𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰'𝓼 𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮

Chapter One: The Windsor Regimen

"I think," he began slowly "I shall accompany the group to Britain. And that group, shall consist of Claus, Bastien, Antoine, Mathis, and..." his eyes scanned the faces gathered in the large convention room, before landing on mine, and lingering there "And Rosalie."

"The woman, sir?" one man asked, standing, perhaps offended that he himself had not been chosen.

"Yes, the woman. Do you wish to contradict my choice?" Maurice asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

The man was silent for a moment, before slowly sinking back into his chair, replying with a short "No, sir."

"Good. That settles the matter then. The Windsor Regiment will depart as soon as possible, and will likely return within a month, at most. Lafayette's regiment will await our return, before leaving for America. If our absence exceeds a month, then you must depart without the documents." general Maurice reasoned.

There was a chorus of chatter and nodding throughout those in attendance, all agreeing to Maurice's plan. A few more matters were discussed, before the conference at last came to an end. The day passed, and the Windsor Regiment, myself included, prepared for the trip to Britain. The next day we departed, bidding the remaining soldiers goodbye, and they bidding us good luck.

From there we travelled to Britain, first by horse, then ship. The treck was uneventful, and was over within two weeks, as we at last came upon our destination, Berkshire, England. The sun slowly sunk past the horizon, staining the sky with streaks of pink, orange, and purple. As the day darkened into night, the Windsor regiment nonchalantly stalked our way to the castle, blending in with the other civilians rushing home for supper. We each followed Maurice, who led us through the ever-changing city streets. As dusk fell, the roads began to clear, until only two pedestrians or so passed us every so often.

We soon turned a corner, at last coming into sight of the palace. Prior to the heist, we'd devised a plot to infiltrate the castle undetected. In a few moments, the city clock would strike eight, and it was at that time, on any given Thursday, a carriage transporting several trade goods would pass through the gates of the castle, and that, was our way in.

We slowly crept to the wall of a building, waiting for the carriage to round the bend. It did not take long for the sound of horse hooves clattering on the stone paved roads to become eminent. With the noise, followed the carriage, and we took that moment to ambush the coachman. Maurice immediately approached the unsuspecting man, holding him at knifepoint, as another soldier opened the carriage doors, to find naught but one man, sitting amongst the goods. I mirrored the general's actions, holding the man at knifepoint.

"Now, I will tell you what is to happen, so listen carefully, yes?" Maurice began "My group intends to enter the palace, and we shall use this carriage to do so."

The men we held captive could do nothing but stare at the general, eyes widened in fright.

"Now," Maurice began, addressing the coachman "I trust this other man's life holds some value with you?"

The man stood still for a moment, before weakly shaking his head, refusing to meet his captor's intense gaze.

"Then you would pay no mind if I had my men kill him?" Maurice asked threateningly.

The man's head shot up, and he met the general's stare with fearful eyes.

"Please!" He pled "He is my brother! I beg of you, do not hurt him!"

Maurice smiled at this. Truthfully, he had no intent to harm the two men, but he would have to convince them otherwise if our plan was to work.

"Excellent. Then, you will continue to lead the carriage into the castle, transporting us with you. You will arouse no suspicion, lest you wish for your brother to be killed, for you can trust that we will have him at knifepoint in the back. Do you understand?" the general asked the man, whose head had now lolled in defeat.

"Y-Yes." he stammered.

And so, our plan of infiltration was executed without fault, and we managed to pass through the gates of Windsor Castle. The coachman led the carriage to a secluded spot, where he stopped, letting his passengers out. There, the group split up, leaving Antoine and Claus behind to guard the captives and the carriage, while the rest of us continued the mission covertly. Soon, we found ourselves inside the palace, shrinking along the walls.

We came upon the Eastern Wing, in which we knew was the room where the important documents were filed. Here, we further divided into smaller groups, leaving the general and Bastien to search the hall, and Mathis and I to descend to the prison, where we hoped to find Clemente.

We found that only a solitary guard kept watch over the prisoners in each section of the prison, and so, we made quick work of him, both ambushing him simultaneously, rendering him unconscious in the span of perhaps five seconds. We then proceeded to search the cells, and, at last, found our fellow soldier, Clemente, fast asleep in one of them. Mathis turned to fetch the keys from the unconscious guard, whilst I attempted to wake Clemente.

"Clemente!" I whispered. When the man did not stir, I called him again, louder this time. "Clemente, reveille-toi, tu stupides connard!", I shouted, at last getting the result I desired.

"Rosalie?" he whispered, his weary eyes squinting against the light of the torches lining the walls.

"Get up, we're getting you out of here!" I assured him, snatching the keys from Mathis and opening the cell door.

"Thank you, I feared I would never again see the light of day." Clemente exclaimed, at last leaving his prison cell.

"Thank General Laporte, he came for the documents but allowed us to rescue you. Now, let's go before the guards come." Mathis called from the prison door.

The three of us traced our steps back to where we'd split from the General, concealing ourselves in the shadows. Moments later they arrived, in a panicked frenzy, documents in hand.

"Go, go!" the General called, just as a group of soldiers rounded the bend.

We ran down the halls, in the direction that we'd come, our last hope of escape being the carriage we'd used to infiltrate the palace.

"Rosalie!" the General called, "Draw them off, you'll buy us time to get everyone on the carriage. Then, meet us at the front gate!"

I nodded my head, falling behind the rest of the group, allowing for the guards to catch up to me. When they were a few feet away, I darted into another hallway. The guards continued to chase me, leaving the rest of my group free to board the carriage. I began to make my way towards the front of the castle, remembering the route thanks to a map the General had given us to go over prior to the heist. At last, I came upon the front doors, bursting through them, and out into the cool night air.

There, I saw no one. Had the group been caught? Were they on their way? I couldn't know. I raced to the place we'd left the carriage, finding it there, untouched, and void of people. Had they been captured? No. No, Antoine and Claus, the ones left behind to guard the coachman and his brother, they were gone. The group hadn't been captured. They hadn't been captured at all. They'd left me. In my state of shock, I was oblivious to the guard that crept up behind me, striking me over the head with the end of his rifle, rendering me unconscious.

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