Chapter 32

With mixed feelings Catherine watched the black carriage roll down the wide driveway at a leisurely pace until it disappeared behind the first bend.
"I hope we are doing the right thing," she muttered thoughtful.
"There's only one way to find out." Stephane, who had taken position right beside her near the window, stroked her arm in a feathery, nearly imperceptible motion and then went back to his desk. "But I trust your intuition."
The queen mother turned slowly and studied her husband. She did not want to be right in this matter, but her gut instinct was rarely ever wrong.
"I do not like the number of unknowns in this equation. Not to mention that we do not know if it's a plot at all. We do not know anything about our supposed opponents, their intentions, the size of their fighting force and whether Rafael will receive any support from Lord Fournier is also questionable."

Her brother-in-law had left three days ago to ask a man for help whom he had met during one of his trips and who obviously owed him a favor. Whether or how this lord could help them was still an open question.
Nonetheless, it was their best option. After all, they had already accepted the invitation thus set the ball rolling.

Inside the dissapearing coach sat a splendidly dressed kitchen boy and one of the maids, wearing one of Catherine's noble robes. The scant dozen of guards were ordered to escort the carriage for a few miles and then return in a wide berth under cover of darkness. Stepahne and Catherine would not show themselves in the next few days and in case they needed to leave the chateau they would forgo wearing their usual, sovereign clothes for the not unrealistic case that their small castle will be observed in the meantime.

The very idea of presenting themselves as targets did not please her at all. Their chateau was small, surrounded by a thick forest and far enough from the nearest villages to provide not only a perfect retreat but also a perfect objective for a hostile siege. Stephane, feeling her growing unrest, approached her again and wrapped one arm around her waist.
"Do not worry, ma Belle," he murmured while letting the fingers of his other hand slide up and down her side.
"If it weren't for this woeful waiting."

Catherine's gaze was drawn out into the distance. The light breeze that came up in the morning had gained strength in the meantime and tore almost violently on the branches of trees that lead to their courtyard.
"Looks like there's going to be a thunderstorm," she said quietly, watching the dark clouds that began to pile up ominously.
"A heavy downpour may flush these bastards out of the forest in good time."
"I can't shake the feeling that you can't hardly wait," she whispered and wriggled out of his grasp. Then she began to nervously pace up and down the room.

Less than two hours later torrential rain started to pour down and some lightning illuminated the dark sky not far from their chateau. The sound of a deep roll of thunder followed shortly thereafter.
"I'll go check on John," Catherine muttered worriedly and hurried to the little boy's room, who had become so dear to her in such a short time. Her grandson however, slumbered calmly in his little bed and seemed oblivious to the roaring forces of nature on the outside. Nonetheless she sat down next to him for a moment and gently stroked his blond hair.
"Call me, should he wakes up frightened," she instructed his nanny and placed a loving kiss on John's forehead before leaving the boy's room.

When the Queen Mother hurried down the curved staircase, her eyes involuntarily went to the courtyard and the stables behind. Immediately her mind wandered to her chestnut mare who tends to react panic-stricken in a thunderstorm as she had found out the hard way. Catherine turned around on her heels and raced up the stairs once again.

With blowing skirts she sank to her knees in front of the cabinet where she kept a small number of her poisons, remedies and tinctures and started searching for a special sedative with eager fingers. After a few seconds she held up a small green bottle in triumph. Something that could sedate a human would probably also be able to calm down her favourite horse.

Catherine straightened up again and looked out into the pouring rain just when the sky was lit up by another flash of lighting. In self-doubt she looked down at her elegant, gold-colored dress made of expensive indian silk.
"Impossible," she mumbled, remembering their agreement not to leave the chateau in pompous clothes from now on. So she untied the frontal lacing of her dress and stripped off the bulky fabric. From the adjoining dressing room she chose a simple berry-colored, almost dowdy dress she only wore for her rides.
As she was still wearing her corset, the dress had a loose fit.

With practiced fingers Catherine disengage her tied up hair to remove her precious diadem her maid had lavishly woven into her locks this morning. Once she finally freed the jewelry, she did not bother with her hair any longer but tied it into a simple braid. Then she got into her boots, grabbed the vial and stormed down the stairs.
In the hall she slipped into one of the gray maid's capes and quietly left the building.
The Queen Mother didn't notice the shadow, that broke away from the wall and followed her out into the torrential rain.

My dears, I'm sorry it took me so long to post an update. I've been recently ill and still recovering... But I guess this small chapter is better than no chapter at all.

Please expect some more waiting time for the next update. As the plot for the things that are going to come won't be told in a single chapter and once things get complicated I prefer to write the whole plot first before posting it as I tend to forget to close some loose ends and only find out about them once everything has been written. So I want to avoid spoiling things for you or being forced to change chapters I might have already posted. Thanks for understanding.

And many many thanks for hanging on and reading and writing reviews! You're amazing. THANK YOU!