Caged

Chapter IV

I remember the first time you brought him home. He was this young child with the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. An illegitimate child who had fallen in love with you. It was no surprise; everyone who saw you fell in love with you in some way.

March 1854

A war was declared between France and Russia. The Gildens turned gray like the weather. Shadows seemed darker outside and in the household, casting across the floor although

there was no one there.

One night, she heard Brandon and her father outside of their rooms, speaking softly,

"Henri will be alright. I'm just not sure about your mother." It was her father's voice.

"Just let me go. Henri might need help. He's still young." Brandon's.

"Henri knows enough. He can do it. Leave it be. I would convince you of the same, but we've been over this before."

Her brother Brandon began spending more time with her, or trying to, walking her to church and helping her when she needed to go out to get things for the house.

“Don’t expect to be treated as a princess, but treat everyone else in a way they don’t expect,” he said once.

“Never think you know everything.

‘Never, never, never settle for less.”

It made her want to avoid him. Everything he told her became morbid.

Her father avoided Avalyn for that very reason. He did not want to convince himself that he would not be coming back. That scared her even more than Brandon's methods.

They left early in the morning. Henri woke Avalyn against her mother’s wishes. Brandon embraced her in the doorway, and her father embraced her outside just before they left. Her father kissed her cheek and told her he would send letters. She knew her father would speak to her more easily through letters than through words.

They took the road out of Wrennes. Emptiness replaced tension in the house. Henri shut himself away from their mother and Avalyn. Avalyn went to church as much as she could.

The Count waited at the bottom of the stairs when mass was finished one day.

“You didn’t sing today.”

“No, I wasn’t in the mood to sing.”

They both smiled when he caught her eyes.

“Singing will make you feel better, you know. Will you walk with me?”

She ignored the mutters she heard as both her and the Count walked past the loitering congregation. He smiled at everyone they passed while Avalyn felt her mouth turn down. He offered his arm and she took it.

“I’m Thierry Closs,” he said as they went down the church steps. “I used to be a detective but have since retired.”

“But you’re so young.”

Thierry lowered his face and smiled to himself.

“I just have a young face, but thank you, Mademoiselle.”

They stopped at the bridge that bled into the road that led to the outside of Wrennes. Avalyn had never so much as walked down the road. She thought of her father and brother disappearing into the woods. They had gone to meet the caravan to bring the soldiers to Paris. The road was surrounded by forest, and Thierry looked fondly into it.

"Do you sing?" Avalyn asked.

"I used to. It helped me get over my shyness. I'm more of a chess player now. Have you ever played?"