by Traci E Hall
“Shh!”
“She wishes to meet with me?” Manuel slapped his hand against his thigh. “Ha! Well, she might not be quite as pretty as the angel, but what a ride!” He shook his head. “What can I do but make her happy? Yes, tell her that her wish is my command. Set it up, Raoul. As much as I trust the truth in Louis’s heart, I cannot extend it to the rest of the heathen Crusaders, and this just proves it. If a man cannot control his wife, what kind of leader is he?”
“I’m not sure.” Raoul spoke the truth.
“You should be. He is not a leader to be trusted. I will have a taste of what others have sipped and see if it is worth the price. Ha! Are you certain we cannot have the other two as well?”
And because his mission in life was to ensure his liege’s happiness, Raoul said between gritted teeth, “I will ask.”
CHAPTER 25
Bella was still waiting for Fay and Sarah to return when Raoul found her sitting on the stone bench. He took a seat next to her, his jaw so tight she could see the muscle twitch. “What is the matter?”
“Manuel will meet with the queen.” He paused and didn’t look her way. “I have to warn you, though; he thinks it is to fuck.”
“What?” Bella scooted closer to Raoul and shook her head in dismay. “Disabuse him of the notion.”
“He knows that you and I have been together, Sarah is pregnant, and Mamie and John have made no secret of their physical enjoyment. Which leaves Catherine and Fay untouched, and he asks if they could join in with the queen.”
Bella’s jaw dropped. “Non.”
“I had to ask.” He shrugged.
“He’s a beast.”
”Everyone has heard the rumors of the queen’s infidelity.”
Bella bit her inner cheek.
“You don’t defend her?”
“I always defend her.”
“But you don’t say if it is true or untrue.”
“I have never witnessed her behaving in such a way. I love her, Raoul. She is my queen.”
He buried his head in his hands. “We are stuck in the same glue.”
“Hearsay and rumor can ruin a woman. A man has an easier time. I do not repeat things that would dishonor someone I care for. Nor would I, even if I had proof.” She steepled her hands together, then realized what she was doing and dropped them flat on the bench beside her. She accidentally brushed against Raoul and jumped.
“What?”
Bella’s anxiety rose. “What am I going to do? I cannot tell her the emperor is under that impression. She has such a wicked sense of humor she might just dress as a courtesan for fun.” Bella’s stomach knotted. “I am not meant for this life.”
“Which?”
“Being free makes me happy. Being tied to mystery and politics does not.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I wish I could explain.” She looked away. “But I cannot. Perhaps I will write you a letter once the Crusades are all over, but then again …”
“I promise I won’t have ten wives. You may write, if you wish.”
”Is that wise of us to drag out what we know should be the end?” She dared to glance at him, but he studied the ground at his feet. She memorized his noble profile and strong jaw.
“I’ve never claimed to be a wise man.” He brought his hand to rest against hers as they each held the bench.
Even that slight contact made her belly clench with want. Desire. Passion. Dare she admit to love?
Raoul spoke quietly, as if they were having a normal conversation. “The emperor agreed to meet after the dance tonight.”
“Where?”
“Next to the emperor’s favorite chapel is a small room where the wine and chalices are stored. It is soundproof and private.”
“Where shall I hide?” Bella wasn’t going to let him brush her aside.
“With me.” He glanced at her, then at the fountain. “Behind the altar in the chapel is a secret nook.”
“I don’t know how you know them all.”
“I don’t. The Romans built to last and to protect even through an invasion.”
She nodded, wanting to bury her face in Raoul’s warm neck and stay there, where she felt the safest. “We will do this last thing.”
He left without saying good-bye. Again. Each time hurt.
Fay joined her a heartbeat after he was gone. “Oh,” she said with a smile, “the seat is warm. I like Raoul.”
Before Bella could explain, Sarah appeared, missing both silver buckles from her shoes.
“It cost me dearly, but I found out that Odo has been paying that boy to watch over John, Mamie’s man, and report back any news. He was more than happy to tell me there is no sight of Savoy or Monferrat and Auvergne. What if they don’t come?” She shook her head. “If we stay outside the walls, it could be days before we can move on, which leaves us exposed to the Turks.”
“If we are camped at the harbor and within sight of the city, what harm can come to us? Surely we are still under Manuel’s protection.” Bella didn’t quite understand Sarah’s fear.
“Unless Manuel withdraws it, which is what John has been urging the emperor to do,” Fay said, agreeing with Sarah. “I heard that just now at the window of the steward’s office. Seems it costs a lot of money to feed us all, and the steward warns we could break the emperor’s coffers.”
“Aren’t we paying?” Bella looked at Fay first, then Sarah.
“Oui,” Sarah said. “But if we are outside the walls, they can charge more”—she rubbed her fingers together—”and get away with it.”
“We do also become targets for Turkish skirmishes,” Fay said. “From the way John was talking, I assume that Manuel, with this new truce, can tell the Turks to skirmish away and attack us but not his people.”
“Sneaky bastard,” Bella said, quickly crossing herself. Sharing her body with Raoul had not felt like a sin as much as cussing did.
Had Raoul known about this? And not thought to warn her? He owed her nothing. If anybody had been a liar betwixt them, it was she.
Six bells rang, signaling vespers. “Come,” Bella said. ”The queen is waiting for us in her chamber. She wishes to plan before dancing.”
The three women ascended the stairs arm in arm, as if they were having a lovely time in a city that did not quite like them. They met the empress’s cousins coming down the stairs and joined them on the second-floor landing.
“I hear you are leaving tomorrow,” Nikola drawled, a judgmental look on her lovely face. “Do you need help packing?”
Marie playfully slapped Nikola’s arm. “Be nice. The empress asked us to go out of our way to make you feel welcome as you leave.”
Leah pinched her lips together, obviously annoyed with the other two. “I enjoyed meeting you all very much.”
Bella nodded. So the empress had been talking.
Leah left, walking ahead of Nikola and Marie. As the two cousins passed, one of them quite clearly said, “Good riddance to Eleanor’s whores.”
Sarah whirled to call them on the slur, but Fay had one arm and Bella the other.
Bella pulled Sarah up another step. “And what are you going to do? Deny it? The only innocent here is Fay.”
“I really don’t like them.” Sarah met Bella’s gaze.
“You don’t have to.” Bella led the way toward the queen’s suite.
“Leah is nice,” Fay said. “I wish we could’ve gotten to know her better.”
“We do not need to repeat to the queen what just happened, all right?” Bella felt the flush of shame but brushed it aside. She’d come a long way from the orphaned convent girl and abused wife she’d been. A victim of circumstance. Choosing Raoul as her lover had allowed her to take her feminine power back for the first time, and she was not going to apologize for it, no matter who called her a whore.
“Fine. But I won’t forget,” Sarah warned.
Fay and Bella exchanged a look. Sarah’s pregnancy and injury hadn’t stopped her quick tempe
r.
“The queen has need of cool heads,” Bella said. “Perhaps you need a nap?”
“You are not my nursemaid, Bella. Even injured, I can outrun you.”
“True.” They reached the queen’s chamber, where Mamie and Catherine were standing next to Larissa, who sat outside the door on an unpadded three-legged stool. Her generous mouth was pinched tight, and she hooked a thumb in the direction of the door. “All of a sudden she’s decided she doesn’t like my spunk.”
Fay giggled. “You tend to speak your mind.”
“Hasn’t been a problem until now.”
“You disagreed with her?” Bella said.
“Oui. Told her what I thought. Landed me out in the cold.” She said the last loudly, and Bella heard the queen snort.
“And you still won’t shut your mouth,” Eleanor complained as she opened the door wide. “Come, ladies. Watch the serpent at the threshold.”
Larissa rolled her eyes. “You’ll be sorry when I’m right.”
Eleanor paused, then shut the door. “God help me if anything goes wrong tonight. I will never hear the end of it.”
“I can still hear you, and if I am wrong, my liege, I will cut out my tongue.”
The queen spoke loudly, her mouth to the door. “This is what happens when you raise common folk to a royal household. They don’t know their place.”
“Humph!”
Bella tried hard not to laugh, but it was nearly impossible. She noticed the other women had shaking shoulders too.
“This way,” the queen said. “Out of the reach of big ears.” She took them to her stately canopied bed and motioned for them all to sit on it before she drew the curtains. “Larissa will act as watchdog. Nobody will disturb us as we use this last night to get the information that we need. Catherine, have you drawn the weak points in the wall?”
Catherine sighed, as if unhappy with her efforts. “Oui. I’ve pointed out several places to infiltrate the city as well as the parts where the wall is crumbling to dust.”
“Excellent. Fay, what news?”
Fay quickly repeated what she’d heard at the window, and Sarah added her piece.
“I detest Odo, but he has a nose for gossip,” Eleanor said. “Smart thinking, ladies. Sarah, you may choose a set of my buckles as a replacement for the ones you gave.”
Sarah smiled. “Thank you.”
Mamie reached into her tunic and pulled out a list of weaponry and supplies Manuel had on hand: proof that he was lying when he said he had none to spare. “I was getting ready to copy the list of foodstuffs when the steward came back, but I read it. They are not hurting there either.”
“He is a snake in the grass and one you should be careful of,” Fay said, looking at the queen.
“And the teacher is being scolded by the student?” Eleanor raised a brow. “I know what I am doing. I have been around men and power since the day I was born, as you well know, Fay.”
Fay bowed her head. “My apologies if I overstepped.”
“Now why can’t Larissa learn from you?” The queen smacked her hand on the bed. “We have little time. Bella, have you arranged the meeting?”
“Oui.” She swallowed. “The emperor believes you want to see him so that you can, well, be intimate.”
Eleanor sucked in a fast breath and choked. “He what?”
“I know. I told Raoul to set him on the right course before you arrived.”
“Why would he think such a thing?” Eleanor, brow furrowed, looked at all of them and then lifted her chin haughtily. “You have heard rumors.”
“Hearsay.” Bella shrugged. “It does not matter.”
“It’s offensive,” Catherine said.
Sarah patted her hip where her short sword would hang if she were wearing it.
“We will defend your honor,” Mamie said solemnly.
“Oui,” Fay and Bella said in unison.
“Honor,” the queen said with a wave of her hand. “I teach the ideal in my garden, but human behavior rarely reaches that pinnacle.” She tapped her lower lip in thought as the rest of them waited quietly.
Bella ignored the itch on her nose, wondering at the way people wanted to behave and the way they actually did. Royal or no, it seemed they all suffered the human experience.
”I will use his misconception against him. Tonight I will use wiles that have gone untapped since my days at Aquitaine. Subtle seduction that cannot be pinned down as untoward behavior but leaves them panting after your skirt.”
It was just as Bella had feared. The queen relished the challenge.
“You are to meet after the dance is over. Raoul will give you directions. I think I should go along.”
The rest of the guards agreed, but Bella saw the queen’s answer on her beautiful face before she spoke.
“I will go alone.”
Bella raised her gaze to Eleanor’s, willing her liege to see reason before she committed the crime of treason. “What you propose is dangerous.”
Eleanor answered coolly. “I know the risk.” She clapped. “We will dress in our finest tonight and let their Greek tongues wag. Each of you in your chosen color.” She shooed them off the bed, but before they reached the door she stopped them with another piece of advice. “Always hold your head high, lest you be judged a coward. If you act weak, you will be attacked. If you show yourself strong, you will gain respect.”
CHAPTER 26
The large hall was decorated in gilt, with rose quartz marble tiles along the floor. The lute players were set on a velvet crimson dais, and Greek dancers in sheer veils and pantaloons played tiny brass cymbals with their fingers as they serpentined around the waiting guests.
The queen and her guard were announced at the wide double doors, and they walked down the center of the room. Fay led the way, with Bella and Mamie on the left and Catherine and Sarah on the right. The queen was partially hidden between them. Bella kept her chin high, exuding regal confidence she didn’t feel.
She told the crowd without words that she needed no weaponry to keep the queen from harm. The heels of her shoes, beaded with lavender and blue violets, were made of ivory. Her gown was the same violet as her eyes and shimmered with crystals sewn at the waist. Catherine dressed in peony pink, Mamie in rose red, Fay in daisy yellow, and Sarah in lily orange.
They stopped as one unit before the emperor and empress, who sat upon the royal dais. Louis was already seated to the left, and a vacant chair waited at Irene’s right.
Like petals of a blossoming flower, the guards folded back to show the center bloom. Eleanor, head bowed, hair loose but covered in gold net and adorned with a jewel-encrusted crown, stepped forward. Her hands were clasped before her, and her eyes were downcast.
Her gown shimmered silver and gold. Purple amethysts dotted the neckline and hem. Emeralds the size of thumbs, with petals embroidered in colored gems, formed flowers that vined down the center of the robe. Her hands were heavy with adornment. Her shoes sparkled with diamond buckles.
The crowd gasped as she looked up, her eyes steady, her posture erect, every inch the queen of France, duchess of Aquitaine, and countess of Poitou.
Bella noticed that even King Louis, who traveled like a poor pilgrim, was awed by his wife.
Eleanor’s beauty was legendary, and this, Bella knew, was why. She carried herself as if she were the only woman in the room, and she became the only woman, drawing all eyes.
Manuel stood, gesturing for the music to stop. “Good Queen Eleanor, your beauty is a welcome sight. How pleased we are that you grace us with your presence this last night before you leave.”
King Louis scratched his chin. Empress Irene stood too and linked an arm through her husband’s. Her pretty face was set in a neutral expression. Not welcoming, just watching.
Uneasy, Bella could only pray as Eleanor stepped forward and dipped her head. Not a curtsy but an acknowledgment of one royal to another. “My thanks for your generous hospitality.” She slipped a large sapphire from her f
inger and handed it to Irene. “A token for all your kindness.”
The empress had no choice but to accept the gorgeous gift and offer her hand to lead Eleanor up the dais.
“Brilliant,” Catherine whispered as soon as Eleanor was seated, she and Louis bookends to Irene and Manuel.
The emperor waved for the music to begin again, and Bella instinctively turned to look for Raoul as the guard disbanded. Mamie and Fay casually stood watch by the dais, and Catherine and Sarah strolled toward the musicians.
“You are lovely, Lady Isabella,” Raoul said, coming around to her line of sight. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Though I prefer you naked, as God made you.”
Her cheeks flushed, but she said nothing.
“I know how to get beyond that cool demeanor, my lady. Shall I try?”
“Why provoke me, monsieur, when we agreed to end our liaison?”
“I did not agree. I know of a place.” His low voice held the temptation of a mythical god. “I cannot let you go without one last kiss.”
“This will lead to my gown disappearing beneath your knowledgeable touch.” But, oh, she was tempted.
“I cannot allow you to shrivel away in a convent.”
”I have no plans on hiding away from life. Perhaps you would like to join the French on Crusade?” Her heart ached so much it hurt to breathe as they bantered back and forth. “I can put in a good word for you.”
“I care not for heathen wars, nor politics, as you said. I was thinking of becoming a farmer.”
Bella smiled, amused. “You cannot plow a field with a sword.”
“Now there you are wrong, my lady.”
His comment made her blush. “We are supposed to be watching for a chance moment for the queen to speak to Manuel.”
“The empress suspects something is going on. The woman does not condone Manuel’s infidelities, and she cannot stand me because I facilitate them. Discreetly. But she suspects. Perhaps she smells the scent of another woman on his flesh?” He shrugged, tugging Bella farther into the shadows along the wall.
Mamie danced with John, her head thrown back in laughter, as if life’s enjoyment could be squeezed out of every moment. Her red hair tumbled down her back in perfect curls, her red dress adorned with ruby rosebuds and green vines. John was attracted, but neither looked besotted.