The Rapist Caper and Other Stories

The Knights of the Rose and Cross - concerned about Aleksei's tendency to get into trouble - send a Poor Knight to babysit him, the ex-slave Marie-Celeste Minuit. She joins the heroes in their regular habit of rotating homes to drink and talk and quarrel, and hears Aleksei inform his friends that a relative of his has been abducted by a one-handed man. Discussion of how to find this one-handed man is cut short, however, by the arrival of Sebastien, who has come from the house of Lady Christine with news that a friend of hers is in trouble.

The Affair of the Handkerchief

Sebastien had gone to see his paramour and heard sobbing inside; convincing Christine's maid to allow him entry, he discovers Lady Christine with a friend, Madame du Vere. Mme. du Vere - the wife of the Chevalier du Vere, a hero in army at El Morro - has been intemperate, and allowed a handkerchief with her initials to fall into the custody of Monsieur du Trois, a well-connected nobleman with a villainous reputation towards women. Indeed, Aleksei has heard stories of the Comte du Trois inviting impressionable women to salons and - so go the rumors - drugging them and stealing their virtue.

Now, M. du Trois is threatening Mme. du Vere: he says he will send her hot-headed husband the Chevalier the handkerchief, potentially ruining her, if she does not submit to him. Sebastien promises help and goes to join his friends at Aleksei's apartment, where they all agree that this situation is intolerable. After some discussion, the heroes decide that they will stop him: not just by returning the handkerchief to Mme. du Vere, but also ruining M. du Trois so that he cannot perpetrate such villainies again.

Marie-Celeste and the Comte du Trois

The newest of these four friends is the first agent in achieving their plan. At a party at Le Labyrinthe, Marie-Celeste - an exotic beauty, to be sure - gains the confidence of M. du Trois, who invites her back to his hôtel. Sebastien trails her to the Hôtel du Trois to make sure of her safety, but she goes inside with the Comte.

Retiring to a salon, M. du Trois asks his manservant Desean to fetch two glasses of the Bordeaux '57. Fearing drugged wine, Marie-Celeste demurs, saying she likes rum, and so Desean brings those glasses instead. The glance that goes between master and servant makes plain to the Knight that these glasses, too, are drugged. An intricate dance follows: Marie-Celeste asks du Trois to play the harpsichord, and then distracts the comte as she swaps the glasses. She drinks and so does he, and as the drug takes hold she guides him to his room and drops him there senseless.

She searches the room and finds a handkerchief with a kiss and the initials "A.V." - Amelie du Vere - and proceeds to make her escape. She leaves, however, just as Sebastien sees a coach with L'Empereur's arms clatter up to the hôtel: it is Rémy du Montaigne, L'Empereur's cousin and Captain of the Lightning Guards, arrived for some unknown purpose. A pistol shot in the air distracts Remy from seeing Marie-Celeste, who escapes notice.

Meanwhile, Aleksei and Julien - the latter in a ridiculous costume as a Vodacce physician - have been at the party spreading word that M. du Trois will be holding a masquerade two days hence: after all, the easiest way to make a man hold a party is to invite people to it. In this, they are quite successful.

Aleksei and Julien Intimidate a Servant

The next two days are spent preparing for the party; Aleksei, who now knows Remy du Montaigne is in town, makes sure he is known to be the guest of M. du Trois in hopes of forcing an appearance at the party. Then they place their plan in motion on the afternoon of the party.

First, Marie-Celeste visits the Comte du Trois again, claiming she lost an earring two days earlier. She manuevers the Comte out on a balcony, while below Julian pulls up in a carriage and calls for Desean, M. du Trois' servant. Julien steps out and hands Desean a handkerchief - one that looks very much like Mme. du Vere's gage - as Marie-Celeste directs du Trois' attention towards Julien and Desean. M. du Trois sees Desean hand the handkerchief back to Julien and then Julien hands Desean a bag of small coin. Julien then leaves, as Marie-Celeste observes the Comte appear greatly disturbed. He attempts to go seek out Desean, but Marie-Celeste convinces him to take her shopping, leaving him unable to contact the servant before the party.

As Marie-Celeste leaves with M. du Trois, Aleksei rides up in his carriage and tells Desean to get in. There, Aleksei explains - as Julien looms over his shoulder - that Desean has been trapped in the affair of the handkerchief, and his master believes he has stolen it. They tell them that they still have the handkerchief (in truth, Sebastien has long ago returned it to Mme. du Vere) and that if he does them a favor this evening they will give it back to him so he can save himself from his master's wrath. With some hand-wringing, he is convinced: Aleksei and Julien tell him that at the stroke of 11 he must drug the wine of several key people at the party, including the Vodacce ambassador. Now terrified, Desean agrees and is released.

The Unfortunate Party at the Hôtel du Trois

The party begins, and the heroes have all the pieces in place. Julien is once again in his Vodacce doctor disguise, and Aleksei has invited a real, more reputable physician to the affair. Sebastien and Marie-Celeste are nearby to watch those they have told Desean to target with the drugged wine. Just before 11, all refill their wine glasses and watch as Desean goes to get the fateful Bordeaux '57.

Wine is poured to designated targets, and men and women begin to look ill. The Vodacce ambassador faints, and Aleksei and his physician friend rush towards the man. The physician declares him drugged, and then Julien seizes Desean, demanding to know where the wine in his hand came from. Desean stumbles out that it is from the Comte's private stock, and M. du Trois goes stark white in fear. Julien - still playing the Vodacce doctor - declares the drug to be one from Vodacce used to weaken the will of ladies, and Aleksei all but makes the accusation plain in a cutting remark.

The crowd is shocked; Remy du Montaigne is furious with M. du Trois, and the party comes to an abrupt stop as everyone leaves the Hôtel du Trois with its owner's reputation ruined. On the way out, Sebastien lights a cigar: "I love it when a plan comes together," he remarks before they go off to drink.

Interlude: Julien is Summoned by a Princess

Before dawn the next morning, Julien is rousted from his bed by two men sent by Nicolette du Montaigne. They bring him to her - she is already dressed in pants and riding clothes, preparing to go out. A "friend" of hers - a smuggler named Isabel - has been captured by gabelous, the special police who enforce the hated gabelle, or salt tax. Isabel has been taken to Les Chaines, an island prison north of the city on the Sineuse River, where she is to be executed. Nicolette needs to rescue her before that night, and needs Julien and his friends' help.

Julien, of course, complies: this is L'Empereur's daughter, and crossing her is dangerous. He sends to Aleksei, Marie-Celeste and Sebastien, all of whom take horses and go to meet Nicolette on the Rue Gauche north of the city. All five ride north, though the four friends are suspicious about the mission - who is this 'Isabel', and why is she so important? Julien has a private conversation with Nicolette where he perhaps learns the answer, but if he does he does not tell his companions.

All four companions adopt noms de plume: Aleksei is Le Bellete, the Weasel; Sebastien, Le Renard, the Fox; Marie-Celeste, simple "Marie", and Julien yet another of his many disguises. Nicolette, for her part, calls herself "Nicole."

A Prison-Break at Les Chaines

The heroes arrive at Les Chaines just before sunset, where they bargain with a fisherman for a boat. As they are loading into the boat, they see Remy du Montaigne arrive with a quartet of men - they take the official ferry, and Nicolette admits that she fears Remy is here for Isabel. Julien steers the boat upriver of the prison, beaching it on rocks beneath a pair of towers. He believes it likely that Isabel is held in the right-hand tower, and so the heroes grappling-hook up to the parapet.

There, they throw one guard off the parapet and rush into the prison, killing another as they go. They move quickly up the stairs as Marie-Celeste opens the locks on prison halls, looking for Isabel; when they reach the level of the guillotine, Sebastien makes sure to bar the door to the guard post and the executioner's parade. In the search, Julien lets slip that he is looking for an Isabel or Ysabette - but the heroes move on swiftly, as Remy du Montaigne can now be seen moving across the parade towards the tower.

Finally, they reach Isabel, unlock her cell and begin to flee. By now, Remy is battering on the locked door into the tower and a general alarm has been raised. Guards fill the stairs, but Sebastien, Marie-Celeste and Julien cut their way through them as Aleksei and Nicolette guard Isabel. The companions make the lower parapet, where a short firing line of prison guards is disrupted by a wild rope-swing from Julien and a mad charge by Marie-Celeste and Sebastien. Thus defeated, the heroes drop down to their boat and begin to row away. Remy and a contingent of guards rush out to the parapet, but as the men prepare to fire on the boat Remy waves them off from firing and instead gives the companions a parting, mocking salute.

Interlude: Fitful Sleep At A Surlign Farmhouse

Escaping back to the river, the heroes recover their horses and - excepting Remy to begin searching for them - go to ground in the barn of a nearby farmhouse. There, they make a fitful rest, only for Aleksei and Julien to awaken the party. Aleksei - through some unknown means - has received word that a relative of his is in mortal danger one league north-northeast of the farmhouse, and if he is not rescued swiftly he will die.

Brief debate occurs over whether Nicolette and Isabel can be left behind; Isabel volunteers that with a sword, she can see her sister home. Aleksei offers the now-escaped smuggler his blade, and the fellowship of six becomes one of four and one of two as the four friends ride north-northeast, unsure of what they will find.

One League North-Northeast

A league north-northeast is a country villa belonging to some unknown nobleman; settled outside is a large body of horses, and while there are few lights on upstairs Julien is able to see men patrolling through a basement window and hear the distant sound of screams. The heroes resolve swift entry: they find a back bedroom window, break it, and then subdue the sleeping old man within the chamber before sneaking out into the main hall. There, they set upon and subdue a party of rough-looking armed men and proceed into the basement.

More skilled swordsmen lie between them and their eventual destination, a large two-story wine cellar. The entry is on the second gallery level, and as the companions burst into the room they see a bearded Ussuran-looking man strapped to some sort of operating table in the room's center. A man in a butcher's apron is turning away from him with a phial of blood in his hands, and nearby is a one-handed swordsman: the same man, perhaps, that Aleksei has been seeking.

The one-handed man's lackeys rush the heroes; Marie-Celeste and Julien engage the lackeys while Sebastien responds to the one-handed man's challenge, leaping down and beginning to fight. Meanwhile, Aleksei pursues the surgeon, now fleeing with more men.

The one-handed man - crippled from his injury - is still a frightening opponent, his single blade flashing like a striking snake. Sebastien is overmatched, falling back, as Marie-Celeste and Julien finally dispatch the men in the galleries. Aleksei - realizing he cannot catch the surgeon - takes squinting aim with his pistol, shattering the phial in the surgeon's hands.

As Sebastien falls senseless, Marie-Celeste and Julien join the fight against the swordsman, felling him. The surgeon makes his escape through a secret passage, but as Aleksei returns to check on the bearded Ussuran on the table the swordsman staggers to his feet and stumbles towards Aleksei. The slight nobleman draws his other pistol and fires, killing the one-handed man.

With their enemies vanquished, the heroes return to the Ussuran and discover that he has passed beyond. Moving quickly, they recover several strange texts from the wine cellar and discover the swordsman's identity: he is a member of L'Empereur's Lightning Guard, complete with filigreed sword and a tabard stashed in his things upstairs. Armed with that sobering discovery, the companions take horse again and make for Paix.

Persons of Note

• Le Comte du Trois -- A villainous womanizer with connections at court, the heroes ruin him.
• Amelie du Vere -- The wife of the Chevalier du Vere, and the woman whose handkerchief prompts an eponymous affair.
• Christine Rois et Reines -- The sister of the Captain of Musketeers, Christine is Sebastien's paramour and a friend of Mme. du Vere.
• Remy du Montaigne -- L'Empereur's cousin and captain of the Lightning Guards, Remy is perhaps the best swordsman in Montaigne. He often does L'Empereur's dirty work.
• Nicolette du Montaigne -- L'Empereur's seventh daughter, banished to Paix for her thrill-seeking rebellious ways.
• Isabel -- A beautiful smuggler of unknown heritage rescued by the heroes from the prison of Les Chaines.