When Joan woke, she was alone in bed. The maid was setting out her dress and helped put on her clothing layers on her over her chemise. She then braided the child's hair and washed her hands and face from the ewer.

Joan thought about the night before. She kept being told how marriage was the most important thing a young lady could do for her family, but her dear cousin would prefer a life of solace, rather than be queen of her own country, if she had the choice? It didn't make sense.

The Lady de St Pol, her beloved guardian Marie, entered the room. She was clad in a light blue dress with a high neck and a wimple covering her hair. "Princess, it is time for your French lesson. Get out your books." French was crucial to learn, Joan had been taught, because her father was the rightful king of France and was fighting a war to claim French lands as his own.

"Do you have a husband, my lady?" Joan asked.

"My dear, you cannot put off your lesson," Marie said.

"I will marry one day."

"Yes, Princess, you will. I was married. For one day," Marie said. She sat on the wooden bench at the end of the bed. "Lord Aymer was fifty and I was a teenager. It was all arranged by powers greater than me. The lord married me in the morning, took me to wife by midday and befell an accident while jousting in the afternoon."

"Oh no!" Joan cried out.

"Don't worry, little one. He was a good man, but he left me a rich widow, and I'm using the money for good works. I'm building an abbey in Cambridgeshire. I sold some of my husband's property to his majesty the King, and in turn he sends me an annual salary for the rest of my life as payment. As part of my service to God and Country, I tutor you until you are old enough for your higher education, and then I will retire to my house by the abbey, serving the community through the church."

Joan felt her heart sink, thinking of the woman who had done the most to raise her not being in her life one day. She would dearly miss Marie, but one day everyone she knew would be gone. One day she would have a new homeland. One day she would leave England and never return. She would love her new country, wherever it was, like her own mother had come to love England.

"Shall you get a new husband?" Joan asked her. Despite the lady's more modest and covered way of dressing, Marie was only thirty or so. She was surely young enough for another marriage.

For the first time ever, Joan heard Marie's sudden and boisterous laughter.

"Oh, heaven's no."

. . .

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Within a few days, newly woven royal banners with the Plantagenet Crest were hung in the entrance of the castle. Freshly cut flowers filled every vase. Every piece of silver was polished until it looked like new. Joan and Isabella were dressed in their fine red dresses, the ones with golden threaded designs and soft ermine fur lining, much finer than their day to day wear. Their hair pieces were of the most delicate lace, ones Marie usually kept in a special cabinet. It only meant one thing.

The King and his Queen were due to arrive.

Prince Edward stood at the top of the staircase, Princess Isabella a step down, Princess Joan next, cousin Joan of Kent, then the nobles of the house including Marie, then all the servants at the bottom. Waiting felt like hours, holding still In a proper pose, not talking. The prince was in a jewelled doublet and new leather shoes with white hose. He had on a small crown and a sceptre in his hand.

Joan thought he looked an awful lot like a king in the making. But he could be so mean and call her names. She thought he would be a bad king.

Finally, trumpets started outside, and the large wooden doors flew open. Sunlight swallowed the room in heavenly light. Joan raised her hand to shield her eyes, and suddenly she saw two figures entering, parting the sea of faces — a very tall bearded man with a crown befitting his frame, in a long blue cloak and a more slender, delicate woman with blue-black hair and golden headdress, wearing a gold and white dress with a long train, both sparkling in the daylight like God's angels.

"Mum and Dad!" Joan shouted, forgetting her place and running down the stairs to them.

"Joan, no!" Isabella hissed but was unable to grab her arm in time and was too scared to move from her place on the steps to follow her.

Queen Philippa, despite her daughter's breach in etiquette, reached out her arms for her younger daughter. She wrapped her in an embrace. King Edward III also bent down to hold them both tightly.

"Oh!" Joan remembered her training and quickly curtseyed. "Welcome, my Lord and Lady."

King Edward laughed and patted her on the head. "Come, darling, let us go greet your brother and sister."

. . .

The whole royal family dined at the higher table with all the nobility in the realm attending. Dinner was the greatest meal Joan could remember - stuffed quail, poached eggs, glazed carrots, meat pies, sweet potatoes, and forest berries and cream for dessert.

Joan ate so much she could barely move, but feeling sated was more than a full belly. Musicians played flutes and drums, and people clapped along. There was much drinking as the night went on and some danced, but the royal family stayed on their dais and observed.

The king and queen asked their children about their lessons and how they liked their time in Cambridge.

"It's a big castle, and there's a nice field with wildflowers," Joan observed.

"I miss London," Isabella said.

"Our castle in Oxfordshire is much bigger," Prince Edward said.

The king laughed. "Oh, I've missed you children. You're growing up so fast. Soon you'll have more responsibility at court. In fact, I'm already in discussions for Isabella to wed Pedro of Castile."

"You want to send me to Castile?" Isabella said quietly.

"Oh, darling, don't look at me with those sad eyes," the king said. "We're just in discussions for now. Nothing has been decided."

Everyone was smiling and laughing so much. Joan was like a flower when the sun finally shone through clouds. Everyone at court was more merry now the king and queen were here.

"How long will you stay?" Joan asked, feeling a desperate tug at her insides. She was having such a fun night, but her parents' responsibility to the kingdom trumped their parental duties.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," King Edward said. He raised his glass. "Tonight is for rejoicing!"