Good evening, all. Many thanks to all those who have read and left comments on the last chapter. I have re-read this one so many times but if any errors have crept through, please forgive me.

CHAPTER 5

TREVILLE

36 days before

Mid-evening and Athos and I are admitted to the vast room that Richelieu uses as his office. The paucity of furniture, save for his huge desk and chair placed at one end before the fireplace, is set to intimidate anyone given access through the doors, but this is a familiar scenario and I refuse to be swayed by any of his mental tactics. Besides, tonight we are ostensibly on the same side, bound by a duty and desire to quash this plot with as little trouble as possible.

I stand before his desk and wait whilst one of his guards brings a chair for my use. Richelieu sits there, looking up at me, his arms resting on the mahogany desk, hands together and fingers interlaced. Dressed as he is all in black, he resembles a great, brooding, carrion crow. The fact that I have been provided with a chair is an unspoken acknowledgement that Richelieu does not foresee this as being a swift meeting.

Slightly surprised that I have not immediately seated myself, he gestures towards the chair with an index finger and then resumes clasping his hands. I stand my ground and deliberately look around for a second chair, knowing that the room is bereft of any others, but Athos has worked tirelessly with me for several hours and I will not have him standing for the duration of a long meeting. The man is not mounting a guard duty and anyway, I need him to be fresh in the early hours of the morning to execute our plan. Richelieu knew of my intention of having him accompany me, that I intended for us to work together on the arrangements, and he is present as my second-in-command.

Richelieu knows exactly why I am waiting; he looks from me to Athos and snaps an order to the guard. It is not until the man returns and slams down a chair beside Athos that I take my seat, snatching no little satisfaction in being the victor in our latest mind game.

"Leave us," Richelieu orders and his guard, affronted at having had to supply a chair for a Musketeer, scowls pointedly at Athos. I swear I hear him snarl as he heads out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"We are agreed that we move at first light?" Richelieu wastes no time in getting underway with the business at hand.

"We will be in position around Bircann's residence at that point. I suggest that we synchronise and take the six o'clock bells as our signal."

Richelieu nods his approval.

"I will accompany the Red Guard through the palace and personally supervise the arrest of Marie de Medici."

It is interesting that he does not refer to her with any title that links her to the King. To him, she is persona non grata with her latest machinations. Odd to think that whilst she was acting as regent for her son until he came of age, Richelieu was very much in the ascendance but, when he achieved prominence and would not support her in the manner she expected, she and her then supporters sought to destroy him. Instead, he wrestled power from her and ensured that Louis would accede to the throne that was rightfully his.

Richelieu may be a man of God, but I suspect that he has no intention of exercising any forgiveness after all that she has put the king through and the threat of chaos that she would bring to France. However, I cannot help but think he harbours a deep-seated resentment of her part in the plans for his assassination. I expect that he will take great delight in placing her in custody.

"I wonder where you will house her?" I ask. "It doesn't matter what she has done, but you can hardly throw the mother of our King into the Chatelet or Bastille."

"She deserves worse!" he retaliates, then sits back and softens slightly. "I assure you, though, that I have selected an appropriate venue. She will be removed forthwith from the palace and accommodated in the country, away from Paris and under a heavy guard. That way, she will have no chance of importuning the King. She will have disappeared before he is up and about, and he will not be informed as to her whereabouts until her future is decided."

"From what you say, I presume that you have not informed His Majesty of our intention of taking action in the next few hours?"

"Given how he reacted to the news of her treachery, I think the least he knows until after the fact is the better decision, don't you, Tréville?"

I nod. A surge of guilt and filial affection at the last minute might sway the King into giving us a different instruction.

"And now to the finer detail," Richelieu states. "What are your arrangements?" he asks.

I look at Athos and gesture for him to proceed. Much of the plan to capture Bircann is of his making and I deem it fitting that he informs the Cardinal of our intentions. The time passes as the three of us share how we will bring an end to the latest endeavour to overthrow Louis and, I must confess, I start to enjoy the exchanges, the strategy and the overall discussion.

We are close to concluding our meeting when there is a sudden noise that emanates from the wall towards the corner of the room. Richelieu's head snaps round to look in that direction and Athos is out of his chair, his dagger in his hand as he moves swiftly towards the wall and runs his free hand over a section of it.

"How does it open?" On my feet, I glare down at Richelieu. His long-held belief that the partially concealed door is a clever secret is misguided. I, for one, have known of its existence for years, since the first time I entered the room and the fact that Athos has gone straight towards it suggests likewise.

"How? Tell me!" Athos presses him.

"The wall sconce on the left. Pull it towards you."

Athos wastes no time. He reaches for the sconce, pulls on it and as soon as there is a click that releases the door, he yanks it open and disappears through it. I hasten to the opening, but he has already gone from sight down a darkened narrow corridor and I fleetingly wonder how prolific these passageway are throughout the Louvre.

As I move to the main door of the room, I make a mental note to discuss this with the Cardinal at a later date. How can I be expected to do my job properly and safeguard their Majesties if people can move around the Palace without my knowledge and without being seen?

Throwing open the door, I see the Red Guard register surprise and snap to attention from where he had been slouching against the wall.

"With me," I order as I move past him at a run.

I half expect him to ignore me but am reassured when I hear his footsteps behind me. Turning a corner in the direction that I presume Athos has gone, I skid to a halt as I see him emerge from a door further along the corridor. As he approaches me, he pauses to test other doors as he passes them; some are locked but he looks swiftly into the rooms.

Reaching me, he shakes his head. "Whoever it was knows their way around and moved quickly."

"You're sure that it was a person?"

The corners of his mouth twitch wryly. "If not, the palace is infested with very large mice with a penchant for a fine fabric."

He holds out his hand, palm upwards. Nestled in the middle of it is a fragment of finely-embroidered, dark blue material.