The Story So Far
Our heroes have, for various reasons, come not entirely willingly into the sphere of Philip du Paix, a nobleman and scoundrel suspected of being in L'Empereur's secret service. Monsieur Courtanvoux has been sent to Philip by his father; Monsieur Sebastien du Gaulle, a Musketeer, has been assigned to aid Philip by Jean-Marie Rois et Raines, his captain. The other heroes have more mysterious reasons for working for Monsieur du Paix.
Since they began working for Philip, however, they have had three missions and had some chance to get to know each other. Those escapades are as follows:
Silent Road to Barcino
Our heroes were asked to escort a supposed merchant to Barcino, the Castillian fortress that is now in Montaigne hands. Despite his tradesman's garb, the merchant - a man who gave his name as Jacques Cullotte - had the bearing of a nobleman, and his wagons seemed to contain very little in trade goods. He essentially never spoke along the journey, which proved entirely uneventful -- though once he was delivered to Barcino, Aleksei became embroiled in a lover's feud between two Montaigne sea-captains when he discovered a locket belonging to one's wife in a tavern frequented by the other. He ended up being challenged by both captains, and it was only Sebastien stepping in and fighting in his place that saved Aleksei a great deal of trouble.
Lady Joline and the Castillian Ambassador
Monsieur Arnaud du Valroux is a veteran of the War of the Cross and a heavyweight nobleman in Le Labyrinthe, largely exiled from Charouse because of an indiscretion that offended his wife, who is in turn a lady-in-waiting to the Imperatrice. Monsieur Arnaud did, however, bring his 16-year-old daughter with him to Paix, over his wife's objections -- Mlle. Joline du Valroux, in turn, became quite friendly with Don Diego de Aldana, the son of His Vaticine Majesty's consul. She disappeared into the Castillian consulate with Don Diego one afternoon and did not return that night or the night following. By the third night, our heroes were tasked to retrieve her so she could be returned to her mother in Charouse.
They penetrated the consulate during a party, and then snuck upstairs to discover Lady Joline in Don Diego's suite. Taking her up bodily, they then attempted to escape across the rooftops, only to be chased by Don Diego and a contingent of the ambassador's men. A running fight across the rooftops ensued, made all the more difficult by Lady Joline wishing to return to Don Diego, culminating in a rooftop fight where Valerie fought Don Diego and Julien held off the ambassador's men while Sebastien got a carriage and Aleksei convinced Joline that even if she did want to run off with Don Diego, she should at least first tell her mother. Thus convinced, Joline told Don Diego, and the lovers parted with Joline heading north to Charouse.
Death at the Docks
Sebastien is asked by Philip to take over the investigation of the killing of a merchant at the quays. Originally thought to be a robbery, Julien is able to track down the robbers to learn that they were hired by a mysterious masked man who did the actual killing while they robbed the shop. The heroes catch up with the masked man again when he breaks into Fort Paix, and then chase him on horseback through the streets until he disappears into a house of ill-repute. Interviewing the jennies in the brothel, Valerie learns that he speaks with a Vodacce accent, and when they learn that he stole a chart of fleet patrols from Fort Paix the heroes surmise that he must be Captain Crispino Amberci, a Vodacce smuggler, spy for hire and sometime pirate who is docked in the harbor.
Rushing to the harbor, our heroes see Captain Crispino's schooner Il Falco pulling away from the quays. They ride hard for the ship, leaping for the boat and barely scrambling aboard. A fight ensues, the heroes appear to be winning until Captain Crispino's men knock Aleksei out and he orders the boy thrown overboard. Knowing that he will drown if he is not rescued, Sebastien goes after him and Valerie and Julien have no option but to retreat as well as Crispino sails away.