Terms of War

[Lucius Malfoy]

The Marquess of Montagu, John Neville, rode from the royal army's encampment at Calais for Paris, moving directly south. Upon his person were royal papers, indicating his intentions and service on behalf of the King of England. Among him were a hundred Men-at-Arms that served as his escort. Having left early in the morning, his entourage did not arrive till the following day at the gates of Paris. Without hesitation, Montagu offers his papers to the city guards of Paris, knowing he would be halted. Surely his small party, bearing the flags of England, would easily have been seen from afar and his arrival have been known hours ahead of schedule. He glances around, taking careful note of his surroundings.

OOC: If I am stopped before, that's fine.

[Barry Goldwater]

Montagu faced significant harassment by the French in Paris: the guards took their sweet time processing his paperwork before finally letting him into the city, and the Parisians at best turned their heads and sniffed in disapproval at his approach, at worst they spat at their feet before turning away. One woman even dared to conveniently empty the contents of her chamber pot in the path of the English delegation, while the guards did nothing. Still, nobody actually actively obstructed the English mission, and such a reaction might even be understandable or at least, expected - the city still bore some scars from the English occupation in the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War.

Eventually, the Marquess made it to the Hotel Saint-Pol, one of the newer royal residences built in Paris itself after the Palais de la Cite, the original primary residence of the Kings of France, had been converted into a prison. The palace had a dark history: it was here that Charles VI's infamous 'bal des ardents' was held, the very same dance where the mad French king was nearly burned to death. Louis XI, the 'Universal Spider', was present in the main hall with what seemed like a small army of courtiers, all of them gazing upon Neville with dislike or outright hostility. Strangely, none of France's Marshals nor the Constable of France seemed to be present: no doubt they'd heard of the arrival of a 30,000-or-so strong English army at Calais already, and were scrambling to prepare a response.

While a herald introduced John Neville as the 'Marquis de Montacute', the grey-haired King of France leveled his own gaze at the Englishman, staring down the length of his long nose with a look that betrayed no emotion. "Marquis de Montacute," he finally said after the forced pleasantries had been concluded. The King's tone and movements were carefully measured: it seemed that Louis never made a movement or uttered a word that he hadn't thought over well in advance, and for the time being it seemed he'd decided on being cold and terse with Edward's envoy. "Why have you come?"

[Lucius Malfoy]

John Neville kept with a relatively undeterred stare all the way through Paris to the Hotel Saint-Pol. Yet in the presence of the King of France, this tone changed as he bows to the King, pulling out an edict from the King. As per diplomatic protocol when it came to war declaration, the Marquess of Montagu presented this document as a formal declaration of war. Within its contents, stated the King's justifications and terms. Once the parchment was handed off, the Marquess spoke.

I come on behalf of the King of England, Edward the Fourth, of the House Plantagenet, to state his terms for this war against France.

John reviewed the terms quietly in his head before speaking further.

The King intends to reclaim the whole of the Angevin inheritance; the lands of Gascony, the Lordship of Aquitaine, the Counties of Maine and Anjoy and the Duchy of Normandy in whole. The King's son will marry a highborn lady of France. And lastly the Kingdom of France will pay a handsome sum as reparations for this war. These are the terms of the King of England, Your Majesty.

Now to see how Louis responded and negotiated, thought John.

[Barry Goldwater]

At Montagu's announcement of the English terms, an uproar descended over the hall. Some of the French courtiers in attendance burst out laughing; others glared at him; still others shouted various things in French, most likely threats or declarations of surprise. Even the guards tightened their grip on their weapons. Through it all Louis remained silent, and the hall followed suit when he finally raised his hand for quiet. His expression was still inscrutable through it all, though Montagu could notice the corners of his lips threatening to curl into a smirk out of amusement, confidence or both at times.

Various French kings would surely have had radically different responses to Edward's demands. Philip Augustus and Philip the Fair would have scoffed before offering the English their own heads; Saint Louis would have invoked God's name in his refusal; John the Good would have laughed in Montagu's face; and Charles V would have wasted time by talking about anything but the terms, among others. But Louis, as calculating and terse and taciturn as he was, reacted in a rather different way from all of his forebears.

"No."

[Lucius Malfoy]

John Neville knew the King would not take such wide demands. The King had expressed that he desired a compromise, if possible, so Lord Montagu would initiate the negotiations.

Then what is acceptable to you, in terms of a compromise, Your Majesty?

Montagu knew the key desire was Normandy with Maine and Anjou being bonuses. Aquitaine would take another war perhaps.

[Barry Goldwater]

"Édouard de March must immediately vacate my lands." Louis stated coolly. It would seem the French had yet to officially recognize Edward IV as King of England, although that was perhaps to be expected after he killed Louis' cousin Margaret d'Anjou. Moreover, it was clear that the English could not expect the Spider to just give up even an inch of his lands without t least trying to fight for it. "In exchange I will grant him a gift of...mmm, 80,000 florins. And I may further consider recognizing him as Roi d'Angleterre, and give his heir the hand of my most lovely daughter Joan in marriage to seal the new relationship between our kingdoms." Well. That last part was a lie - Louis' second daughter Joan was a limping, hunchbacked, ugly girl who'd been born sickly and deformed, and who he had considered saddling his troublesome cousin Louis, Duke of Orleans with; even the courtiers knew this, and while some tried to keep straight faces others turned away to hide their laughter or openly sneered at Montagu. As far as Louis was concerned, the son of one of his mortal enemies deserved no better.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Montagu remains silent, taking a note quickly that the King Louis was no mood to negotiate, only to use this formal occasion to mock King Edward. Knowing this would go nowhere, the Marquess of Montagu bows.

I shall relay these terms to my liege. Thank you for your time, Your Majesty.

With those words said, and unless he is deterred, Montagu leaves Paris and rides north to rejoin the English army.

[Barry Goldwater]

Montagu is allowed to leave for the English camp without hindrance.