They found the little peephole in the panel and looked through. They were greeted by the sight of King Louis's nude posterior. His Majesty was making preparations for the grand ball and he was surrounded by attendants, each holding up a luxurious garment for his inspection. However, at the moment, the king was not paying attention to any of the items of clothing being offered for his perusal. He was otherwise engaged. Standing regally before a full-length mirror and wearing nothing but a pair of high-heeled red velvet shoes with golden buckles and a scarlet silk garter around his left thigh, the king was examining his reflection with open admiration, turning first slightly to the left, then slightly to the right. He was as pale as a corpse and he had further exaggerated his royal pallor by liberally dusting himself with powder.
"I feel like a damn pervert," said Delaney, pulling back from the peephole to let Cobra have a look. The agent put his eye to the peephole and remained there, saying nothing.
"Look, I'll tell you what," said Finn. "One of us has got to find a way to get to Richelieu. You stay here and cover the king. I'll go back and figure out a way to get past those guards outside the queen's chambers. I'll see if I can't get Sparrow to distract them. Okay?"
Cobra did not reply, being intent upon observing Louis.
Finn nudged him. "You hear what I said?"
"Yeah," said Cobra. "I never saw anyone put a beauty mark there before." He looked away from the peephole. "Try to get through to the cardinal's chambers if you can. Don't kill anyone unless you absolutely have to."
"I've done this sort of thing before, you know," said Finn.
"Sorry. I guess I'm just on edge. Good luck, Delaney."
"Same to you."
Finn moved quickly back down the passageway, heading toward the queen's bedroom. Anne was seated at her writing table, with "Constance" by her side. The queen was wringing her hands and working herself up into an agitated state.
"Oh, Constance, Constance, I was such a fool" she was saying, as Finn put his eye to the peephole. He saw that the queen's back was to the panel behind which he stood. If he opened it a crack, he might be able to attract Sparrow's attention and signal her to get the queen out of the way for a moment or two.
"Be strong, Your Majesty," said Sparrow. "Have faith, D'Artagnan will return with the diamond studs, I'm sure of it."
"But suppose that he does not return," the queen said, "or suppose that he does not return in time? Richelieu knows everything! Think of all the obstacles he must have set in your Gascon's path! The cardinal is out to ruin me! Oh, how I despise that man!"
Finn eased the panel open just a crack and tried to catch Sparrow's eye. The queen was only yards away from him, so he could not risk making any noise. He could only hope that the agent would glance in his direction. As he stuck his head out, the door to the queen's bedroom opened and Germain stumbled in.
"Germain!" said Constance, "how dare you enter without knocking! You know that the-"
Germain fell face down upon the floor. A dagger protruded from between his shoulder blades. Anne let out a shriek and fainted. Sparrow bolted through the door. Finn opened the panel and barreled out into the room, following hard on Sparrow's heels.
As Milady plunged the dagger into Germain's back, Taylor seized control. Furiously, Milady tried to subdue him and, for a moment, they were at an impasse, each personality struggling to dominate the other.
Germain sank to his knees, hands clawing for the dagger in his back. He could not reach it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Milady standing there, rooted to the spot, eyes glazed over, shaking as if with St. Vitus's dance. He crawled forward on his hands and knees, trying to cry out, to call the guards, but all that would escape his lips was a strangled gasping for breath. He struggled to his feet, backing away from Milady, who stood there quivering, seemingly entranced, her fingers hooked like the talons of some predatory bird, clutching at the air. It took his last ounce of strength to reach the queen's bedroom door. As Germain opened it, he died.
Taylor stood in the center of the room, drenched in perspiration, breathing heavily. He was dizzy and his head felt as though it had been squeezed in a vice, but he had won. His hands were shaking and he fought to calm himself, to steady his frazzled nerves. He took a deep breath and reached into the pocket of his cloak for the transmitter that would trigger the tiny, but immensely powerful, explosive charges hidden within the synthetic diamond studs now in the cardinal's possession. It wasn't even necessary for them to be on his person. The blast would take out the entire wing of-
The door flew open and a young woman burst into the room, holding a laser in her hand. As she fired, Taylor threw himself to one side. The tiny transmitter fell to the floor. As she fired a second time, Taylor rolled and pulled out his own laser and shot Sparrow, who never had a chance to fire a third time. Finn threw open the door. Taylor raised his weapon and fired again, but Finn ducked back out of the way in the nick of time and the deadly beam passed by him. Sparrow crawled forward, reaching for the transmitter. Her hand closed around it.
"Guards!" shouted Taylor, getting quickly to his feet. "Guards!"
The two men stationed outside the queen's chambers responded immediately and rushed in. As Finn glanced out from behind the door, hoping to get off a shot, Taylor quickly pointed at him and said, "An assassin! Save the queen!"
The guards drew their rapiers and ran forward as Delaney slammed the door, cursing. As the guards pounded at the door, Taylor moved toward Sparrow, who had died clutching the transmitter in her hand. As he started to bend over, he felt Milady surfacing within him once again. He froze, doubled over, trying to force her down, to stay in control.
"Run, Adrian, " she said. "Run, save yourself! "
"No!"
"Run, I said!"
The door flew open and one of the guards was knocked off his feet as Delaney engaged the other with his rapier, still holding his laser in his other hand and trying to get off a shot at Taylor.
Milady ran.
Finn fired, but missed Taylor and got the guard who was getting back up off the floor. The other guard froze at the sight of the laser beam and Finn took advantage of his astonishment to smash the handguard of his rapier into the man's face. The guard crumpled to the floor.
He ran to Sparrow's side, saw that she was dead, then noticed the tiny box she clutched in her hand. He pried her fingers away from it and carefully put it in his pocket, then ran after Taylor.