The Queen of Mertí
After the dust has settled, Rogier Mornay departs through the Porté gate back to Montaigne and Marie-Celeste and her companions must get down to the business of this new Mertí.
Settling Accounts / Les Droits des Hommes
In the immediate aftermath of the Comte du Bearn's death, Marie-Celeste calls a sort of convocation of Mertí's leaders. In addition to the companions, the chief voices at this assembly are Joseph Durand, Louis Blanchard, Colonel Steuber - now under the employ of the new Mertí government - and Captain Flaubert, the senior Montaigne naval officer on the island.
Two chief questions confront the assembly: what shall be the status of the Mertían landholders and their property, and what shall be the relationship of the new island of Mertí and Montaigne?
Debate rages: the landholders wish compensation, and Sebastian and Captain Flaubert are concerned that this new Mertí is not going to be in a perfect union with Montaigne: even if a free Mertí wishes Montaigne, there is a fear that L'Empereur will not want a free Mertí. Similarly problematic is the Castillians, who may see Mertí as prime pickings.
Some resolution is reached: Mertí is Montaigne, and the landholders will be compensated but mostly lose their lands and property, with their compensation paid out of the sunken treasure ship's gold.
The Treasure Ship
This debate provokes a side concern. Sebastian argues that a free Mertí cannot salvage and spend L'Empereur's gold, while Marie-Celeste delegates Julian to assure that gold reaches Mertí's treasury. A race occurs between a Montaigne naval ship and Captain Isabel's Black Swan, one that is ultimately won by the Black Swan sailing back towards Shipwreck Island.
The Bureaucrat
Soon enough, a bureaucrat - a functionary attached to the office of Nicolas Pugot, Keeper of the Seals of Montaigne -- appears via Porté gate from Charouse, seeking some accounting of what is occuring on Mertí. He is assured that Mertí is still His Imperial Majesty's island, and is given a tour of accounts to see what is transpiring there.
Les Droits des Hommes
Meanwhile, Aleksei and Joseph have withdrawn at Marie-Celeste's requests to create some sort of document of principles for this new government. Days later, their product is Les Droits des Hommes - the Rights of Man - a breathtaking statement of a principled society where power flows from popular will, not Imperial ambition, and free men serve as the guardians of the state. It is certain to be incindiery; with it in hand, the companions prepare to go to Charouse and present Mertí's case.
Return to Charouse / Madeleine's Assessment
The Porté gate takes the companions to the old Palais du Roi in the center of Charouse, now mostly used to showcase L'Empereur's substantial art collection. From there, they send messages to various parties announcing their return but head to the home of Madeleine Gaulle du Sices, Sebastian's cousin, to use a sort of headquarters.
Madeleine is a member of the Lady's Party, and she and Lady Jamais have been conferring over L'Empereur's mood. Madeleine believes he is furious over the Mertí revolution, believing it to be a rebellion against his rule, but Lady Jamais believes that his current view is largely fueled by the counsel of Augustin Fleury, Marquis du Bearn, who is the late Comte du Bearn's older brother, and by the Duc du Verre, who would benefit from an expedition to retake Mertí sailing out of Arisent.
She also believes that the voice of Jean-Marie Rois et Reines, the captain of the Musketeers, might help assuage L'Empereur's rage - but he is silent, and du Verre and du Bearn are loud. Finally, she is concerned about Nicholas Pugot, whose opinion about the financial impacts of the Mertí situation will carry great weight.
Problems at the Hôtel du Mousquetaires
The companions go to the Hôtel du Mousquetaires in an effort to speak to Captain Jean-Marie, but they have trouble gaining entry into the captain's office. Finally, they are able to convince his secretary to tell them what is going on: the Captain is gone from Charouse, having stormed out of the city two nights earlier.
Apparently, he and L'Empereur had a tremendous fight following their receipt of news of the Mertí Revolution, and either L'Empereur has banned the Captain from the palace or Jean-Marie has foresworn reentering it. Regardless, he and his wife Princess Anne are gone from the city at a hunting lodge in the country.
The Offices of Nicolas Pugot
Meanwhile, Aleksei goes to see Nicolas Pugot to feel out the Keeper of the Seals. Pugot is very concerned about the financial impact of Mertí's freedom - he worries that chaos will reduce the flow of sugar cane, and that regardless the requirement of paying the natives will decrease L'Empereur's profits.
Aleksei suggests to Pugot that he believes that the flow of monies will not dramatically decrease, and invites Pugot to investigate the books closely. Pugot also intimates to Aleksei that he is unwilling to cross the political tide on these affairs without some good reason.
Plans and Considerations
The heroes convene and decide that Pugot, at least, is something of a wash, and that they must take care to eliminate the Duc du Verre and the Marquis du Bearn from the political calculus at court. After some conversation, they fabricate a story implicating the Duc du Verre: he stands to profit from an increase in war, and so perhaps he set up the Comte du Bearn to retake the island with an expectation that the Comte du Bearn would fail, thus justifying a third war to retake Mertí.
The companions resolve to see if this story pans out; Sebastian goes to speak to the Duchesse du Verre, with whom he has a connection, to see if she can shed some light on the subject. She suggests that she knows nothing of such a plot, but that if evidence did exist it would be kept in a private office the Duc maintains in a palace in a riverside park on the Sineuse. The existence of this office is not public knowledge, but the Duchess gives Sebastian its location and a brief layout.
Le Weasel on the Sineuse / A Conversation with M. Fleury
Julian is sent to investigate this newly-revealed private office of the Duc du Verre, disguised as Le Weasel, in order to see if the charges are true. Marie-Celeste strongly indicates to Julian that the charges should be proved true regardless of what Le Weasel finds in the Duc's office.
As he scales the tower of the Duc's private manor, Aleksei and Sebastien to the Hôtel Gaulle du Sices to find Augustin Fleury pacing outside: he is there to challenge Sebastien to a duel, as he has been told (presumably by Rogier Mornay) that Sebastien let Marie-Celeste kill his brother. He calls Sebastien a coward to his face, but Sebastien demurs, saying that it is not so, and tries to talk the Marquis down.
By this time, Julian is on his way back from the Duc's palace; he has a document he found implying that the Duc had made a deal with the Comte du Bearn for the sugar trade to go to Arisent rather than Buche, and then also a document of less certain provenance suggesting that the Duc intended to set up the Comte du Bearn. As Le Weasel, he hands the latter document to the Marquis, who - helped by Sebastien and Aleksei - storms off, intending to do harm to the Duc du Verre.
Captain Jean-Marie Rois et Reines
The companions then leave to find Captain Jean-Marie at his hunting lodge, having strong-armed his clark into revealing its location. It is a day or so's ride, and when they arrive they find not just the captain but his wife, Princess Anne.
Captain Jean-Marie reveals that he intends on leaving the Musketeers: he is tired of making compromises, angry at his father-in-law for constantly setting aside justice in favor of expendiency. With effort, the companions convince him that he is the last bulwark against the tyranny of L'Empereur, and he agrees to return to Charouse and help the heroes make their case.
L'Empereur of Montaigne
Upon their return, the companions hear that the Duc du Verre has been substantially wounded in a duel with Augustin Fleury, who has subsequently returned home to Bearn. Aleksei gives the information Julian gathered to Nicolas Pugot, and Sebastien lets the Captain know that the Duc du Verre was scheming to supplant Buche with Arisent as South Montaigne's major port. In turn, the Captain tells the companions that they will have the next morning to speak to L'Empereur as he emerges from his bath.
The heroes robe and dress L'Empereur in his bath; as they do, L'Empereur approves of Aleksei writing a tract on nobility in contrition and confirms Marie-Celeste as governor of Mertí. He also demonstrates to them that he is supremely self-absorbed and not entirely in touch with reality - a chilling realization that while the day is won, L'Empereur is the dark heart of Montaigne's cancer.
Persons of Note
On Mertí
- Louis Blanchard -- A former Knight of the Rose + Cross, he was appointed Governor of Mertí after the Comte du Bearn.
- Captain Pierre Flaubert -- A Montaigne naval officer assigned to Mertí.
- Captain Isabel of the Black Swan -- A pirate and smuggler of either Montaigne or Castillian descent, she usually operates in Montaigne-Castille war.
- Joseph Durand -- Son of the late Chief of the Maroons, he was educated in Montaigne and Castille and has a revolutionary spirit.
In Charouse
- Madeleine Gaulle du Sices -- Sebastien's cousin, she is close to Lady Jamais and very knowledgable at court. She is the widow of Lady Jamais' late brother and the mother of Evie Sices du Sices.
- Augustin Fleury -- The Marquis du Bearn, he is the older brother of the late Comte du Bearn. Before he retired to his country estates at the start of L'Empereur's reign, he was the captain of the Cardinal's Guard in the days when Cardinal Flaubert was chief minister to old King Leon XIII. Before that, he was a young Musketeer, and even now he is said to be one of the more skilled swordsmen in Montaigne, albeit one somewhat slowed by age.
- Nicolas Pugot -- One of the "noblesse du robe", Nicolas Pugot was born to the gentry but has been lately elevated as Marquis du Sevigne. He is Keeper of the Seals, the minister responsible for the promulgation of L'Empereur's laws and degrees to the nobility and various intendants of Montaigne's provinces.
- Claude Bisset, Duc du Vere -- The Bisset family has done very well in the war with Castille, and the Duc du Vere helps that continue. He serves as Superintendant of Finances and is as much as anyone first officer of state.
- Louise Viglee-Bisset, Duchess du Vere -- The Duc du Verre's wife, she is rumored to have once been linked to Luc Duchard, now captain of musketeers in Paix.
- Captain Jean-Marie Rois et Reines -- Married to one of L'Empereur's daughters, Jean-Marie is Captain-general of the Musketeers and a member of the Conseil d'Etat by virtue of that office. He avoids politics, however, as much as he can.