The youngest of the three men looked to be eighteen. The oldest of them was way past fifty. The third looked to be about thirty-five or forty, no more. All of them were wearing tunics and strange leggings that had once been white. The tunics were pink. Of course. The two older men had beards, and the youngest was working hard to grow out some hairs on his chin. Their heads were uncovered, but they had sprinkled them with some kind of powder. Their hair was tied back with dirty pink ribbons. On their feet, they wore felt shoes that had apparently been designed to make the wearer look dumpy.
They looked awful. She wondered if all the men in this world dressed like that.
Aliya noticed that none of their clothes had buttons. The tunics closed with ties. Her nanny’s dress was the same way. She wondered if buttons had yet to be invented. If not, she would have to invent them and get the patent…if they had patents in this world. And if they didn’t, she would find a partner and open a button-making workshop.
Stop. My mind is wandering too far. I need to stay in the here and now, at least until I’ve had my bath.
The men left, and her nanny came back to her bedside. “Let’s get up, Lily, dear.”
Aliya tried to stand. She almost groaned in pain. Every muscle and cell of her body was in agony. She gritted her teeth. She was used to standing for hours at a time and knew how to deal with pain.
Her nanny helped her up. It became clear that the woman intended to put her into the bath in her nightgown. Aliya stared at her. “Nanny, I won’t wear this nightgown again. Help me take it off and have someone wash it. Then tell me if I have a clean one I can wear.”
“You do, but Lily…”
“I’m begging you, Nanny! I feel so awful. Do you want me to trip on this nightgown and fall again?”
Her nanny was horrified. She helped Aliya get the disgusting sack over her head.
Aliya almost broke down in tears when she saw the rolls of fat on her body, but she kept it together.
“If only I had a mirror,” she mumbled.
“You ordered one, remember? Let me help you, my pretty butterfly.”
Aliya nodded. Her nanny led her to one of the wardrobes and opened the door. Aliya gasped. The wardrobe held a full-length mirror, which was just a sheet of polished metal, and Aliya could finally see what had happened to her.
She had to admit that she had her good points as well as her bad ones. While her legs, hips, and butt were very large, and her waist was obscured by four rolls of fat, she had small, high breasts and a long neck (even if it was partially hidden behind three chins). Her hands were elegant, and her legs were well proportioned. All she needed to do was lose about a hundred pounds.
Aliya was also pleased to see that she had a heavy braid of hair that fell almost to her knees instead of the rat’s tail she was used to. It must be all the organic food you eat in a place like this. She studied her face and liked it. Large cheeks got in the way, but her eyes were big and green. Her nose wasn’t hooked or turned up; it was just a plain, straight nose. Her ears were fine, too. Best of all, she didn’t see any acne, warts or other spots on her smooth skin. Thank goodness, she didn’t see any of the pits left by smallpox, either. There was just a small birthmark at the corner of her lip. Her teeth were all there, and she could tell that her wisdom teeth hadn’t come in yet.
So, she had a good foundation, and everything else could be fixed. While she was getting in shape, she’d have time to assimilate. Aliya thought of herself as a pragmatist. She wouldn’t try to change everything around her all at once. Why bother, when all I really want is a convenient, easygoing lifestyle?
She would start at the beginning by finding out what was going on in the outside world. Aliya turned to her nanny and flashed her a babyish smile. “Come help me wash and tell me all the things that happened while I was ill.”
The old woman smiled broadly. “Whatever you want, Lily.”
The clever schemer hiding behind Lily’s eyes grinned; she knew exactly what she wanted.
***
“Anna! Sweetheart! Open the door!”
The man kept his voice down and glanced from side to side as if he was afraid of something. He didn’t have to wait long. The door opened, and someone pulled him inside before the lock clicked shut.
“Have you lost your mind?”
The woman who posed the question had passionate, southern features, with dark hair falling in waves over her round shoulders, and a sensual, full figure, with an innocently round face. Her forehead was high, and her hair had been plucked according to the latest fashion so that it formed a triangle above her face. Her thin, arched eyebrows framed large, brown eyes, and she had a small nose and heart-shaped lips above a round chin with a dimple.
“What are you doing here? My father is here today!”
“He won’t be singing you to sleep tonight, and I have my rights as your husband!”
The girl’s face was tight with fear. “Be quiet! You’ll get us both killed!”
“Maybe I’ll save us. You’re already sixteen, and you’ve been my wife for a year. Come here and stop stringing me along!” The man caught the girl by a lock of hair and pulled her to him. Anna cried out quietly, but he had no intention of stopping. He knew she liked a little bit of rough play.
***
A short time later, they continued the conversation where they had left off, only this time they were in bed, and the sheets were crumpled.
“How much longer will we keep hiding?”
“Lons, you know my father is in charge of my fate until I turn eighteen. After that, I’ll be free. There won’t be any dowry, but at least we can announce our wedding. Just wait a little longer.”
“Two years is a little longer? You want me to hide in the corner for two more years? Two more years of catching your every glance like it’s a favor. Two more years…”
A soft hand covered his mouth. “My father controls my life. With just a word from him, I’d be sent to a convent for knowing you like this. He could have our marriage annulled. The Holy Throne already looks askance at him. You don’t want to have your head on the block for seducing the king’s daughter, do you?”
That subdued him.
“And I don’t want to lose you. You’re my husband. I love you. Everything will be fine. Just have patience.”
“I see you’re a teacher as well as an aristocrat.”
“People will say that you took advantage of my youth and inexperience. Would it be so hard for you to stay away from me when His Majesty and his entourage are here? We can be together again after he leaves. I promise!”
Lons sighed. “Anna, love of my life, I never could refuse you. I promise. I’ll wait a tennight. But tonight, you’re mine!”
There was a predatory light in his eyes as he pulled the girl to him. Anna moaned and ran her fingers through his dark hair. Now, she knew for certain that he wouldn’t be leaving until morning.
And she didn’t want him to.
***
His Majesty, the King of Ativerna, Edward VIII, shuffled papers around on his desk. The life of a king was hard labor from dawn to dusk, dirty work for no gratitude or appreciation after he was gone. Nobody thinks about the king when things are going well, but any problems always end up in the king’s lap. He is, after all, the favorite of the gods. His Majesty.
It could take a toll on a king’s personality, and in the end, have the historians say, “King Edward was a tyrant and a despot.” He wondered how the historians would fare if they had to do his job. Maybe they would behave like Radiant Ones[2], but he doubted it.
King Edward was no tyrant or a despot either. He was almost unnaturally lucky for a king; he was loved and had friends.
***
Thirty-six years before, Edward had married the Princess of Avesterra in an arranged marriage to further his country’s diplomatic aims, but the day of his wedding was also the first time he laid eyes on Aloysius Earton’s daughter, the sister of Jyce Earton. Jessamine was her brother’s younge
r twin, born half an hour after him. She was charming, beautiful and intelligent and had everything the Princess of Avesterra lacked, but Edward knew he would have fallen in love with her regardless. Love at first sight really happens, he knew. You see a person and realize that you’re looking at your other half. Nothing else matters. That’s true love.
Jessamine had fallen in love with the young prince, too. She was crazy with love, and Edward’s new wife never stood a chance. Her husband was calm and indifferent to her both day and night. His eyes often wandered to the dark-haired figure of Jessie. His gray eyes would find her blue eyes, and their hands would meet when they danced.
“Why are you a prince?” the blue eyes whispered.
“Why aren’t you a princess? I would make you my queen, my goddess,” the gray eyes answered.
The storm broke during a royal hunt. Jessamine’s horse threw her and trotted back to rejoin the others. Several of the men spread out to look for her, but it was Edward who found her. They spent the night together in a woodsman’s cabin. By morning, the prince had an official mistress.
It was an awful scandal. Princess Imogene of Avesterra screamed and cried. She threw dishes. She fainted. The old king shook his head in disappointment. Members of his court gossiped with the outraged members of the clergy.
Edward never hid his relationship with Jessie. The old earl and the old king disapproved but said nothing in public. The lovers did, however, have the support of Jessamine’s brother.
Jyce, Viscount of Earton, adored his twin sister. If she needed the prince in order to be happy, then he figured she should have the prince. Edward knew that, in Jyce, he had gained a true friend. After all, they both loved Jessie.
***
Two years into their marriage, the Princess of Avesterra gave birth to her first child. The following year, Jessie had a daughter. When Jessie was pregnant for the first time, it was Jyce who helped them decide what to do. He knew that he was impotent, a consequence of the edematous fever[3] he had suffered as a young man. He would have no children of his own, but that was no reason to let the line of the Earls of Earton die out. It would be easy enough to marry some girl and send her away, supposedly to give birth, so that he could claim Jessie’s daughter as his own. And when she bore the king a son, Jyce would announce the birth of his heir.
On the surface, everything was fine, but things were not quite so simple behind the doors of the family home. Jessie’s mother decided that she could not live down the shame of her daughter’s illicit affair and left to live in Earton, the ancestral estate. The earl, on the other hand, loved his daughter and, seeing that she couldn’t live without Edward, found no reason to go against his son’s plan. There was also the future to think of. By providing assistance now, he would gain the good graces of the future king, who would be sure to provide for all of his children, both legitimate and illegitimate. The Earton family would do well in the end.
***
Jyce’s bride was chosen by a secret council. Alicia Weeks was no longer young, she wasn’t much to look at, and she had little property, but she had a long list of illustrious ancestors and family pride to help her keep her head up. Jyce’s offer of his hand was like a gift from heaven to her. She listened to the unique terms of the arrangement without batting an eyelash and put forward a term of her own: that she wouldn’t actually have to give birth. Doctors had told her that her hips were too narrow. If Jyce could be satisfied by a life where they only saw each other on occasion, it was all right by her. They would each lead their own private lives without interference from the other. She was happy to claim Jessie’s offspring as her own, and Jyce was welcome to take lovers as long as he did nothing to shame her publicly.
Jyce agreed to the bargain and never looked back. Over twenty years of married life, he “fathered” two children: first Amalia and then Jerrison, called Jess, five years later. Alicia had no interest in the children, but for propriety’s sake, she appeared in public with them once a year so that she could be seen petting them, after which she went back to her own affairs.
She shone in high society, flirting, gossiping and behaving like any other lady at court with the assistance of her husband. Jyce was so pleased that his wife provided cover for Jessie’s children and otherwise left him alone that he would have done anything for her. Alicia had all the money and social position she could possibly want.
Amalia and Jess lived with their “father” and a whole host of nannies. The house next door belonged to the king’s official mistress, whom he visited eight times a tennight. During those years, Edward’s wife, Princess Imogene, gave birth to another son, and two years later, she died of a fever.
***
After his wife’s death, Edward asked for permission to marry Jessie; the old king just shrugged and gave his consent. So, Jessie married a prince and became a queen one year later when Edward ascended the throne. For the next twenty years, the royal family lived in peace and harmony and welcomed two more beautiful daughters.
Then, Jessamine died of a fever and was mourned by the king and the entire nation. The people had always loved their kind queen, and wandering minstrels composed songs about the romantic tale of Jessie and Edward.
There was, however, a dark side to the story. Edward’s younger son with Imogene of Avesterra, Richard, adored his loving stepmother, who sang him songs and told him stories in an attempt to take the place of his dead mother. But his oldest son by the princess, Edmund, was an exact copy of his mother and had inherited her hatred of Jessie and the rest of the Earton family. He tried to avoid showing his true feelings in public, but his father knew.
The oldest son was first in line for the throne, and Edward would have liked to find a wife for Edmund when his son turned thirty, but Jessie’s death was followed by a two-year period of mourning. Edmund seemed to be in no hurry, and his father never forced him to do anything. Sadly, a year and a half after Jessie’s death, Jyce, Earl of Earton, and prince Edmund were found dead in Edmund’s sitting room. Both had been poisoned, and questions abounded. Had Edmund tried to poison his father’s oldest friend? Or had Jyce decided that it was too risky for his family and his sister’s children to let Edmund come to power? Edward didn’t want to know the truth. Jess took up Jyce’s position as Earl, and a friend to the king and to Richard. Edward never told the boys that they were brothers, but they were best friends anyway.
***
Richard, like his father, was a tall blonde with gray eyes, and Jess was a soldier. Just as his father, the Earl, had been a marshal under King Edward, Jess would serve someday under King Richard. If Jess was lucky, his son would serve under Richard’s son.
That was, if he had a son. Jyce had already married his son off three times, the first time when the boy was eight. His bride-to-be was the daughter of the Earl of Errolston, but young Eliza died at the age of twelve, and Jyce found his son another wife. Magdalena Yerby, daughter of the Barron of Yerby, died giving her young husband a daughter. After that, it became harder to find a wife for Jess. People were superstitious and felt he brought his wives bad luck.
Then August Broklend offered to help. He had a single daughter named Lilian. She was ten years younger than Jess, but that made no difference. She was old enough to have a child, and she had a nice dowry. Jess and Lilian were married, and the house of Broklend joined the house of Earton, greatly expanding their land holdings and giving Jess access to the Broklend family boatyards.
Lilian was August’s only child, despite the fact that the old man had been married three times. He hadn’t wanted to leave his boatyards to a woman, so he was pleased to have Jess for a son-in-law. Jess was not a born sailor, but he set out to learn the boatbuilding business from the ground up with August’s help.
The king was proud of his son’s ambition. Lilian, however, was another story. His Majesty saw her just once—at the wedding—and realized that his first wife, Imogene, could have been worse. At the very least, he could take her to bed without shuddering.
> Lilian was dim-witted and overweight. The king couldn’t think of any other way to put it. He quietly held out hope that she would die in childbirth or that Jess would find a lover, as he had found Jessie. His son had already seduced half of the women at court, and the king felt that the love of a good woman would settle him down. It was about time.
***
Speak of the devil…The king’s musings were interrupted as the door to his chambers creaked.
“Is that you, Jess?”
“Yes.” The man stepped from the shadows into the light.
Edward pointed to a chair. “So, you’ve returned.”
“I have, Your Majesty. I am prepared to give all my attention to government affairs.”
“Jess, I don’t like it when you use that title with me.”
“All right, Uncle Ed.”
To the world, the Earl of Earton was the king’s nephew by his second marriage, and the king preferred to hear his own son call him “Uncle Ed” instead of “Your Majesty.”
The young man’s face took on a roguish expression. The king shook his head. “Forget the government. I wish you’d pay some attention to your family.”
“Government affairs happen to be my family affairs,” the young man answered impudently.
“How wrong you are. The government’s business concerns me alone,” Edward grumbled. “Stop avoiding the subject. You should have given me at least a pair of nephews by now.”
“One may be on the way.” Jess sighed. Then his voice scaled up a notch. “I can’t do it, Uncle! Just look at her. She’s stupid, she throws fits all the time, and she’s ugly! If you saw her in a dream, you’d die in your sleep. You wouldn’t touch her with a barge pole!”
“No one’s asking you to fall in love with her. Just give her a baby, that’s all. You can cover her face with a handkerchief during the act if you like.”
“Or hold a pillow over her face,” Jess spit out. “I’m telling you; she’s pregnant already.”
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