Queen's Guard 01 The Queen's Guard: Violet

by Traci E Hall

  Bella did as the emperor commanded, and as he bent down to take her hand in his, he whispered, “You will be free, but you are not welcome in Constantinople ever again.”

  He twisted, and she grimaced but swallowed the pain. The sound of the break could be heard in the sudden quiet of the crowd.

  “I banish you, Isabella de Lacey, from Constantinople.”

  The audience pumped their fists.

  Bella gulped back bile. “Thank you,” she said, knowing she was free but not understanding why.

  An arm slipped around her waist. She wondered if this was a cruel joke on behalf of the emperor, a trick to entertain his citizens. Then she recognized the strength in the man who held her up.

  “Raoul Laskaris, for crimes committed against the emperor, you also are banished, never to return to the Holy Roman Empire.”

  Bella looked at Raoul, who deserved better than banishment. He bowed his head toward his liege as his punishment was met with a mixture of cheers and boos. Manuel turned his back on the two of them, and Raoul pulled her away. “Quickly, before the crowd decides to riot.”

  The sky grew darker as more of the moon covered the sun. Bella held her throbbing hand close to her chest, everything surreal. “How did you manage it?”

  “With the queen’s aid. I told Manuel that we knew it was Irene who tried to kill Sarah in the guard shack out of jealousy and that Eleanor knew as well. I promised we would keep our silence in exchange for your freedom.”

  “What a wonderful plan. But, Raoul, you’ve lost your friend. Your emperor.”

  He kissed her forehead. “You talk too much. The queen gave her blessing and told you to go to your estate in England, where you are ordered to stay out of trouble.”

  “And you volunteered to come with me?”

  Raoul shrugged. “I told Manuel I had plans on marrying you someday. Since the queen was ordering you to England, that’s where I wanted to be banished as well. I was hoping we could travel together.”

  Bella smiled, grateful she’d had a chance to clean up but now wishing she’d had time for a good long soak and not a swipe of a towel from a bucket. “My thanks, Raoul. I will follow you anywhere.”

  He tucked her close. “This time I follow you. We have to make the most of the confusion from the eclipse. It should be dark as night soon. We can’t meet up with the Crusaders, and we can’t be caught by the rioters. We have to get out of the city without being spotted.”

  “Spotted!” With her good hand, Bella pulled on Raoul’s arm. “What about the leopards?”

  “Arturo will take care of them. He is apprenticed now.”

  “You have been in contact with the queen?”

  “Hurry. We will have months to talk but little time to escape.”

  “But does she hate me?”

  ”Hate you? Never! You are the epitome of what the Queen’s Guard should be. Fay called you the queen’s champion, and already your brave deed is legend. Do not be surprised, Bella, if you end up in a lot of bad poetry.”

  “But won’t you miss your home?”

  “What home? I lived here angry and lost. You came, and now I want to live again. And then you almost got hanged, which was a close call. You would’ve left me behind to brood again.”

  “We can’t have that,” Bella observed in a daze, grateful for Raoul’s strong clasp on her good hand as he pulled her through the palace. “What about my things?”

  “You can buy new things. You didn’t tell me you were rich. You might not have had to work so hard to get me to marry you. Also, you had some charms delivered to the palace. Flowers. Do you want to tell me how long you’ve been a spy?”

  “What!” Bella’s stomach lurched. “Where are they?”

  “I gave them to the ladies. I kept the leopard, assuming you bought it for me, sweet Violet?”

  “I was going to tell you,” Bella said as they raced through the hall.

  “The queen explained everything.”

  Her head swam, and she tried to concentrate on one point at a time. “What will we do in England?”

  “Raise leopards. Is your manor big enough for that?”

  “I don’t remember. I can’t promise anything. Leopards? What about kittens? Can we start with kittens?”

  “Cubs. Why must you be such a coward about this one issue? Brave in all other areas and afraid of a spotted cat.”

  ”Not just a cat. A cat with pointed teeth and a predatory smile.”

  “Cats don’t smile, Bella. Now you’re being silly. Why don’t you save your breath for running a little faster?”

  “I can’t go any faster!” Her legs protested, and her hand burned.

  “I warned you that Manuel is a leader who likes to keep his people happy. They will tear us limb from limb if they catch us.” Raoul turned a corner of the palace and slipped behind a tapestry, pressing his finger into a cherub’s belly button. The panel slid open. He dragged Bella, who struggled to catch her breath, into the private tunnel. “You’re out of shape.”

  She leaned against him in the blessed dark. “I haven’t eaten in three days. Adventures with you leave me starving. What took you so long to free me?”

  “Manuel forbade me to see you while he formulated his own plan. The empress wanted you dead, the queen had the knife, and Fay found the slave boy who brought the message that night of the attack. The emperor’s astrologers have known the eclipse was coming, and Manuel chose to use the natural phenomenon to proclaim a miracle while saving his reputation as a harsh yet benevolent leader.”

  “I will be forever grateful,” Bella said, her throat tight.

  Raoul cradled her hand and gently kissed the knuckle of her broken finger. “Does it hurt so bad?”

  “Better a broken finger than death, I always say.” Bella swallowed the pain. If she held her hand still it—oh, it hurt no matter how she held it. “Where is Eleanor now?”

  “By the harbor. I was able to get word to her before she was outside the city walls. She signed over the documents for your English manor, along with your other properties, and promised she would contact you after the Crusades are over. But you are officially retired, Violet.”

  “All right.” Bella clutched her throbbing hand. “Can we have this discussion once I have wine? And a splint? Perhaps a bite of bread before I faint?”

  “Once we are safely away from the palace, I will feed you.” Raoul guided her through the tunnel and out into the deserted lawn by the side of the palace. The thunderous skies overhead seemed menacing, but Bella was grateful for the shadows aiding their escape. “But don’t think to distract me unless it’s with kisses.”

  “You want me to kiss you now as we run from an angry mob? My finger broken and—”

  Raoul leaned in and claimed her lips, leaving her breathless.

  “I love you, Raoul. I do.”

  “Are you just saying that because I freed you from certain death?” He grinned, ducking through a hidden seam in the great wall.

  Bella followed him, realizing they were outside the city. The sky was almost pitch black. The silhouette of two horses laden with packs caught her eye.

  “No. But what’s that?”

  “Arturo. I gave him a lot of coin and asked him to ready us for a journey across the desert.”

  “I did this already,” Bella said, her mouth drying as she remembered the tortuous trip.

  ”Will you complain the entire way?” Raoul asked, gently brushing his hand down her disheveled hair.

  Bella’s heart leapt. With life. With passion. “Not the entire way. Is there water on that nag?”

  As they strode to the horses, Bella sent a thought to her queen. Love is the answer. Not lust but love. And it is worth any risk.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This author’s note might be long, but I want to share the facts as I have found them. Some people find these details interesting. I know I like reading them in others’ books. I write historical romantic fiction, which means my story is in no way real. How
ever, when a story is set in history, there are certain rules a writer should abide by. I say should loosely. I’m not much of a rule follower.

  To begin with, documented history states that Eleanor did not greet Emperor Manuel with King Louis. There isn’t much documentation on Eleanor from this time period, and I’m not sure if it is because things were stricken from history due to the annulment/divorce when she left French Louis for English Henry, or if it is because she was a woman and, therefore, of little note to the scribes.

  This leaves a lot of wiggle room for a writer’s imagination. Eleanor is a fascinating woman, and it’s verified that she did dress in red and white and rally vassals to go on Crusade and that she was accompanied by female companions. The Queen’s Guard as I’ve written it is completely fictitious, although my theory is that a woman as powerful as Eleanor had to have a serious network of spies and people willing to do her bidding. Women were thought to be weak creatures, though she certainly didn’t fit that category. Why wouldn’t she have trained her personal companions to gather information? They would have been beneath the men’s radar. It makes sense to me!

  There really was an eclipse in Constantinople while the Crusaders were there, although I made time pass faster in my story. There were leopards, and I tried to stay close to the actual facts of the Crusade.

  Mostly, I very much enjoyed writing the characters of strong women who defy convention and risk everything for love.

  Resources:

  Bayard, Tania, translator. A Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the Fourteenth Century (New York: HarperCollins), 1991.

  De Deuil, Odon. Virginia Gingerick Berry, translator. De Profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem: The Journey of Louis VII to the East (New York: W. W. Norton & Company), 1948.

  Kenyon, Sherrilyn. Everyday Life in the Middle Ages (Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest), 2000.

  Shoyer Brooks, Polly. Queen Eleanor: Independent Spirit of the Medieval World (New York: J.B. Lippincott), 1983.

  Weir, Alison. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life (New York: Ballantine Books), 2000.

  My thanks as well to various Internet sources.