Jack Frost: King of Thieves

CHAPTER III: King Of Alsace-Lorrain

Gaston the Second, King of Alsace-Lorrain, known to some as the Hunter, sat beside his campaign table on the banks of the Seine, the expansive grounds of the palace at Pentaclemist at his back. A servant held a platter of oysters, while the king alternately poured over a military map that covered his table and opened the shells with the skill of a surgeon. Occasionally he looked up to gaze out over the river.

Gaston was a handsome man, in the way of the Alsace-Lorrain. Pitch thought there was something slightly soft about his looks, something that bespoke the decadence of his land and his people. But Pitch was also wise enough to understand that it was the king's libertine nature, his utter lack of scruples, that made him the perfect ally.

Pitch watched the man, his eyes drawn repeatedly to the brilliant glittering ruby on the hilt of the king's ornate dagger, which Gaston used in place of a more traditional oyster knife.

The king opened yet another shell, held it to his lips, and tipped back his head so that the treasure within slid into his mouth and down his throat. Smiling with satisfaction, he glanced at Pitch and gestured at the grand plate of oysters, clearly intending for the Englishman to help himself.

Pitch smiled thinly but remained as he was, eyeing the king.

"You and Hans," Gaston said, reaching for another shell, "you go back a long way together."

"To the same breast."

The king's hand hesitated over the plate. "I trust you are referring to your wet nurse."

"And we have remained close ever since," Pitch said.

The king appeared as satisfied by this as by his meal. "Good, because The Southern Isles under your friend Hans is a country with no fighting spirit. I can take Abita with an army of cooks. But King Manny is on his way home. Under Manny ..." He shrugged, gesturing with the dagger. Pitch's gaze was drawn once more to the ruby. "The Southern Isles would be a different animal altogether."

Gaston took another oyster from the plate and jabbed at it with his blade. This time, the point slipped, slicing into his hand, which began to bleed profusely.

"Merde!" the King said. "Even dying animals can be obstinate." He opened the shell with a second twist of the dagger and offered the oyster along with a generous helping of his own blood to Pitch. Pitch eyed the king for just an instant before taking the proffered shell, tipping his head back and swallowing the bloodied oyster.

"Manny will return home through the Forest of Cyan," Gaston said, watching Pitch in turn. "We know the exact place." He swept aside several empty oyster shells with one hand and with the other pointed to a spot on the map. "He always travels ahead of his army, with only a few trusted knights around him."

By way of answer, Pitch took another shell, opened it deftly, and drank down first a half-shell of seawater and then the oyster.

"With him gone," the king concluded, "there will never be a better moment to invade."

"A votre service, mon seigneur," Pitch said, inclining his head slightly. At your service, my liege.

"Non. C'est moi qui suis a votre service." No, it is I who am at your service.