Eleanor, especially when her hair was covered and she held the hand of the famously red-haired princess Johanna, could easily be mistaken for her sister Katherine, though the former was in all ways more agreeable. They stumbled down the steep hill together that led down the lazy river and the small cabin that were tucked away and noticed the knights practising their swordsmanship with their wooden swords, while the ladies watched on and indulged in sweetened wine and the savoury pies that they had brought.
Once on flat terrain, Eleanor released Johanna and sent her forth to run towards them, which she did babbling and laughing, drawing their attentions to them.
Katherine was leaning over a short fence when she heard her daughter and her footsteps, and perked up immediately. In line with her, however, Eleanor caught her eye.
‘Ellie!’ she hollered and began to laugh, bending to embrace Johanna as she pulled at her mother’s skirts. ‘You knew aunt Ellie would come, my love?’
Johanna was small and shy-looking, with oversized saucer-shaped blue eyes, and a type of fluffy red hair that still would not grow past the stage of baby-fine curls nearly reaching her shoulder. She had always been quiet, and being moved from court to court certainly had not helped her to develop a bolder disposition. To answer her mother’s question, she just nodded, her feet turned in awkwardly.
Eleanor came towards them and first embraced Katherine. ‘You look fantastic,’ she told her elder sister.
Katherine lovingly knocked her head against Eleanor’s. ‘You’re one to talk,’ she gloated. ‘So beautiful. You just got here?’
Eleanor nodded. ‘Thought you needed a little distraction. George and I both came from Neuhausen, and first I ran into this little thing —’ she nodded at Johanna, ‘and I thought I’d come right down to the grounds before we ate.’
‘Was the trip any good?’ she asked.
‘The sea is fine.’
Her eyes travelled across the ladies’ faces, and she smiled gratefully at each of them. Katherine noticed it and offered, ‘Ellie, these are my closest ladies-in-waiting: Grace of Hellister, Princess of the North, as well as Constance Sherrington, Duchess of Tillygate. Grace is my second brain and Connie is my second pair of eyes. Grace, Connie, this is Princess Eleanor, my second heart. Eleanor, Archduchess of Neuhausen, these days.’
Instead of curtsying, Constance embraced Eleanor, and even Grace was swayed to do so as well. Beyond the fence, Walter was being reprimanded for risky use of his training swords, almost landing its blunt and splintery tip into Henry’s eye, but it appeared only Johanna was still watching.
‘So,’ Eleanor said to Katherine. ‘You’re back home.’
‘It doesn’t feel like home yet,’ she said. ‘It feels as if I am now confronted every day with everything that I have attempted to escape for the entirety of my life. I’m unmarried, my daughter barely knows me, parliament recently tore me a new one, and I have been used by the Chavanets to temporarily stuff their court with my grandeur in a great ploy to increase their own status while their transfer of power was taking place. Now, I return to the home where I grew up, and I see none of the promises made to me here have come true.’
Eleanor took Katherine aside and lay a hand over her shoulder. ‘Well, that’s no walk in the park at all,’ she said. ‘Last thing I heard of them was that Isabella de Ginefort arrived. I believe the first regrets may be creeping in.’
Katherine could not help but snicker. ‘Good,’ she said. ‘I spent more than a year on that scoundrel. I hope he regrets it a lot more than I regret the time I spent there.’
‘It will make it possible for you to find another,’ Eleanor said cheerfully. ‘I’ve met Henri recently for Overleigh had instructed George to finalise some dealings for Ilworthian wares in Massouron, and I wouldn’t have gladly seen the two of you together. He’s a cruel young man, I say. Plenty of foreign and domestic noblemen to take his place.’
They sauntered onwards into the beginnings of the forest, where the path turned more winding and muddy, and where they left the earshot of court. Light danced across their faces with the wind that blew through the leaves and cut out a different shape from the sunlight with each passing moment.
Katherine kept her eyes on the ground and her arms behind her back. ‘It feels strange to say,’ she began. ‘But each time I see the portraits that had been sent to me, I feel great dread. How did you feel upon meeting George? Were you nervous? Are you supposed to be?’
‘Not nervous,’ she said. ‘Excited, unsure of how it’ll go. George sent me a very sweet and long letter that put me at ease. Then again, Kathy, I imagine you have far more suitors than I ever had, and because you are so visible, it may attract bad apples. And because you are older and now twice burned, I imagine you could feel more dread over the risk you take.’
‘And even though Henri wasn’t perfect, he gave me the possibility or organising my life in a way I enjoyed,’ she said. ‘I’m afraid any other man might disprove of my lovers. With Henri, the worst reaction I could reasonably anticipate, is that he would wish to join us.’
Eleanor chuckled. ‘In my mind, that is worse than forbidding you,’ she said. Katherine pursed her lips and gave her sister a mischievous look. ‘Katherine… are you serious?’
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She finally gave in and laughed. ‘You’ve got to do something to impress your suitors, Ellie, you wouldn’t know,’ she protested. ‘There are worse things one can do. In fact, there are worse things I have done for that ape’s favour.’
‘I’d rather not ask,’ Eleanor said.
‘I’d prefer that,’ Katherine said. She sighed deeply and sauntered on. ‘Though I know what you mean. It’d be horrible to share a lover if I did love him.’
‘George and I have always been in love,’ Eleanor said, ‘Since we met. I’ve never wished for another.’
‘And yet, no babes of your own,’ Katherine mused. ‘Are you drinking Queen Louise’s arsenic wine?’
‘Luckily no poisoned wine as far as I am aware,’ Eleanor said, ‘Well, I am still young, and I try to appease God where I can and keep Him on my side. Sadly I no longer have a sister who is a nun, so I’ll have to do all the praying for my eternal soul myself.’
‘I pray for you still,’ Katherine said. ‘How did you know you were in love with George?’
Eleanor frowned. ‘We married and I haven’t wished not to be ever since. Why?’
‘No reason,’ said Katherine.
‘Really?’ she asked. ‘You talk as though you are wondering about a feeling that you might have.’
‘I am wondering about the legitimacy of a statement that I made some time ago,’ Katherine said. ‘But it appears you are of little help to me.’
‘There is a lover you’ve come to appreciate more?’ she wondered. ‘Not that knight of yours, I suppose?’
‘Henry and I are great friends,’ Katherine said. ‘I love him as I love all my friends, but there is no feverishness longing when we are apart. I appreciate him for what he has done for me over the years. Same with Walter, who you have yet to meet. I care for him deeply, and I would be reluctant to see him go, but we are not in love. I’ve had the honour of sharing a carriage with an ambassador who has been trying to get my favour since I came to Souchon. Nothing very exciting or passionate had happened between us during that time, though I was given many gifts and addressed with the utmost respect and care all the while. That final day, that final night in Massouron, I believed it would be a fine idea to spend the night in his quarters. Foolishly, I believed in the idiotic feeling that there was more than just the ill effects of my exile that was coursing through my veins.’
‘And now?’ Eleanor asked.
‘Now I struggle to feel anything for whatever suitor writes me, and all I want is to turn back time and profess my interest the first instance that it was piqued,’ said Katherine. ‘I am no longer in charge of my own heart.’
‘This appears to be one of the less foolish things you’ve said,’ Eleanor said. ‘You sound far less crass in your discussion about this ambassador than any other man I’ve heard you speak of. You told him that you loved him, Katherine?’
Katherine nodded uncertainly, her brows knitted together.
‘I think that’s rather lovely,’ said Eleanor.
‘You can’t tell anyone,’ Katherine added. ‘He’s not of the faith.’
That was when Eleanor frowned for the first time during their conversation. ‘What ambassador isn’t of the faith?’ she asked.
‘The Duke of Tougaf,’ said Katherine. ‘The Sbaian ambassador. His first name is Freyza.’
‘I see…’ Eleanor said. ‘I believe I met him last time I was in Massouron — in passing, of course. Or perhaps it was his associate, I cannot be sure. They have a fine embassy. You’ve asked him about the faith, or…?’
Katherine clicked her tongue. ‘My dear, I don’t think I’ve ever asked one of my lovers about their faith. I was not planning to start that tradition with a Sbaian man.’
‘Well, if he is a duke, and you profess to love him, and he wishes to accept the true faith… write him?’ Eleanor offered.
‘You do not understand,’ Katherine said. ‘It would be lopsided. I’d marry a prince for his prestige and keep lovers, rather than marry a duke I could love.’
‘I might not agree,’ Eleanor said, ‘But I will be praying for clarity in this matter. The people of Ilworth deserve to know for certain who the father is of their next king of queen, Kathy. And that man deserves to be a man that you believe in — beyond any physical merits he may have.’
She chuckled darkly. ‘Oh, so you’ve heard of physical merits?’ she asked.
‘You treat me as if I’m some virgin priestess,’ Eleanor said.
‘Aren’t you?’
‘Despite your fixation with the sensuous realm, I think I am more experienced when it comes to love at large,’ she said with great satisfaction, ‘You profess love to a man and you fear it. Though it makes for a great pastime to pine, consider that this might be an uncomfortable reality bred from sleeping with men just because you thought it would be fun.’
‘If you’re in Massouron,’ Katherine said, turning on her heels before they would stray too far into the forest, ‘Tell him I think of him often. Please. I require no more judgement from you, even though I know you mean well. And when you do see him, do not prompt him to write, and do not tell him that I told you this. Definitely do not tell him that I professed my to love him again.’
‘He won’t hear it from me,’ said Eleanor.
They walked back to the cabin again, hoping to see the knights finish up their games, when they noticed that there were a number of guards walking around, and Richard faced them with his back. Katherine felt her heart sink when she did not see Johanna walking around.
She ran towards the cabin, her skirts hiked up in her hands, and once she was back at the fence, she saw that Johanna was being guarded by her ladies instead. The knights were gone.
‘Ah, Your Majesty,’ said Richard, looking upon a now thoroughly red-faced Katherine. ‘We were wondering where you had gone.’
‘What’s the meaning of all this fanfare?’ she asked.
‘Have we a traitor in our midst once again?’ Richard asked prophetically. ‘It appears that your champion Henry de Vega has been shot between his shoulder blades by the late Lord William’s old footman with his very own bow.’
Katherine’s breath quickened. ‘Fuck’s sake,’ she murmured under her breath. ‘Are you sure that it was not an accident? How is Henry? What have you ordered?’
‘You were gone,’ said Richard, beginning to feel defensive about Katherine’s sudden appearance. ‘Henry was accompanied to the physician. Walter is, once again, on house arrest in his chambers. How often will this have to happen before it is your shoulder blades with an arrow between them, or your torso with a bullet hole?’
‘It was an accident,’ said Grace, who walked towards them. The weather changed dramatically in an instant, turning from a gentle crowd-sprinkled blue sky to a breezy grey one. Katherine swore she felt the first rainfall on her face. ‘Henry is trying to teach Walter the ropes.’
‘That may be so,’ said Richard, ‘But there may be thoughts he has that not even you can see, Lady Grace. Thoughts that may require investigation. Moreover, do we need a courtier who is so prone to accidents?’
Katherine’s eyes glazed over. From the serious consideration in Richard’s tone, it appeared that Henry had been badly hurt. She did not dare ask if he would live. She kicked herself for leaving — perhaps she could have warned them for a risk they did not see, and that the ladies were too busy watching Johanna for to notice from the sidelines. A pit of deep anguish filled her stomach and threatened to swallow everything in its path.
‘Enough bickering,’ she said. ‘I’m going inside for a drink.’