”
“I completely agree. And who knows? Perhaps you’ll find your match when this is all over,” Daphne added hopefully.
I laughed. “I doubt that, Daphne. I very much doubt that.”
* * *
ANTOINE
That same evening
Island of Menorca, Mediterranean
“What have you done?” I whispered, gripped by horror. I stared down at the papers on his desk.These cannot be right.King Louis would never stand for it. “Général, this is…unthinkable! You’ll never get away with it.”
He glared at me from across the room, face purpling with rage.
“Lieutenant, I don’t recall giving you permission to enter my private study, let alone read my correspondence. Do you desire a thrashing, boy?”
The threat was not idle bluster, but I pressed on. “Why would you—why have you done such a thing? The war has ended. The treaty has been signed. We’re stuck here on this godforsaken island to oversee the last of our withdrawal while the British drink their tea from the summit of our defeat. We have lost,Général.”
“We haven’t lost untilIsay we’ve lost, Lieutenant,” he snapped, his eyes flashing with anger. He shook his head to regain control of his temper, then, eerily calm, he continued. “Les armées du roiare weak—inclined tolibertinageand slothfulness. If we have been set back temporarily, so be it. I will regain control and force these useless, witless, spineless men in my command to embody the kind of strength and ferocity that we need in order to turn the tide and beat back the British.”
He’s gone mad.There was no other explanation for it. “The treaty has already been signed! King Louis—”
“King Louis doesn’t care how I win, Lieutenant, only that I do. This is the way I will deliver a result. Something you know very little about,” he hissed.
“You underestimate him,” I argued. “He would not stand for such cruelty or treachery.”
“Silence! You haven’t the faintest notion of the king’s true feelings. If we have faltered in this war, it is because His Majesty is too distracted with domestic matters. The blood plague rages still, turning farmer, peasant, andbourgeoisinto filthy, soullesssanguisuges.He cannot control the vampires, so he must play at appeasing them until a cure can be discovered. That absurd emissary is as powerless as they come, and no one believes the Order is actually doing anything other than fueling rumors of revolution.” He turned to face me, and I saw disconcerting wildness in his gaze. “I will save France at any cost—even if the threat is France herself.”
“Sir, you cannot mean—”
“You are dismissed, Lieutenant,” he snapped, pushing past me. He sat down at the desk and picked up the damning papers, then tossed them into the fire.
“No!” I reached for them, but strong arms hauled me back. Two other soldiers had entered the room and now pulled me toward the door. I stared at the burning evidence, quickly turning to ashes before my eyes. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead—would I really have gone to the king with proof of such corruption?It doesn’t matter now.Even if I did report it, no one would believe me without something substantial to back my claim.Général de Vauxhad the reputation and influence to do as he pleased, like all powerful men.
Gritting my teeth and brushing the dirt from my uniform, I stormed back to my quarters. It wasn’t long before the two soldiers showed up outside again. I frowned, already suspecting what was to come.
“A dozen lashings for insubordination and disorderly conduct,” one of them said. “To be delivered at dawn.”
A dozen.Those scars could join the others. “No dishonorable discharge for me then?”
The soldier narrowed his eyes at me. “Certainly not,sir.”
I went back inside and turned to my own correspondence. I knew I had a letter from my sister, Marie, waiting in the stack. My heart clenched at the thought. She’d been unwell since the murder of her son, Louis. My sister’s family had been a bright spot in my otherwise gloomy existence, but with the loss of Louis, now everything seemed bleak. I prayed her grief would lessen with time, but it only seemed to consume her more, until I feared she would be swallowed by it. Young Louis had suffered brutal mistreatment at the hands of a corrupt aristocrat, theMarquis de Sade. As soon as I was able, I would confront the monster and have my revenge.
Her letter gave me no comfort—rather, it stoked my temper to a boiling point. Marie had questions about the circumstances of Louis’s death. The things she suggested were horrifying, but something about them took root in my heart.The général must see this.Crumpling it in my shaking fist, I rushed from the room and back to thegénéral’sstudy. The two soldiers from earlier were standing guard out front.
“He is busy,” one of them said. “Come back later.”
“No,” I said, trying to push past them. “He will see me now!”
