I Am Louis XIV

The beautiful head rolled on the ground until it touched d'Artagnan's foot, and d'Artagnan watched it turn into black ash beside his boot.

The monsters around them were also seized by the darkness, which they had been happy to see, because it symbolized the fat food, and now it became their shroud, which once made d'Artagnan Without even uttering a howl, the monster that was terrified with Colbert died and disappeared without a trace, and d'Artagnan swore that he heard a strange word, similar to the English word. "Coward" or "coward", but there is a slight difference, or because the person who pronounces the word pronounces it so gracefully and softly that it does not sound like a rude British person.

This conjecture was confirmed in the next moment, because the person who came out of the darkness... No, he is not even a human, he is also a vampire, his red eyes are like a business card that shows his identity, he did not reveal The fangs did not show their teeth or claws, but the sense of oppression brought to D'Artagnan was far stronger than that enthusiastic proprietress.

"Good evening, gentlemen," he said, looking at the sky. "It's a fine day for swimming."

"You're right, monsieur," said d'Artagnan, almost admiring himself: "it's a pleasant day to swim in the river, though we don't like it—you think we should Shall we go for a swim? Or no, or should we thank you?"

The vampire took a look at d'Artagnan, and he realized that it was not only the young king, but also that there were many wonderful people around the king: "No, my dear friend, I don't need to see you go swimming, and I don't have any reason for you to go swimming." that need, but I hope you can thank me."

"As long as I can."

"You can," said the vampire. "I want you to apologize to your Majesty the King on my behalf."

"What have you done for the king to forgive you?"

"A visit that was too reckless," said the vampire. "I admit that I was too impulsive at that time. Fortunately, someone stopped me."

"I can only convey it on my behalf," said d'Artagnan. "Only the king can decide whether he can forgive you."

"Bold boy!" said the vampire, both surprised and delighted, "I'm so in love with you." Before d'Artagnan could understand the words, a pair of cold hands were placed on his neck He immediately thought of how this hand easily broke the neck that seemed to be wrapped in thick cowhide. D'Artagnan still remembered how much effort he had to use to stab the dagger into the opponent's chest. He immediately froze: "Tell your king, Amon pays tribute to him," the voice of the vampire sounded in his ear, "Please allow me to express my sincere apologies to him, tell him, tell your majesty , Amon, and the Zmihi family are always at his call."

After finishing speaking, he let go of D'Artagnan's neck. As if in just a moment, the vampire returned to his original position, as if he had never left at all. He stood upright with his collar in the black night wind. Flying up and down like a moth's wings, this was the last image he had in d'Artagnan's eyes, and then he disappeared.

D'Artagnan and Colbert stayed where they were for a while before they could move. It was a very colorful night, they thought at the same time, but since they were still alive, it was a good thing. D'Artagnan found a Knotted vines tied up his shirt, so that at least he could walk in front of people without being naked in some places that would be shielded, and Colbert, who was relatively neatly dressed, tightened his clothes—he only had one pair of trousers, and he could only D'Artagnan was wronged, they were all soaked, and they were even colder when they were blown by the wind. Colbert kept sneezing, and he thought he would have a fever the next day.

—————

Amon didn't leave too far.

He could even watch d'Artagnan and Colbert slowly leave, the moon pushed through the clouds and cast a silvery white light, but it was quickly blocked by a group of small black shadows, bats They fell in front of Amon and turned into three vampires. They respectfully saluted Amon, their prince, "Do you know which ethnic group it is?" He asked, "Revno or Assamai?"

"Revnor." The vampire added: "Revnor once."

"I think so, Assamai doesn't bother to deal with a mortal." Amon said, "And even Revno would not make offspring so casually, here is very close to Paris, go tell Theodric, there is Vampires are creating pariahs, it's his domain."

As a member of the Demon Party in the blood family, Amon never cared whether there were vampires who created untouchables on a large scale-but the leader of the secret party, Prince Theodric of Venjo, would definitely be very concerned about this, because untouchables are often an extremely difficult exist.

Among blood clans, untouchables refer to vampires who do not belong to any clan. They are either expelled from their own clan, or created without the permission of the prince, or just created, and their "father" or It was the "mothers" who were caught in accidents, or abandoned them on purpose (members of the Demon Party often do this kind of thing), and sometimes they also did it for revenge—for example, priests who hurt blood clans or their descendants, priests relatives and lovers, etc., the blood race will kiss them intentionally, and then watch each other fall into a painful dilemma-but in any case, they are some beasts who have not received any teaching, like the assassin tonight, she Just a pariah from Ravno.

She doesn't even know the correct way to kiss. It is very possible that she directly made people drink her own blood, which is why there are these monsters, but these monsters are just some useless maggots——Amon thought, "I know it is Who hired her?"

"Duke Gaston of Orleans," said the prince's valet.

"I think so." Amon clapped his hands happily. "It's really wonderful. It's worth my time following them. Now we have to wait..."

"To Paris?" said a servant boldly.

"Maybe, for the time being... not going." Amon said regretfully: "After Theodric knows about this, he will definitely try to clean up the entire Paris Basin. It will become very noisy here. I hate noise, so we... ..." His fingers circled in the air, and there was a pause: "Oh, no, wait, I think... I think we should go to Paris!" He shrieked, "Yes ,Paris!"

His servants were used to Amon's neurotic changes, and it was no surprise that he changed his mind in just a few seconds, so they just cheered-of course they prefer Paris!

The clouds passed over the moon, maybe only for a moment, but in that moment, the black shadows turned into thousands of bats, they flapped their wings, rushed into the air, and flew towards Paris.

———————

The people of Paris are also waiting.

They are waiting for the Queen of Sweden, or rather, the Queen of Sweden who has abdicated, Christina Augusta, but she can still be called a lady, because she also owns Norrköping, Gotland and Ösel , Pomerania and other places, and the king of Sweden, her cousin still has to provide her with a certain amount of expenses, so apart from not owning Sweden anymore, she is still a rich and powerful woman.

But for some people in Paris, Christina's arrival has another deep meaning, because for the king and Bishop Mazarin, their three biggest enemies, the Prince of Condé, the Duke of Gaston and the High Court They have all succumbed to their seat, the king is of age, but the bishop is also in his prime, so now the question is, is the bishop willing to give up his power, and whether the king is willing to continue to hold his power in the hands of others? where?

The arrival of the former Queen of Sweden has become the best touchstone. If Christina arrives in Paris and meets the king first, it means that the king has won the war. If she meets the bishop first, it means that Mr. Bishop is still unshakable, so their wind direction will also change accordingly.

This is what bothered Christina Augusta, or rather, Christina Alexandra (as she changed her surname after her conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism), she came to Paris in accordance with rites and traditions , should go to see the king at the first time, but Mr. Protagonist wrote her a letter saying that he intends to make her the Queen of Naples, which made Christina hesitate-of course, as a worshiper of Alexander the Great, he even used his surname to do it. For a woman with the same surname, Christina did not intend to cede the Swedish throne, but was forced to do so under the triple oppression of the Protestant church, bankers, businessmen, and lords in her country. Her ambition did not end there. Extinguished, but burning more and more vigorously.

The problem is that she also needs the support of the King of France. Since she has only left Sweden not long ago, the income of the territory and the expenses promised by the current King of Sweden have been reduced to a terrible level. Her attendants even need to split the wooden door to light the fire for warmth. , she herself has been in a rather embarrassing time, she needs the French king to mediate - and if she wants to become the queen of Naples, she also needs to bribe the nobles, raise officials and prepare the army, all of which need money, and it is a lot of money money.

In the end, it was Mr. Bishop who helped her solve the problem. A messenger arrived on horseback before she entered Paris, and delivered a letter from Mr. Bishop himself.

Bishop Mazaran asked her to go to the king first.