Ignoring both of us, cheeks still pink under Beau’s perusal, Célie sank into a deep curtsy. “Y-Your Highness. They alone have not forgotten their manners. Please forgive me.”

He arched a brow, smirking at me over her bowed head. “I like her.”

Coco lifted her hood to hide her face. Though she didn’t settle into Beau’s arm, she didn’t lean away, either. “She shouldn’t be here.”

“It’s that dog,” Beau repeated emphatically. “Wherever he goes, catastrophe follows. He was there when the fisherman tried to drown us too.”

Célie frowned. “But the fisherman didn’t—” At our stares, she stopped abruptly, blush deepening. She lifted a delicate shoulder. “The boat capsized on a swell. Do you not remember?”

“Have you been following us?” Lou asked.

Célie refused to look at anyone.

I sat heavily, resting my forearms on my knees. “What are you doing here, Célie?”

“I—” Her expression open, painfully vulnerable, she glanced between Lou, Beau, and Coco before settling on me. “I would like to help.”

“Help,” Lou echoed. Mocking.

Célie’s brows furrowed at her tone. “I believe I—I believe I have resources that could benefit the group in its pursuit of M-M—” She broke off again, hoisting her leather bag higher and squaring her shoulders. “In its pursuit of La Dame des Sorcières.”

“You can’t even say her name,” I muttered, rubbing my temples.

“I do not need to say her name to kill her.”

Kill her.

Good Lord.

An unexpected cackle sounded from Lou, who grinned wide and lifted her hands to clap once. Twice. Three times. The odd glint had returned to her eyes. “Well, well, it seems the kitten has finally found her claws. I’m impressed.” Her laughter burrowed under my skin, clawed at my stomach. “But my mother is not a mouse. How do you plan to kill her? Will you curtsy? Invite her to tea?”

Yes, I’d clearly misinterpreted their relationship.

By the flex of Beau’s jaw, he’d done the same. “Leave her alone, Lou.”

Célie flashed him an appreciative look. Bolstered, she continued in a stronger voice, “I don’t know how to kill her—not precisely, not yet—but I do have information in my possession. You were correct before, Your Highness.” From her leather bag, she withdrew a crisp linen envelope. I recognized Jean Luc’s handwriting on the front. “King Auguste has postponed your mother’s execution indefinitely. He plans to utilize her magic to eradicate the fire.”

Beau nodded to me. “I told you so.”

When she extended the envelope, I skimmed its contents before handing it back. “Thank you for this, Célie. Truly. But I can’t let you stay. What if something happened to you? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” I paused, frowning anew. Come to think of it— “What did your parents say about this?”