Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter.
3 October 1019
3 Madrigal Place, Yorke
My dearest Sir Cousin Armand,
Maximilian and I received a visitor this morning, a Mr. Caster-Morton. He came in response to a note I had sent to Lordship Doncaster, asking for news of our friends at the Cumbrian embassy in Toulouse and at L’École du Sorciers.
Mr. Caster-Morton is an undersecretary of some sort to His Lordship; you should remember his name from my letter of July 1st, if you received that before beginning your journey here to Yorke. It was he who brought me news of your safety following the successful conclusion to the difficulties caused by M. Sabot in Mont-Havre.
I was surprised to see him; I had hoped for no more than a brief note, if that. I said as much, but he held up a hand.
“His Lordship said I was to tell you that your concern for those in His Majesty’s service in Provençe does you credit; and moreover that your drawing account with His Lordship remains high. And so I am here to bring you news and answer your questions.”
He began by assuring me that Lord Ellesmere and all his staff are perfectly all right and in good humor.
“For the fighting did not approach them,” Mr. Caster-Morton told me. “Indeed, it seems that both the Royalists and the Secularists took care that it remain so.” He smiled. “It seems that neither wished to add any complications to their struggles.
“Nor, for that matter, did either side approach the district surrounding L’École du Sorciers.” And here he smiled even more broadly. “I am given to understand that the neutrality of L’École in political matters has been well-established. And were it not, His Lordship says, your own actions during the Battle of the Approaches were a pointed reminder.”
I am afraid I winced, which Mr. Caster-Morton affected not to notice.
“This is all delightful news,” I said, when I had recovered myself.
“There is more,” he said, “though I must caution you that we are waiting on the official word, and so nothing has gone out to the papers as yet. The civil war in Provençe is over, at least for now. The Royalists have united behind a single claimant to the throne, driven the Secularists before them, and have crowned him as King Charles IX.”
“What do we know of him?”
“He is a member of the minor nobility, driven underground during the Troubles. It seems he is indeed related to the royal house, is on good terms with his father’s former vassals and tenants, and is canny enough to survive and rise above the other claimants.”
“He is not a puppet of some party, then?” asked Maximilian.
“Who can say?” said Mr. Caster-Morton. “Not I, nor His Lordship. But it seems that he is not.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And how shall he rule?”
“Not as an absolute monarch, if that is what you are asking. Lord Ellesmere tells us that the king and his people are working on a new parliamentary constitution, with the powers of parliament tied rather more closely to the throne than they are here in Cumbria.”
I reflected on that for a moment. “So now there is peace in Provençe,” I said at last.
“Yes, for a year or two at least. His Lordship says it is anybody’s guess how long it shall last past that time. Though, he says, all the new Parlement need do is be less venal and corrupt than its predecessor, and take more notice of the provinces, and all be well. Until next time.”
“And will there be a next time?”
“Oh, yes,” said Maximilian. “The Jacques Bonhommes of Toulouse are an unruly lot at the best of times. They aren’t happy unless they get to build barricades every few years.”
You will recall that Maximilian spent considerable time with the “Jacques Bonhommes” while working for Ambassador Ellesmere, so I suppose we must take him at his word; but it seems so odd, not at all what Cumbrians would do.
“So there it sits,” said Mr. Caster-Morton. “We expect to receive an envoy from King Charles within the week; and then the whole world will know.” And with that he beamed at us and took his leave.
And so peace returns, Armand, possibly the first lasting peace we have known here in Cumbria since the Provençese Troubles began so long ago. We shall be able to return to our investigations of ley-lines in Provençe and abroad; and you shall be able to sell wagons, caravans, and packets to all and sundry. Huzzah!
Your jubilant cousin,
Amelia
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Zymurgia House 