19:47 (Paris Time)
Friday, July 28, 1651
Inn of ‘Le Lion Noir’
Paris, France
Isaac Bartet, seeing d’Artagnan again glance towards the entrance door of their Inn as an old man entered the main hall, grinned to his friend Hughes De Terlon, another agent of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris, who was drinking wine with him and D’Artagnan at their table.
“I am starting to wonder why Charles is looking constantly towards the door. Is he worried about parliamentary militiamen showing up or is he expecting his ‘Belle’?”
“From what I saw of his Nancy, I would say that he can’t live without her.” Said De Terlon with amusement in his voice.”
“Well, she is quite an exceptional girl.” Conceded Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, a.k.a. d’Artagnan, before taking another sip of his wine. That only made his two companions more curious, with De Terlon lowering his voice as he looked at Charles.
“So, what do you really know about that girl?”
Charles answered at once, having full confidence in the young aristocrat.
“Well, apart from being one beautiful girl, which you noticed already, she is very well educated and speaks, reads and writes an amazing number of languages, including English, Latin, Greek and German. She also rides like an expert and can fight at least as well as me. You will also find her surprisingly strong for a girl.”
“She sounds like one of the fabled Amazons, whom the Duchess of Orléans always dream of emulating.”
Hugues’ reply made Charles snicker in derision.
“The Grande Mademoiselle, an Amazon? Let me laugh! At least she had enough heart to refuse to watch as Nancy was being tortured in the Bastille. She then went to warn the King about it. Nancy told me that she even tried to convince the Duchess of Longueville not to have her questioned. Despite all the trouble she is giving to the Queen, I suppose that I owe her a thank you in a way for that. That is…”
Charles then stopped speaking in mid-sentence, his eyes fixed on the entrance door and a happy smile appearing on his face. Hughes and Isaac turned their heads at once towards the door as the rest of the customers in the main hall also fell silent and stared at the tall teenage girl that had just entered. She was dressed most unusually for a girl, wearing tight-fitting black tights with knee-high black leather boots and a white silk shirt partially covered by a short-sleeved brown leather jacket. The jacket was closed around her lower torso by laces that pushed up her already impressive chest, which was partly visible thanks to the opened top of the shirt. Her generous hips, long legs and long silky black hair falling down to her waist only added to her sexiness. She did not wear a hat but had a sort of leather headband decorated with colored stitchings. A wide leather belt around her waist supported a belt purse, a dagger, a powder horn and a pair of pistols, while a pair of large saddle bags and a long leather carbine scabbard were slung over her left shoulder. Ignoring the stares from the customers, she went to the service counter and addressed the innkeeper, who was all but devouring her with his eyes from behind the counter.
“Could I have a room for one, please?” She said in perfect French.
“Uh, of course, mademoiselle.” Said the innkeeper, having caught the wink she had given him. He certainly remembered her, as she had spent months already in his inn, departing only a few weeks ago. He also knew that she was helping d’Artagnan, being himself part of Cardinal Mazarin’s network of agents in Paris. Opening his registry book and grabbing a feather and a bottle of ink, he then looked back at the girl.
“May I have your name, mademoiselle?”
“Lady Nancy Sommers.” Answered calmly the teenager. “I am planning to stay for a week. Could I have a bath prepared as well in my room?”
D’Artagnan grinned widely on hearing that: one full week of tasting Nancy’s charms. He waited until she started going up the stairs behind the innkeeper, then got up from his bench and excused himself with his two friends before going upstairs as well.
Nancy waited until the innkeeper had opened the door of her room and given her the key to it, then going back down, before discreetly inviting Charles in. Closing and locking the door behind him, she let drop her saddlebags and exchanged a long, hungry kiss with him. They finally parted and looked into each other’s eyes.
“Damn, I really missed you, Nancy!”
“And I could only dream of you, Charles. As soon as we can take a bath I will show you how I missed you.”
“You really believe in this cleanliness thing, do you?” Said Charles, amused, making her smile with malice.
“Don’t you find that being clean makes certain things more agreeable, Charles?”
“True!” Replied Charles, thinking back at some of their past love sessions. “So, what are you doing in Paris this time?”
“I came to bring some funds to Queen Henriette and her retinue. And you, are you still going to and from Germany as a messenger?”
“Less often now. I mainly keep to Paris these days…which means that we will be able to enjoy each other freely this week.”
“I find nothing wrong with that, Charles.” Replied Nancy with a big grin. A knock on the door was then followed by the voice of the innkeeper.
“Lady Sommers, your bath is here.”
Nancy unlocked the door at once, letting in the innkeeper and a maid, who were carrying a wooden bath tub. Isaac Bartet and Hughes De Terlon were right behind, each carrying two buckets of warm water and grinning like idiots. Charles waived a finger at them at once.
“Even if you brought the water doesn’t mean that you can stay and watch.”
“But, what about our motto: all for one and one for all?”
“That doesn’t include Nancy.”
Nancy giggled at that exchange and, with the innkeeper and the maid already gone, pushed the door closed behind Bartet and De Terlon.
“Come on, Charles! You know that you are the one that counts for me. At least let them see what they missed on, so that you can put it on their noses afterwards.”
“Well, if you put it that way, I suppose that I wouldn’t mind turning the knife in their guts from time to time.”
“Spoken like a real friend, Charles.” Said sarcastically Isaac while pouring the water of his two buckets in the tub. Nancy took off her large belt while the bathtub was being filled, then unlaced her jacket and took it off as well. Isaac and Hughes swallowed hard when she started dancing slowly on the spot while humming a tune and taking off her shirt, ending topless. Hughes however felt sorrow as well as lust as he was then able to see the faint traces from burns and whip lashes around her torso. Nancy slowly stripped completely, making all three men become horny as hell. She then danced her way to them before brushing lightly her breasts against each man. By then Hughes was nearly mad with desire, at which time Nancy stopped abruptly her dance and smiled to him and Isaac.
“Sorry guys: that’s all for you two tonight.”
“Arrgh! You would make any man crazy, Nancy.” Said Hughes.
“And it is one effective way to gain information if need be. Now, out!”
Charles laughed at the faces made by his two companions as they reluctantly left the room. Once the door was locked, he also undressed and joined Nancy in the small bath tub, smiling to her as they ended up sitting face to face with knees bent.
“I hope that you don’t do that to all the men you meet, Nancy.”
“Only to the ones I like.” She replied before giggling at the face he did then.
09:36 (Paris Time)
Saturday, July 29, 1651
Palace of Le Louvre
Paris
Nancy, wearing a riding outfit quite similar to the one she had on yesterday, felt satisfaction at the end of her short visit to Queen Henriette-Marie of England and her small retinue. The gold that she had brought for the widow of King Charles the First actually represented little to the Time Patrol, which had easy access to countless so-called ‘lost treasures’ and to gold bullion reserves lost after the nuclear holocaust of 2052 ‘A’. The 10,000 Sterling Pounds worth of gold coins and gems she had just brought to Henriette-Marie would however go a long way to sustain the Queen’s retinue and prevent them from starving during their exile in Paris. Such largely anonymous charitable works like this one and the social foundation she was planning to found in Paris as Jeanne D’Orléans in the mid-nineteenth century were one of the things she liked most about her job as a field agent of the Time Patrol. While representing very little risk to the integrity of history if well planned, acts of charity through time did a lot to render life livable to some unfortunate souls worthy of help.
Nancy exited the mostly empty palace of Le Louvre from its western side and started walking slowly through the large royal gardens called ‘Jardin des Tuileries’, apparently admiring the gardens. In reality, as she was trained to do as a field agent, she was making sure that nobody was following her. Being a wide expanse with few people going through it and with most of the vegetation being cut low, the gardens were ideal for counter-surveillance. By the time that she was about to exit the gardens Nancy was certain that a tall man in a gray cape and large black hat was following her. The man was obviously a professional and was doing all that he could to stay discreet. That and his style of clothes made Nancy dismiss the idea that he could be a spy sent by the Duchesse de Longueville. The men of the Duchesse had been a lot more amateurish than this man and also wore a distinct set of clothes. Another, more probable possibility was that the present man was an agent of the enemies of King Charles II of England, meaning Oliver Cromwell and his parliamentarians. His drab clothes would indeed fit with the puritan fashion favored by Cromwell’s followers. Now ready for anything, Nancy left the gardens through a north side gate and soon turned right on Rue Saint Honoré, heading in the general direction of her inn. The man in the gray cape and black hat was now following her from closer, using the dense pedestrian and cart traffic to the most to hide from her. Choosing her time carefully, Nancy waited until she turned a corner that momentarily put her out of sight of her follower, then stepped inside the first deserted passageway she walked by and went into phase shift, using her implanted time distorter. Now surrounded by her own bubble of time that was a thousand times faster than the time others around her lived into, she disappeared from sight and was able to backtrack out of the passageway and take a hidden observation position behind a parked heavy chariot. Before going out of phase shift, Nancy also took off and reversed her own travel cape, changing its outer color from burgundy red to a common beige.
As she had expected, her follower hesitated when he turned the street corner and didn’t see her on the street. Searching cautiously at first, then more frantically, the man finally gave up with a gesture of frustration after racing to the next street corner and still not seeing her. He then did as Nancy had hoped for and retraced his steps at a normal walking pace, either to resume his surveillance of the palace of Le Louvre or to go report to someone else. Nancy followed him in turn by performing short phase shifts that allowed her to watch him from positions ahead of him, a method called ‘forward trailing’ that was very hard to detect by the intended target. Nancy’s luck kept true, with the tall man leading her to a house block occupied by three-story buildings subdivided into rented apartments and small shops. Following the man inside one of the buildings was trickier, though. She had to use a short series of phase shifts to evade the attention of the man, who was proving a dangerous professional indeed. By now she knew that the man had at least a sword under his cape and possibly a pistol as well. Nancy saw him eventually knock on a door of the second floor according to an obvious signal code, then enter and close the door. Intent on planting a discreet spying probe against the bottom sill of the door, she walked quietly to the door and was about to bend to place the probe when the door opened unexpectedly. The man who had opened the door wasn’t the one who had followed her but he still froze in alarm as he found himself face to face with Nancy. She also saw in a flash her follower sitting near a window before her combat instincts took over. The man at the door was grabbing for a pistol in his belt when Nancy flashed her hand up and touched his forehead, sending a stun jolt via the stun mechanism implanted in her hand. The man jerked once and then collapsed in a heap in front of her. The noise of his fall made the man at the window turn around as Nancy hurriedly closed the door behind her.
“YOU?” Said the man in English, both stunned and furious. He then went for his sword as Nancy charged him. A sweeping sidekick from Nancy made the sword fly through the room before he could use it. Showing the moves and expertise of a trained fighter, the man managed to block Nancy’s first punch and swung back at her but she in turn was able to duck under his swing and countered by sweeping sideways with one leg, tripping the man and making him fall hard on his back. He rolled out of the way at once and jumped back on his feet before Nancy had the chance to jump on him. With both of them now facing each other in a combat stance, the man eyed her with interest.
“You are good, girl, I will give you that. Who trained you?” He said in English with a distinct London accent.
“My big sister.” Answered Nancy, grinning. That made a hateful look appear in his eyes.
“Witches! How typical of heretics to use a pair of them.”
The man then advanced on her in a boxing stance and delivered a powerful right jab towards her jaw. Nancy, already an advanced black belt in Juko, a mixed martial art developed by Nancy ‘A’, again ducked under his swing at the same time as she hit him with all her strength on the plexus with the flat of her hand. His breath taken away, the man bent forward with his mouth open, trying to get some air back in his lungs. Nancy then finished him with a chop of the right hand to the jugular, sending him crashing down on the floor. With her two opponents now knocked out, Nancy used the sheets of the two beds in the room to tie up and gag them. She then wondered for a moment what to do with them. From what her last opponent had said, she was now quite certain that they were English agents sent by Oliver Cromwell or one of his lieutenants. Their mission was too obvious: to spy on the family and followers of King Charles II and, possibly, assassinate them if feasible. From the window of their room they had a good view of the Louvre Palace and of its main entrance and could thus watch who came to visit Queen Henriette-Marie. Searching thoroughly the two men and then the room, Nancy could find no compromising paper, which didn’t surprise her: professional spies would not go around with documents that could have them hanged…or worse. The men were however well armed and had plenty of money, denoting possibly a long mission in France, which would jive with a surveillance operation. That, however, still left her with the problem of what to do with the two men. Transporting them to the future or the past was out of the question: they couldn’t be allowed to learn about time travel. Killing them would be a possible option but one that she found most unsavory.
She was still weighing her options when the taller man surprised her by waking up much earlier than expected. That man was decidedly in a class apart as a dangerous opponent. Dragging quickly the man lying by the door, who would certainly not wake up for another forty minutes at the least because of the jolt of stun energy he had received, Nancy dumped him over the tied legs of her follower, then sat across his chest, her weight pressing painfully on his tied arms and hands behind his back. Once fully conscious, the man threw her a hateful look like only a religious fanatic could throw. Nancy lowered his gag then and looked down coldly into the man’s eyes.
“What is your name?”
“Go to hell, witch!”
“Why were you following me?” Asked Nancy, already knowing the answer to that but wanting to gauge the mindset of that man. His spiteful response said enough to her.
“Screw you! I won’t tell you anything!”
“Alright, you want to die an anonymous death? That could be arranged easily. Who would miss two anonymous Englishmen who would be found dead in a Paris rented room? I doubt that Cromwell would create a diplomatic incident over the disappearance of the two of you.”
“He has…” started to say the man before catching himself up. That was however enough to make Nancy smile.
“So, you do work for that ignorant bigot. How typical of him to try to assassinate a widowed woman and her small daughter. You Puritans claim to possess the only true Christian faith, yet massacre whole populations simply because they are of another denomination. Jesus Christ would have been disgusted by your hypocrisy and cruelty.”
Her religious jab seemed to touch home, as the man wiggled vigorously for a few seconds, apparently enraged.
“You and your likes will all burn in Hell, where you belong.”
Nancy then couldn’t hide anymore her revulsion towards him and stared hard into his eyes while speaking in a frigid voice.
“For me, someone who is ready to kill indiscriminately men, women and children on the simple pretext that he or she holds the only valid belief is the one worthy of Hell. You want to die as an anonymous spy? Then that is what you will end up like.”
Covering with her left hand the man’s mouth, Nancy then drew her dagger and drove its blade deep in the man’s neck in one merciless move. Barely nineteen years ago from this present year her fourth previous incarnation, that of a German mercenary chieftain called Karl Beck, had died of the Black Plague near Hamburg after helping to spread terror and death during the infamous Thirty Years War. Karl Beck, while being an outstanding soldier in terms of professional skills, had also been one of her darker incarnations. For a moment, Nancy felt like being Karl Beck as she killed in cold blood both men in the room. The worst part was that, even once up and about to leave, she simply could not feel any remorse about killing those men. Nancy ‘A’ had felt the same way as she had killed the sadistic guards of the Nazi concentration camps and of the Japanese prisoners of war camps in 1942. Thinking about it, Nancy found the analogy valid: the Nazis had killed in the name of their supposed racial superiority, while the Japanese had abused and killed their prisoners in the name of their military code of honor. As for Cromwell’s Puritans, they were murdering thousands of Irish Catholics simply because they believed that they possessed the only true faith. Such religious intolerance and bigotry would even cross the Atlantic Ocean and end up in North America, resulting among other things into the infamous Salem witch trials. Having first carefully wiped clean her blade, Nancy then threw the hood of her cape over her head and left the room, closing the door and calmly walking away.
22:51 (Paris Time)
Inn of ‘Le Lion Noir’
“Nancy?”
“Yes, Charles?” Replied softly Nancy to d’Artagnan, who was lying in bed with her, his front pressing against her back and with one hand cupping her right breast.
“I truly want to marry you. You are too unique a girl to let go.”
Turning around in the bed to face him, Nancy caressed his chest with one hand while staring into his eyes. She could see that he was dead serious and meant what he said.
“Charles, I…the truth is that, while I do love you deeply, I do not have full control of my destiny. I have friends and comrades that I have sworn to help and assist and also have obligations that I cannot neglect. I am a lot like you, who is in the service of the Cardinal and of the Queen and have to pass your duty in front of your personal life. Thank you for asking again: it honors me greatly.”
Charles sighed, a bit disappointed but not surprised by her answer. He did try one last argument, though.
“You could transfer your allegiance to France and serve the Queen and King, like I do. I am sure that King Charles II of England would let you go.”
His attempts at convincing her broke Nancy’s heart: if she would have been a girl from this time period, she would have said yes to him in an instant. With tears in her eyes and with her voice shaking with emotion, she spoke in a near whisper.
“Charles, you have a destiny to follow, a destiny where I couldn’t fit as your official wife. As for King Charles, he is not the one holding my destiny.”
“Can you tell me more about you, Nancy? What is so important that it would force you to refuse to marry me?”
“Duty and a vow of secrecy.” Nancy answered with difficulty before starting to sob, her head against his chest. Her words actually meant something to d’Artagnan, who had lived all his life according to three words: duty, loyalty and honor.
‘’I am sorry to have pushed you about this. I promise not to ask again.’’
He exchanged a long kiss with her, then looked back into her eyes.
“Are you sure that you want to stay only a week in Paris, Nancy?”
His soft tone and pleading eyes were enough to convince Nancy, who had to swallow the lump in her throat.
“I will stay with you for a month and then leave. I promise you that I will come back to France as soon as possible.”
They kissed again, with Charles sighing afterwards while still holding Nancy.
“Nancy De Batz de Castelmore…it would have made a fine name for you.”
“Charles d’Artagnan will also make a fine name if we have a son together, my love. Let’s try for it tonight.”
“Charles d’Artagnan, I like the sound of it.” Replied Charles before coupling again with Nancy.
10:25 (Paris Time)
Thursday, August 10, 1651
Palace of Le Louvre, Paris
Young Princess Henriette-Anne clapped her hands enthusiastically as Nancy finished telling with much gestures a colorful hunting story that had taken place in New France. Sitting around her were her mother, Queen Henriette-Marie, and her small retinue of loyal followers, including young Countess Ann Morton. Nancy enjoyed visiting the English royal family, especially to cheer up and entertain the little princess, with whom she had developed a mutual attachment. Nancy was dressed in a riding outfit and had her pistols and dagger at her belt, as fitted her image of adventuress and teller of wild stories, and was truly having fun at the time. The midget man serving Queen Henriette-Marie suddenly entered, throwing open the double doors of the lounge they were in and announcing a group of new visitors in a loud voice.
“THE QUEEN REGENT AND KING OF FRANCE!”
As everybody in the lounge turned and looked towards the door, Queen Anne of Austria and young King Louis the Fourteenth appeared in the doorway, walking side by side. More French nobles followed behind them, the more important ones immediately announced as well by the midget.
“THE DUKE OF ORLÉANS AND HIS DAUGHTER, THE DUCHESS OF MONTPENSIER!”
Nancy tensed up at once then, seeing that a number of soldiers of the Duke of Orléans were escorting closely the visitors. On her part, the young Anne Marie Louise D’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, recognized her instantly and whispered in the ear of her father.
“Father, that woman in black tights and shirt: she’s the girl that was tortured in the Bastille by the men of the Duchess of Longueville three months ago.”
“Is she?” Said Gaston D’Orléans, who was already eyeing Nancy with an interest mixed with instant lust. “I have to say that she looks the part. And she knocked out seven of my men all by herself?”
“Nine, Father!” Corrected the Great Mademoiselle while watching Nancy. Queen Henriette-Marie then spoke after rising from her chair, addressing her visitors.
“Queen Anne, King Louis, it is truly an honor to have you coming here. To what do I owe you this visit?”
Anne of Austria replied to her in a warm voice, bowing politely her head to Henriette-Marie.
“Your brother, the Duke of Orléans, told us that he was planning to visit you and, since we are getting bored of playing lawn bowling at the Palais-Royal, decided to accompany him and pay you a visit as well.”
“A fine thought, Queen Anne. We were ourselves getting quite bored until young Lady Sommers here started telling us wild and fascinating stories about her native New France.”
‘’Oh, I would love to hear them too!’’ Exclaimed young Louis. Gaston D’Orléans smiled at that and came forward to kiss his royal sister, smiling to her and to her retinue and Nancy.
“Well, my dear sister, now that we are in such good company and since King Louis is so eager to hear those stories about New France, why don’t we all sit down and listen to Lady Sommers?”
Everyone agreed with him and extra chairs were fetched at once, so all could sit together, with Nancy facing them.
Starting with the story of how her father had met her mother in the woods of New France, Nancy spoke with theatrical gestures for a good forty minutes, with her audience listening with intense interest. Very little was known of New France or of the Americas by most people in France, so she had no need to embellish her stories. Nancy also used from time to time sentences in Huron or Iroquois language, spicing further her performance. She was rewarded at the end by loud applauses from all, including from the Great Mademoiselle, who was looking at her with admiration. Queen Henriette-Marie then invited her to sit with the group and had a cup of wine brought to her. Her throat dry from her storytelling, she accepted gladly the wine and took a sip. Young King Louis soon came to sit beside her and looked with hope at her.
“Do you think that you could visit the Palais-Royal tonight and tell me more stories, Lady Sommers?”
Nancy smiled down to the teenage boy: Louis XIV was a handsome boy indeed and had a strong personality as well as a sharp intelligence. She also remembered well how he had risked himself to save her from the Bastille.
“That would please me most but it would depend on the approval of your mother, Your Majesty.”
Louis turned his head at once towards Anne of Austria, who smiled sarcastically while eyeing her young, precocious son.
“Louis, are you sure that you are interested in her stories or simply in her?”
“Mother!” Protested the boy while giggles went around the audience. Louis XIV was known to be already very interested by the representatives of the female persuasion despite his age of thirteen.
“I will have the legal right to reign in less than a month, Mother. New France will be part of my responsibilities and I know so little about it. Lady Sommers’ stories would constitute a most useful teaching to me.”
“Hmm, put that way, I could see the usefulness of this.” Said the Queen Regent thoughtfully. “Our contacts with our colony are effectively quite infrequent. You did say that you visited the English colonies in the New World, Lady Sommers?”
“I effectively visited many times the New England States as well as the Dutch possessions of New Holland, plus of course New France itself, Your Majesty.”
“Then consider yourself my guest tonight, Lady Sommers.”
Nancy bowed to her in response.
“You honor me most, Your Majesty. Shall I wear a court dress or my present outfit?”
“I suppose that Louis will find your stories more exciting if you are dressed the part, Lady Sommers. Come as you are. I will expect you at the Palais-Royal around nightfall.”
As she said that, the Queen Regent eyed Gaston D’Orléans, who waved his hands in a jovial gesture while smiling to her.
“Do not worry about the security of Lady Sommers, Your Majesty. I will personally guarantee the safety of any guest of you or of my dear sister, whom Lady Sommers happens to both be. I have only one word.”
“Thank you, Monsieur.” Replied Queen Anne, while Nancy felt a bit less worried now. “Now, I believe that in our eagerness to listen to the stories of Lady Sommers we forgot the main reason of this visit, which was to pay a courtesy call to your good sister.”
“That is too true, Your Majesty.” Replied Gaston D’Orléans before looking at Queen Henriette-Marie. “I must apologize for not visiting you earlier, my dear sister. I was unfortunately kept quite busy in the last few months. And how are things going in England?”
“Badly, I’m afraid.” Replied gloomily the widow. “The followers of my son Charles have been suffering heavily at the hands of Cromwell and of his butchers.”
“I am sorry to hear that, sister.” Said Gaston, sincere, as he had no love for Cromwell and his fanatical Puritans, even though they could become politically important to him. “And how is your sojourn in Paris?”
“A lot less harsh since Lady Sommers and her mistress brought us some funds from my loyal subjects in Scotland, my dear Gaston. We would be starving if not for their help.”
“Indeed?” Said Gaston while glancing at Nancy. His look, while appearin