A distraught Sam fell into his chair sweating profusely. Then he remembered Alfred. He jumped to his feet and rushed to the terrace. Alfred was gone.
St. Anthony parish was a small village about half a day’s ride from the city. The whole village revolved around the Abbey which had five monks headed by Fr. Gabriel. The village was nestled at the foot of a mountain and was surrounded by a narrow and shallow river part of which was more like a swamp. Most of the villagers were farmers who planted a variety of crops in the fertile land separated from the village by the river. They all looked at Fr. Gabriel as their leader, and not merely a religious priest. When savage Jacquard – for that is what everybody called the youngest brother – came into the village with his gang, the poor farmers were terrified. It was easy for the short skinny man to take full control of the village. He tried to win their loyalty by doling out some money to whoever approached him favorably. Gradually they began to think that he might not be as savage as his reputation implied. Jacquard reserved his savagery for Fr. Gabriel and his monks. He tried by all possible means to force the priest to write the note to Prince Gilbert. When he failed, he threatened to kill him and when that failed, he threatened to kill the other monks, one by one in front of him. That is when the old abbot broke down. Yet, in his shrewdness, the old man realized that he should devise a means to warn the prince of the fraud. So instead of using his left hand to write the note as usual, he wrote it with his right hand which he never used for writing before. And he embedded the exact words he knew would trigger the suspicion of the prince. After the messenger rode out with the message Wednesday morning, savage Jacquard learned from one of the friendly villagers that Fr. Gabriel had a mystery visitor who stayed in the abbey for more than a month without any of the farmers ever seeing him. Therefore, using a few of his convincing methods on one of the monks, Jacquard soon learned about Michael’s stay in the Abbey. He immediately circulated the information around the village that Fr. Gabriel was harboring a criminal and an enemy of the state at a time of war. All their efforts to find Michael were futile. However, Jacquard realized that the big monster could be hiding anywhere. He spread his men around and kept them on constant alert. Since none of them ever saw Michael before, he warned them, that he looked like a fearsome hideous apparition even though he was harmless.
Prince Williams woke up late Thursday morning at Jacquard vineyard with a very bad hangover. He stumbled to the wash room and got himself ready for breakfast. When he entered the dining room at last, he found Bart Jacquard already seated at the table. None of the other guests was there. They began to eat and exchange some small talk until Jacquard casually said, “Comes Sunday, you shall have your chance to take the throne at last.”
Williams did not quite get it and thought it was a joke. Instead, he asked his host, “Did you meet with the barbarians?”
“I shall meet them tomorrow morning. They are not asking for money. They insist to get canons and muskets instead,” Answered Bart.
“Canons and Muskets…?” Williams put down his fork and sat up in his chair. He wondered, “Why, if they are signing a peace treaty, what do they need canons and muskets for? Besides I thought they already have more canons and muskets than do we.”
“No they don’t,” said Jacquard laughing, “this is the rumor we spread around to discourage your over zealous brother. He is so keen on going to war and finishing the threat once and for all. So we fabricated that piece of information to slow him down.” Bart Jacquard explained. He pushed his chair back to sit comfortably sipping his coffee and then continued, “The barbarians say they needed the weapons for defense against their neighbors to the east and also in case we decide to breach our agreement with them. I personally find it a plausible explanation.”
Williams was still suspicious. He continued to eat and then said as if he was talking to himself, “But we cannot give them these weapons…can we? Where are we going to get it from? Gilbert will never let his officers hand over part of their arsenal. He is directing all the resources of the country to manufacture these modern firearms.”
“You…yes, only you…can change all that,” Said Jacquard calmly.
“Me? You are dreaming. When it comes to war he is the undisputed commander,” Lamented Williams. “The only way to get rid of him is to end the threat of war. Only then, he would have nothing to do but …go plant a tree in some monastery or play cards somewhere with his dear officers.”
“I…found another way.” Bart said cautiously.
“Magic…eh…Sorcery may be,” Mocked the prince who had just finished eating.
“Remember when you told me that Gilbert has that special relationship with a certain priest… a father Gabriel,” Bart said leaning forward.
“I told you that?” Williams asked.
“Yes…you said they exchanged notes and letters from time to time…” Jacquard tried to prod his memory.
“Oh….yeah… That…we were at my office making fun of the power of the religious establishment.” Williams shouted, “Yes, yes I remember now. It is true… Gilbert has that propensity to be a pious Christian. A trait I find totally unbecoming a prince. You cannot rule riffraff by being kind and…compassionate and….oh it makes me sick to think about it. What I shall never understand for the life of me, is how he can be so empathetic to all those people, and yet at war he is such a formidable iron man”
“Well, we shall find out about his true grit pretty soon.” Bart said.
“What do you mean? We are trying to stop the war, not start it…” said the prince.
Bart Jacquard looked at Williams eyes closely and slowly dropped his words, “Gilbert, received a note from his dear priest asking to meet him in the abbey on Sunday.”
“So …” asked Williams
“The priest was forced to write that note by my brother Brian,” Said Bart casually.
Williams was alarmed. He stood up and walked towards his host, “what do you mean ‘was forced’” he demanded. “What are you doing Bart?”
“Calm down your highness,” Jacquard reassured him, “no harm was done. We are going to have a civil discussion with the commander and see if we can persuade him to help us end the war.”
“We…? Persuade him…” Williams said incredulously. “You don’t know my brother. You must call this off right away.”
Jacquard calmly replied, “I’m afraid it’s too late for that your highness.” He stood up to face the angry prince saying, “Gilbert will go to St. Anthony parish on Sunday for sure. There, Brian and his men will have a little chat with him and may be then we can get those canons and muskets, we end this stupid war, he goes to play cards as you said and you…get to sit on that throne you so desperately want.”
“You are so smart,” said the prince sardonically, “you could figure all this out on your own…all by yourself.” He walked around like a caged animal with his hands clasped behind his back. He finally murmured to himself, “Gilbert will never yield…he never yields to threats…he is too stubborn. He___”
“Except when the life of his beloved priest is at stake…” Retorted Bart who was standing close to him and watching his reaction closely. Then Williams banged the table with his clenched fist and yelled, “what if the messenger couldn’t reach him to deliver the message? What if he didn’t go to the Abbey? May be he is too busy at the border…”
“The messenger knew exactly where to find him,” Was the cool answer.
“How did…oh, no…I told you that too?” Williams was disgusted with himself, “I talk too much…oh the stupid wine…but Gilbert…he may not go to the Parish on Sunday…he may go later on, or may be not at all.”
“Then we up the ante…” said Bart with a cruel smile.
“Meaning…?” A horrified Williams asked as all his arrogance melted away.
“Something like…he gets a note …say from one of the monks…like, his priest is gravely sick and about to die. Something like that…” said Bart nonchalantly.
“You are really vicious.” Snarled Williams, and before he continues, Bart snapped, “I am doing all this for you…you want to be king, don’t you? And you know that he will take the throne if we don’t act now…” Jacquard spoke grabbing his arm firmly, “So don’t pretend that you disapprove when you wish this to work out with all your heart. Just have a backbone…your …highness, if you ever want to be…your …Majesty!”
Williams was torn between his lust for power and his cowardice. He turned around and pretended to recover from the shock. He walked steadily to the window and let his eyes feast on the natural beauty of the gardens below. He took a deep breath, Spun around to face the expectant Bart and said calmly, “this better works.” And then he left the room.
When Alfred ran into the terrace of Sam’s office, he deliberately left the door slightly open. He was so anxious to hear why the prince decided to make that surprise visit to the office of the magistrate. As soon as the conversation got to the point where Gilbert suddenly planned to go to the parish that same day, Alfred panicked. He immediately left with the intent to race to the parish ahead of Gilbert. He was hoping that Sam would have the brains to warn the prince. Besides, he knew he had to take care of Michael before doing anything else. So, he hurried home first.
When he reached his house, he found the back door knocked down. It was obvious that a big fight took place in the house. He was enraged, and dashed to the upper floor shouting Michael’s name. He did not find him in the bed room, nor in the study…..
continues next week