Chapter 33

With his collar up to protect him against the pouring rain, Fabrice Darntelle hurried after his master's wife. In recent days, he had unperceived accompanied Catherine de' Medici on several rides to ensure her safety. And even though Lord Narcisse had not explicitly told him to escort his wife this evening, he still felt responsible for her well-being.

The storm relentlessly whipped raindrops into his face and forced him to squint his eyes for a moment to blink away the wetness.
The Queen Mother had already passed the front area of the courtyard and was rushing towards the stables, her posture upright as to defy the storm. Fabrice quickened his pace as not to fall behind.

But before he could catch up with the Lord Chancellor's wife, the Frenchman saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. His right hand instantly went to his sword while he whirled around in alarm. Just in time to evade an arrow. The missile missed him by a hairbreadth and even in spite of the pouring rain, he still heard it's hissing noise close to his ear.

His eyes searched for the assassin in the woozy dusk. He spotted him only half a second later.
A marksman with a crossbow had positioned himself at the eastern end of the property that bordered on a deep forest and fired another arrow in his direction.
Fabrice dodged this second arrow and risked a look to check if Catherine was in danger as well, but she had already disappeared into the stables. Thanks god!

However, his concern for his mistress and the waylaid shooter distracted him so much that he did not notice the two men approaching him from behind.
The blade that pierced his side seconds later immediately drove a burning pain through his nerve tracts.

Nevertheless, he sprang around in a flash, yanked up his sword and attacked the first man who obviously had not expected such a fast reaction from him.
The two men weren't as skilled as Fabrice, but thanks to their superiority, they clearly had an advantage.

The Lord Chancellor's bodyguard disarmed the first attacker with a heavy blow against his arm but could not dodge the other man in time as he slammed his short sword right into his lower abdomen.

Fabrice jerked back but he was unable to escape the full blow of the attack. New pain spread rapidly through his body and forced him down on his knees. A well-aimed kick against his wound made him scream out loud and Fabrice Darntelle collapsed motionlessly on the rain-soaked ground.

Catherine, who was unaware of the drama taking place in front of the stables, pushed open the heavy door and slipped through the narrow opening. The well-known smell of horses, straw and manure struck her instantly.

She was surprised to find the building bathed in a soft light and not as dark as expected.

Pale candlelight flickered from the tack room, that was located on the other side behind the stalls.
The Queen Mother took off her hood and slowly walked down the long corridor along the horse boxes. She stopped in front of Liberté's stall and looked at her favorite mare sceptically.

The reclusive horse was standing in the opposing corner of her box, nervously shifting her weight from one hoof to the other. Her ears twitched back and force in a nervous manner.
Though she responded to Catherine's gentle persuasion, the mare did not let herself be lured out of her corner.

So Catherine gave up and hurried to the back of the stables where not only the saddles and harnesses were stored but also the animals food to get a handfull of oats she wanted to mix with the sedative.

When she rounded the corner, she saw two huddled figures under the saddles and stopped dead in her tracks.
In one of them she recognized their always grumpy head of groom. The other was the stable boy.

The older man had a gaping wound on his forehead where fresh blood was seeped from that slowly and steadily run down his weather-beaten face. Both were bound and gagged, staring at her with wide eyes.

Catherine hurried towards the men. Suddenly an inarticulate noise came out of the stable master's throat. She could not understand what he was trying to tell her because of the gag. She looked questioning from one man to the other and noticed the stable boy's eyes growing unnaturally wide.

Before Catherine could react, she was torn back violently and found herself roughly pressed against the wall. She dropped her vial with the sedative and one of the pegs for the bridle pierced itself painfully into the flesh of her lower back.
"Well, what do we have here?"

A heavily built man with a pockmarked face, crooked teeth and a terrible foul breath stared down at her with a glassy look on his face. His powder blue eyes glanced appraisingly over her body while his hard grip on her upper arms immobilised her.
"Take your filthy hands off of me!" She demanded indignantly and tried to free herself.

The stranger let out a booming laugh and jerked her so close that she could feel his nauseating breath on her face. Utterly disgusted, the Queen Mother wrinkle her nose but stared defiantly right back at the man.

"Well, well, well, somebody has a temper. I like feisty women." He made a strange whistling noise and laughed again, as if amused by his own words. "I'm just wondering what a splendid hussy like you is doing in the stables in the middle of a thunderstorm. Are you here for an amorous tête-à-tête, eh?"

His huge hand sank painfully into the skin of her left upper arm and he dragged Catherine out of the corner and yanked her in front of the captivated men.
"Don't tell me it's one of those laughing stocks, sweetheart!?"
The ruffian looked assessingly between her head groom and the young lad.

The Lord Chancellor's wife took advantage of his distraction and rammed the heel of her boot right into his foot, causing him to shriek in pain and loosen his grip on her. Catherine react with lightning speed and broke free from him.
With flying skirts she stormed towards the front door at the far end of the stable.

Only to collide with a solid chest before she could reach the saving exit.

I'm still alive – and kicking – kind of.
And I hope that there are still some of you out there who haven't given up on this fanfic. Thank you for your support and your reviews.