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I love the commentary that Talena and Maria share. It's so sarcastic that I can't help but laugh every time.
 
morningSIDEr: I know! Tut tut!
Mr Sometimes: A good point! Have to make things interesting, I feel! And yeah...those girls...they need to try harder!
Sather: But of course! ;)
blsteen: They sure did! It's a mistake they won't make again.
Boris: I'll start playing France game-wise in 2 updates, so it's at default 1534 mode at the moment. The Count is a little bemused. :p
Chicken: Thanks! :D
Dewirix: Yes, she is an odd one, isn't she....

Chapter 16 – The Court of King François

23/8/1533

Z42MapofFrance.jpg


Fontainebleau Palace, to the south of Paris, was a beautiful structure. Enlarged by King François it was now the royal residence and administrative centre of France. As the carriage finally rolled into the gardens around the Count had been joined by his retainers and other servants who had travelled behind or awaited his arrival.
Many guards and soldiers protected the King’s palace, and the Captain of the King’s Bodyguard personally sent them through.
Z44Fontainebleau.jpg


While the Count and Maria went into the chateaux to see the King Talena was left to herself. She wandered through the gardens aimlessly, annoyed and bored at being ignored. If there was one thing that the experience of living so long had taught her it was that she believed she was important. Was she not a warrior and fighter who had travelled the world? Granted no one knew about it, but still! She didn’t consider being self centred was a bad thing though, but realistic.

She was interrupted from her daze as she walked along the path by a tall, rather handsome man in rich clothes. She realised that she had been wandering for hours perhaps. The man was mounted and wore a sword at his side. Behind him were retainers and servants dressed for the hunt.
Talena stepped aside to let the horse pass, but the rider reined in. “Lady Talena?”
“Yes, Lord?” she asked. It was only now that she noticed the Fleur de Lys on his outfit. She blinked.
“You will address his Majesty appropriately!” a courtier ordered.
“Apologies, Your Majesty,” she said.
The King did not seem overly unhappy by her mistake. “I was wondering where you had gone. The Count of Blois, a member of my court and a friend, mentioned you were a woman of interest. I wish to talk with you.”
Talena bowed. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Bring a horse!” the King ordered. “Ride with me,” he commanded.

Z41FrancisIMounted.jpg


Talena mounted and immediately cursed the stupid skirts which made horse riding so annoying.
François was not worried by the delay, instead he seemed most appreciative of looking at her, and when she finally pulled the hated skirt up he looked at the revealed legs.
“Let us ride. I see you have no problem doing that?” he said smugly.
“None, Your Majesty,” Talena said. Urging the horse forward she followed the King, and they in turn were trailed by his retinue.
“The Count mentioned that you were on the run from the Spanish, that you had potential information about them.”
“I do, Your Majesty,” Talena replied. “You know of course of the expedition to Mexico and the Indies ten years ago?”
“I do.”
“Another was launched into the southern land named Peru. There is a land greater in size than all of Muscovy, and great in wealth. These heathens possess enough wealth to fill a room ten feet cubed with gold and silver. But the Spanish failed to conquer them.” Talena decided to overdo it a little. After all, she still had a grudge against the Spanish. “In no small part to my interference. The Lady Maria, companion of the Count will testify to this.”
The King seemed interested. “And so?”
“Imagine, great King…they failed to conquer that vast realm. Now they do not have access to that wealth, nor to the other resources of that land. They are weakened. The Hapsburgs will have to divide their forces even more, considering the heretics in the Empire as well.”
François considered Talena as they trotted. “You know of matters of war?” he asked.
“It is unusual I know, Majesty, but I do. For a long time though I was in the far east, in the Indies and Cathay. Their ways are strange there, and manners exotic.”
This seemed to satisfy the King. He could not easily fit a European woman into the mould of a warrior, but an exotic eastern tradition was more understandable.
“And they train women in the arts of war? Have they no men?”
“They do, but circumstances often cause changes. I learned because of necessity.”
“How old are you?” the King asked.
“How old do I look, Majesty?” she asked.
François laughed. “That is a question I know not to answer,” he replied.

They talked some more, and when they returned to the palace the King ordered that Talena be given a room and new clothes. He would not permit her to carry a sword, but she would be around.

Z40FrancisI.jpg


9StartConditions.jpg
 
I noticed the one change you made was to make land provinces a little slower to discover -- may I ask why?
 
Not gaining the bottomless gold and silver mines of Peru would be damaging to Spain no doubt.

Only in relation to the real timeline, but it won't weaken the strength Spain already has at that point.
And actually those mines didn't helped them that much to avoid the decline of the Empire in the late 16th Century.
 
The inflation from all that gold and silver probably even sped up the downfall.
 
Unless during the reset a proverbial transloop brought about the transference of another person's soul through the gate of life and taught the secrets of eternal youth and placed alongside Talena and Maria in France secretly watching them both throughout the thousands of years they have been living.
 
Avindian: Like they said, one thing I hate is that America becomes a patchwork of OPM colonies. So by making them wait longer for discovery it rewards the nations with QFTNW.
Sather/Mr Sometimes/4th Dimension: Come now...our Talena LIKES to feel important! And yeah, it might not make a big difference at all, but the key thing is that she convinces the King that there IS. So yeah.... :p
Aliasing: She does! And martial arts...of the future!
Razgriz/Sather: Spot on. BUT...I do plan to start having weird things happen, like flashbacks/forwards. Bit of temporal instability.

Chapter 17 – A New Dawn For France

2/1/1533

10FranceStart.jpg


Snow fell and a cold winter wind rattled the panes of the windows. The King of France held court inside, a roaring fire being a concession to weather. Petitioners and nobles came to pay homage to the King and either receive or beg for favours.
Most of them came and were soon dismissed. However, one man received more attention than any other. It was a nobleman that the King rose to greet.
“Your Majesty, I bring you great news,” he said, bowing.
“My dear Duke, I trust you are well?” the King asked rather stiffly.

In the circle of people around the King, Talena watched with interest. In the months she had arrived she had lived in the palace. The King occasionally asked to see her, but more often than not he was more interested in his mistresses and other pursuits. So Talena had been left to herself, and had used the incredible libraries of the palace almost at will. Maria and Reynard had not been around much, so little had happened.
Now though she detected more than a little tension between the King and his greatest subject. Claude, Duke of Guise was a man in the prime of life, an influential noble, and thus someone who was a potential threat to the monarch.

Z38FontainebleauInterior.jpg


“I returned from England where your Majesty commanded me to go with diplomatic instructions. A change has occurred, and the Holy Father and King Henry have reached a reconciliation on terms. Furthermore King Henry has agreed to our wise request for an alliance.”
François nodded and sat. “This is good news, Guise. I will see you and the other peers in one hour to discuss matters of great importance. You are dismissed,” he said.
The Duke bowed and left.

Z33LadyFormal-1.jpg


Talena was walking through the halls when she saw Maria approaching. Talena had managed to acquire a rather nice dress which was utterly impractical for her normal pursuits, but was otherwise quite comfortable.
“Talena…I’m here to say goodbye for now.” Maria said.
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“Jacques Cartier has organised an expedition to America. I’m going with them. I have…reasons for doing so. The Count will be providing the military support here. I assumed you didn’t want to come with us?”
“No, I’ve had enough of ships for a lifetime.”
“Or two in your case,” Maria replied wryly. “Enjoy yourself.”
“So wait, you helped rescue me, brought me here…why?” Talena asked.
Maria just smiled. “We’ll be in touch….”

12CartierExpedition.jpg


XXX

France at the start of 1534 was a nation undergoing a period of consolidation. Despite being defeated in Italy a decade before, France had recovered, and was now preparing for a second attempt to prevent Hapsburg hegemony over Europe.
The greatest obstacle to the construction of a powerful army was the nobility of France. Although many of the nominally independent duchies had given up their independence the local nobles retained the ability to raise and outfit their own units, grouped during wartime under control of the King.
This organisation was both cumbersome and inefficient, so François took steps to reorganise the army so it would be created and paid by him alone. The effect was more than a little discontent, but the King’s presence was enough to dissuade any open reaction.
11Sliders.jpg
 
Interesting updates. Good to see Talena has settled in reasonably well, even if things do seem rather boring for her at present. I daresay she will have something to do soon, probably due to Maria's mysterious actions.
 
Poor Francis doesn't know about Talena's ability to cause spontaneous death in monarchs.

With the Dutch rebellion still a generation away France is going to have to tread carefully what with being surrounded by the Habsburgs. The persistence of independent duchies hardly helps matters.