WolfeBite (De Wolfe Pack Generations #10)

Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Chateau de Chambrey

France

T he chamber, for all of its vast space and shadowy darkness, had a close feeling about it as the fire snapped in the enormous hearth and sparks jumped out onto the stone floor. The closeness had nothing to do with the size of the room, but more the mood that was within it.

The castle belonged to the powerful Lorraine family and had for centuries. It was a confusing complex of rooms and passages and towers, a mishmash of building that had been done during different times by different owners. That made it feel less like a home and more like a labyrinth, but at this moment, the head of the House of Lorrain was seated in an old chair in front of that spitting fireplace. He’d positioned the chair far enough away that he wasn’t being hit by the sparks, but that meant the heat wasn’t warming his old bones, and he very much needed them warm tonight.

News from England had arrived.

It had been at least four months since he’d last heard from his daughter, a highly trained spy who had been placed close to the royal couple of England. That had been a plan he concocted many years ago and, fortunately, it had come to fruition through careful planning and political connections. It was a scheme that would hopefully see the French emerge in a more stable situation because, at the moment, their situation seemed to be somewhat un stable.

But that was going to change.

There were several situations afoot when it came to the English and French royal families, but that was something that Bernard de Lorrain hoped to change. Careful plans had been in the works that would see his very own daughter, Christelle, become a close advisor to Queen Phillipa. Christelle’s position was twofold in that she was supposed to encourage Phillipa to acquire more French advisors. The French wanted a foothold in the English royal court, but Edward was very much against it because of experience with his father’s favorites, and Phillipa also seemed to be against it because she was fully assimilating into the English people. Word was that the English adored her because she was kind and fair and very much wanted the input of the English advisers.

That was not what the French had anticipated.

Therefore, Christelle had been positioned to hopefully combat Phillipa’s anglophile attitude, and the time was quickly coming that it was going to be imperative because Phillipa was no longer a child but a grown woman who was expecting a child of her own. The reality was that Phillipa wasn’t even truly French, but from Hainault. Still, the House of Lorrain had enough connections to the French that great rewards had been promised to them should they help position French advisers within the English court.

That was most imperative because there was the small matter of King Edward and his claim to the French crown. When King Charles of France passed away, Edward was the nearest male relative by birth eligible to inherit the French throne, but the French preferred Phillip, who had indeed inherited the throne because Edward had his hands full with his troubles in England, including his mother and her lover, Roger Mortimer. That had thrown Edward off the scent of the French throne, and the French wanted to keep it that way.

That was where Christelle came in.

Bernard knew there was a great deal at stake and the pressure was growing by the day. He hadn’t heard from his daughter in quite some time and the French were getting restless, so her missive today had been of great relief.

Until Bernard opened it.

Then he wasn’t so relieved.

There was trouble afoot.

“What does it say, Bernard?” A man with white hair, slender and fine, had been standing back in the shadows as Bernard read his daughter’s missive. “What does she say?”

Bernard sighed faintly. “I fear we may have waited too long, Gautier.”

“Why?”

“Because it sounds as if Edward has become a man and is preparing to take control.”

Gautier de Leon was part of the French royal court, a cousin to the king, though distantly. He had a grand chateau outside of Paris and another one near Amiens, was a man who craved power and took it when he could, so Bernard’s words struck a chord of concern within him.

He couldn’t tell if the man was being dramatic or truthful.

“What has happened?” he asked.

Bernard held the missive up to him. “Isabella may be with child,” he said. “If she is, that could change the dynamics of Edward’s embattlement with Mortimer because Mortimer would want to put a child of his upon the throne. According to Christelle, the decision has been made to separate Edward and Phillipa to keep them safe from Mortimer for the time being.”

Gautier was trying to read the opening of the missive, but his mind was on the conversation. “Where are they taking Phillipa?” he asked.

“Ashendon Castle,” Bernard said. “It is at the bottom if the message. They are taking her to Hull.”

Gautier looked up from the vellum. “Hull,” he repeated. “That is to the north.”

Bernard nodded. “North of Lincoln,” he said. “There is a large port, one of the largest on the eastern side of England. I’ve never been there, but I imagine the castle is not too far from the port if it is in Hull itself.”

Gautier didn’t say anything until he finished reading the missive. Then he set it down and began to rub his hands together, thinking.

“Hull,” he muttered. “If the queen is in Hull, away from the king and away from his army, then this may be perfect for our cause.”

Bernard nodded slowly. “I was thinking the same thing,” he said. “Originally, Christelle was placed close to Phillipa simply to keep watch on the young royals. To exert control over the queen if we could.”

Gautier was still rubbing his hands together because that was how he did his best thinking, looking like a madman wringing his fingers.

“Listen to me,” he said as if a great idea had just come to him. “Isabella is French. Edward is an increasing threat to the French throne because he is, quite honestly, the legal heir. I have always believed that.”

“And?”

“And if we were to help Mortimer and Isabella gain the throne, that would put them in our debt,” Gautier said. “Isabella is pregnant with a child we can control if we do away with Mortimer after we have helped him gain the throne. We will have a French queen and a French heir to the English throne.”

“And how are we to do that?”

Gautier looked at him as if he’d gone daft. “By using Phillipa as leverage against Edward, of course,” he said. “Christelle will deliver Phillipa to us, we will bring her to France and lock her in one of my properties, and tell Edward that we will kill her and the child she carries unless he abdicates in favor of Isabella and Mortimer.”

Bernard could see his point and he, too, thought it was a sound plan. “My daughter could deliver Phillipa to us quite easily,” he said. “And it would not take an army to get the queen. Only Christelle.”

“Exactly.”

“We will travel to Hull and meet her in secret,” Bernard continued. “We can have Phillipa on a cog heading for France before anyone even realizes she is missing.”

Gautier was smiling broadly. “Now you understand, my friend,” he said. “We can end this situation quite quickly and painlessly, all in favor of France, in a very short time. No bloodshed, no armies. Simply one small woman delivered to us by your daughter. Brilliant.”

Bernard looked at him. “And we shall be well paid, of course.”

“Anything you want, my friend.”

“One hundred thousand marks of gold should do.”

The smile vanished from Gautier’s face. “Are you serious?”

“A queen’s ransom, my friend,” Bernard said, knowing he held the answer to France’s problems. “You want a queen? Then you shall have to pay for her.”

Gautier wasn’t happy about being swindled, the way he saw it. “You are a wolf, Bernard,” he said. “A wolf with teeth.”

“A wolf who can give France what it wants,” Bernard said. Then he leaned in Gautier’s direction. “What is it worth to you to control the throne of England?”

Gautier didn’t even need to answer that because they both knew what it was worth. Before the night was out, Gautier had sent missives to several French allies informing them of the very real possibility of seizing the English throne and what it was going to cost them.

A ransom all of them, and most especially the French king, would be willing to pay.

And Bernard knew it.