And so I follow up my longest chapter with the shortest one! I greatly debated about whether to post this one or not, but I felt like there needed to be a little change of pace and a small reminder of the dangers yet to come. Hopefully this installment, as little as it is, will continue to leave people guessing at who or what is behind the upcoming plots and how they will unfold. I've been rather lonely in reading this story however, since there aren't any new reviews for me yet! So if you have a moment and you really do like this, please drop me a line and let me know!
Chapter XXV
"So, she has recovered."
He stood before the open window, muttering to himself as he heard the conversations of passing musketeers float through the night air and up to where he stood within the shadows of the room. There had been whispers of the girl's health all day, murmurings that the King had been rather anxious for news of her condition ever since the night that she had fainted in his arms before the whole court. And now it seemed that after days of waiting, just as it looked that one obstacle would remove itself from the dangerous game that he was playing, the little minx and managed to get better.
His lip curled back in a sneer of distaste as he drew away from the window and further into the room itself. The heels of his heavy boots thumped against the hard wooden floor, ringing clear through the silence that otherwise pervaded the area. This would provide yet another unwanted hitch in his plans and surely bring about further anger from his employer, who had been rather pleased to know that her illness had been so horrible at one point that the chances of her surviving the ordeal were not favourable. But now she was yet another pawn that he would have to deal with, and not even a pawn. The child was intelligent in her own right, resourceful and well protected by her little group of guardians who had fretted over her since her arrival at the palace. Even the King was taken with her, which meant that the Dowager Queen was likely to be just as pleasant with the girl when they were in each other's company. Yet another strike against him.
With one hand on his hip and the other on his chin he continued his thoughtful pacing. Time was running short for him to put into action the plan that had developed over the last several days, and he could not risk the idea that someone else might be put in his place to move it forward. He knew that he was expendable to the operation, his employer had made that fact perfectly clear to him during their last encounter in the shadows of the palace grounds. But what was he to do to rid himself of the girl? Her father and uncles alone were already in the way of everything he sought to do. She was just another thorn in his side.
But then a thought struck him, one that brought his head up and caused it to snap around sharply to look back at the window once more. Perhaps there was a benefit to this. He had seen the way in which she had interacted with the King that day in the garden, and while he had been too far away to hear any of the words exchanged between them, he could have read their body language from a much further distance. Idiot, he thought to himself. Why hadn't he thought of this before? If the boy had taken a liking to the girl, then she was no longer a pawn. She was far more valuable than that.
"A queen," he murmured to himself as he thought about the strategic game he had learned to play as a child. "And everyone who plays chess knows that aside from the king, the queen is the most important piece on the board."
A wicked grin manifested upon his lips, his eyes narrowing to sparkle with a dangerous glint that would have warded off even the most sinister of spirits who haunted the air around him. Everything was falling into place, and now that this newest revelation had come to mind there was no way to stop him from putting his latest plan into action. The old plot would remain where it was, but there would be much more time to set it up than originally thought, and the girl was going to play a key part in seeing that plan happen. He chuckled darkly to himself, running his hands through auburn locks as he leaned heavily on the frame of the window and stared at the night sky. There were no stars that night, for they were all hidden away behind thick clouds that refused to let even the smallest of lights shine through. It was almost as if the world were speaking to him, telling him of the approval it held for his treacherous heart.
He knew exactly what needed to be done. And no matter how much D'Artagnan and his friends planned to keep their precious boy king safe, the cards were already stacking up against them at an alarming rate. And he couldn't wait to see them all tumble down before the old fools even had a chance to see them coming.