The Guillotine | ONC 2022

III

And as if our guests wanted to confirm my words, they suddenly started cheering and shamelessly standing up from their seats, hurrying to the door. 

“Vive Robespierre!” they all cried, raising their glasses.

This was too much.

Not only did they have the audacity to taint the nobleness of the funeral I had to pay for, they dared to mention the name of that horrid man in my presence. I was annoyed, I was angry, I was furious, I was-

… I was happy!

At the moment I stood up from my chair to silence all those passionate revolutionaries, I caught a glimpse of his face amidst the crowd of men, congratulating him.

With a solemn expression he stood there, dignified, watching everyone closely with his piercing black eyes.

I could have spent years watching him and wouldn’t even notice the passing of time. I would have gladly remained in that one blissful moment till the end of my days…

But then he lifted his eyes to me bashfully, searching in my gaze for some kind of explanation or even an apology.

I had none for him. Why should I regret something that only brought me pleasure?

So, with this awkward realization, he looked away from me again, preferring to listen to his colleagues’ flattery than to face my love.

Naive child! Did he think he'd avoid paying condolences to the host?

No, even though he had a dubious past, he knew that ignoring his friend on the day of his father's funeral was highly disrespectful and as Henri wasn't yet fit enough to make his way through that boisterous crowd of enthusiastic Jacobins, Armand had no other choice but to walk over to us. 

When he reached the end of the table, he lowered his gaze ashamedly and accosted my son, "Accept my condolences. I'm sorry I couldn't be here, but we had an urgent matter to tend to."

"Don't worry about that!" Henri waved his hand. "So Robespierre was added to the Committee for Public Safety. That's great!"

"That's not all yet. I have been accepted in the Committee along with him…" Armand whispered, trying to sound modest, but smiling proudly nonetheless.

"Oh my goodness…" Henri said, standing up astonishedly. "This is big… you realize that, don't you? Hell, this is amazing! Congratulations, my friend!" 

With these words Henri embraced his friend delightedly, however sliding back to his chair with a painful sigh afterwards.

"Congratulations, monsieur." I smiled at Armand, ignoring his efforts to avoid my eyes.

"Thanks…" he mumbled, a lock of his straight dark hair falling into his face.

Then, taking his hand into mine, I approached him and whispered, "I am sure you'll do great. There's a bright future in front of you." 

Unsure how to respond, Armand was finally forced to turn his eyes, dark and cunning as the eyes of a fox, to me. 

He stayed silent and I only had meaningless phrases on my tongue, but our souls embraced each other in a fatal dance, out of which only one could come out victorious.

But then, as if we were brought apart by a strict pedantic dance teacher, we were pulled back to reality by Henri.

"Hey, Armand! Hands off, that's my mother you're gazing at!" Henri laughed, but upon seeing Armand's ashamed gaze he added, "Oh, I'm joking! Come on, Armand, don't take everything so seriously, it was just a stupid joke."

If only Henri knew that, joking he got closer to the truth than with serious deliberations.

"I'll probably go now… I caused too much havoc already anyway…" Armand excused himself, hoping to escape my lustful gaze, but Henri got up from his chair again and stopped him as he was trying to flee. 

"No, don't go, Armand. What's the point of mourning on such a joyous day? Stay…"

Then, as if struck by a sudden idea, Henri took his glass from the table, raised it above his head and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Attention, everyone! This is a day that will go down in history for two of our dear friends have achieved something exceptional! I would like to toast to Armand Fontaine and Maximillien Robespierre! May they lead us towards a better future!" 

"Vive!" I cried along with the others, raising my glass towards Armand and winking at him.

He just turned away from me, but in that split of a second that his eyes lingered on me I caught at least a glimpse of respect in them. 

And respect, when combined with fear, can often result even in love.

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