""And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire"." ""And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness"." "No." ""The enemy is closer than you think"." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "The king's doctor at once!" ""His humours are out of balance"." "Majesty, you must drink this." "It will help you sleep." "It's a herbal cordial." "It will allay your pain and procure your rest." "Laudanum, saffron and bruised cloves." "Majesty, I beg you to heed the counsel of your most trusted medical advisers." "What do you say?" "Have you ever had a fever?" "I have, Your Majesty." "What measures did you take?" "To permit my body to cure itself, it was necessary to purge." "There is a herb, sagewort." "Sweet wormwood, by another name." "Fetch your remedy, but quickly and with a calm air." "No one must know of His Majesty's condition." "Sire." "There is love in your future." "Twice as much as you might think." "I'm off to water the garden." "I think that's a no." "You did not respond to my last message." "Well, to be perfectly honest, it didn't seem very pressing." "It was a busy week!" "Fail me again, and your next piss will be sitting down!" "You have my full attention." "Read and follow to the letter." "Don't breathe!" "Were you raised in a cattle shed?" "What on earth do you think you're doing?" "You must come at once." "The King's Circle." "Wake my wife." "Do it now." "What do you think you'll see the moment before the end?" "The face of my enemy." "I've always dreamed the same dream." "I'm in a great avenue of evergreens, sitting in wet grass, gazing through the pine cones at a canopy of sky." "Then if I were you, I would stay indoors." "Speak!" "The King's Circle." "I must speak to you in private." "You're still drunk." "It can wait." "I do not think you understand the gravity of my need." "Every need of yours weighs exactly the same." "A great tide is stirring." "It pertains to your future in the court, your place at its centre." "Go to bed." "Please." "Philippe!" "Philippe!" "In the King's book of names, you will find a circle of trust, a list of those he believes in his heart are the most loyal, faithful, and true." "You are the names on that list." "This circle of trust will not be broken." "We all know here what is at stake." "How is My King?" "The fever is consuming him." "Protocol now demands we begin work on the issue of succession." "I will not hear it." "He is stronger than a malady, stronger than a hundred fevers." "Not this one, clearly." "I'm sure he is much comforted by your words." "My King values expediency over sympathy." "As we hope for the best, we must nevertheless plan for the worst." "Where did this distemper come from?" "Are we sure it is not poison?" "Whatever the cause, I will root it out." "I hope you will be more successful." "More?" "When a sick man gains simple access to the king, I do not call it victory." "The Dauphin is the direct successor but would require a regent." "I would argue a young king requires a council of elders, men with true experience of government." "The protocol is clear." "If the king..." "Do not say it!" "...dies, or if he is incapable of exercising his duties, a regent shall be appointed." "Who?" "That is the choice before us." "What is the news?" "We did not see the king at mass, and you know how people gossip around here." "Hunting accident, broke his leg." "It will take weeks." "Your Majesty, please!" "Rumours are flying around the court." "To know the truth might make it easier to stop them." "Why such secrecy?" "So that rumours do not start." "And what would happen if something..." "There is no if." "He will be well." "Yes, of course." "Jezebel!" "Delilah!" "Stop!" "You may have shaved my seven locks and sold me to the Philistines, but I'm not yet on my knees." "If the king's hair hurts, perhaps it was the wine last night." "I know they say eat the fur of the beast that bit you, but who wants a mouthful of fluff for breakfast?" "Did I speak out of turn?" "Come now!" "How is our king?" "Please speak!" "Why all the secrecy?" "Speak!" "You must vow to me." "On my father's life." "Your father's dead." "My mother, then." "Forget it." "I can't help my tongue." "Please!" "I see your distress, and it pains me." "Allow me to share your burden." "Speak!" "My brother is very sick." "Well, I always said you'd make a marvellous king." "Stop!" "So you're serious." "Goodness!" "He is gravely ill." "And if he were to die, it might be possible that I would be regent." "God in heaven!" "I had no idea." "Not a word to anyone." "This is a testing time, but I know with you by my side, I can overcome anything." "Yes, of course." "Now, I must have air." "Come with me, please." "I cannot." "I have to, think." "Very well." "He is in my prayers as are you." "What did you mean when you said a great tide is stirring?" "Did I say that?" "Must have still been drunk." "Father?" "Father!" "Help me!" "Help me, please." "He's dying." "What happened?" "I don't know." "You must come." "The king." "He will perish." "As will your king." "Save your father or save France." "The choice is yours." "Guard, where is the king?" "His Majesty ordered my eyes to the door, but he had not yet ordered them back." "Stay here." "Move!" "Move!" "Shut the doors." "Close all the shutters." "Door!" "Door!" "Ah, there you are." "I cannot decide whether this will be a courante, a sarabande, or a passacaille." "You must return to bed, Sir." "Your doctor is here." "I've created a new dance, Bontemps, and I wish my court to perform it." "Very well, Sire." "Everyone must learn it immediately." "Bring me pen and paper and a gardener." "A gardener?" "Yes, my gardener Jacques." "He lost his hand in Malines." "Bring him here." "I see this dance unfolding in a garden, an orangerie full of blossom." "I did not see you at our recent ballet." "I dance as commanded by you, Sire." "Then do so now." "Dance for me now." "Follow me." "First, a balancé." "Twice going forward, and then a pas de bourrée." "Then another balancé going backwards, then another pas de bourrée." "If these are your steps, Sire, then your dance is a passacaille." "You are a man of quality, Bontemps." "But I do not trust you." "I do not trust you at all." "Sire..." "I do not know this man!" "Your Majesty, please!" "Where is my gardener?" "I need him." "Bring me Jacques!" "Guards!" "Please, bring me Jacques!" "Guards, bring me Jacques!" "They mean to kill me!" "They mean to kill me!" "Bring me Jacques!" "Water for the king!" "My gardener will know what to do." "Shhh." "Shhh." "His fever grows stronger." "Your Majesty, the gardener." "Tell me a story about my father." "Your mother suckled him long before you, which makes you milk brothers, does it not?" "A story, then." "Many years ago, an emissary from Japan visited our shores." "He brought a gift from China for your father, an ancient text that he said that every general in the emperor's army had read." "The text was called the Art of War." "And so the story went around the palace of this most vital maxim:" "Appear weak when you are strong and strong when you are weak." "Out." "Out!" "Out!" "Amen." "Amen." "Yes, Madame de Clermont!" "Forgive me." "I'd always assumed your office was in the east wing." "It is." "As promised, Monsieur Colbert, our proof of noble heritage." "Ah!" "Good." "I will review it in due course." "Good day." "We cannot leave the king's health in the hands of a child." "Hardly a child." "My brother should be in Paris." "I have readied my own carriage." "I will take him there myself to recuperate." "He cannot travel." "An hour at the most." "It could kill him." "It is this palace that is killing him." "I was just in the laundry, and I found this in one of the pockets." "The same shapes like you have in your book." "Don't go anywhere." "A meeting is planned for today." "Is my horse ready?" "Fed and watered this morning!" "You've done well." "There's no one here!" "Yes." "I noticed that myself." "Cassel!" "We are risking our lives being here." "I had to conceal my horse half a mile away." "You're one to talk." "Why the urgency?" "You are not the author of this?" "It appears we are not the only ones bound by our intent." "Which is what, exactly?" "Revolution." "This is a monumental risk!" "What if these communications were intercepted or deciphered?" "They have been deciphered." "Then our location is known?" "Once a codex is broken, it offers opportunity." "I wrote a new message and made sure it was found." "It proposes a rendezvous today on the other side of Paris, so we are quite safe where we are." "Cousin?" "A great moment is upon us." "The king has fever." "His sickness grows." "We must plan quickly in this moment for our future." "We have powerful and wealthy friends, some already at court." "Others, abroad, are watching very closely, all of them standing, ready to help." "A message of support from the Dutch Republic." "A new captain general is rising in power." "William of Orange will soon be stadtholder, and he vows here to support who would move against King Louis, not just with words, but with money, materials, influence and arms." "Well, I think I've heard enough for one day." "Thank you for the puppet show." "Chevalier de Lorraine!" "Do not confuse the woman you have known with the woman you see now." "A gathering in Paris awaits you." "Canvas your supporters there." "We know there are many." "The fever has broken." "The court must know nothing about my condition." "But surely your brother must be informed." "Close all the doors." "Do it now." "The issue of regent remains." "We know your position, of course." "Will no one vouch for me?" "It is not you who lack merit, Your Highness." "Our concerns lie instead on those who would place themselves around you." "Ah!" "Why don't you just say his name?" "We need someone whose behaviour is more becoming of a monarch, someone who is his own man." "I hope I make myself clear." "Perfectly." "Her Majesty and Monsieur Colbert would to my mind, ensure a resilient transition." "Then it is settled." "What are you doing?" "All this rumour makes a man giddy." "I'm going to Paris for a few days to un-giddy myself." "You told me you thought I would make a great king." "And you would." "This is not idle chat." "What are you up to?" "You made a vow to me!" "And I kept it." "Then be truthful in return." "Have you been hiding under a rock these past few months?" "We're on the verge of great change." "There are whispers growing louder every day." "People are tired of the way things are." "They wish to see a change, one that would not deny the monarchy but rather share in its burden." "You can see it in your brother even now." "One man cannot rule the land." "He is drowning in it, and you are the man to save him." "You tread a dangerous path." "I say the only danger is smelling smoke and not acknowledging a fire is burning." "You side with the nobles?" "I side with you just as the soldiers side with you." "Would you side with me?" "You cannot know what you are asking." "I know exactly what I'm asking." "Until death forces my hand, I cannot answer." "Very well." "But know this:" "Our future has changed, no matter what happens now." "My trunk!" "Sire, we rejoice at your recovery." "Send my tailors." "I want some new clothes." "As for the rest of my court, this is the only message that I wish to convey." "I am saddened to report that the king's health has not improved." "He awakened before breakfast and has passed on instructions that government continue under his word." "How can he make decisions in such a condition?" "The king wishes that France be informed immediately of his condition so they might offer their prayers." "Has he said anything?" "He has." "He would have the court learn a new dance." "A dance?" "It is one he has composed himself in his moments of peace to raise our spirits in anticipation of his recovery." "Colbert, tell Monsieur Lully to create a melody." "Your sacrifice will not be forgotten." "My deepest sympathy for your loss." "I know now my replacement for your father." "What is his name?" "I only know that he stands before me now." "You will find many who oppose you, who would rather I had chosen someone from my circle of physicians." "But you must be deaf to their judgements." "Will you accept the position?" "I need not remind you that if the answer is yes, there is no going back." "Your life as you know it will be changed forever." "I accept." "Then it is yours." "Medicine is a fine career." "Send for Mademoiselle de la Vallière." "Where's Chevalier?" "I haven't seen him all day." "He rides to Paris." "A gathering of nobles." "Does he indeed?" "What are you doing?" "Did you not hear?" "The king has a new dance and expects us all to learn it." "What are you doing here?" "I came to collect a letter for Madame de la Rochefoucault." "This is her chamber, isn't it?" "No, this is Madame de Clermont." "Madame de la Rochefoucault is down the hallway." "Oh my goodness!" "I'm so sorry." "Excuse me, mademoiselle." "I'm so sorry." "Wait!" "I hoped you might stay here, that you might think of this as home." "I cannot." "Not even for your children?" "For their sakes and for mine, I must show contrition for my life." "You may go." "Thank you,..." "Majesty." "Thank you with all my heart." "Arrangements will be made." "Mother, I have missed you." "Every time I try and look for you, I'm being rushed back to my lady." "Your duty to me is to do well with her." "Do not pay me the slightest thought." "I found a chambermaid in your room." "Chambermaid?" "Yes." "She was looking for a letter for Madame de la Rochefoucault but ended up in your room by accident." "I went to the chapel." "Cassel was in conversation with a number of new nobles, including Anjou, Poitier..." "Who else?" "Madame de Clermont." "So, since the court became aware of the king's condition, conversations between these individuals has increased markedly." "Anjou and Poitiers, too, you say, both to Cassel." "I checked with the stables." "Both Poitier and Anjou are riding to Paris." "They're not the only ones." "Chevalier de Lorraine also reached Paris this morning." "About Madame de Clermont..." "Later." "Where are you going?" "Christ Jesus, life eternal in the bosom of the Father life of souls made of your own likeness; protect my brother in his time of need." "My God!" "I was told you were dying." "I was, but then I recovered." "You did not think to tell me?" "I told no one." "Why would you do that?" "So I might see who it is upon whom I can truly depend." "You did not include me." "I did not." "You do not trust your own brother, then?" "I do not trust the company he keeps." "The Chevalier may seem blithe and glib, but he has a backbone." "Truly, Brother, I only wish you saw what I do." "He is a man of honour." "You are blind to his failings and dumb to his faults." "Do not say such things." "A conspiracy in Paris was uncovered, the nobles plotting against me as I lay in my fever bed." "The Chevalier is a ringleader." "All of them will be arrested." "Impossible." "He's no conspirator." "Very true." "He is a traitor." "And will be treated as such." "To Versailles!" "Good idea." "The Ducd'Orléans will have your head for this." "I can assure you of that." "And when your neck is on the block, do you know what he will say to you?" "Ah!" "I would rather you didn't." "In any case, I hope you're fond of horses." "Burn in hell, you Catholic cunt!" "I found a little something to aid us." "Aid us with what?" "Endurance." "A love potion." "When I look at you, I need nothing else." "Oh, I'm the same." "But I think it might be fun." "Come." "Thank you."