Isabeau was nearing a burn out. Mentally, everything she said and did contradicted everything she’s done for so long, causing her to overthink every action once it went past the moment. Physically, her dabble in undercover work was taking a toll on her body. She was so tired every night but could barely sleep. Her body was also a little bruised and cut up from the hellish Princess, Isabeau couldn’t even take a walk at night without escaping her burning mess.
Last night the Princess of course had to stumble into Isabeau, she wasn’t quite surprised with her drunken stupor however. Throughout their interaction it became abundantly clear to Isabeau that the Princess would be nearing her very own burnout soon. There was little truth in her words the night before, Isabeau was manipulating everything, making herself look vulnerable and caring so that the Princess would fall into her arms at the time of her upcoming demise.
A demise that, after receiving a letter from Ayleth, was currently in the making. Ayleth’s small group of rebels were completely organizing a false base and planned to use identity covers, on their terms the only thing the Princess would find would be their false information. They all knew the Princess would go begging on her knees, once Landervik returned, with the information she would take from them. Ayleth knew how Landervik would react to her failure. It was an evil thing for them to do, considering they could assume Landervik wasn’t the kindest of individuals, but it was the only way.
Isabeau had been in the courtyard after assisting the rebels move with Ayleth since Ayleth wanted to follow through with her promise of further involving her. Ironically, she ran into the Princess who further proved their suspensions of an impending downfall.
Isabeau jolted from her sleepy state of thoughts at the small taps on her door. It was still dark out but Isabeau was attempting to manage her hair. The curls had lost their distinct pattern and had frizzed beyond recognition. Considering the time she didn’t want to wake a servant to straighten her hair so she thought she would just style it herself for the outing.
Isabeau stood up from her mirror seat, setting down the hair brush, and made her way to open the door. Unsurprisingly, Ayleth stood in the doorway, smiling despite the heavy bags that weighed down on her face. As Isabeau stepped aside, Ayleth made her way in, waiting until Isabeau closed the door to speak.
“Your...hair...”
“Don’t,” Isabeau started, “can you just, help me fix it?”
Ayleth was visibly holding back a laugh but Isabeau shrugged it off, content with someone helping revitalize the state of her hair. She made her way to the seat in front of the mirror, gesturing for Isabeau to sit in front of her. When she did Ayleth got to work.
“Did you..” Ayleth picked up an especially notty section, “Try to brush it here?
“Well it would be easier to put up,” Isabeau murmured.
“Just, let me focus on your hair.”
Isabeau complied until she remembered she should probably tell Ayleth about the Princesses sorry state the night before. “By the way, I saw something odd last night before I went back to my room.”
“Hm?” Ayleth asked while holding the handle of a comb in her mouth.
Isabeau inhaled deeply, unsure of the nerves that were building up inside her. “I saw the Princess in the gardens drunk, very drunk.”
Ayleth stopped doing her hair and looked at her in the mirror, taking the comb out of her mouth. “That's… oddly interesting. How did she act?”
Isabeau twiddled her fingers, “Well she ordered me around-”
“Typical,” Ayleth interrupted.
“Tried to hook up with me-”
“Uh, not typical?”
“And succumbed to rage-”
“Ah, typical.”
“Ayleth,” Isabeau exclaimed, “it was odd but it let me see a little more into her. I was able to get a glance of her growing meltdown and plant some sentiment between us.”
Ayleth was silent for a moment, giving Isabeau a peculiar look in the mirror, one for some reason she couldn’t decipher. “You… don’t have to appeal to her anymore. Considering what's been planned she’s already in our reach, I told you in the letter that wasn’t a thing you had to do anymore. I apologize for giving you that task.”
“But it can still work! We can gain her past manipulative measures, truly gain her trust.” Isabeau turned around to look Ayleth in the face, “Why are you backing down?”
“Isabeau,” Ayleth placed a hand on her shoulder, “I don’t know why you are so invested in this but it's ok. This isn’t an end all be all situation for you, you can back down. I know it must be hard, especially with William and all.”
The mention of Isabeaus impending marriage was enough to call forth her defensive front. “You do not need to sympathize with things that are my business. Do not impede on my personal life.”
“Okay,” Ayleth raised her eyebrows as she moved to finish off Isabeau’s bun. They stayed silent until Ayleth finished. Isabeau stood immediately to leave, but Ayleth put a hand on her shoulder before she could pass.
“Isabeau, I apologize if I came off presumptuous… I just worry about the severity of your involvement. I don’t want a taste of rebellion to send you into a state of emotional chaos, you seem all for this but… not for this at the same time.”
“I…” Isabeau couldn’t argue, she wanted so badly to hide behind another front, “Let us go. I am sure the Princess has no tolerance for tardiness.”
Ayleth nodded melancholically as they walked out the room and down the halls, heading to their meeting point at the church. By the time they arrived the Princess sat in one of the pews towards the front, feet up on the pew in front of her as she twiddled a dagger between her fingers.
“Is that respectful church behavior?” Ayleth asked, walking in front of Isabeau stopping at the pew where the Princess sat. Isabeau followed behind looking down at the bored Princess who seemed to not bother looking at either of them. The Princess stood, looking off somewhere else.
“Lead the way,” The Princess quipped.
Ayleth met eyes with Isabeau, both silently conveying to drop it and move along. Ayleth started out the church and the Princess was close behind, Isabeau went to walk next to the Princess, who childishly would speed up to further move away. Isabeau took note of the fact that the Princess didn’t look or talk to them the entire walk, despite Ayleth’s persistent conversation starters. She would have jumped in out of pity, but she wasn’t in much of a talking mood at the time.
They finally reached an abandoned guard tower in the gardens that had simply been left to its own devices, perfect for their last minute repurposing. The Princess scoffed as they walked in to see a few members present around a table debating through records and news, they were all adorned in their disguises; covering their faces with a piece of cloth and a cloak, only their eyes barely visible.
“Looks like a partial truth,” The Princess finally turned to look Ayleth in the eye, “what exactly is this?”
Ayleth’s acting skills were thankfully up to par as she pulled an irritated face. “Make fun of the rebellion that’s waiting to stand behind you, great start…” The Princess, like usual, closed their distance quickly, pointing her finger into Ayleth’s chest while staring down at her. Her stare was piercing.
“If you haven’t noticed I didn’t come for some half assed reveal,” She gestured to the walls, “this clearly isn’t your home base and I have no information of the members. My words will be regarded as a conspiracy and that would ruin me, so, please enlighten me with something worthwhile before I just kill the dissenters here and present their heads before the King.”
“You can’t,” Ayleth stood unwavering to her threats, “you forget you are in our base. Every member has been trained in combat and we have our very own assassin waiting in the shadows.”
“Fuck you,” The Princess whispered, spacing out each word for impact. Isabeau stepped forward purely by instinct, placing a hand on the Princesses chest to push her back. The Princess looked down in disgust before turning to the discussion table. “I guess some of this information should do.”
Ayleth sent a questioning glance to Isabeau but she shook it off, unsure of the Princesses growing tolerance to them. She was probably just too tired from being hungover.
Ayleth pulled Isabeau in to speak into her ear, “I’m going to get the preparation team ready for the move once she leaves, go mediate at the discussion table, it won’t be long until something bad happens around her.” Isabeau nodded and went over to the table as Ayleth made her way out of the stone column, closing the thick wooden door behind her, sealing off the sunlight.
The Princess was standing by one of the men speaking, pensively listening to every single word he said. She looked so focused compared to the chaotic, unthinking side Isabeau so frequently saw of her. It didn’t last long since the Princess had felt her stare and sent Isabeau a glare before snatching a piece of paper off the table, causing one of the men to look at her like she was insane and grab it back. Isabeau almost didn’t see her foot quickly kick out, flattening the man out on the cold stone floor. A few other men looked as if they were ready to strike before Isabeau, again, but herself between them.
“Hey,” She cautioned, “I don’t like her either but let’s try to maintain a civil environment, she thrives in anarchy.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Princess smirk at the comment, so she gave her a tiny stomp on the foot. Which apparently hurt a lot since she grabbed her foot as if she’d struck a knife through it.
“Don’t mock me,” The Princess nearly yelled, “and these are my records, I’m taking them back with me.”
“Stop acting like a child,” Isabeau piped up, turning to stare up into the Princesses eyes, “it is repetitive and clearly not doing any good for any of us, even yourself.”
The Princess pushed Isabeau back, “Don’t call me a child, last I checked you’re younger than me, child.”
“Petty remarks gain you no traction,” Isabeau retorted, almost ready to back out of the confrontation.
“Than what of you?” The Princess took a step closer, “Your personality is fabricated from petty remarks and a lousy attempt of pretending to be someone else.” Isabeau would be lying if she said the comment didn’t hit a little, but it wasn’t the first time she’d faced this truth. She wouldn’t argue anymore, it got her nowhere. It was the same as it used to be, her words carried no more weight to the status the Princess held against her. So she went silent.
When the Princess didn’t get the response she wanted, or any at that, she looked further enraged before calming herself down and heading back to the table. Isabeau moved to the stairway and leaned against the wall, deciding to wait until Ayleth got back to bother with the Princess again.
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