Medvedev Dmitriy: http://www.proza.ru/2012/08/30/1145
If one would use the modern political language, then in order to resolve the intraregional conflict with the Near East (France), arch eparchy of Bourge sends its representative in order to regulate the situation at the West*. However, after the blessing the bishop of Anjou gave the pax bourgeois… meaning the blessing of the bishop of Bourge gave the Peace of Anjou, things only got arch-complicated. The son wanted the mother to return to Paris, but Marie couldn’t love less his precious Luynes, who played a part in her own favorite, Concini, becoming departed, as a result of him majestically annoying the royal Majesty. Let’s just stay away from the 2137 daily episodes of the Santa-Bourbon, since the times of the beginning of the royal struggle for the rightful reign, until its very logical end**.
To cut a long story short, Marie stayed at the province, and the Lu-Yang of Louis along with the Lu-Ying of Luynes decided to wait no more before starting a war to deal with the protesting Huguenots. For a whole year, the protestants tried to paint an “L” on the heads of the soutanist duo***, until the Lu-Ying silenced the voice of reason and laid siege to Montauban. But, as the song goes, ask for it not and you shall not get what you deserve. The impudent besieged, instead of suffering and misery, left their shame inside while they sneaked out to rob the siege-laying royal goose. There has been a rise in the number of commanders who were constantly displeased with their constable, and Charles was quite sure that the way things are going, the only thing that will be done will be him- either by those on the outside or by the others on the inside, and by done he didn’t mean anything reproductive.
Each man is the maker of his own hardships, and in November 1621 Luynes flees with disgrace from the besieged city, leaving the weapons and supplies for the joyous citizens of Montauban, who used it in order to make their fortress even stronger. Understanding that Louis will be far from delighted with such an outcome, the arrogant Duke makes a dupe of himself one time after another, proving himself quite the human centipede, with apparently many of his own legs to trip on. During December of the same year, this fever became the end of him****.
“Charles wasn’t quite spot on.” Said the king as an epitaph. “He really lacked something. Maybe antihistamines or maybe just brains.”
That’s the triumph of Justice that is drawn by Rubens at the painting “Reconciliation of the queen with her son”. At the center, Justice strikes the three-headed hydra of Slander with a lightning, which allegorically stands for the multi-faced liar that was in fact Luynes. A bit on the left side, with the staff of peace in her hand, Marie is depicted in bright colors, practically glowing from delight at such turn of events. The only one I can think of with greater radiance is probably her namesake Curie during the receiving of the second Nobel Prize for the discovery of polonium and radium.
Maries’ snow white gown emphasizes her pure thought and innocence- for those who still doubt it. Louis, with the constant Wind of Changes which blows up the queens’ dress, extols his mother to the clearing among the storm clouds. On the left there’s a symbol of love and domestic hearth, on the right- France, still with the same Globe of the state and with the ships wheel in the shape of a shovel, which she borrowed from the “Death of Henry of Navarre”. Basically, sweet enough to cause cavities, everyone’s happy, well except perhaps Luyness, who’s cast down to Hell.
With the death of his bloody enemy Richelieu finally got cardinally promoted, grew up to be the first minister in both meaning of the word, and even got his own guard started. Medici returned to Paris, and even presided the National Assembly, but she never quite got the exchange of ideas with her son the way she wanted (he comes in with his own ideas and exchanges them for hers). Marie didn’t like to be ignored, and Louis didn’t know how to ignore her the way she might like.
The intrigues ran their course lamely and without energy, because the younger generation, in its struggle to reach the tasty filling through the hard and sweet caramel of power, preferred not to break their teeth, instead licking and sucking actively. So Marie only could recall her best years, spent in posh and decadence (that’s what made them the best years) and dreamt about returning to the past, where she had such a glorious future.
*Anjou was a couple of hundreds of kilometers west from the city of Bourges, with the arch-eparchy of the roman-catholic church.
** At October 2nd 1614 Louis XIII of the Bourbon dynasty was deemed of age. At August 8th 1620 the rightful king entered Anjou, thus drawing the line in the game for his throne. The amount of those days (2137) surprisingly matches the amount of episodes of the daily soap opera Santa-Barbara.
***Soutane- the dressing of Catholics.
****Luyness died from a spotted fever, which is known for sudden rash on the skin in the form of swollen pale red sores, mostly of allergic origins. As the last words at the memorial service about Charles de Luynes, Louis XIII said harshly: “He really lacked something.”