I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 282 The first personal expedition of the Duke of Colonna

The Duke of Colonna will come of age next year. The age difference between the two is a bit large, but it is not unacceptable. However, the official marriage must wait at least until the woman becomes an adult. If you marry too early, once you become pregnant and give birth, the mortality rate of both mother and child is very high. He said that Elizabeth would not be allowed to marry in Sweden until she was twenty, and he was not saying it lightly.

The little portrait of Anna of Tuscany, which was left in the Duke of Colonna's room for one night, was taken out of the frame, rolled up, and sent quietly to the Bastille, where the peculiar and The honorable prisoner looked at it silently for a long time, but did not speak, nor cry or laugh. Varo Vesalius sat quietly with "him" all night, he did not tell "him" that the king had decided, Let the Duke of Colonna recruit Gayola himself on the first day of his coming of age.

The rebellion on Gayola Island has been going on for a long time. Those rebels are fierce and cruel. Those wizards who dare to resist have all been used as the cornerstones of the city wall. Forced to wear magical collars and shackles, to work and fight for them as if they were slaves.

The castle they are besieging now does not belong to Mancini, but it is a "hive" built by Gayola's wizards to preserve books, treasures and magic tools, because from the very beginning, They have prepared the fortress as a last resort, and the retreating wizards can stay in it for at least ten years, so it is not difficult for a few hundred people to stick to it-although they can be said to be when they are raided at night. They were caught off guard, but the wizards of the six major families, Bufandi, responded very quickly. They didn't even think about whether it was a riot of magical creatures or something else. With a wave of the wand, they destroyed the narrow link between the Castle of Mancini and the mountain. trail.

  Anyway, wizards don't come and go entirely by their feet.

Their response was very correct. Although wizards can use fire and water to travel around, this kind of magic not only requires strong magic power and precise skills, but it is also very dangerous to be interrupted during the casting process, which may cause limb mutilation or deformity. - They can also ride brooms, pegasus and other flying mounts to the fortress, as well as those magical creatures with wings that can fly high in the sky, but the Mancini Castle has long been installed with giant crossbows.

These giant crossbows were built at the request of Louis XIV. Marie Mancini ordered the wizards to build them. The wizards were quite disapproving at first. For wizards, the most trustworthy thing was magic. There was an ancient and rigorous defense formation inscribed here a thousand years ago, and there were wizards who regularly maintained and inspected it—these people probably would not have thought that all formations could be destroyed and modified.

With her amazing courage and wisdom, Madame Gagne destroyed the defensive formation of the Castle of Mancini. The three families of Agnelli, Roca and Gagne all thought that they only needed to face the dripping beast and the stone statue of the knight in the castle. , the magic in their bodies will make them strong protectors of the castle, but they are wrong. The first rebel wizards to rush to the castle encounter the giant arrows like lances.

As soon as Agnelli closed his eyes, he could see the pale face of the head of the Roca family. No one knew when he sneaked into the team. After all, it was a night and there was chaos everywhere. Don't be upset. His mount was originally a nightmare. Although it was a bit special in the team, it was not uncommon. After pulling up the hood, everyone only paid attention to themselves. Who would have thought that the head of a family would disregard the danger and take the lead.

  No, it should be said that without the weapons of mortals, he may not necessarily die. Too soon, those weapons they ignored, as if death plucked the strings of a violin, and with a hum, they watched as Deron's magical creatures and their battle wizards fell, like they had reached the limit of maturity Fruit - The head of the Roca family even wore it with another wizard and a giant owl. He died before he fell to the ground. The giant crossbow arrow was as thick as Agnelli's wrist, and it directly broke the boy's wrist. Thoracic spine, he opened his eyes wide, as if he didn't believe he died like this.

The first attack on the Castle of Mancini did not yield the results they wanted, or, on the contrary, it was better at night, when the sun rose and their wizards saw black blood and hideous blood all over the place. The corpse, their hearts became weak - if it weren't for Madame Gagne's decisive decision, not only did the two wizards who wanted to escape, but also ordered the ordinary wizards they had arrested earlier to be pushed to the castle, and used them to kill the castle's crossbow and arrows. Magic, it's hard to say what the situation will turn out to be.

It was only in the subsequent siege that they realized what their ancestors had built the last fortress of the wizards in such a dangerous and steep place - for a thousand years, although there were still some small conflicts in Gayola, Wizards and wizards, wizards and priests, wizards and werewolves, wizards and vampires, but these "wars" often only involve two or three families, dozens or hundreds of people, and even in the last few hundred years, they To start a war, it will be agreed in one place, there will be judges and audiences, and elegance and fairness will be emphasized.

This is the biggest mistake they have ever made, when Marie Mancini took the position of the head of the Mancini family in a wild and crazy attitude, and then used alienation, bribes, threats or direct actions one by one. When the challenge method directly destroys the family except Mancini, they should realize that the power from the outer world has invaded the inner world in another form.

   I just hope it's not too late.

   Agnelli was lying on the chair with his head back, taking a short rest in a tired posture that must not be seen by the wizards under his command, when the door was knocked.

"Your Excellency Agnelli." It was Madame Gagne who walked in. She almost couldn't get out of her body when she destroyed the magic circle. The enemy's potion hurt her throat, so that she could barely speak. Twisted and hoarse: "We're running out of time," she said: "We're going to take the fort as soon as possible."

   "It seems that you have not brought good news." Agnelli said, raising his palm and wiping his face, "Who did the king of France send?"

   "The Duke of Colonna." Madame Gagne said coldly.

   "Not Marie Mancini?" Duke Agnelli was a little stunned.

   "It wasn't her, and no one knew where she went," Madame Gagne said. "I asked the prophet to make a prediction—he could only be sure that Marie Mancini's star was still on."

   "Do you think she will sneak in here suddenly and launch an attack?" Agnelli stood up, grabbed the kettle on the table, and poured a gulp of spirits directly into his mouth.

   "Have we not closed the door," said Madame Gagne, "she is outside."

Mentioning the key, Madame Gagne and Agnelli's faces turned ugly. For nothing else, the key of Roca's parents could not be found on him. I don't know if someone stole it during the melee. , or the Roca parents gave it to someone else, of course, they also have keys in their hands, plus Delon and Dante, it is with these four keys that most of them (thanks to the third wizarding council for making Decision) The decision made by the people not only blocked the island of Gayola, but also ensured that Mancini would not be able to enter even if he had the key.

   But Roca's key disappeared after they imposed a blockade.

They didn't know if the key was hidden or sent out, no, Agnelli immediately rejected the idea, it couldn't be sent out, they knew how terrible the keystone was, no one could do it arrive! Agnelli thought like this and took two steps: "Where is Duke Colonna now?"

   "Three days ago in Montpellier, yesterday in Marseilles." Madame Gagne opened the letter sent by the spy and read it over and over again, as if the letters would change themselves if they read too much.

   "How fast, is he with an army?" Agnelli asked.

   "With armies of wizards," said Madame Gagne, "it is said that they rest in carriages during the day, and ride brooms or pegasus at night."

   "Where are the priests?" Agnelli asked. "Have they all gone to bed? Where are their vigilance?"

Madame Gagne's face showed a sarcastic look: "Elarius, the chief judge of the inquisition, is Louis XIV's confidant, and the Duke of Colonna is Louis XIV's firstborn son, what do you think?" She looked at Agne Li pooh, and then said: "We must act, Agnelli, before they come here to capture the Mancini Castle, we have the conditions to negotiate with the king."

   "Can a wizard's castle have such value?" Agnelli asked.

"I don't know, but I think, if that His Majesty doesn't want to completely destroy this place." Madame Gagne looked around: "If he really wants this place, as the first territory he got, he will should negotiate with us."

   "Me, you, and Delon," Agnelli said, "what other wizards can be moved by fire and water?"

"There are six more in the Gagne family." Madame Gagne said, "even I am seven." Agnelli's face showed disappointment: "There are only seven? Merlin, ma'am, I don't know if I should or not. Counting you, there are twelve members of the Agnelli family, including me, what about Delon? Can he draw more people?"

   "I'm afraid it can't be done. The Delon family started out by domesticating magical creatures, and few of their wizards are powerful enough to cast this spell," Madame Gagne said. "We can only do our best, everyone."

"It seems so." Agnelli said no more, he went out and summoned the wizards of Rocca and Agnelli family. When the wizards of Delon and Gagne family arrived, there were only about thirty wizards. And it's one thing to be able to cast a spell successfully, it's another to not be interrupted when you're solidified.

Madame Gagne waved her wand, and a sketch of the interior structure of the castle opened in the air. Everyone tried to memorize: "I will fall here," Madame Gagne said, "Your Excellency Agnelli will fall here," At one point of her, a firelight ignited on the virtual map, "Mr. Delong, you are here, and you, you and you..." She made another gesture, and the flames went from the ball to the line, like melting The wax oil flowed in all directions, "I can only give the approximate location, but it doesn't matter, you don't need to know who is inside, there is no innocent guy there, just remember this. "

   "What about when we arrive at our destination?" a wizard asked: "Ma'am, should we help others?"

   "You walk the same way again, don't miss anything suspicious. Your Excellency?" she said to Agnelli.

  The wizard behind Agnelli carried over several boxes, which contained the treasures of the Agnelli family for a thousand years. Now is not the time to feel sorry. The wizards glanced at each other and quickly armed themselves.

  ——

   "Did you hear anything?" Vesalius asked.

   "I can guess," said the Duke of Colonna. "Don't forget, sir, that I went to war with my father too."

"Perhaps we can wait until they have captured the Castle of Mancini before entering Gayola," said Vauban, who had not left Holland not long ago. Yes, he's a general now, and obviously mud and gunpowder are his favorite things - he asks the king if there's any more battles to be fought, and after some hesitation Louis sends him quite boldly Next to the Duke of Colonna.

One is that although the Duke of Colonna has experienced real wars before, he is only a bystander, and it is best to have a seasoned officer on the side to guide; the other is because he used the war in Flanders. There are many wizards and witches. For the upper-level officers such as Vauban, the Viscount Turenne and the Marquis of Lois, the world is already a semi-open secret. In the future, he will use Gayola as a base to launch an offensive against Naples. , will the wizards of Gayola Island go to war at that time?

   In any case, wizards are incomparable to mortals.

   "I'm afraid not," said the Duke of Colonna. "Sir, there are also my soldiers in there. Just like my father, I will not give up those brave and strong people." He smiled: "Although I know your intentions."

To take a fortress, in addition to storming, a long siege is also a good idea, especially on an island - if they go to war before the other side captures the castle, there will be losses, but if they wait until the other side enters the castle, then as long as Just wait - Vauban looked at the map, and the location of Mancini Castle didn't affect the work he needed to complete later.

   "Go and open the door, Vesalius," said the Duke of Colonna.

   (end of this chapter)