Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis)

Subject: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Thu Nov 02, 2017 10:16 pm

Louis' mind had been playing ahead of the game the moment they had touched back down in Versailles. With Vanessa soundly asleep for the rest of the day in which Kit Harrington had appeared, Louis had had a lot of time to think to himself.

The instructions had gone off before Vanessa had woken, and when she'd woken from the medically induced sleep, it had not been a topic of conversation. Vanessa had been given her own space for the next couple of days. The children kept from seeing their mother except for meals, and when Vanessa felt up to it.

Jacques had not been happy with the explanation of 'Maman needs a little bit of space at the moment' when Louis had tried to explain the situation without laying out the full problem. The boy was not stupid, though, and Louis was aware that any time he was buying for Vanessa was not going to last forever.

But the second blow came not a week later. Vanessa had returned to the role of mother, but Louis had been shouldering everything else. Their arrival home early had meant that they were not expected anywhere, but that didn't mean the world stopped. No, it was the arrival of the findings of the investigators that had brought Louis the bad news in respect of their granddaughter's health, and after the report had been placed back on his desk, Louis had sat back in his chair with a deep look on his features.

His eyes glazed over, it was quite clear that the Lord Clement was planning out his next move with care.

The small sounds of Jacques' feet went unnoticed, but the soft sound of the boy clearing his throat brought Louis' attention back to the study.

"Papa," Jacques spoke softly, knowing his father was working, but obviously wanting something. Louis raised an eyebrow as he sat up a little straighter in that moment, correcting himself entirely as he waited. "I wrote up this letter, for my cousin, for his sixteenth name day. We missed the final celebrations and thought it only fitting to write him an apology, and invite him to the Palace for a while." Jacques explained, and Louis couldn't help but give a small smile.

"Very good." Louis replied, sharing a small, knowing smile with his son. The Clements did not need to apologise to anyone, it was their right to come and go as they pleased, but Jacques was showing thought beyond his years in not riling up his allies, and making it clear it had not been a slight. "Send it this afternoon." Louis added, picking up the investigation notes from his desk once more and readying himself to leave his study.

"Papa," Jacques added, making Louis focus once more.

"Oui?"

"Maman is okay, oui?" He asked softly, concern written in the features of the boy's face. "I shouldn't have left her..."

"Non, you did the right thing, Jacques." Louis said, moving to stand before his son. Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, Louis guided Jacques from the study. "And, your Maman is fine. We... just have to deal with a few pressing matters. But, you need not worry yourself. Your Maman and I have dealt with the matters that arose at your cousins." A glance to the clock, and then back at Jacques was more than enough for Louis to tell the boy that it was much too late for him to still be up.

With that, Jacques had hurried off, allowing Louis a moment alone. He could pretend not to have seen...

But lying to Vanessa had never been an option.

With a heavy heart, Louis moved up the stairs of the Palace, and made his way to their chambers. At the door, Louis knocked softly, paused, and then entered. The ladies maid was still at work, and Louis didn't dismiss her like he might have done with any other news of this importance. Time was something he needed...

Sliding his tie undone, Louis hung it over the back of the chair closest to him, and undid his top button. Without a word, the Lord Clement moved to the bed, and sat upon the bed, the letter from the investigators in hand as he waited patiently for Vanessa to be ready, for them to be alone.

But even that... even now... he knew Vanessa would know before he opened his mouth to speak that it would be obvious that something was up. The soft click of the door denoted the removal of the maid from the room, and Louis' eyes focused on his wife. A sad smile touched his lips, confirming the fact he was not the bearer of good news.

"I sent the investigators to find everything they could." Louis explained, though his words weren't specific, they held enough wait for the subject to not need to be questioned. "I have their findings." He added, holding out the parchment in his hand to his wife. Reading or hearing the facts was not going to make this any easier.

________________________________________________

~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:30 pm

The days following the Lyon incident were spent only half awake, and only when Vanessa couldn’t go to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, the Lady Clement envisioned a small child, crying in the next room as her mother lay panting, bleeding, crying amidst the lone midwife and three nurses her father had sought to hire for her discretion. There was no logical reason why this child would be born under the same circumstances as her mother but a memory of the newborn’s mother was all Vanessa had. So it was repeated again and again before her closed eyes until she startled herself awake, trying to get to a baby who had long grown into a young woman and then died. Much too late, Vanessa was always much too late to help the child.

Louis seemed to be looking after her space as she stewed in her personal agony, unable to speak to him about the burden plaguing her soul. His was her fault, her guilt. She had sought refuge outside their relationship, had decided to leave Azalea with the man who would be a better father than she could ever be a mother, she had closed her eyes and her doors and her heart to the daughter that was no more. Was she ready to do it all over again?

She would have to be. Because she was now a Clement. Grandmere may not be here but Vanessa knew exactly what the old matriarch would have said. Nothing outside the family mattered. Azalea wasn’t family, her daughter certainly couldn’t be. Their interests and love and happiness now lay with their own children, children who deserved better than a mother beleaguered by her past… And yet the image behind her eyes of that lonely baby in the next room refused to fade away. It didn’t leave her in sleep, nor her waking hours. She heard the baby’s cry in Jacques’ careful questions and Elenore’ silent pleas to return to her grandmere, she even heard it in the silences Louis left unfilled when they were alone.

So a week later when Louis entered their private chambers while her Lady’s Maid was still at work, Vanessa knew something had happened. There was no power in the world that would keep the Lady Clement from sensing when her husband was in distress and today was no different. No amount of grief, guilt or self-loathing would ever alienate her to Louis. However it would not to do dismiss the maid immediately so Vanessa let the servant finish her work, silently strengthening herself for what was o come. All the while reassuring herself that at least it wasn’t one fo the children. When the young woman finally left, Vanessa turned to her husband, watching his guarded gaze.

Rising from her chair, the witch made for the bed, her steps slow and cautious as if she was approaching a particularly dangerous situation. Even as she sat on the bed, one hand reached for Louis to draw the strength she would need as the other reached for the papers. The report was clipped, to the point and written in a clumsy hand, as if the author feared being tardy would cost him his life. Which – Vanessa knew from how Louis dealt with matters of urgency – was very likely the case. The investigator had compiled quite a comprehensive report for such a short time but the Clement name opened doors like no other.

Determined not to betray a reaction what would give her fragile state of mind, the brunette read the account of Azalea’s death woodenly, grey eyes focused on the parchment as her nails dug into Louis’ skin unconsciously, probably leaving marks as her anxiety grew. The account of the baby began on page two, which Vanessa again read with good grace until she reached the name. “Mimosa,” the witch finally breathed out, her throat caching. Finally a name to the baby in her dreams, Mimosa was the name of the baby she would leave abandoned. Reading the condition the child was found in broke her heart. Broken bones, malnourishment, severe vitamin deficiency, infections from unhygienic conditions. And then began the hospital records.

It looked like Kit Harrington had finally done something right and gotten the toddler into a hospital where she was being looked at by experts, experts who all claimed the child had… “Q- Quel est son?” Vanessa asked, her voice only slightly trembling at the name of a disease in English. Louis simply reached over and turned a page which supplied the details o the condition. And how much surgery the child would need to correct her tiny bone structure. The experts predicted at least a year of ongoing progressive surgeries, none of which seemed promising. It looked like Mimosa wasn’t done facing death just yet. All surgeries were marked as possibly lethal due to her young age and delicate frame, but without them, she may not have a chance anyway as the way her skeletal structure was now would not be sufficient to support her weight as she grew.

“Elle ne va pas bien…” the brunette whispered out loud, reaching the last page which showed Mimosa’s latest appointment results and recommendations for further surgeries. “Elle ne peut pas vivre…” That did it, her composure cracked at the word as the tears began to form. She had lost one child, now the gods were punishing her by ensuring she lost another. Without thinking, she brushed the papers aside to find refuge in Louis’ arms as she cried. Perhaps if she cried enough, she would be able to bear the loss of the child better.

Because what else could they do? The girl wasn’t a Clement, and Vanessa couldn’t ask of her husband a task so impossible, she would prefer a death by the most painful of means before bringing up the subject to Louis. This was all her fault, and she was the only one who need suffer from it. Mimosa was a part of the life she had never truly led and though it was no the child’s fault, she would nonetheless pay for it.

“Je suis vraiment désolé,” she cried as she pictured losing yet another child. “Je suis vraiment désolé, tout est de ma faute, elle va mourir.”

________________________________________________

Come Plot With Me <3

Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Rsz_ve10

Subject: Re: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:30 pm

Louis sat quietly as Vanessa read through the words before them, her hand in his own was digging in to him like a lifeline, but Louis would not point this out. He would do anything to relieve her of the pain of the situation, but he knew that he couldn't. If hanging on to him for dear life would get her some respite, though, Louis would not deny her that much.

The soft sound of Vanessa speaking their granddaughter's name made a lump build in Louis' throat, but he pushed the grief away.

Because he was not going to allow grief to rock through Vanessa's body again.

Of that much, he already knew.

Louis had not hesitated when Vanessa asked what the illness was. Instead directing her to it and allowing the information to sink in. Louis had had to pour over the information on his own, mull it over, and finally decide on telling Vanessa everything that had been found. It had not been a decision taken lightly, but he knew that keeping even some of it at bay was not an option. They had to start with everything they had, and work up to the method in which they would combat all of this.

"Non," had been Louis' soft agreement with Vanessa that the child was not well. He didn't want to agree to the statement. He wanted to take away all the pain being dealt to Vanessa, but he could not lie to her. But, when Vanessa added that the young witch could not live, Louis shook his head in disagreement. But before he could use any one of the comforting sentences he'd come up with, and of the options he'd thought of, Vanessa had discarded the papers and curled in to him, tears wracking her slender frame as Louis' arms came to hold her close to him.

"Ven..." Louis started to speak, but the Lady Clement was not listening as she apologised to him. Then apologised again with the idea that the child was going to die. As if they would allow for such a thing to happen. They had already lost two of their children, Louis refused to lose their first grandchild, too.

For a few moments, Louis sat quietly, eyes flickering left, then right. Calculating, trying to determine how this could possibly be righted. His free hand ran fingers softly through her hair in the hope of calming Vanessa down, though Louis would not pretend that it would work nearly enough to make her stop crying just yet. But, it was something. Something to make the moment that much easier for her. This was a big thing for them, a huge ask on the reputation of the Clement house.... For Vanessa, though, the world was not too much to ask. He'd have had Mimosa here already had it of been that simple.

But, life was not simple for the two of them.

Kit Harrington stood in opposition to the two of them, and though Louis knew who would win any power struggle, the child was not a Clement. They could not simply take the child as their own. Which meant compromise would be afoot, and Louis would have to swallow all hate for Kit Harrington to bring his wife what she wanted.

"Tu n'as pas besoin d'être désolé, Ven. Tu n'as rien fait de mal. Nous allons régler cela. Nous ferons mieux Mimosa." Louis told her softly. The two had been inseparable for most of their lives. It came as second nature to Louis, knowing what Vanessa needed, what she wanted but couldn't ask him for, what he would need to do to do that.

"Vous n'avez pas à demander." Louis added, making it known that he knew the importance of the matter. Knew what had to be done. Though, how they could possibly convince the man who hated them both, Louis would never know.

"Mais les enfants ne doivent pas savoir. Pas encore." Louis whispered softly in to her hair, because he could deal with Vanessa in this state, but the idea of Jacques or Elenore finding out what they were doing... with the possibility of it not ending how they might want, Louis could not put them through that.

Tu n'as pas besoin d'être désolé, Ven. Tu n'as rien fait de mal. Nous allons régler cela. Nous ferons mieux Mimosa. -- You don't need to be sorry, Ven. You have done nothing wrong. We're going to fix this. We'll make Mimosa better.

Vous n'avez pas à demander. -- You don't have to ask.

Mais les enfants ne doivent pas savoir. Pas encore. -- But the children must not know. Not yet.

________________________________________________

~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:30 pm

Even as Louis confirmed that he would give her everything she could never dare to ask, the witch cried harder. The truth was self-evident in that moment, she had never deserved Louis. As much as she belonged with him, she had never done anything to justify the man he was and the lengths he would go to for her and his family. A family that he was willing to extend to include a child that was not biologically his in any way. Had she the strength to get up and make her way to the small shrine in one of the older structures of the palace, Vanessa would have gone this instant to kneel before the gods. As it was, she stayed on the bed with him, listening to him console her, almost breaking under the amount of patience and love he displayed.

“Oui,” she agreed finally when she could manage the words. “Les enfants ne doivent jamais savoir.” She was asking too much as it was. There was no way this child would encroach on the rights of the Clement heirs. Which proved another complication. Taking custody of little Mimosa would make her legally theirs, and that would not do. Not if Jacques and Elenore’s assets were to be protected. A shared custody would be unacceptable to Kit Harington who had made it clear that he had no wish to see them ever again.

And then there was the child, currently fighting for her tiny life in a hospital bed somewhere. The only thing they would have in common with the American Photographer was that Mimosa’s health would be all their priority. A trip to America seemed unavoidable if they were to talk it out. And what would he children think of their Maman and Papa flying off? Elenore was more interested than she let on in palace happenings and Jacques was too intelligent to be treated as the child he was. Jacques especially would be the first to notice any oddities in the palace, and with his mother given how attuned he was to Vanessa’s emotions.

Jacques who would be starting the day program at Beouxbaton in April… Jacques who couldn’t be here if they had a hope of pulling this of…

The idea of sending her only son away cut into her like a hot knife, searing her insides a thousand times worse than her own reflected hex had hurt her. The marks made by Kit’s grip may be gone but the emotional scars would always remain. And the pain of seeing Jacques leave made her breath stop for a moment. How would she survive with her baby so far away from her. How would she sleep each night without kissing his soft forehead and hugging his small body close to hers? For a moment, Vanessa even reconsidered. Surely nothing could be worth the pain of separating her son from her?

But it was a sacrifice they would have to make If they intended to go ahead with this. Jacques needed to be protected from the truth. He could never know the role this new child would play in their life – for Louis’ assurance had done the trick, Vanessa now believed the child would live, live and grow up – or the things she would be denied simply for not being of Clement lineage. Mimosa would be theirs in all but technicality, and to make it believable, the children would have to be away from the palace as much as possible. Their parents needed time to perfect the farce that would bring Mimosa into their lives and the farce would only be believable if Jacques wasn’t around every day to observe its construction.

“Nous devrons envoyer Jacques loin ...,” This time, her voice trembled worse than before as she continued that thought, knowing she wouldn’t have to explain the thought process to ouis. He would always understand what she was thinking, an ability Vanessa had not questioned any more than why it was easy to breathe around him or why she could feel his presence when he was near. “Pour ... ‘Ogwarts meme.” The words escaped her lips almost soundlessly, her face white at the diea of sending Jacques to that loathsome country. But it was the closest that would keep him away from the palace for months and give them the time they so desperately needed to oversee Mimosa’s health and enact a justifiable reason fro erh to become a part of their family.

Elenore would have to go a few years later after her brother, just to keep up the charade, but Vanessa had time to deal with that particular separation. Right now the prospect of losing Jacques was like an open wound, one she would have to deal with if she was going to save them from committing an even bigger crime. “Je vais lui parler ... Il devrait l'entendre de moi.”

________________________________________________

Come Plot With Me <3

Subject: Re: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:31 pm

The acceptance of Louis' words, that the children must not know -- not yet, at least -- came after a short pause. A soft thank you was whispered against his wife's hair as Louis's eyes continued to move back and forth with each plan. They would not settle on anything in Vanessa's chamber, because he was trying so very hard to formulate the plan to make this succeed.

Because, this was not going to be about Kit Harrington and him. This wasn't even going to be about Vanessa and Kit Harrington. This was now purely about a small child named Mimosa, and how in Merlin's name the promise that he could make the child better was going to work.

One day, very, very far in the future, Louis was sure he would find a day when his promises would fall short. Where he could not make the world stop for them. Where he would not be able to fix the unfixable things in life. But so long as that moment stayed in the distant future, Louis could live with himself, promising the world to Vanessa, and making it happen.

The idea of sending Jacques away, much like his wife's reaction, was one that made Louis bristle. Being sent away, as he knew, was not a pleasant experience. Though Jacques would be being sent off with the undertones of the family needing him to go, a story that would be more than easy to feed their son, Louis couldn't help but relive the darker moments of his own 'sending away'. The moments in the still of night where the doubt of your worth sparked in to being.

The nights where the thought of Vanessa's love being lost forever...

For a moment, Louis closed his eyes. He would not speak when emotions ran wild like that, because Vanessa did not need him to be anything less than strong in that moment. It was the suggestion of Hogwarts that brought a small frown to Louis' lips. With Lugarmago of Spain having burned to the ground in the summer of 2011, that was not an option. The Italian school had been shut down due to a lack of funding. Which left them with the decision between Durmstrang, a school noted for it's affiliation with the Dark Arts, that Louis simply would not see his children attend -- because he did not need to be told that Elenore would follow suit -- or Hogwarts.

"Je pense ... 'Ogwarts serait le meilleur." Louis replied softly, though it would be quite clear from his tone that though it might be the best option, it was not one that the Lord Clement was thrilled about. He had hoped to see Jacques in his Ombrelune uniform, much like Vanessa and he had sported when they were only eleven. Elenore, Louis had always imagined, would fall between Ombrelune and Papillonlisse, and his mind had never once given him the final sway of the sorting to let him know which it would be.

But now... now they would have to give up such things. Substituting such rituals of the Clement family, in order to save the life of little Mimosa.

The sacrifice would need a very good story, and Louis... Louis could have sworn his wrists had grown warm with the old stinging sensation his Grandmere would have used if she'd have seen them doing this. It was only in Louis' mind, though, and he knew that no matter what Grandmere might have thought, he would not have changed his mind.

"Je n'aurais pas suggéré un autre moyen." Louis assured his wife as she insisted the news would have to come from her, and not Louis. He understood, of course, why Vanessa would insist, and to go against that would have been inhumane of Louis.

Resting his head back against the headboard of the four poster bed, Louis closed his eyes and let out a soft breath. This was going to be the beginning of a long and emotional rollercoaster ride. One he could not be sure of the outcome of, but one he would have to pretend to be quite the contrary of.

"Je ferai en sorte que les médecins soient préparés. France, ou Amérique, ils vont commencer le moment où nous avons son accord."

Je pense ... 'Ogwarts serait le meilleur. -- I think... 'Ogwarts would be the best.

Je n'aurais pas suggéré un autre moyen. -- I wouldn't have suggested another way.

Je ferai en sorte que les médecins soient préparés. France, ou Amérique, ils vont commencer le moment où nous avons son accord. -- I will arrange for the doctors to be readied. France, or America, they will start the moment we have his agreement.

________________________________________________

~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Versailles, Winter 2015 (Ven & Louis) Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:31 pm

The fact that Louis too agreed with the decision of Hogwarts was a barely there consolation that she was not deciding wring for their son. That she wasn’t so blinded and selfish as to put Jacques through an ordeal he would hate his entire life. As the Lord Clement went still, Vanessa could almost picture his own memories of being exiled from the palace at sixteen. And she held him closer, reassuring him without words that it would never happen to him or their son ever again. Jacques might be going away but he would take all of their love and support with him. Never would their heir feel unnecessary or unloved, not for a single day. Not if Vanessa had to work her entire life to prove it to him.

“Les agents devront bientôt commencer la paperasserie,” she noted dully, the ache if losing he son for months on end resonating in her hollow tone. Jacques was not a citizen of the United Kingdoms, his quota did not fall in Hogwarts. And though the Clement name opened doors, it would be best to make the process look natural as an overnight admission raised eyebrows. She would also need time to bring their son about on the idea of attending school in Scotland – an area his mother had shown more than a little contempt for over the years.

“L'hôpital où elle ... où Mimosa ... est gardé,” she began only for Louis to raise to nod in instant understanding, showing his mind was on the same track as hers. The first thing to do would be to get the best doctors and facilities to their granddaughter where she was, until she was ready to be moved. And then the decision of whether she was treated in America or Europe would be made. It would also be helpful to approach Kit Harrington with all the cards in their own hands. The American belonged to a decent family but his nomadic ways and repulsive lifestyle had alienated him to his roots so much, Vanessa doubted he even understood how to utilize the powers he was born with.

Once all that was taken care of, there only remaining thing to do was the one Vanessa knew she couldn’t avoid. She would have to see Kit Harrington again, and this time she would have to eb stronger than she’d ever been before. Because the outcome of what happened to Mimosa depended on her ability to negotiate, and while the Vanessa he once knew was full of passion and rash judgment, the Lady Clement knew how to get her way. And get her way she would this time, despite how much his words attempted to shred her with their honesty and despise.

“Je suppose que la seule chose qui reste à décider est de savoir combien de temps nous devrions partir pour l'Amérique.” There was an air of sad finality in her statement, her body exhausted from all the important decisions they had made in the space of so little time. But the decisions were now made; they just needed to be followed through come dawn.

And until that dawn, Vanessa would lay curled close to Louis, her smaller frame enveloped in his lap as he rocked her back and forth until both of them would fall back in exhaustion, she holding on to him even in sleep. And fro the first time since finding out about their granddaughter, Vanessa Clement would not have the nightmare she was expecting.

Instead, her sleep would be dreamless, her body encased in Louis’ warmth and promise of a future he would make happen by any means necessary.

________________________________________________

Come Plot With Me <3

» Lyon -- Winter 2015 (Louis)
» The Palace of Versailles, 2006 (Louis)
» The Palace of Versailles, 2002 (Louis)
» Carmel, April 2015 (Louis)
» The Palace of Versailles, 2009 (Louis)