Restez proche avec votre ennemi on Cascade Hall

Madeleine Dautin, Sébastien Évreux, & Louis Valois

August 14, 2016 12:38 PM

Restez proche avec votre ennemi by Madeleine Dautin, Sébastien Évreux, & Louis Valois

Nearly a whole year had passed, Madeleine and Bastien had managed to give Louis the slip for the most of it, and none of it had come crashing down on them when they went home over the winter break. However it crossed Madeleine’s mind one day as she walked down to meet Bastien for breakfast, that not only was Louis older than them and therefore going to network at the dunes over the summer before either she or Bastien would, he was also a top tier family along with hers. Bastien’s family, while up there with the noblesse, was not quite so important. And this worried Madeleine. It wouldn’t do for Louis to go home and report to his parents that Bastien had not been very welcoming to the Valois heir. It wouldn’t do at all. After all, she and Bastien were in this together and Madeleine really couldn’t take the damage that could potentially do to both her and Bastien’s future - and she also didn’t feel particularly inclined to stay allied to someone who crossed one of the more powerful families in French society.

Bastien was already seated at the Crotalus table when Madeleine arrived and she greeted him with the standard exchange of cheek kisses. “Salut,” she said with a smile, tucking her neatly pressed dress beneath her lightly in a ladylike manner so that her stockings wouldn’t get ruined from the subpar seating that Sonora had to offer in the dining hall. Madeleine always wore stockings. She found bare legs to be hideous and unpolished. “I was thinking,” she said as she poured herself a mug of hot chocolate. “Pass the bread? Anyway, we really can’t afford to alienate Louis Valois any longer. The consequences far outweigh the rewards,” it was a phrase she had heard her mother say many times to Oncle Thierry before disappearing behind a corner only to emerge hours later with pink cheeks. “We’ve got to get him thinking we’re on his side. Who knows what he’ll go home and tell his parents? You’ve been simply awful to him this year, Bastien.” This was followed by a rather pointed look.

Sébastien had been pleasantly surprised when Madeleine joined him for breakfast . Well, perhaps not surprised, as it was common enough to find the two catching up and plotting during mealtimes, However, he enjoyed the company of the Dautin witch, partially because it was good for his social status, but also because (although he would never admit it, even to himself) he found her interesting and fun to be around. However, his good mood was ruined when she brought up Louis Valois. And yes, she might have made a good point about how they were treating him, but Bastien didn’t appreciate anyone highlighting his errors. Torn between a desire to never admit a mistake, but also realising that he couldn’t worm his way out of this one with any degree of tact or good sense, he reluctantly admitted that perhaps Madeleine was right. “It’s too late now, though,” he said, passing the bread as asked. “He’s stopped talking to us recently, so the damage has already been done.” Which was true. Louis had, of late, stopped asking the younger French students how their day was going, or if he could help them in any way when he passed them in the hallways.

“It’s never too late,” Madeleine said, keeping her tone pleasant. Although she could be rather pessimistic when it came to matters of the heart, she was a strong believer in making things happen. Which was why she enjoyed spying so much. She hesitated before continuing, not sure if Bastien would like her suggestion or not. “We just may or may not need to...grovel a little...” At the sight of Bastien’s revolted face, Madeleine shook her head and backtracked a little so as not to further upset the volatile Crotalus. “Nothing huge, I mean, just an apology or two and flatter him a bit, play to his vanity. After all ‘the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.’”

The idea of grovelling to the likes of Louis Valois was a disgusting idea. As far as Bastien was concerned, no Évreux should even consider grovelling. Such actions simply made you look weak. Luckily for his pride, Madeleine quickly redefined her plan, which was slightly more within the realms of actions Bastien could cope with. “I suppose we could trick him into thinking we want to be nicer to him. Maybe you could say hello to him in your common room, or we could invite him to eat with us one evening?” Despite knowing that efforts had to be made, Sébastien was still reluctant to interact with his self-determined enemy, as shown by the lack of enthusiasm put into coming up with ideas. True, his father wouldn’t be impressed if his son made an enemy out of the Valois heir, but by now Sébastien had built up so much hatred in his mind towards Louis that the idea of putting off the reconciliation was very tempting.

Madeleine smiled at Bastien. She loved it when someone admitted that she was right. She loved being right. “Super, Louis’s right there, shall I call him over?” Without waiting for Bastien to respond, Madeleine turned around in her seat so that the Valois heir could see her more clearly and she waved him over. “Louis, ça va? Un moment, s’il te plaît ?”

Louis was cheerfully going to breakfast when his normal routine of sitting at the Aladren table was interrupted by Madeleine Dautin, of all people, which was more than a little strange. He’d previously come to the conclusion that there was sadly no point in paying attention to her or Sébastien, as they evidently weren’t interested in even a cordial relationship. That conclusion had been a little surprising, as it was rare for witches and wizards of la noblesse to spurn him, but he had no desire to force his company where it was clearly unwanted. However, current actions suggested a rethinking of the situation was necessary, and he was hardly going to turn down the opportunity to speak in French for once. Emmy could cope without him for one morning.

“Oui, ça va,,” he replied, slightly suspicious but showing no signs of unease as he changed course for the Crotalus table. After all, he might be starting to find the ways of French society somewhat unbearable, but he still knew how to play the part. “Et vous?” he reflected the question back to them whilst waiting for their intentions to become clear.

Madeleine shrugged, allowing herself to appear a bit despondent. “Ça va, mais...” Madeleine glanced down to her cup quickly before raising her eyes back up to Louis. “I’m just struggling a lot with this Transfiguration assignment and,” a lie, she simply hadn’t had much time for the assignment, finding much better use for her time in researching great crimes of the 16th century instead of spending actual time on her school work. “I just thought you might be able to help explain it?” The implication that she was looking up to him not only as her elder but also as a potential role model for academics was clear as she kept her smile dainty and her eyes curious and hopeful. Under the table, she pressed on Bastien’s foot to urge him into talking.

Bastien was listening to the conversation and fighting the urge to grin at Madeleine’s transformation into an innocent little schoolgirl in need of help when he suddenly got kicked under the table. What was he meant to do to help? Repressing his scowl, which would definitely be directed at her later as he did not appreciate being thrown under the bus like that, he hastily tried to think of something to say. “It’s very hard, having to do all of this work in a different language,” he offered, hoping that was the sort of thing Madeleine was after. “It makes us feel very much like we miss France. I’m sure you understand the feeling.” Typically, Sébastien wasn’t actually sure how to say ‘homesick’, it being the kind of weakness that he would never admit to. Still, he reckoned he’d worked his way around the linguistic difference well enough, and had hopefully given a reason for their distance to Louis, as well as suggesting some sort of common ground.

“Oh sure, I can give you a hand with that at some point, Madeleine,” replied Louis, wanting to meet her attempts at what seemed like reconciliation with open arms. Although not literally of course - that would be taking things too far. “We can meet up in the library to go through it, if you’d like?” Hopefully he wouldn’t only be thought of as a source of information and homework help, but Louis was (despite what he sometimes liked to pretend) happy to help younger students if you could. He supposed Emmy-Lou had rubbed off on him a little. She definitely liked giving up her time to help others. Sébastien’s point was something he found more confusing, as he’d had excessive amounts of tutoring in English - and other languages - before attending Sonora, and was sure that the younger students would have had similar amounts. His second statement, however, was something he could sympathise more. “Ah, Sébastien,” he teased, putting on an obviously fake air of wisdom. “That’s called homesickness. Being in a foreign country actually makes you realise how much you love your own.”

Madeleine chanced a shy glance at Louis, the sort of look that Myrtille had long ago perfected. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

No, that would not be lovely. Not lovely at all. Bastien did not like the way Madeleine was talking to Louis, nor did he like these looks she was giving him. Those sort of looks should be reserved for Sébastien. Louis was in no way an ally of theirs, so was not deserving of any sort of admiration, even if Bastien knew that, logically, it must be fake. Besides, Madeline should be turning to him for help with work. Bastien considered himself to be intelligent, and didn’t want Louis to think he was incapable of helping his classmate. If Madeleine wanted to play the stupid card that was her choice, but he did not want to be dragged into it. But despite his internal thoughts, Sébastien was also a member of la noblesse, and knew enough about politics to smile pleasantly at the older boy and accept the teasing. Eventually things might be different, but for now they needed to be on Louis Valois’s good side.

Glossary:
Salut - hi
Ça va? - how are things? (lit.: it goes?)
Un moment, s’il te plaît - a moment, please?
Oui, ca va. - Good (lit.: Yes, it goes.)
Ça va, mais... - Alright, but...
Restez proche avec votre ennemi - Keep your enemy close

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