Chapter 31 – King’s landing
Philippe was on the foredeck of the Phoenix when he spotted the French flag flying over the palace. His loud announcement to that effect was met with disbelief. It also caused as much consternation amongst the French royalists on the deck as it did when the message reached Jason in his cabin. The Phoenix was first in a long row of fourteen fully laden Montugan warships which were on the verge of entering the bay en route to Monte Vista. Jason had been looking forward to docking and to his return to the palace. The evacuation of Toulon had been a most draining experience. Philippe’s sighting of the French flag instantly put paid to such plans.
Jason peered through his telescope to see if the observation was reliable. He was not surprised to discover that Philippe had been correct. This did not detract from his horror as he realized that Montuga had been invaded. Jason also spotted French troops manning some of the elevated gun positions which he had installed in Monte Vista. He immediately thought of Renate and Ruan. He hoped that they had managed to escape from the palace.
‘Hard a-starboard,’ Jason ordered. ‘Lieutenant, send a signal to the rest of the fleet to turn now. Hopefully the French have not spotted us yet. I do not want them to know that we are close to home. The officer at the wheel complied and the ship veered away from Monte Vista harbour. The rest of the convoy of warships did likewise. Jason returned to his cabin as he tried to wrap his head around how the French had managed to land an invading army in Montuga. He had not seen any French warships in the harbour. Most of the French Mediterranean fleet had in any event been destroyed. Even if the French did have one or two warships available to them, the numbers involved could not have been sufficient to overwhelm the batteries on the beach or those above the harbour. That left the Devil’s Orifice, Jason thought. But that is impregnable, he reminded himself. And then it struck him. The batteries in the Orifice were vulnerable to an attack from behind. Only one General of which he was aware of would have had the audacity to consider launching an attack on Montuga by attacking the kingdom at its perceived strongest point.
‘I don’t yet know how he managed it,’ Jason confessed to Philippe. ‘But I am certain he found a way to launch an attack on the batteries in the Devil’s Orifice from the rear together with a subsequent co-ordinated frontal attack by a main force he kept hidden on the French side of the pass.’
‘Couldn’t we easily have provided those batteries with protection by building four additional emplacements facing towards Montuga?’ Philippe asked. They both knew Philippe was devastated to realise that his father could possibly have been killed by the French or he could once again be their prisoner.
‘It is easy to be wise after the event,’ Jason scowled. ‘Duke Le Riche and I did once consider the outside possibility of an attack on those emplacements by local armed republicans. We believed that the Orifice’s compliment of eighty royal guards would be able to mount an effective counter attack even in the event of a surprise attack from the rear by a company of Montugan republicans. Given the risks involved in launching such an attack and the absence of any perceptible reward for the attackers launching it, we considered the chances of it happening to be negligible.’
The next morning at three thirty, the Phoenix sailed as close to the beach in Montuga as they could dare. This was the agreed time for any emergency royal evacuation. Jason had received no intelligence about what was happening in Montuga. He also had no idea whether the queen and Ruan had even managed to make it to the evacuation point. The signalling stations on the Circle Mountain also seemed to be unoccupied. Jason allowed for the possibility that Napoleon had already replaced the gunners at Montuga’s beach with his own gunners. However Jason also knew the placements of all of those cannons. He had specifically provided for a safe corridor at the eastern end of the beach which was not covered by any cannon in case he needed to land men there or in case he needed to do an evacuation. Jason knew that Napoleon was an expert in artillery. If he was in Montuga, he would no doubt soon conduct a survey the beach. He would find that a section of eastern portion of the beach was not covered by artillery and he would no doubt eliminate the deliberate oversight.
The evacuation, if there was to be one, would nevertheless be fraught with danger. If the various fortifications in the forest had fallen to the French, and if they were awake and observant, their infantry would be able to place anyone emerging from the forest and heading towards the beach under musket fire. It was also not inconceivable that someone in the camouflaged fortifications could order the pursuit of any evacuees if they spotted the attempt in good time.
Jason’s hopes were lifted as he spotted a dim light from within the eastern most part of the forest. It flashed three times and went out. Jason trusted that his pregnant wife would be able to make it to the longboat without incident. Two longboats made their way towards the beach. Jason remained on the Phoenix as he scanned the part of the beach and lagoon immediately in front of the area of the forest from which the light had first been observed. Sure enough two figures eventually emerged from the gloom. They headed towards the longboats which were now on the beach. A feeling of disquiet arose as Jason realised that Renate was unlikely to have been able to move that quickly in her condition. Some soldiers disembarked from the longboat to provide covering fire if it was required. Fortunately, the rest of the eastern beach continued to be deserted. There was no indication that their evacuation had attracted any unwelcome interest. As the longboat boat neared the Phoenix, Jason tried to use his telescope to see if he could spot Renate or Ruan. It was too dark to see anything except two dark shapes.
It was not long before the occupants of both longboats were being helped aboard the Phoenix. Jason’s delight at seeing Ruan was immediately tempered when his suspicions that the other person they had rescued was not Renate were confirmed. It was a young man in his early twenties. Jason recognised him as an officer of the royal guard. Ruan embraced Jason.
‘Where is Renate?’
‘There was a reward out for us. After the invasion Renate and I left the palace and we hid in the High Cathedral for a while. We left the Cathedral after one o’clock this morning. We wanted to make our way to the duke’s new residence. But we were spotted by one of the former royal guards. He recognised Renate. I could see by the way he rushed off that he was going to sell us out. With Renate being pregnant, we could not make it to the duke’s residence in time. A French patrol turned up with along with one former royal guard. Fortunately the royal guard did not recognise me dressed like this. I told them I was a page accompanying the queen because she was pregnant. Renate played along. Fortunately, Lieutenant Lupin here happened to walk past. He overheard what I had said. He told the French that I was indeed a page at the palace. They accepted it and told me that I was free to go. They said that they were taking Renate to the Palace to collect the reward and to hand her over to Napoleon. Lieutenant Lupin assisted me to get to the Forest.’
‘Good morning your majesty. Lieutenant Lupin at your service.’ The man removed his hat and bowed.
‘Thank you for assisting the crown prince, Lieutenant. May I ask why you are not in uniform?’ The Lieutenant informed Jason about the invasion and the disarmament of the royal guard.
‘You never considered staying with Renate?’ Jason’s question was directed at Ruan.
‘I did,’ Ruan explained. ‘But as I said, she did not want me to. I think she felt that being pregnant, she was likely to be reasonably treated by the French’ He paused. ‘I am so happy to see you. We did not know if you would return from Toulon. Apparently Napoleon is winning on all fronts. Anyhow, now that you are back we can try to rescue Renate from the palace.’
‘Do you think they will try to execute her?’ asked Jason.
‘I don’t think Napoleon favours executions of royals but I fear he may leave that up to the Montugan public,’ Ruan replied. ‘He may give in to the demands of the Montugan republicans in order to win favour with them. But I imagine she
will be safe while she is still pregnant. Even republicans are not known for executing pregnant women.’
‘You wouldn’t happen to know how many soldiers Napoleon has with him?’ Jason asked Lieutenant Lupin.
‘No, your majesty’ the Lieutenant replied. ‘My estimation is that he came through the Orifice with at least fifteen hundred men. But there are rumours that that several royal guards are due to join the French army.’
‘Did you see or hear any French soldiers at the fortifications in the forest behind the lagoon?’
‘No. We stayed clear of the fortifications since we did not know who controlled them,’ the Lieutenant responded.
‘We think that the French troops are mostly in Monte Vista and in the countryside. But we could be wrong,’ Ruan replied.
‘Do you know how the French entered Montuga?’
‘The Marquis believes an advanced party landed on the beach and it moved through Montuga at night and proceeded up the Devil’s Orifice to take out our defensive batteries from the rear.’ Jason had heard enough. He raised his hand to stop the explanation.
‘Damn,’ he cursed. ‘Napoleon warned me not to underestimate his army. And that is what I went and did. It shall not happen again.’ He paused to think. ‘I believe we should turn back and head for the beach. If the French have recently been required to march through the Orifice, they may still be tired. If we can persuade the royalists whom we have rescued to fight alongside with us, we could land tonight. The French may not expect such a quick response from us.’
‘What do you think, Lieutenant?’
‘I agree, your majesty.’
Jason sent a signal to all of his ships requesting them to establish whether the royalists on board each ship were prepared to help Jason and his marines liberate Montuga from Napoleon. Although a good number of them had become tired of being battered by Napoleon’s forces and did not particularly relish another round, most of them realised that they owed Jason a debt of gratitude for having saving them. The issue of their future home was also discussed. Many had boarded the Montugan ships in the hope of going to Montuga, a kingdom in which French was spoken. Once they heard that Montuga had fallen to Napoleon most of them did not know where else they wished to go. Following discussion on each of the twelve ships on which the royalists were traveling, a vote was taken. Each group voted in favour of fighting alongside Jason by useful or significant majorities.
‘Ruan, you will stay on board the Phoenix. We need to keep at least one member of the royal family safe. I will lead the invasion. Lieutenant, you will join me.’
The Lieutenant did not respond to Jason. Instead he glanced searchingly at Ruan.
‘I’d like the Lieutenant to stay with me. I have appointed him as my personal body guard in recognition of the risks he took to ensure my safety.’
‘You won’t need a body guard while on board the Phoenix,’ Jason responded. ‘The Lieutenant will come with me because he has some idea of what is happening in Montuga.’
‘But…’
‘That will be all. I am king and supreme commander of this force.’
Ruan glared at Jason and then glanced at the Lieutenant helplessly.
‘Excuse us for a moment, Lieutenant,’ Ruan ordered. The Lieutenant left the cabin.
‘You have no right to interfere with the appointment of my body guards. I am still crown prince.’
‘I intend no interference. All I am saying is that you do not need him right now and Montuga does. You will be perfectly safe aboard the Phoenix.’
‘I do not intend to permit you to be the perpetual sole arbiter of what Montuga needs. I hope you realise that. To the outside world you may be king. Never raise that against me in private or in public. I know better. Your coronation is based on forged documents.’ He paused for a breath of air and calmed himself a little. ‘But since Renate still needs to be extracted safely, I will consent to Lieutenant Lupin joining you.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ Jason replied offhandedly as he departed from his cabin. Lieutenant Lupin was waiting outside the door to the cabin.
‘Join me on deck,’ Jason ordered.
‘Of course, your majesty.’
An hour later all fourteen ships arrived in the vicinity of the eastern section of the beach at Montuga. To avoid any possible cannon fire, twenty eight longboats headed for the safe corridor on the easternmost portion of the beach. The boats made several return trips to the warships. As each boat landed the men gathered their backpacks, rushed across the beach, through the shallow lagoon and into the cover of the forest on the other side of the lagoon. Jason realised that if the French were in control of the forest, it would only be a matter of time before someone on early morning watch spotted the fleet assembled some way off the eastern most side of the beach.
‘How much longer before they are all in the forest?’ Philippe asked.
‘Another thirty minutes or so. We have landed a little over half of them….’Jason’s words were drowned by the sound of explosions coming from the forest. Canon fire dropped into the sea some distance away from his ships.
‘Damn it. The French must have captured the fortifications. Worse still, they now know that we are here.’
‘Will the cannon fire be heard in Monte Vista?’ Philippe asked.
‘Probably not. Monte Vista is seven miles away. The forest and the sound of the waves tend to muffle the sound. The hill between the beach and the city also muffles the sound. If they move the cannon out of the forest, however, I am sure the sound will be heard in the city. Even with the guns in the forest, however, there is a muffled echo effect which is caused by the fact that Montuga is surrounded by mountains. This is unlikely to wake anyone, but an alert guard may pick it up, although he will have no idea of where it is coming from. Philippe, I want you to go with the next group of men. Find Captain Detoro and tell him to move through the forest from east to west and to take out all the batteries as quickly as possible. They must watch out for any French infantry covering the rear of the fortifications.’
Philippe nodded. Jason joined the following wave of the landing force. He heard the sound of gunfire coming from the forest. He hoped that Captain Detoro had used his own initiative and that he was endeavouring to neutralise the cannon emplacements in the forest without waiting for orders. Napoleon would surely have provided infantry cover from the rear for his artillery. It was impossible to tell what was happening.
The canons in the forest did not fire a second volley. Jason assumed that the gunners had simply tested the range and found that the fleet and the landing troops were out of range. He was tempted to move one or two of his vessels briefly within range of the central forest in order to fire a broadside at Napoleon’s gunners. He decided against it. He was convinced that, even if the guns were lightly defended from the rear, he had already landed enough soldiers in the forest to take the all the fortifications from the flanks before the French could move the cannons into a position to attack the eastern corridor.
Soon after Jason landed on the beach more firing could be heard from within the forest. From the beach it was easier to perceive that the gunshots seemed to emanate from the centre of the forest rather than from the east. This hopefully meant that his forces were advancing rapidly through the forest from east to west. They had probably already captured two of the gun emplacements. One of the royal guards came to the same conclusion.
‘Why don’t we simply charge the centre right, your majesty? That way we will be able to join our men in the front line,’ he suggested.
‘Because I am not certain that those gun emplacements have been taken out. The fighting we are hearing could be our men taking on an entrenched rear guard. If we storm the centre of the forest from the front instead of from the flanks or the rear, we could needlessly lose men to cannon fire. I see no point in a frontal attack unless I know for certain that the cannons have been silenced. I want all of us to head for the eastern forest as planned. The marines can move through
the forest from east to west. The royalists can march to the north of the forest until and if they come into contact with any French infantry. The royalists must then move in from the rear, from north to south. I want the royalist commanders to be wary of walking into friendly fire from the eastern flank.’
The Montugan warships sailed away from the shore after the last of the soldiers had been landed. In all, Jason’s force comprised of nine hundred marines and around eight hundred French royalists. Although many of the royalists had been experienced members of King Louis’ army and navy, they were not particularly well armed or supplied. Some had discarded all of their weapons and their back packs in their rush to board the ships in Toulon. Jason gave orders to ensure that any weapons and supplies retrieved from captured or killed troops were to be distributed amongst the royalists.
Philippe located Jason as he and the last of his landed men entered the relative safety of the eastern forest. Jason was surprised to see that Philippe was accompanied by a uniformed officer of the royal guard.
‘Please tell me that the men in the fortified gun emplacements who fired at us earlier are Napoleon’s men and not ours,’ Jason said to the officer.
‘They are French, your majesty. After the Marquis discovered boot prints three nights ago, he ordered about sixty of us to take up position in the forest about three hundred and fifty yards behind the emplacements. Yesterday afternoon we were in our positions when we heard a large force approaching with cavalry. Fortunately a scout established that they were French before their arrival. His estimate was that the force exceeded a thousand men. We knew that we could not stop a force of that size with only a hundred of us. So we warned as many of the occupants of the central and eastern emplacements as we could that they had to evacuate and join us. Eighty of us managed to escape to a cave system in the eastern Montugan Alps about a mile away from the edge of the eastern forest. We were not seen. Our scouts determined that once Napoleon’s men had taken over the fortifications in the forest, most of them withdrew to Monte Vista leaving only about forty or fifty French infantry to protect the rear of the fortifications. We considered launching an attack on the gunners and their protectors, but we realised that this would simply invite Napoleon’s men to return with reinforcements including their cavalry. We knew it was likely that, if you were going to land, you would do so on the Eastern beach, through the corridor. We decided to keep our powder dry and to wait for your majesty to land.’ He paused. ‘Of course, we first noticed your majesty’s ship this morning when the longboats picked up two people we were completely unaware of. Imagine our disappointment when we then saw the Phoenix departing. Fortunately your majesty returned an hour later with the other ships and reinforcements.’
‘What is happening now?’
‘The first wave of Montugan marines is well into the forest now. They are moving from East to West whilst some of our men are up ahead clearing from the North towards the emplacements. We should have the whole beach soon.’
‘Have you captured any weapons?’
‘Yes your majesty. We have distributed it everything we can amongst the unarmed royalists who landed with the marines. I should also report that the French stocked all the fortifications with ample gunpowder, cannon balls and grapeshot.’
‘That is interesting,’ the King observed.
‘Why?’ Philippe asked.
‘Because they know we are at sea and that if we want to return to Montuga we have to use the harbour or land on the beach. My hunch looks to have been correct. Napoleon has not yet had a chance to assess the positioning of the cannons on this beach. He has relied on the existing cannon emplacements. He has assumed that, we have done the same thing on the beach as we did in the Devil’s Orifice. He must think we had several gun emplacements providing deadly crossfire across the entire beach. It has not yet occurred to him that we deliberately left a corridor on the beach uncovered. If he had inspected the beach, however, he would have immediately spotted this problem. So too would his top artillery officers. However, I suspect that he left the most competent artillery officers to finish the battle of Toulon while he sneaked off to start his new campaign to capture Montuga. It is apparently not unusual for him to leave a battle before it is concluded so as to enable him to pop up somewhere totally unexpected in order to co-ordinate a surprise attack.’
Jason and the troops with him moved through the forest without incident. It became evident that Captain Detoro had already cleared the area of French troops. They only encountered several dead and badly injured Frenchmen. After they reached the middle of the forest they encountered some wounded Montugan marines who were receiving attention. Lanterns also revealed several deceased Montugan marines and royal guards who had been laid out alongside a significant number of dead Frenchmen. The fighting had evidently been heaviest here. Eventually Jason reached the Western section of the forest where Captain Detoro was waiting for him.
‘Well done Captain. You did the necessary long before you received my orders.’
‘We wanted to take the fortifications before they could move any of the cannons. We did not want them to fire the cannon outside of the forest in case the sound carried to the city. We have secured all the fortifications and have eliminated the soldiers who were securing the rear of these fortifications. We were fortunate to be joined by two or three platoons of royal guards who attacked the French from the rear as we charged their flanks. It helped us to move forward very quickly.’
‘So I was informed,’ Jason mentioned.
‘Your majesty are we going to advance to Monte Vista with the cannon or without?’
‘Without,’ Jason replied. The cannon are too heavy to move quickly. Since Napoleon could not have brought any artillery of his own through the Orifice, I suspect that we are unlikely to encounter any cannon on the road from here to Monte Vista.
‘Does anyone know how many troops accompanied Napoleon through the Orifice?’
‘No,’ responded the royal guard officer. ‘It is not a small force by all accounts.’
Jason and his army headed out of the forest towards the road to Monte Vista. The scout sent ahead by Jason reported no unusual activity on the road. Jason had ordered Philippe to accompany the scout. Neither of them had spotted any hidden artillery emplacements anywhere along that road. They also reported that the city itself seemed quiet. As expected, there was no indication at all that the noise of the cannons which had fired at the Montugan fleet had been heard in Monte Vista. If any muffled echoes had carried to the city, these had also gone unnoticed by the French troops there.
‘Napoleon probably pushed his men to get to the Devil’s Orifice and to get them through it so quickly. I am willing to bet they are exhausted and that they all feel safe enough to catch up on their lost sleep. I remember how tired we were when we went through the Orifice with a large force,’ Jason mused.
Once the main party reached the outskirts of Montuga, Jason ordered all the troops to wait in a large field next to the road. Accompanied only by Philippe, Jason headed for the duke’s new residence which was within spitting distance from the High Cathedral. Although the duke had retired as Montuga’s military commander, Jason knew that the duke would no doubt be able to provide him with much of the information he required about the strength of Napoleon’s forces in Montuga.
‘I can’t understand why we have been so lucky,’ Jason observed quietly. ‘The French have arrived here. Surely they would be doing patrols for the first few months. We have not run into one.’ They were traversing the poorer streets of the lower part of Monte Vista. The semi-detached houses on either side of cobbled street road were small and modest, yet also neat.
‘There’s your patrol!’ Philippe whispered. Eight French soldiers had turned the corner into the street they were in. Had they not been engrossed in conversation, they would have spotted Jason and Philippe despite the darkness. They realised that they would be spotted if they stayed in the road or if they turned to go back down the road t
hey were on.
‘Quick! Over here!’ Jason hopped over a low white fence and rushed to the front door of the nearest house. Philippe did likewise. He knocked on the door as quietly as he could. At first there was no response. The French patrol drew steadily closer.
‘Who is there?’ It was a child’s voice.
‘Open up. I am with the King of Montuga.’
‘There is no more king of Montuga,’ the child replied confidently.
‘The king is standing next to me,’ Philippe interjected. ‘He wishes to meet you. But you have to hurry. A patrol is coming and they will take the king away for ever. It is up to you to save the king,’ He hoped that the child might respond to his teenaged voice.
‘The patrol is adjacent to the neighbouring house. They will spot us at any moment. I hope this is not a republican home,’ Jason whispered quietly to Philippe. Fortunately the door opened.
‘Hurry,’ said a voice from inside. They slipped into the house and the door closed quietly behind them. It was dark inside the house. They could make out the shape of a small child in the gloom. She remained motionless as she stood in front of the closed door.
‘Thank you for for saving us,’ the king said to the shape. ‘What is your name?’
‘I am Annabel’
‘I am delighted to meet you Annabel. I am King Jason and this is Lord d’Artois, the son of the Marquis d’Artois. How old are you?’
‘I am turning eight next week. I am not supposed to let strangers into the home.’
‘Annabel. Who are you talking to?’ a woman’s voice inquired from within the house.
‘I am talking to the king, Mama. He has a lord with him too.’
‘Annabel. I told you to stop telling stories. Tell me what is going on.’
‘I am not telling stories. This man says he is the king. I had to let him in because the French soldiers are looking for him.’
‘Did you let strangers into the house?’ An understandable tone of panic pervaded the last sentence.
‘Yes Madame. I am afraid your daughter is telling the truth. I am the king of Montuga. I am here in your home with his lordship Philippe d’Artois, a midshipman in the Montugan navy. We encountered a French patrol in your street and we needed somewhere to hide. After we explained the situation to your daughter, she kindly opened the door.’
‘I will be with you now,’ the voice said nervously. After a few moments a middle aged woman emerged from the passage dressed in a pale blue nightgown. She bore a lit candle in a holder. She held the candle closer as she examined them in its light.
‘I don’t know what the new king looks like.’ She looked at Philippe dismissively. ‘And I don’t know you at all. How do I know you are the king? Napoleon has said that the king left with the Montugan fleet and that he will not be returning. The talk is that the entire royal family have fled. My son is…. was a royal guard. He will be able to say.’
‘He is the king, Mama.’ The sleepy voice belong to a young man in his early twenties who had also joined them in the now crowded passage. He was dressed only in a pair of trousers. He bowed as he drew near. ‘Good morning, your majesty. It is indeed an honour to have you in our humble home. I am Pierre Sylvain, at your service.’ He bowed again. ‘This is my mother, Madame Sylvain and your majesty has already met my sister.’
‘I am most terribly sorry your majesty. One cannot be too careful nowadays.’ Madame Sylvain also bowed. ‘It is just that one never expects to find a king in one’s home, does one?’
‘Of course, Madame.’ The king turned to look at Annabel. ‘Mademoiselle Annabel Sylvain. I thank you for saving my life and that of Midshipman d’Artois.’
‘I am glad to help, your majesty.’ The young girl curtsied.
‘Your majesty is most fortunate to have knocked on our door. This street is mostly republican,’ Pierre Sylvain explained. ‘They would have reported your presence to the French patrol.’
‘Would your majesty like some tea?’ Madame Sylvain enquired.
‘Madame, we would dearly love to but we have urgent business to take care of. I do promise, however, that I will never forget this day and I intend to return to take tea with you once the kingdom is restored. And of course, in return, I hope to invite you and your family to join mine for dinner at the palace one evening, assuming that I am able to reclaim the palace.’
‘Your majesty, how can I be of assistance? Unfortunately they took our weapons and our uniforms. We had to swear an oath to France on pain of death. I think nothing of an oath made under duress. Most of the former royal guards, however, are particularly religious. As much as it pains many of them, they are likely to only switch their loyalty to you after you manage to reinstate your kingdom.’
‘I need you to send word to Commander Clemens. Ask him to arrange for any of the royal guards he trusts implicitly to gather near the rear doors of the High Cathedral. They must avoid moving in any large groups. They must stay out of sight and remain hidden in the Cathedral Gardens. Tell only him I am in the country.’
‘It shall be done, your majesty. Shall I check in the street to see if it is safe for your majesty to leave?’
‘If you would be so kind.’
After the all clear, the king and Philippe continued on towards the duke’s residence. They were mindful of Sylvain’s warning that they should lose no time in leaving this pro-republican area of the city. They managed to reach the duke’s new residence without incident. They knocked on the door softly. There was no reply. Eventually Philippe used the brass knocker.
‘For god’s sake,’ Jason hissed. ‘Not so loudly.’
‘Sorry,’ Philippe shrugged. ‘I didn’t realise it would be that loud.’ They stood in front of the door hoping that there were no patrols in the immediate vicinity. Someone from within eventually opened a small panel in the door.
‘Who the devil are you, and why are you here at this ungodly time of night?’ The voice was not that of the duke.
‘I am the king. There is no such thing as an ungodly hour for a royal visit.’
It took a while before a footman opened the door.
‘Forgive me, your majesty.’ The footman bowed contritely. ‘Do come in quickly before a French patrol sees you. Kindly follow me to the library where I am sure, you shall be received by his grace shortly.’ Jason wondered whether the unpretentious style and modest size of the duke’s residence was in response to the uncertainty of the times.
‘Your majesty.’ The duke bowed as he entered. He smiled warmly at the king. ‘I thought that you would be on your way to London by now with the queen and the prince.’
‘Your grace has obviously not heard that Napoleon has the queen. She was captured last night.’
‘This is news to me,’ the duke confessed.
‘I assume then, that you at least have the prince with you, your majesty.’
‘Yes, he is safely on the Phoenix.’
‘It was not wise to return your majesty. Napoleon’s troops are everywhere. In addition, the royal guard have sworn an oath to Napoleon. They will face the guillotine if they assist you.’
‘I would never leave Montuga without the queen. You know that. In any event, now is the only time I could land an invasion force in Montuga. Napoleon will no doubt close the corridor on the eastern side of the beach any day now.’
‘How many men do you have, your majesty?’
‘I arrived with about nine hundred marines and about eight hundred French royalists. I have been joined by a further group of around eighty royal guards. However, we have already lost some men in the battle to take the cannon emplacements in the forest.’ Jason went on to explain what had happened since they had departed from Toulon. ‘Do you have any idea about the numbers Napoleon has at his command?’
‘It is rumoured that he is here with one thousand cavalry and one thousand two hundred infantry. He also has the royal guard at his disposal if he should wish it. They were forced to swear an oath of loyalty to him. Apparent
ly the Marquis added a rider to the oath. It requires loyalty to Napoleon for as long as this is France. Most of the guards will not break an oath sworn before God. You will need to replace the tricolour at the palace with the royal ensign as soon as you are ready to fight back. This will be a sign that this is no longer France and it will release the royal guards from their oath.’ As they had expected, the duke had remained well-informed despite his retirement status.
‘Is Napoleon still in the country?’
‘He was still here yesterday. He is apparently staying at the palace.’
‘Where is Philippe’s father?’
‘He is also staying at the palace. Napoleon has apparently taken a liking to him and he has been asked to stay on.’
‘I cannot believe he accepted,’ Jason responded.
‘You know how it is with Napoleon. His polite requests have the force of edicts. The Marquis apparently decided it was best to co-operate. There are conflicting reports about whether he has in fact changed his allegiance to Napoleon and to France. Whatever the case, his efforts to convince Napoleon to agree to the amended oath may yet operate to Montuga’s benefit.’
‘My father would never declare loyalty to France voluntarily,’ Philippe declared indignantly. ‘Not after all that has happened.’
‘I am sorry, Philippe. As I said, I believe your father was not offered much choice. He is a Frenchman, after all.’
‘Did you hear any canon fire from the lagoon or detect any unusual troop movements in the last two hours or so, your grace?’ intervened Jason.
‘None at all. But my hearing is not what it used to be, however. I doubt I would have heard the canons if they were in the forest. But I would have heard if there was any cavalry moving about in the city in response. What are your intentions?’
‘I want to try and get into the palace through the passage with about three hundred men. If we have the element of surprise I am sure we can recapture the palace and open its gates. My only concern is that the passage may not have proper ventilation for so many people. I also want to try to remove Renate from the palace if she is there and if I can do so without raising the alarm.’
‘I understand that the tunnel was originally built with ventilation shafts. These must be old and have arguably not been maintained. It is best to be safe if you wish avoid people fainting or even suffocating. Allow only a few people in the tunnel at a time.’
‘This makes it a much longer operation. I would have no problem waiting until after midnight tonight. The problem is that I expect Napoleon or one of his officers to visit the Beach today. They will find that the French artillerymen they left in the forest to be dead or missing. That will end our element of surprise.’ Jason paused. ‘Right now, I need to move most of my men to the High Cathedral.’
‘Then you had better do so swiftly, your majesty, first light is almost upon us.’
Jason lost no time in making his return to the men he had left in the field near the entrance to Monte Vista. He arranged for most of them to make their way to the High Cathedral. Several dozen were however ordered to return to the fortifications in the forest, together with certain specific orders.
Everything hinged on the near impossible task of moving around sixteen hundred men through the city’s winding streets and up to the High Cathedral without alerting any of Napoleon’s soldiers or any of the numerous republican residents who would no doubt be only too happy to deliver the Montugan king to Napoleon. Guided by one of the royal guards who knew the city well, they utilised a route through a mostly Italian, and hence mostly non-republican section of the city.
Jason ordered all of them to remove their boots as they walked up the cobble stoned roads which zigzagged towards the High Cathedral. The faint glow on the horizon served notice that the cover of the night would soon vanish. They managed to reach the entrance to the High Cathedral a few minutes before first light. It would not be long before they would be visible from the perimeter walls of the palace which was only a mile away. Jason used the key he had obtained from Ruan hours earlier to open the High Cathedral doors. They did not have to fear being spotted by the Church Guard since the bishops and the palace had agreed to disband the unit several months ago. The marines, the small group of uniformed royal guards, and the royalists began filing into the Cathedral. Jason popped his head out the door to see if there was any sign that they had been followed or spotted. He closed the huge doors and locked them behind him. It was too early to tell if this troop manoeuvre had indeed gone undetected.
‘We seem to have done it,’ Philippe remarked with a sigh of relief.
‘I suspect we have escaped detection by the French. I only hope that if we were spotted by any of the locals that they were not republicans.’
The king and his troops were warmly welcomed by Bishop Livanos and Bishop Sebastian. They were amazed that Jason had managed to bring such a large army safely into Montuga and into the Cathedral. They suggested a short service to give thanks to God. Jason acceded to the request. He was aware of the debt owed to the two Bishops by the royal family. Jason made a point of ensuring that the Palace was seen to be supportive of, and co-operative with the Church. His task in this regard had been made much easier by the fact that Jason and the two Bishops had developed a mutual liking and respect for one another. To Jason’s dismay, however, the Bishops were also in the dark about Renate’s whereabouts.