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stnylan As long as the cardinal is not wearing black I think the Baron is safe.

Indeed too many people saw him enter, and as you say if the cardinal wanted him dead there is much easier way to take care off that…


coz1 Yes, it seems like Paris is a magnet on the story right now, all the characters are arriving there it seems… I will echo the words of Mr. Burns…

Excellent…


Storey Yeah he might be walking into a dangerous situation, but I think he will avoid being caught in the spider web. As for where all this will lead… that is a surprise ;)


J. Passepartout Time will show who is correct, but I can tell you this, as stnylan said there were too many people present for the cardinal to have him killed.


Cow Pie He he a count from Transylvania you say… now let us leave him out of all this ;) But I am glad you are enjoying it



All I will try to write the next update this evening and get it posted then. Until then I think you just have to wait.




Edit: HURRAY! THIS IS MY POST NUMBER 3000 :D :D :cool:
 




palaiscardinal2di6.jpg




21st of April 1625
Paris, France






The Cardinal was sitting still at his desk slowly beating the desk with his fingers. Then he looked down for a minute before smiling cunningly towards the Baron.



”Welcome Baron de Coligny, I have been expecting you…”



”Thank you Your Eminence, I arrived as soon as I could.”



”Yes… but this is not supposed to be a social visit. I am afraid there is important business to take care off Baron. I didn’t invite you here just for fun…”



”Your Eminence?”



”Tell me de Coligny during your time in Guyenne did you ever kill a man called Dufour?”





Standing still for a moment the Baron is shocked. Should he tell the truth or what should he do. Deciding to tell the partial truth the Baron clears his throat.




”Dufour?

I am afraid I don’t often have chance to ask for the man’s name when we are fighting for our lives Your Eminence… But from what I heard in Bordeaux just before we left a man called Dufour was killed in the city.




”So it wasn’t you who killed the man?”



”No, I didn’t even know the man Your Eminence.”



”Interesting…


Interesting indeed….



I am glad to hear you are telling the truth de Coligny. I was half expecting you to take the honour for killing that traitor. I am glad to see that you don’t try to trick me Baron.”





”Why would I want to take the honour for killing him Your Eminence?”




”Baron de Coligny you are not a dumb man… you know that Dufour was a Huguenot spy and traitor and if you wanted to impress me you could have claimed to have killed him. There are many people that would lie to impress the Cardinal!”



”I normally tell the truth Your Eminence…”



” Of course not Baron, you don’t tell lies, but bending the truth is always a possibility…”



The Cardinal gave the Baron a staring look, then he folded his hands slowly.



”You should remember Baron that the Cardinal knows all so there is no one that gets away with telling lies to the Cardinal!”


”But one can alter the truth Your Eminence?”


”Indeed, but even altering the truth is not very wise…


But that is not the main reason why I sent for you. As you might be aware off I am preparing for the campaign against the Huguenots. Once and for all I will remove the heretics from France.
You have a lot of local knowledge and as such I will offer you and the young protégé of yours a position in my guard. You will have the responsibility for removing all the Heretics from Bordeaux and the surrounding areas…



Protégé Your Eminence?


”Oh the Cardinal knows all de Coligny…. I am sure young de Nogaret would have a great carrier in my guard…

Oh and I would double the pay you are receiving from His Majesty.”



”I.. I… I don’t know what to say Your Eminence…”


”Accept!”



”I am honoured Your Eminence, and I am sure Jean de Nogaret will be very honoured to hear that the Cardinal has taken an interest in him at such a young age.”



”Yes… That young man can get far. I feel confident he shall one day command large armies for France; he just needs some understandings of the politics of Paris. If you understand your best you will both accept, the chance of doing a carrier is much larger when one is on the Cardinal’s good side…”



”I am very honoured Your Eminence, but I am afraid that my relationship with your captain will destroy any chance of us both working for Your Eminence…”



”I was expecting that answer Baron… I have also considered that, and I will of course accept your answer. But remember the Cardinal only offers things like this twice, you have used one chance…”


”I thank you for your understating Your Eminence.


”That would be all Baron. You will soon return to the south I imagine, the King’s forces will also go to war when the Huguenots rise in rebellion, something I am certain will happen very soon…


Oh just one more thing Baron, as you might be aware the Duke of Buckingham is currently in Paris… We both know that he has not promised any support to La Rochelle at this time, don’t we…”




The Cardinal was looking just normal. He could just as well have been talking about the weather, but the Baron knew at once that the Cardinal knew more than he said.



”I didn’t know he was planning to aid the Huguenots Your Eminence…”



”As I said he isn’t planning to aid them… not now at least.


The Cardinal knows all de Coligny… ALL…


As I said I only give you a chance twice, you have only one left! But you have my word, you still have one chance left. Use it well…

Now leave.”




Still shocked from the Cardinal’s words the Baron leaves the room, half expecting to meet the captain of the guard outside and be sent to the Bastille, but there is no one on the outside and as he walks back towards the waiting room he can feel that he is sweating while at the same time feeling cold all over his body. As the walks into the waiting room the first thing Jean and Tremoille notices is that the Baron is white in the face. He looked like he had seen a ghost.



Inside his chambers the Cardinal looks once more down on the maps and signals with his hand towards the secret door in the wall. Seconds later it opens.




”Was it him?”



“Yes, Your Eminence…”



”I thought so… But remember he and his men are to be left alone and unharmed. I still feel that the Baron and young de Nogaret has a role in all this…


The Baron needs to take care, getting deeper involved in cases like this would be very unhealthy, very unhealthy indeed…
 
Shocking that the Cardinal would even ask twice. One would think once is all it ever takes from him.

But I wonder if this is a reprieve or a death sentance? Time will surely tell.
 
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Not a pleasant situation to be in - and now to have to worry about when the cardinal may ask a second time, what to say, and what the consequences might be of refusal ... or acceptance.
 
coz1 Well I think we might say that the Cardinal might have a soft side also… I guess you can say that the Cardinal has more sides than the cold, hard one



stnylan A very dangerous situation indeed, it is one where it is very hard to decided what to do. So we can only hope that our friends will make the right choice and do the right think. The Cardinal is not a man to ask more than twice that is for sure, in some cases I think he wouldn’t even ask, so they better make the right choice


J. Passepartout So do I. We can only hope there will be some time so that our friends will survive and allow the story to continue


All Just a short update tonight. I had to update my other AAR also, so I didn’t have time to write a long update. But I hope you will enjoy the one I have almost ready, it should give you some ideas that the Cardinal is planning and preparing… he only needs to know that Europe is occupied;)

I should have it ready soon…
 




palaiscardinal2di6.jpg




21st of April 1625
Paris, France





The Cardinal had sent the man out through the secret door in the room, and now he sat still thinking over the events that had happened earlier in the evening. That the Baron said no to this proposal was not a shock to Richelieu although he also felt a little disappointed. Richelieu knew he would have felt much better if he had known that he had the Baron and this young protégé under control.

The knock from the bookshelf told Richelieu that Father Joseph had arrived; slowly the Cardinal went over and opened the door that was hidden behind the bookshelf and seconds later Father Joseph was in the room.





”Your Eminence, I return…”



”It is good to see you Father… were you able to conduct the mission in a satisfactory way?”



”It would seem so Your Eminence, although they are both her family they are much to occupied with the business in the Empire to be able to aid. Also I have them Emperor’s personal promise that he would very much like to see that we would strike against the Heretics.


”Excellent…

I am glad to hear the silly Austrian won’t do anything silly… And what about our Spanish neighbour?”




”That is more difficult, Your Eminence. She is creating some trouble for us there…”



”Yes... yes… good damn her, why did we even accept that marriage. Nothing much to do about that now, the most important right now is if he will stay away from my business.”



”As far as my friends have been able to tell me he will not interfere…”



”Excellent...

Now we just need to get this Englishman away and keep them busy and then we are ready…


Thank you Father.





While the old monk left through the secret door the Cardinal rubbed his hands. Then he picked up his dagger and tossed it quickly into the map on the wall. Hitting directly at the city the Cardinal smiled. Everything was falling into place and soon he was ready to launch his plan.
 
You keep building the anticipation here. I am just waiting for a spanner to get in the works.
 
Well now - how can the plan get derailed if the Cardinal knows all and sees all? ;)

Looks like the world is busy and thus, the perfect moment.
 
I finally got caught up with this. It is excellent! I do enjoy a France AAR. Is it just me or is the Cardinal just awesome? :D What skill he has with a dagger...I wonder what his occupation was before he turned to the cloth. :p
 
stnylan Well I think it is important to build a nice back-story before letting lose the hounds of war, but something will happen soon, very soon.



J. Passepartout I see you understood who the she in the update was. The emperor was of course the HRE emperor, and the he is the Queen’s brother the King of Spain.
Something will happen soon…




coz1 There is indeed a lot going on in the world.

Germany is involved in the Thirty Years War, the English and the Spanish have just been at war and France is in the middle. Just the year before the game and story began the Cardinal aided the protestant Swiss against the Pope so even France has just been at war and had its trouble. A busy world it has been before the game began and I think it would continue to be busy now that I am playing in this world…

The cardinal knows most things going on, but still there is always the small factor that might ruin a perfectly good plan



Eber Thanks. Glad you are enjoying the story. :)

Actually I also like the cardinal, at first I had only intended him to play a secondary part, but as the story has developed he has grown into it, and I think it is safe to say that he is playing an important role now and as I enjoy writing about him I think he will continue to play an important role.
I actually think the cardinal is a man with several talents, be it the dagger or the cross ;)




All Thanks for commenting and reading. The suspense is building I hope and with the next update I will leave you with a nice little cliff-hanger. ;)

Hope you will enjoy it.

Will have it posted within the next hour.
 




louisxiiilouvrewq3.jpg



25th of April 1625
Paris, France




Richard was not sleeping very well. The Duke had told him he didn’t trust the French the day they arrived in Louvre and ever since Richard hadn’t been able to sleep well. He slept very light and for hours at night he was awake listening and watching. Now he was looking out through the window, he couldn’t see much it was mainly dark, but as his eyes got used to the dark he started to be able to see figures on the outside. The guards were patrolling as they did every night. Still Richard didn’t trust them; they were French after all and he was the Duke’s personal secretary and aid. The Duke’s life was his responsibility as long as they were in France.

Turning around in the bed Richard tried to go back to sleep, but he was unable. Now his mind had started to wander and then it was impossible to return to sleep. Instead Richard decided to take a walk.

As he didn’t want to leave the Duke alone Richard decided not to walk far. He made sure the doors into the Duke’s chamber were closed and locked. Then he walked back to his bed in the chamber outside the Duke’s chamber and got his cloak. Leaving the chambers he walked slowly out into the corridor.

Richard walked slowly down the corridor, but then suddenly he heard voices and soon noticed flames lightening up the corridor, someone with torches were coming. Not wanting to allow the French to see him Richard quickly made sure to hide in a small room in the wall. Standing in the dark Richard felt confident hat he wouldn’t bee seen.




“Ouch”



”Jean be quit you idiot. Do you want to wake the English?”



“Sorry Francois… I didn’t see the small table and then I tripped over it. It hurts.”



”Yes… yes, still Jean we better be quite. I don’t think the Duke would enjoy being awakened in the middle of the night.”



“I know… sorry. “


”Still I can’t understand why we have to guard him…”



“Of course we have to guard the Duke. He is His Majesty’s guest and also he is an important person. It wouldn’t be good if he was killed in His Majesty’s own castle. What would people think then?”



”Yes, I guess you are correct Jean.”



“Alright this is the corridor. If you take another trip around the hall I will stand here in the corridor making sure no one enters and nothing happens.”




Richard could hear the two Frenchmen talking, and although he was glad to hear that the French were actually guarding the Duke he was a little scared as now he was in a tricky situation.

Standing hidden in the dark he could see them, but they didn’t see him and he knew that if he were to walk out now he would probably be killed before he could say anything. Those two French guards seemed strong and Richard felt confident they were not some amateurs. If they discovered him he knew he would be in trouble.

As the one that had been called Francois left Richard noticed the other guard, the one called Jean was heading towards the doors to the Duke’s chambers, and now Richard felt his insecurity about Frenchmen returned. What if these men were actually here to kill the Duke?

He decided to act quickly.

As the French guard was walking down the corridor Richard was quick to move out into the corridor while the Frenchman had his back towards him.




”Hey you! Stop. What are you doing here?”



As Jean noticed a voice behind him he quickly turned around with his sword at the ready.



“ I could ask you the same. We are here guarding His Majesty and His Majesty’s guest. What are you doing here?”



”I am His Grace’s personal secretary. I am returning to our chambers…”



“Secretary you say? How am I to know you are telling me the truth? I think you will need to come with us monsieur.”



”Oh please monsieur. I need to return to His Grace, I can’t leave him alone. Of course I am glad that you are taking your duties seriously, but I am His Grace’s secretary and I need to stay close to His Grace…”



“I guess we will need to ask the Duke about all this then…”





Just as Richard was about to answer they both heard a window being crushed. It sounded like it came from the hallway just down the corridor. They both looked at each other for a second before Jean reacted and seconds later Richard reacted and they both raced down the corridor. At the end of the corridor they met with Francois.




”What was that? I heard something, like a window being crushed?

And who is that?”




“That is His Grace’s secretary, and yes we heard it as well. Francois you stay here, we will go and take a look.”




As they left Francois behind Jean and Richard walked slowly and silently down the hall. They could feel the cold wind coming in through the crushed window and they could see the curtain was blowing freely. Suddenly Jean halted and grabbed Richard. They could see two men coming in. Jean whispered


“There… do you see that?”



”Yes… what do we do. I have no sword or anything.”



“Here take my pistol. You can shoot I hope?”



”Y…yes… yes I can.”



“Good I will go close and see. You wait here; if they come this way shot!”




Slowly Jean moved down the corridor. Now he was so close that he could see the two men standing there in the moon light. He was glad he hadn’t brought his torch or else they would have seen him. Now Jean was able to sneak close and listen.



”Now where are the chambers?”


“I am not sure sir. I think it is down and to the left.”


“You idiot, you were supposed to know. Have you even brought the poison?”


“Yes, sir I have. I wouldn’t forget that. It shall be good to kill this bastard…”




Jean was shocked. They were obviously going to kill the Duke. He needed to do something and quickly. It was then he felt the cold metal from a sword against the back of his neck.
 
He's got himself into a sticky spot, hasn't he? Is he really up to all of this intrigue I wonder? I hope he has a strong bladder.

As for the Duke, somehow I doubt he is unprepared. Though of course, a 'kidnapping' might nicely embarrass certain people.
 
Lord E said:
It was then he felt the cold metal from a sword against the back of his neck.

Now that would get someone's attention wouldn't it? :D If these two have come to kill the Duke they sure are going about it in a noisy way. :D

Joe
 
Well someone wants to kill the Duke. Who exactly is in on it, I am not sure at present. Let's hope Richard can shoot well.
 
And of course you just had to leave it when their is a touch of steel on the back of his neck. Great update. :)