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Petros As you say they are both fighting for what they believe in and their side, so I am thinking they both think they should be allowed to do what they need to do to win. Thanks, I hope the story can continue to keep you wondering and reading :)


Morpheus506 Long time no seen… As you say you have been away far too long. Good to see what you have returned and I am glad that you are enjoying the story :)


J. Passepartout The yellow symbolizes Catholics and blue Protestants, so the yellow/blue strips indicate that the provinces has both religions. So I guess is pretty historical the provinces have both religions, so all of those contain Huguenots, but there aren’t necessarily just all Huguenots living there, there might also be Catholics…


stnylan Yes, I agree he is kind of an eel…
Oh I think that the Duke is a clever man, he gets to have fun and enjoy himself with the chambermaids while at the same time he is probably learning a lot about the court and the things going on in France ;)


coz1 Yes, I think he has a lot to do with all those Heretics, but I think he has a plan ready to deal with it… and he is certainly using all the weapons he has got to win


All As several of you mention the Cardinal probably has a lot to do with all those Heretics, but as I have tried to show the Cardinal has a plan and he has the weapons he need to fighting back, and soon the fight will reach a new level.
I am working on the next update now. We leave the cardinal for some time and travel back to Jean and the Duke of Buckingham. Should have it posted soon…
 




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7th May 1625
Louvre, Paris, France




Jean walked slowly into the room, on the inside he could see Richard standing there smiling to him, and behind him he saw another man. Jean knew at once who it had to be; at last he was meeting the Duke of Buckingham.

Jean smiled and bowed deep to the Duke trying to give the man the respect that he deserved being a Duke and the first minister of England.





”Jean de Nogaret I am glad you could come… may I intrude His Grace the Duke of Buckingham…”



”Now so this is the young man who saved the King’s life and possibly mine also… I thank you for your work de Nogaret!”



“I did my duty Your Grace…”



”Well if you were one of my men I would tell you that you did more than your duty. You did well de Nogaret, and I tell you this I am certain you will go far…”




The Duke nodded to Richard, and Richard then left the room for some minutes, then he returned with a letter.



”As My King is soon going to be His Majesty’s brother in law I think it is only suitable to thank you for the great work you have done for both France and England.

I hope you will accept this small gift from me…



The Duke took the letter from Richard and together with it he picked up a small ring. The Duke handed both of them to Jean, and as Jean looked closer on the gold ring he noticed that when one looked closely one could see the seal of England on the inside.



”I see you have already seen the seal… I know that France and England have not always been friends, and we might soon be enemies again… But I still hope you will accept these gifts.

The ring has the seal of England, but it is on the inside and it is not visible unless you take the ring off and show it. It can be used should you ever need to leave France in a hurry. Show this to one of the fishermen in Calais and they will take you to England…”


“Why should I need to leave…? And what do you mean; they are many fishermen I Calais?”


”You are a wise young man and I feel confident you will know when you need it. When you have escorted us to Calais I will give you a hint myself. Remember when one is interested in young ladies one never know when it might be necessary to leave quickly…”



“Calais, Your Grace? I am not going to Calais…”



”From what I understand you are. The King has no interest in leaving his sister in bad hands and he has sent what he tells me are some of the best men in France to guard here when we leave Paris and travel to Calais… And you are one of them.….


You better prepare, we leave for Calais as soon as the last details have been concluded and the first ceremony has been finished. Then when we return to England the King will marry her again in a second ceremony. Here in Paris I will be stand in.”


“I understand Your Grace… Have Your Grace any idea about when?”


”Soon, very soon… There is just some other business I need to attend to first… A certain lady needs my attention, so if you would excuse me...




The Duke smiled at Jean and then he left. Richard could only hand Jean the gifts and smile.



”I think it is safe to say that His Grace is a lady’s man Jean… Let us hope he can remember his own advice, young ladies are nice, but they might be trouble…”
 
The man of power and potency do rather like ripping the carpet out from underneath Jean's feet. What an education the lad is getting! And a dangerous association.
 
J. Passepartout said:
Jean will defintely need to go to England at some point, to get away from the Red Menace probably.
Considering Richelieu's power, who's to say even England would be all that much safer?
 
Graymane Welcome. I am glad you age able to read it now. Glad you enjoy the story :)


J. Passepartout That might be…


stnylan Indeed, it seems like Jean has a certain ability to get into hard and difficult situations, but if one is to get far a good and broad education is needed I think, and he certainly is getting a good education so we can always hope he will be able to take advantage of all this.


Morpheus506 Of course one can never know… Time will show. Also in the end it might not be the Cardinal that he has to escape from ;)


J. Passepartout That sounds like a good plan, should such an act ever be necessary. But I soon think the Cardinal will get more important enemies to consider and fighting against…



All Thanks for all your support and comments.
Now it is time to leave Paris. We travel south and west to a certain city on the west coast where there are evil things going on…
 




larochelle2le5.jpg



15th May 1625
La Rochelle, France





The man was moving quickly though the dark streets of the city. The night had fallen on La Rochelle and the streets were empty. If anyone were watching they would hardly be able to the man as he moved quickly though the streets as he was dressed in only dark clothes.

Turning corners and whenever he saw people he halted and waited, also all the time he remember to turn around and make sure that no one were following him. He was determined not to be seen or follow.

Turning another corner he quickly moves into a small, dark street. In the end he halts and looks around for sometime before opening the small door and quickly moves in. As he walks through the dark house he continues watching around until he ends up in front of a huge painting. Silently and careful he puts his hand behind the painting and flips it forward into the room, on the backside was a door. The man knocks hard on the door in a special combination, and seconds later the doors is opened by another man.





”Welcome my friend. You are sure you weren’t followed?”



”Not to worry Your Grace, I made sure…

Have you heard the news about our friends?




”Yes… they know the dangers, and they were willing to pay the price. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten. Soon we shall be able to launch the real attacks…”




”Shall I prepare the men Your Grace. We can start the campaign and grabbed several cities within hours. Just say the word…”



”No not yet. We don’t want the Red Monster to know. We shall strike against him and the royals once more, and then we shall show them…

Soon it is time; soon we shall crush the monster and the heretics."




”Wonderful Your Grace, we shall be ready!"





The two men smiles, and then the one called Your Grace pulls forward a letter and hands it to a third man that had just entered.




”It is time. Our friends will leave tonight, and then… then we shall win!”
 
Pride goeth before the fall, and someone's pride is going to take a batting here. Whether it be Richelieus or this other Duke, well, time will tell.
 
stnylan Someone’s pride is surly going to take a batting, so time will show who will be the one getting the beating.


J. Passepartout That would be a very good guess ;)


All I am sorry but there will unfortunately be no update tonight. Have been a long and busy day at the university and I am pretty tired now, so I am afraid there will be no update tonight. But I guess waiting one day extra will only make you more interested and wondering what happens next…
So you just have to wait…
 
It looks like all hell is about to break loose. :eek:

Joe
 
Indeed - everyone seems set to take up their arms for some cause or another. It was interesting that you left the door open for Jean to perhaps follow the Duke rather than say, the Cardinal or someone in France. It could go either way at this point. Let us hope he sees his own fair maiden before he must travel to Calais. ;)
 
Lord E: ...”It is time. Our friends will leave tonight, and then… then we shall win!”

confidence is good, as long as you have the cold steel to back it up ! ! :D

magnificent updates ! ! :cool:
 
Storey Yes, I think it is safe to say our heroes soon will find themselves in some trouble…



coz1 As you say it could go any way just now, but soon events will begin that might not be good for Jean or France. I hope he did visit her before leaving because he might want to have her to dream about when trouble begins.



GhostWriter Of course if he is going to talk the talk he needs to have the weapons to back it up ;)
Glad you liked it



All Alright as promised there will be a new update today. I am working on it now, so should have it posted soon… I think I should warn you, I know some of you don’t like cliff-hangers, but the next update will have one so you will just have to live with it and then wait to see what happens next ;)
 




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26 May 1625
Paris, France




Jean was looking back on the two wagons. He could see Richard sitting in front together with the driver and he knew that the Duke was inside together with the new Queen of England. The first wedding had happened yesterday with the Duke as stand-in for the King and from what Jean understood the King would come to meet the Queen when she arrived in England and then they would marry again with the King this time. But first they needed to make sure to get the Queen and the Duke safely to Calais.

As the servants put the last piece of luggage into the second wagon, the one carrying all the luggage, Jean turned his head to the Baron.




”Alright, it seems like we are soon ready to leave… So say goodbye to Paris for now men because it will be some time before we return.

Also stay prepared, I don’t expect anything to happen, but you never know so keep sharp men, it wouldn’t be good if we allowed for a princess of France and now Queen of England to be assaulted in France…”



”Monsieur Baron, it seems the servants have finished now, so we are ready to leave!”



”Very well Your Grace.

You heard the Duke, let us ride.”






As they moved through the streets of Paris they didn’t go very fast. It was a busy day and the French capital was filled with people so even if they had wanted to go at high speed it had been impossible. Apart from the two wagons there were fifteen riders escorting the wagons with the Baron in command and Jean as the second in command. Buckingham had asked the King and the Cardinal before they left if they thought that fifteen men were enough, and he had been assured by the Cardinal that Northern-France was a safe area and that it would be more than enough.

The moment they drove out of the city they immediately increased their speed; the Duke had said he wanted to reach Calais in a couple of days as he wanted to be in England again before June 1st. So now they raced north through the French countryside towards Calais where an English vessels was waiting for the Duke and the new English Queen.

They had started from Paris in the early hours and by the afternoon they had moved far away from the French capital and much closer to Calais. Insisting of travelling one more hour the Duke had rejected the Baron’s suggestion to stop at the last village they had gone through as that wasn’t planned, instead they continue to travel forward as the evening started and it got darker. Also on the horizon they could see dark clouds signalling a rainstorm was on its way towards them.

It was getting darker and darker by the minute, and Jean was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. He had never enjoyed the night missions; this was something he had learned in Guyenne where the thieves and rebels normally attacked the Royal soldiers at the end of the day just as darkness was approaching. Having been attacked several times in Guyenne during his few weeks down there Jean had already developed a sense of danger when they travelled through woods at night.

They could see the lights of the village far ahead when the rain started to fall, first it came slowly, but then it increased more and more. The men were tired and soaking wet as they rode towards the village.

It was then that Jean suddenly noticed that the two riders in front fell from their horses and he heard a distinct sound as he could see one more soldier fell from his horse. Jean had only been attacked by this kind of weapons once before but he recognized it at once. Someone was firing arrows on them.





”We are under attack!

Get the wagons into the village…. Quci…






Just as he was about to end his sentence Jean could see the Baron fell forward on his horse with an arrow standing out from his back.
 
Wow.. so Jean finds himself suddenly in command during a night raid. Can he handle the pressure? Will the Baron recover?

Thanks for the change in color btw, it is much easier on my old eyes :)
 
Lord E: ...Just as he was about to end his sentence Jean could see the Baron fell forward on his horse with an arrow standing out from his back.

that don't look too good ! ! :eek: four men down, eleven to go ? ? :eek:

awesome update ! ! :cool:

J. Passepartout:
I fully expect someone important to die or be kidnapped.

in earlier times, enemies were captured for ransom. i don't see that as the motivation here. :eek:

i guess the Cardinal wishes to reduce the number of enemies at home as well as abroad at the same time ! ! :rolleyes:

that could be a bad move if the English have the financial means to retaliate ! !