A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 66

The Vicomte de Turenne shook his head gravely at the King's guard who stood nearby and to Amorette's shock they did not step forward to stop the Queen from disobeying her King's orders.  These men too seemed to have sensed just how dire the situation was. 

"Go now," said the Vicomte as he took Amorette's free hand and propelled them towards the doors.  "Fetch any ladies you can along the way and take them with you."

Amorette stopped suddenly to stare at the young Vicomte.  "You aren't coming with us?" 

The Vicomte jerked his head in the direction of the furious and spluttering King.  "He may be an utter fool but he is still my King.  Someone must stay with the fool and ensure his safety!"

Amorette squeezed his hand that she still held.  "Monsieur I think you may well be the fool in that instance."

"I know," he whispered gently.  "Do not waste more time.  Leave now, and do not tell me how you go.  They will surely try to extract that information if they get the chance so do not give it freely."

With that the touch of his hand was gone and the nobleman turned back to the King who was shouting orders at his own guard who were refusing to act.  Amorette pulled the Queen along with her, not sparing the room another glance as they reached the hallway where courtiers were beginning to line the walls.  The two women walked briskly along the long gallery, calling to women where they saw them to follow but not many did.  Amorette supposed she must have looked a terrible sight with blood covering her face and the collar of her dress and the Queen's pale and worried face could not have helped matters.

They did not stop though for anyone at all even as questions were called out to them over courtier's heads and Amorette felt a sudden burst of relief when she glimpsed Constance and Claude from the corner of her eye joining the small group of ladies that followed.  Only when they reached the end of the gallery did Amorette stop to look about her.  There were eight ladies following the four of them in total and Amorette suspected that at least five of them were of the Queen's scheming flying squad.  Of course, they would have known to follow, having been trained and schooled to wait for such an occurrence. 

There were only a few hallways and flights of steps between themselves and Amorette's old rooms where she would lead the ladies away to safety.  The hidden passageway would finally serve its purpose in aiding its Queen in her hour of need.  Henry Fitzgerald knew about that passageway though.  The thought sent a chill down Amorette's spine as she realised he would more than likely have stationed men at the end of it.  They needed to hurry none the less.  Amorette would fetch her pistols from her room as they passed and hope that she had no use for them.

Just as the ladies rounded a corner to set off up a flight of stairs though, they all halted their tracks as the sound of gunfire reached them.  The shots cracked off walls somewhere within the Palace and the Queen gasped audibly.  Incredibly, all of the other ladies maintained their composure even as they looked to each other in apprehension. 

"Ladies," Amorette said rather shakily.  "Protect your Queen."  Amorette did not wish to be the authoritative leader in that instance by any means.  She wanted to cower in the corner and have someone else take charge, but right now she had little choice.  If they wanted to get away from Paris in one piece, they needed to work together.  "We must find your Guard your Majesty."

The women galvanised into action far more quickly than Amorette could have anticipated.  In one fluid movement, they had all surrounded the Queen and walked as one up the staircase towards the upper rooms.  They would never get there though.  At the top of the stairs stood a group of men dressed in some of the finest silks that Italy had to offer.  Muskets and pistols in hand, they had assuredly been sent to wait for them.  More men appeared behind the women to hem them in and Amorette felt the fear of each lady in the air as the men began to close in.