I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 394 The Holy Sword and the Holy Grail

If Vesalius was the original Vesalius, of course he would not be able to see the information about the holy sword, nor would he be able to imitate it, but he can now be said to be the closest to Louis XIV among wizards, and his qualifications and powers No less than Mrs. Milady, he can of course read the books and secret scrolls that were tightly sealed to the descendants of foreign wizards like him - King Arthur's sword of the king comes from the gift of the fairy in the lake, in human records. , is a two-handed sword with a gold hilt inlaid with jewels and a blade made of stainless steel. Its scabbard can ensure that the king is not harmed - when King Arthur first lost the scabbard, he would suffer in the following wars. An irreversible fatal injury.

Louis XIV stood up and looked at the holy sword that Vesalius held in front of him, that is, the sword of the king. The records of the wizards must be much clearer than those of human beings. There are two dragons coiled around the hilt, and the eyes of the dragon It is gleaming amber, its membrane wings are raised high, and its scales are as small as rice grains, but the pieces are clearly visible. They bow their heads and bow their heads in the hands of the king like living creatures, and their ends are wrapped around the upward curved gauntlets. On the top, the silver-white sword is densely covered with ripple-like forging patterns - although it is a long sword made by a fairy in the lake, this sword dedicated to the last Celtic king still has the Celtic style of the front row. , the blade is not very sharp, even a little blunt and thick, and its length exceeds any two-handed sword that Louis XIV had seen before. He thought it was quite heavy, but when he got it in his hand, he realized that its weight was the same as the one he was most familiar with. A protective sword is about the same.

He casually raised his sword and slashed, only to hear a loud noise. In the direction the blade was pointing, the king's favorite mahogany desk was neatly divided into two halves, and the ink, paper and documents on it were poured out. one place.

   "There's always something special." Vesalius said calmly to the king's meaningful eyes.

"Indeed, it may be able to convince some people." Louis put it away, because the scabbard of the King's Sword has the function of defending against any damage, and everyone knows it, so Vesalius and others have no way to re-copy or Forged, "The wizards of Merlin's time were much stronger than the wizards of today." Vesalius explained: "But the sword of the king is only recorded in the records that it is extremely sharp. It is said that King Arthur once held it and knocked down four hundred people. Seventy Saxon soldiers besieging him."

"It's a pity," said Louie, "I know what you're thinking, and you want me to do something with it—but no, Vesalius, even if you bring a real holy sword, it's just a sniper. It's tasteless, it's just a pity to abandon it."

   Vesalius was startled.

Louis explained patiently: "You may think that the British will be shaken by me holding King Arthur's relic, at least those Scots have been praying for King Arthur to return to Great Britain, but not to say that I am a Bourbon, even if King Arthur is really Returning to England from Avalon, will those red-haired Celtic descendants really want to re-support a king from a thousand years ago? They don't need a king anymore, like Charles II, and so does King Arthur." He whispered softly Said, and then looked at Vesalius: "This is the biggest difference between mortals and wizards," he said kindly and coldly: "The wizards are still in the era of Merlin, but the mortals have come very far from you. The place where you cherish, we have long since abandoned it - if there is any king's sword that cannot be questioned, everyone, look out, my fleet, my artillery, my army , these are my holy swords and knights."

"But your efforts are not completely in vain." Louis added: "I heard that some English wizards have also come to Brittany, and they seem to want to find Merlin before we completely conquer Brittany. with the relic left by King Arthur."

"I'm not sure what you said." Vesalius had turned pale before, but now he has recovered a little. He should have expected his king to always think a little out of the ordinary, and he was always so proud , from the time when he was not in power and had no power - he also heard a little, the Mancini family had intended to keep him in the world forever, but in the end he was persuaded - presumably Mancini The parents of the sect must be very regretful later, what kind of beast they released: "If those people have the same idea..."

"Their ideas may be the same as yours," Louis seemed to be amused: "Are they all wizards? It may take another hundred years for the wizards to give up the original idea that all wizards must be superior to ordinary people. ."

   Vesalius hesitated, "Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?"

"Please say."

   "In your imagination, what is the ending of the wizard?"

Louis pondered for a while: "Let's put it simply, Vesalius," he said: "The wizards are to me Lorraine, the mortals of Alsace and Brittany, and the Huguenots. Believers are generally branches that need to be pruned. I don’t want you to hinder the growth and reproduction of other plants, but I also don’t want your growth and reproduction to suffer unnecessary damage. One day in my country, everyone with different beliefs People with ideas can live in peace, and so should you - although you may be in two dimensions with mortals for a long time due to the subtlety of wizards, but wait, it will be soon, You will also become a… ordinary people.”

"I don't know whether to be happy or sad to hear you say that," Vesalius said, realizing that he had made a big mistake before - he had suffered enough in the inner world, but he still suffered from it. The influence of a fake holy sword can affect the game between the country and the country. As Louis XIV said, now is not the era of Merlin. In front of muskets and artillery, even the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur are unbearable. A blow—and the voice of a man without power is always the weakest, whose arrogance has turned into endless frustration, so that there is no sound of questioning the king's prophecy: "You mean that in the future wizards will also become Mortal? Will the magic disappear?"

"Magic may not go away," said Louie, "but as long as mortals can outsmart magic, it's enough, just as people now fear muskets in soldiers' hands, but not soldiers, so did wizards then It's just civilians with legal weapons, and people are always afraid of privilege, not someone, someone."

   "I'm a little curious now," Vesalius murmured, and when the king cast an inquiring look, he said, "If you had stayed in Gayola, where would wizards and mortals go?"

  Louis thought for a while, "I'm not sure, but I don't think it's a good thing."

  ———

What   Louis and Vesalius did not know was that the same question was asked thousands of miles away from them.

The Bastille is shrouded in darkness, and if there is no trace of blood, it climbs up from the cold cellar, layer by layer to the highest point, such as the Tower of London, where the most honorable prisoners are held at the highest point. So far, there is only one. , he or she once had a neighbor, the venerable Duke of York, but since the Duke of York was bought back by his brother Charles II, there is only one person left here.

   For the warden, the biggest regret is that he cannot reveal the identity of this man unless he wants to dance with the dead body on the gallows. The consolation is that this "gentleman" has not caused him any trouble. Except for often leaning against the window, overlooking the Place de la Bastille, and looking at the Louvre in the distance, he mostly uses books and music to pass the time, Also look at the newspapers, and some letters that come in by privilege.

The gentleman was treated the same as a duke, with a servant to take care of his daily life, and the warden visited him from time to time to ask him if he needed anything - generally the answer he got was no, or shook his head, The same is true tonight. The warden estimates the age of this man. Maybe "he" will spend the rest of his life here. If the king doesn't change his mind - the warden is both regretful and fortunate that he has done a good job in The plan to leave the correct answer in the memoir, his memoir will be welcomed by everyone, and even now, many people are curious to inquire about the identity of this honorable prisoner.

The warden was about to go down the stairs when the light in front of him suddenly jumped slightly, the candle light suddenly dimmed and lit again, the warden raised his head, and the iron-like cold air cut through his cheeks and rushed into his nose. , he also smelled the slight but distinct smell of blood, and his heart clenched suddenly - he was worried that some prisoner had committed suicide, and this situation is not unheard of, there are always one or two lunatics willing to invest Hell does not want to continue to be tortured and humiliated here.

  Thinking of this, the warden hurriedly raised the candlestick with one hand, grabbed the wall with the other, and hurriedly rushed down, but before he could take a few steps, he stomped and fell out defenselessly.

  The candle went out, and after a brief moan, there was no sound in the darkness.

The invisible shadow spread out from under him, slowly climbing up like a vine, it reached the end of the stairs, here is a small circular hall, there is an open wooden window on the wall, the wooden window The white moonlight was poured into it, forming a bright circle on the ground. The black shadow stopped here for a while, rose from the ground, and pointed towards the locked door like a snake. With a click, the door opened.

This cell is a suite, with a small reception room outside. The interior decoration and furniture are in no way inferior to those of the owner's room in the Louvre or Versailles. The shadow did not stop, and continued to move silently and quickly to the room. Before passing through the reception room, the door to the bedroom was opened. The four-poster bed in the bedroom was hung with heavy curtains. It stuck out its "head" and stuck its slender tongue into the air, as if it was sniffing something for a few seconds. Then, as if it had lost its last patience, it jumped up from the ground and jumped straight into the bed!

   But there is a rapier faster than it!

It can be said that the Shadow Snake threw itself onto the sharp tip of the sword. Although it was a shadow, it twisted and swayed frantically like a real snake. Its body lengthened sharply and continued to pounce on the target , but only bit down on a velvet mask, the velvet mask let out a scream that mortals could not hear, rolled and dented from where it was bitten, and swallowed the uninvited guest in turn - but after a few seconds, it The color of the man turned from crimson to off-white suddenly, as if it had been faded by a negligent maid, and then fell from the prisoner's face.

  Marie Mancini grabbed the mask and swung the rapier, showing a vigilant look.

"Who?!"

  A blue flame jumped out of the darkness, illuminating the faces of the person who came and Marie Mancini.

   (end of this chapter)