The Aquitaine Armor (A Chyna Stone Adventure Book 5) Read online

  There never seemed to be a dull moment in the life of ‘The Eagle’ of Aquitaine. It was becoming obvious to Chyna that the chronicling of these events had been deliberately done so by the author of the manuscript. Piece by piece, the picture was becoming clearer about who Eleanor was as a woman; it was a direct reflection of who she would be as a queen.

  In four months, Eleanor had become both the Duchess of Aquitaine and the Queen of France. Upon hearing the news of his father's death, Louis set out to attend the funeral mass and Eleanor went to Paris, where he intended to join her later. Eleanor found Paris horrible. Used to the lush valleys of Bordeaux and the beautiful coastlines of Poitiers, Eleanor found Paris bleak, gray, and in a horrible state. It was barely a city, with houses built upon houses. The university was an embarrassment, and although many praised the royal castle on the Île de la Cité which seemed stranded on the Seine, Eleanor found it as bad as the city; a dark stone building which was dour and plain. She certainly had work to do in Paris.

  Upon Louis' arrival, Eleanor realized how different she was from her husband. Louis was a quiet man, who was easily controlled and very saintly. Eleanor was no saint. She was high-spirited and raucous, and took on her role as queen seriously. She began by transforming Paris into the city it was always rumored to be; a city of art and beauty. She brought her Aquitanian heritage with her and introduced the Parisians to her beautiful culture. Meanwhile, as Eleanor draped the city in art and literature, Louis was being deeply affected by the words of Thierry of Galeran, a Frenchman turned eunuch upon his capture in the East. Thierry deeply disapproved of Eleanor, calling her a whore for her un-saintly behavior and her work in beautifying and culturing the city, heresy.

  Eleanor and Louis' marriage had yet to be consummated, and although the couple was still young, an heir was needed. Eleanor attempted to supplicate her husband’s eager advisor and even though Thierry continued to warn Louis of Eleanor's 'witchcraft' and her heresy, Louis and Eleanor consummated their marriage and Eleanor was with child in 1145. That same year she gave birth to a daughter, named Marie.

  And it was just about then that Eleanor’s life changed forever. She had just become reconciled with her husband and they were now finally living together as a true husband and wife should; even welcomed their first born child, when the world went mad and fell into war.

  ***

  “Moshi moshi,” Keiko said softly into the phone.

  “Keiko, Ichita wants to know what’s happening over there.”

  It was Miyako, Ichita Nagasaki’s sister. Keiko wasn’t happy; she had purposely not called her boss because she didn’t have anything good to report. Keiko shrugged and replied.

  “I spotted her coming back from the airport this morning. She took the FBI agent to catch a flight back to Turkey but then when I saw her on the way back, the computer nerd from New York was with her. She made a fast turn toward Bath so I figured they were going to London. I lost them somewhere outside of Bath.”

  “What do you mean, you lost them? He’s not going to be happy about that.”

  “Well, Ichita can get all the angry he wants. If he expects me to keep up with a lead-footed girl in a Jaguar XK, then he needs to get me that R8 I’ve been asking for, the V10 one.”

  Keiko was pissed off; she hung up the phone without bothering to hear what Miyako had to say next. She had tried her best, but once Chyna had hit the straight roads outside of Bath, the Jaguar had left Keiko and her Audi A4 in its dust.

  She kicked the tire of her car and stomped around on the side of the road a little.

  Where could they have gone? she wondered.

  Keiko knew there was something she was forgetting; she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Flipping open her trusty Blackberry Torch, she speed-dialed Hashimoto.

  “Hashimoto-san,” Keiko said in her most sultry voice. It sounded like Haaa-shimoto-saaan.

  She dragged out the ‘Ha’ in his name when she spoke to him; that always seemed to make the quaint man stop and pay attention to her.

  “Hai, Keiko.”

  “I lost the gaijin outside Bath, Hashi. Is there anywhere in the area that has anything to do with Robert’s family, just in case they’re not on the way to London?”

  “Ah, let me check. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

  “Arigato, Hashi.”

  Keiko opened the driver’s door and sat back in the seat. There was a big bag of cold potato wedges sitting on the dashboard in front of her and she ceremoniously dipped them into a jar of medium heat salsa con queso and ate them. There was something about cheese with Keiko. She’d never had cheese before she’d left Japan and now she couldn’t do without it. Suddenly the phone rang and she jumped to answer it.

  “Moshi moshi,” she said.

  “Keiko-chan, it turns out that there’s a castle they own in Winchester with a much venerated library. It’s most likely where they went. You know, to do some research.”

  “Hai. Arigato, Hashimoto-san.”

  ***

  Around 1145, the city of Edessa, a Christian city in the Asia Minor, was captured by Muslim forces. The citizens were massacred, sold into slavery, or severely punished. To prove his loyalty to God, Louis decided that the only way to redeem himself with God was to capture Edessa back from the Muslim forces and restore it to Christianity and its glory. Louis wrote to the German emperor, Conrad III, and convinced him to join the French troops on this expedition that became known as the Second Crusade.

  Eleanor had no intention to sit home in Paris. Although reluctant, Eleanor convinced Louis to let her join him on the crusade. In 1147, Eleanor and Louis finally reached the Holy Land. The two-and-a-half-year campaign was stressful, and constant bickering took place between Eleanor and Louis, distancing them more. Thierry of Galeran had accompanied Louis, and of course he returned to his constant accusations against Eleanor, accusing her of keeping countless lovers in her tents and practicing sorcery.

  The French and German troops reached Constantinople to a royal greeting. Louis and Eleanor lodged at Blachernae Palace with Emperor Manuel I and his wife, Irene of Sulzbach. Eleanor and Irene had much in common besides their uncanny similar physical appearances. Irene had the same air about her, and refused to sit around and let the men do all the work, just as Eleanor had displayed in Paris.

  The trip was exhausting, the two sides rarely agreed, and the whole crusade was a mess. In hope to reconcile their marriage which was deeply hurt while on the crusade, Louis and Eleanor visited with Pope Eugenius, who persuaded the two to sleep in the same bed once again. Eleanor agreed, and while still out on crusade, she became pregnant with her daughter, Alix. This did not stop Eleanor from joining the men on their patrols and sorties and the heavier she became, the more she defied Louis’ wishes, so he succumbed to the pressure and had the blacksmiths of the city make the special suit of armor for which she would become renowned.

  The unusual suit became known as the Armor of Aquitaine and some took to calling it the Eagle’s Armor, but all in the same it was the strangest thing that had ever been seen on a battlefield. It stirred even more rumors of heresy and witchcraft as Eleanor would ride into the midst of the fighting, parting the lines of the men who fled from her in sheer fear, to urge her soldiers on. She wore a mail coif that ran down her neck and spilled over her shoulders like hair and a close helm over it to hide her feminine features. The usual cuisse and greave for her thighs and legs and beautiful winged gauntlets for her hands and arms enhanced the suit. She had a hauberk of the finest chain mail which was worn under a gorget; but the most stunning item of armor she wore was her bevor. It was doubly thick for her protection and molded to the queen’s body in every way such that the finished breastplate bore the shape of the swell of her breasts and the curved mound of her pregnant belly. Across her breasts, she had the metalworkers paint the crest of the crusaders and over it, with its wings spread wide, was a large eagle.

  In 1152, Eleanor had had enough of Louis, and although he tried
to persuade her to reconsider, Eleanor decided to have her marriage to Louis annulled. Barely two months after Eleanor and Louis annulled their marriage, Eleanor remarried. She had married Henry, Duke of Anjou, a member of the honorable Plantagenet family. Henry's grandfather was the King of England, Henry, his mother, the famous Matilda, Lady of the English, former empress of Germany and the Duchess of Normandy. Eleanor was 11 years older than Henry; nonetheless, Eleanor had found a man she loved more than Louis and in 1154, a son named Henry was born. 1154 also marked another great event in Eleanor's life. Her husband became King Henry II of England, following the disastrous reign of King Stephen of England. Eleanor was now the Queen of England.

  But it seemed to Chyna, as she read further, that Eleanor was never going to find reprieve from the fighting.

  When she and Henry left France for England, Eleanor found her new land in the same shape as that of Paris when she first entered the French city at the age of 15. Before his marriage to Eleanor, Henry had controlled Anjou and Normandy, and now he controlled in addition not only England but Gascony, Touraine, and Aquitaine. Although Eleanor was the legal owner and ruler of Aquitaine, Henry claimed the duchy as part of his land holdings. His lands were now larger than the King of France's.

  Henry and Eleanor both had their work cut out for them. Under King Stephen's reign, the English barons had taken control of the weak king. They built castles without Stephan's authorization and set up forms that held the vassals responsible for military duty. King Henry II tore these castles down and set up military duty, a form of taxation instead. In 1168, the barons were at war with one another once again and Eleanor rode out in her magnificent armor to control her restless subjects.

  In 1173, rebellion exploded in England. Eleanor and her three older sons: Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey rebelled against Henry II. Eleanor was captured, though she had donned the clothes of a man, and Henry had her locked up for 16 years in a tower in England. While Eleanor stayed imprisoned, war raged. Soon John, Henry's only loyal son, turned against him also. In the 16 years that Eleanor was imprisoned, Henry had been killed in battle in 1183 and Geoffrey had died due to injuries in Paris in 1186.

  1189 brought about great changes. Eleanor was released from prison and Henry II died. Richard, Eleanor's favorite son, became King Richard I. While on crusade in the east, he left Eleanor as regent over his kingdoms. He gave Eleanor full control over England and the French provinces, stating that Eleanor's word should be law. Eleanor turned out to be a ruthless and cunning ruler. She brought order to England in Richard's absence and when Richard was captured in the Holy Roman Empire, she raised his ransom and had him freed. Before Richard's return, his brother, John, attempted to usurp the throne from their mother. Eleanor beat off John, but later reconciled with him and even had Richard and John reconcile upon Richard's return.

  On April 1, 1204, Eleanor died at the age of 82 at the Abbey of Fontevrault. She was buried there, between Henry II and her son Richard, who is today remembered as Richard le Coeur de Lion, Richard the Lionheart.

  Chyna sat back in the chair at the reading table, took off the white cotton gloves and sighed deeply.

  “Oscar, could you take photographs of these pages, please?” she asked softly.

  “Did you find something that we can use?” he asked as he approached her slumped figure.

  “Oh, absolutely,” she replied as she pushed the chair back and stood to stretch out her back. “I have found absolutely everything that we could possibly need.”

  “Then old Angus McKinley was right.” Oscar was already busy snapping pictures of the first pages.

  “More than right, Oscar; the man has now officially been confirmed as a damn genius!”

  Chapter Four

  “Oscar, when you finally get to Dordogne,” Chyna started, “you just have to meet Angus immediately. He’s the caretaker there. Have you ever met someone that was so completely immersed in one thing – and had been so for so many years – that everything they were just seemed to be about that thing?”

  “Yeah,” Oscar replied, a little wistfully. “Sounds like my dad and the ranch.”

  “Exactly. Well, that’s how Angus is, too.”

  “I remember watching a PBS documentary once about the life of the people on a very well-known English estate that belongs to a real life duke and duchess. They showed how the estate is basically supported by an entire village of people.”

  “Really? That’s fascinating.”

  “I know. The Dowager Duchess still lived on the estate and the staff members always quote her as saying that people either came there and then left the next day or they came there and stayed for the rest of their lives. I guess Angus is one of those ‘never leave’ kind of employees.”

  “Yes, Oscar, it seems so, but it also seems that there are a lot of those in the Montgomery’s employ.”

  Chyna decided to give the helpful old man a call. Most of the information that she had gathered on the case so far had been straight out of his mouth so she doubted that asking for his help again would steer her off course.

  “Mr. McK– Umm, Angus, this is Chyna,” she said into her cell phone. “How are you doing this afternoon?”

  “Ah, Chyna. I’m doing well, thank you,” he replied cordially. “When Marcus and Tony told me you had taken a spur-of-the-moment trip into Winchester, I thought I might be hearing from you soon.”

  “We found it, Angus, and what a beautiful story it is,” Chyna said. “I can’t believe that she led such a tumultuous, exciting, successful life. Popular culture has done no favors to her image at all.”

  “It's why I encouraged you to read it for yourself, Chyna. She is best known for her time as Henry’s queen in England, but it all extended much farther than that. In the movies, you often see her as a ruler over barbaric people living in a barbaric time and she automatically becomes a barbarian too; but Eleanor was a woman of culture and aristocracy and grace.”

  “Indeed, Angus.”

  “So how can I be of assistance today, Chyna?”

  “Well, it's becoming more and more obvious that there’s a lot of work to be done if we’re going to find this ‘Eagle’ armor. I wanted to talk with you regarding the suggestions you gave me about whom we should interview. Also, are there any other archives we might find helpful, especially in London? You know, before we drive the hour and a half back to Dordogne.”

  “That was a good idea because I actually do have a few suggestions for you.”

  “That’s great, let me get a notepad,” Chyna said. “Okay, Angus, I’m ready, you can go ahead.”

  “Since you’re in Winchester, you may want to start by talking to the Spencers. I had mentioned them before, I believe. They’re living in Reading now, in a quiet little community called Timberley and that’s quite close to where you are. I have their address right here as well; it’s 24 Cockatiel Road.”

  “That’s perfect, thank you for that. Do you have any others?”

  “Absolutely. Since you’re already headed that way, why don’t you visit Sir Robert’s offices in London? They would have a detailed copy of all the police reports which would include the transcripts of the interrogations, eyewitness reports and such. It might prove helpful when you get around to talking to the Bristol City Police Department. A chat with Sir Robert’s uncle, Evan Montgomery, might be helpful as well.”

  “Really? Why would you say that?”

  “Well, you see, remember I mentioned that his company did all the work at Dordogne that year? Sir William realized that with the economy in such a downturn at the time, there wouldn't be much of the usual baronial revenues coming in for the next few years so he had to come up with a plan to keep some money coming in to run the estate and fund the family’s coffers. That’s why he decided to turn Dordogne into a working estate, which it is today. Remember I told you he had to keep things viable to support everyone, including Evan.

  “He didn’t like the idea of strangers strolling through the place all season l
ong, but he didn’t have a say in the decision either. It ate Evan up to see the place turned into a tourist attraction, but in my mind, Sir William was only doing the same thing that many larger and much more prominent landowners had done years prior. For years, places like Chatsworth House and Buckingham Palace had opened parts of the buildings and gardens to the paying public.”

  “Who was there when the work was being done?”

  “It was only meant to be me and Marion Wainwright here… that’s the current Mrs. Spencer. But ultimately, only Marion stayed the entire time.”

  “Why was that?”

  “Well, in a bid to express his gratitude for the work, Evan offered to do up the caretaker’s cottage and the stables at the last minute. He put me up for the season at his house in Bristol, Dordogne Place.”

  “Rather convenient, wasn’t it?” Chyna commented.

  “I don’t follow you,” Angus said, sounding puzzled.

  “Never mind, Angus. We’ll be on our way to Reading in the morning, then on to London. I promise we’ll keep you posted on our progress.”

  “Thank you, Chyna. Will I see you when you get back?”

  “Of course. Oscar, and I will be sure to stop in for a cup of tea... and maybe a cigarette?”

  Angus laughed at her remark.

  “Oh, thank you,” Chyna said. “You’ve been a great help, Angus.”

  “It's my pleasure, lass. You have a safe trip.”

  “Goodbye.”

  ***

  As Chyna launched the Jaguar down the M3 roadway, she had several questions going through her mind about the case. Normally, she would have stewed them over silently as she drove, but having Oscar with her meant that she needed to augment his education as an investigator. After expressing to him her relief at finally being involved in a case that didn’t seem to need the assistance of the FBI or military operatives, she spent the next hour discussing her concerns with him.