This is a very, very short chapter when compared to the others that I have posted, but this was one that I felt needed to be added to give people an idea of what was to come. Hopefully none of you are too disappointed with the result. Please make sure to review and let me know what you think!
Chapter XVI
"Interesting…"
The man paced back and forth in his room before the open window, the fire roaring in the hearth. Time was running short on when he was expected to be in his proper place for the evening that was to come, but a moment or two more wouldn't be much of a delay. It would be likely that his absence would not be noticed anyway, for there were several more pressing things for people to concern themselves with aside from whether or not he was in his place at the appointed hour.
His eyes continued to scan the piece of paper he held in his hands as he moved, reading and rereading the tidy handwriting that spread across the page. His communications had gone unchallenged and undetected for the past little while, which was well enough for both himself and the person who received the notes on the other end. Neither of them were quite ready to have their plans revealed to the public, especially now that there was a whole new situation for them to be concerned with. Instead of simply moving to deal with the disaster of the monarchy as they had intended, he knew that there was a new pawn in the game that they were about to create, a pawn that would play rather nicely into their hands if she could be manipulated correctly.
He had seen her in the garden earlier, witnessed the expression upon her face when she had turned herself around and spotted the King standing behind her. And while he had been unable to hear any of the conversation that had taken place between them, his eyes had told him all that he needed to know. There was no doubt that she had smiled at him, that words had at one point failed her as the pair closed the distance between them for a short moment before they both remembered where and who they were. But there had been no mistaking the look she had worn upon her face when she had left him standing there in the gardens, nor the one on his as he turned to watch her go.
The plan would change, that much was certain, but the changes would work in their favour.
Footsteps continued to sound through the room as he moved back and forth before the hearth, eyes downcast in thought with arms folded behind his back. It would take a little time to rearrange everything according to their needs now, and further time to ensure that the girl could be manipulated as they wanted. She wasn't a stupid child who had been picked at random from the peasants in the streets, but an educated young woman who was protected by some of the most famous of Musketeers. And now that she had caught the interest of the King, there was no telling just how closely watched she would become at his insistence. Each step that they took from this point on would need to be carefully planned and executed in order to keep them in the clear before the appropriate time. They could not afford a single misstep.
But the hour was approaching at which time he would be missed, and having a superior come in search of him would not bode well for him. With one last look at the letter in his hand, he tensed his fingers and crumpled the paper into a tight wad before he gave a flick at the wrist and cast it into the flames that danced in the hearth. His dark eyes watched as it slowly began to curl upon itself, black spots appearing and spreading over the surface of the paper as the flames did their work and consumed it entirely. Only when he was sure that it could never again be read by an individual did he turn away, collecting the tunic of his uniform in his hands as he strolled out the door.
It was time.