A Sister's Crusade

by Ann Turner

  With a curse that visibly shook the old king, Richard strode out with furious determination to return to Aquitaine. He vowed never to reside under the same roof as his father again. Count Geoffrey watched on silently; he had been at the wrong end of his father’s temper many times before, being the least liked of Henry’s sons, and had learnt with cunning to turn it to his advantage. He would advance himself to his father as his now loving and loyal son. He would declare that he had never liked Richard. John was no consequence – he was the spoilt baby of the family. Geoffrey would become the favourite son for now.

  16

  When Rowena felt well enough, she expressed a desire to return to England and, along with Aubrette and others of the household, prepared to depart. Simon would remain in Chinon; Rowena was indifferent to this upcoming absence, the time spent in France had been full of sadness, but Aubrette was devastated and completely unable to vent her true feelings.

  On their last night together before leaving, Aubrette fell upon Simon with a desperate passion. He reciprocated and their lovemaking excelled any previous coupling.

  Afterwards, they lay content, warm and safe from the outside world and all of its troubles.

  ‘What will I do while we are apart?’ she asked, forlorn at the prospect of being parted from her lover.

  ‘You will be a good sister to my wife. You will comfort her with your loyalty and give her no reason to think we are one,’ he replied, steadily. ‘I will either return to Oxford or send for you both to join me here again. The king has already departed for Normandy and he is concerned by Richard’s behaviour, and fears he may declare war. My bastard brother Geoffrey is to return with our father, while I am to remain here and report any conflict on the borders of Anjou and Aquitaine.’ He scowled, briefly. ‘Bastard Geoffrey is to enter the church. I love him as my brother, but his destiny lies in a different direction to me and I shall miss his company. Geoffrey is to be the king’s man inside of the church. He has talked about Thomas Beckett and what happened between the two of them. My father is convinced Beckett works for him in heaven, speaking to God and his angels, so Geoffrey will be his go-between.’

  ‘What of Rowena? Will you return to her?’ asked Aubrette.

  Simon smiled warmly and kissed her. ‘I have said I will and I shall, though it will be for me to see you as well. I pray that she will give me a son eventually. Perhaps I should get Bastard Geoffrey to speak on my behalf to God. While we are apart, I shall consider the future of us all,’ he said.

  Aubrette felt a knot turn in her stomach. What did he mean? He refused to be drawn on his statement.

  ‘Let us not spend this last night in idle talk. Come, my beautiful mistress, satisfy me again,’ he enticed, throwing himself back onto the mattress and inviting Aubrette to savour his body once more.

  It was a quiet and wretched Aubrette who sat on her horse in the castle courtyard while Simon bade farewell to his wife. Rowena looked pallid; there were dark shadows under her sad eyes and her complexion was sallow. The miscarriage and the revelation of his wretched mistress had left her fragile. Aubrette watched as Simon held his wife close and kissed her cheeks in a show of affection, before walking with her to the litter, ensuring she was settled into it and covered in furs. After a final kiss to her hand, Simon approached Aubrette and her heart lifted. He drew the fur-edged glove from her hand and kissed her palm, before slipping the glove back on.

  ‘Travel well, my love. I shall write to you if I can, though I must write to Rowena first to let her know I still care for her.’ He glanced quickly at the litter. ‘In my heart, you shall reside until we can be together again, when I will feel your peach soft buttocks in my hands and taste your sweet breasts.’

  Aubrette leant down in her saddle so that no one would hear her next words. ‘Would you leave Rowena for me?’ she whispered, hopefully.

  ‘Now is not the time for talk like that,’ he warned, his voice low. He glanced furtively around and brought his lips close to her ear. ‘Not while Oswyn lives.’

  Simon stood back and shouted to the detachment of guards to proceed. The litter jolted into movement, followed by Aubrette on horseback and a few servants, then the carts carrying their chests and boxes bringing up the rear. Rowena turned in her litter and waved at Simon, while Aubrette turned in her saddle to look at him until they had passed through the gates.

  ‘He says I have peach soft buttocks and sweet breasts,’ Aubrette chanted softly to herself. ‘Peach soft buttocks and sweet breasts.’

  17

  The king was perplexed; his eldest son, also named Henry, was becoming impatient for the news that his father was dead. The plan to have his son crowned king while he still lived had seemed a good idea, as it would ensure an easy transition of power when the time came. However, young Henry assumed that once the crown was on his head, he would be treated and exulted as the King of England. King Henry had no intention of completely giving up his powers and this had led to friction between both sides. So, the king had sent his foremost knight, William Marshal, to accompany the young Henry and to pass on wisdom, brevity and patience. He needed to remind the young man that being a king was not all jousts, whoring and banquets.

  Young Henry remained at the court of the French King Louis, his father-in-law, where he was feted as King of England, which irked King Henry immensely. Young Henry’s wife, Margaret, had given him a son, but the child had died shortly after birth. The news of the death of Prince William at just three days old had disturbed young Henry and he began to see treachery in those closest to him.

  Margaret recovered from the premature death of her child and struck up a friendship with Marshal. It was platonic and there was nothing to be suspicious about, but young Henry had watched his wife and Marshal walking in the gardens of the palace, with their heads close together while Margaret’s light laughter floated across the air, and he had become angry. He assumed his wife was having adulterous liaisons with a man who was supposed to be his friend. He confronted Margaret and Marshal, and they both denied any wrongdoing. Henry was not convinced and began to plot to keep his wife and his mentor apart, while asserting his claims to be recognised and taken seriously as the King of England.

  He departed the French court, bringing William Marshal with him and commanding his barren wife to remain with her father. He would not admit this was banishment for Margaret, but he needed to keep her and Marshal apart. He feared that if she and Marshal had the opportunity, they would reignite their friendship. They would plot his death, elope and then marry.

  Another worry for young Henry was the quarrel with his irritating, war-loving brother Richard over the location of castles on the borders of Anjou and Aquitaine. The quarrel threatened to escalate into war. Each brother claimed ownership of the castles and Henry, with his usual frenetic energy, marched south from Normandy with his army. Their father, King Henry, came to mediate between them. Realising the castles were sited in Aquitaine, but only by several miles, King Henry commanded his older son to back down and give up his claim.

  The young king refused to concede and this forced King Henry, along with Richard, to take up arms against the older son. While riding to parley with his errant son, Henry had his horse killed from under him by an arrow shot from the battlements. Looking up, he clearly saw the familiar face of his eldest son, young Henry. The foolish boy had attempted to murder his own father before with an arrow that had fortunately buried itself in the king’s armour.

  King Henry was both distraught and enraged with this son – this viper in his bosom. The child was an idiot. To think that the young man could not wait for his old father to die, and had attempted to hasten the event, galled the king to the very marrow in his bones. He had wanted all of his sons to love him and he wanted to love them in return, but this desire of his would never materialise. The Plantagenet men would always turn on each other.

  To finance the war, young Henr
y had started pillaging monasteries in the region of Limoges, stealing their gold and silver, and removing precious gemstones from their settings on tombs. This was unforgivable and William Marshal, despairing at the young king’s actions, deserted his post, returning to old Henry with news of his son’s atrocities.

  Richard rode alongside his father as their armies had joined forces. It was a union that ensured victory over the foolish young king. An uneasy peace settlement was drawn up and young Henry was forced, humiliated, to swear fealty to his father.

  The young king had fallen seriously ill with dysentery soon after. Repentant, he demanded to be taken to Martel, where he received the Last Rites and lay naked and prostrate on the floor in front of a crucifix as penance for making war on his father and the pillage of the monasteries.

  Young Henry sent a message to his father, asking him to come so that they could be reconciled before his death. The king, assuming the call was a plot to capture him, ignored the message. A second plea arrived, but King Henry refused to read it. The third messenger arrived with the news that young King Henry had died.

  Even though they had been enemies at the end, Henry mourned the death of his eldest son. Young Henry had been a handsome man – too handsome, it was said. In a family of good-looking children, Henry was the one who made heads turn and female hearts flutter. Now, he was dead of dysentery at only twenty-eight.

  This created another problem for King Henry. His son’s death meant there was a new heir to the English throne: Richard. Try as he might, Henry could not love Richard. He was his mother’s boy through and through, and hated his father for imprisoning her at Salisbury. He had only agreed to fight alongside his father because of the hatred and stubbornness both brothers bore against each other. Richard had seen young Henry as a wastrel and a half-wit.

  He knew he was now heir to the throne, but it was something he did not want. Richard had no love for England. He was a warrior and a soldier. However, he would take on the mantle because it was his duty to do so. He was a man of honour.

  For Henry, the thought of Richard following him as King of England and all the territories in France was more than he could stomach. He wanted his successor to be a man he could trust and love. His third son, Geoffrey, count of Brittany, was the next in line after Richard, but Geoffrey was sly and conniving. He was disliked by his father almost as much as Richard. Geoffrey would never be strong enough to rule such a vast empire; Brittany, with his wife and infant daughter, would be enough for him.

  There was only one man Henry knew who fitted all the requirements of King of England, and that was his youngest son, John. Prince John had never been tainted by his mother’s malice and was therefore the only one of his sons that he could trust. It had to be John. He would be the next king, a good and strong monarch who would be taught and instructed by his loving father. If the barons of England did not like his decision, then more fool them. While he was king, Henry would force them to accept John as his heir and the next King of England.

  News travelled through Europe that Sultan Saladin had seized the Holy Land, and that he and his Saracen armies had captured the cities of Acre and Jerusalem. It was said that when he had heard this news, Pope Urban III had collapsed and died.

  The new Pope, Gregory announced that the fall of Jerusalem was punishment for Christians across Europe and declared that a crusade must be undertaken to bring the Holy Land back. Many men took the cross, vowing to free Jerusalem from the filthy hands of the infidel. They also saw it as a way to increase their personal fortunes by plunder and to receive absolution from their sins, thereby ensuring a place in heaven.

  Duke Richard heard of the call to crusade and his inordinate sense of honour would not permit him to stand by and allow the infidel to corrupt the most holy of places for Christians. He took the cross, receiving redemption for his past life of wickedness, and became determined to lead his army into the Holy Land and find glory by the killing of Saladin. King Philip of France followed this example, also pledging himself to the cross, and agreed to accompany him – their united armies would be a formidable force. Leaders from across Europe would flock to them once they set out on the long journey to the East. No one could stand in their way; they would recapture Acre and free Jerusalem. They would be invincible and their names would reverberate throughout history as the saviours of the Holy Land. However, when Richard thought into the future, he could only imagine victory for himself – never Philip. He loved the French king, they were the best of friends and enemies, but he was determined to have the glory himself. He intended to be the one people spoke of with reverence when they remembered this crusade.

  It was a call many men responded to – some took the cross in order to free Jerusalem, some were simply looking for adventure, while others wanted redemption from their sins or to make their fortunes. Simon also heard the call and, with conviction, took the cross and pledged to fight alongside his royal half-brother.

  18

  In Oxford, Rowena settled back into life at the town house quickly and began running the household again. Aubrette, meanwhile, found life in England tedious and monotonous.

  Rowena needed her to help with the day-to-day business and began to treat her as a sister again. She was happier being away from her husband; for all of the excitement she had once felt at the prospect of marriage to a son of the king, the years Rowena had spent with Simon had been less than happy. He had treated her with respect and had never been overtly cruel towards her, he had never beaten or abused her. However, he had openly boasted of bedding other women and had taken a regular mistress, though that little slut had been sent packing. Now on her own, Rowena looked and felt content. She had also stopped worrying about not being able to carry a child, as she had spoken to a wise woman whose rune stones had revealed that a healthy child would unify the family. The old woman had also given her an intricately designed amulet to wear that would bring good fortune and fertility.

  A letter arrived from Simon for Rowena. He wrote to say that young King Henry had died and there was an uneasy truce between the king and Duke Richard. He said when he hoped to return home to Oxford. The messenger also slipped a note to Aubrette with words of sexual desire, telling her how much he wanted her body again. She kept this secret from Rowena and read it many times that night by candlelight in her room.

  ‘My husband has written and has told me he will be returning home within the month,’ Rowena told Aubrette calmly, as they breakfasted the next morning.

  It was difficult for Aubrette to remain calm, and to not let her sister know he had written to her also. She controlled herself. Her lover was coming home and he was coming home to her.

  ‘Does… does he have any idea when he will be here?’ she asked, forcing her voice to stay calm, hoping the exhilaration flooding through her body could not be noticed.

  ‘Within the month, that is all he had said,’ Rowena repeated, steadily.

  These were to be long weeks waiting for Simon’s return. Rowena instructed the servants to clean the house thoroughly. She purchased new bed linen and drapes, ordered a new dress for herself and instructed the cooks to buy provisions and be ready to prepare a welcoming feast. Aubrette secretly commissioned a local seamstress to create a dress of blue material to wear on the first night they would be together. When it was completed and had been collected, she put it in her room and lay on her bed looking at it, imagining wearing it and Simon removing it from her body, panting with pleasure and expectation.

  His arrival was sudden and unexpected. Early one morning, Rowena and Aubrette were woken by hammering on the door of the town house. They followed the steward down the stairs, nervously peering over his shoulder as he opened the door, wondering who it could be. Neither woman could believe their eyes as Simon walked in. He had been riding with haste throughout the night, determined to get home after the ship had docked. He looked tired, dishevelled and filthy, but pleased t
o be home.

  After first curtsying and formally greeting her husband, Rowena entered his outstretched arms and he held her close, kissing her lips, telling her he was a changed man. The enforced separation had given him time to think and evaluate their marriage, and he would now be loyal to her, to love and honour her. He had admitted this as he had knelt before the cross, making a solemn vow to serve God in the Holy Land. He had had an epiphany and he vowed to become a better husband. As he held his wife close, Simon looked over her head to Aubrette and their eyes met. She saw his pupils dilate with desire as they held eye contact and she knew it would only be a matter of time before he came looking for her.

  Without even stopping to eat or wash, Simon swept his wife up in his arms and carried her, laughing all the way, to their bedroom. Aubrette listened as close to the shut door as she dared, listening to the sounds emitting from the room, imagining his arms around her, his body close, moving over her with effortless libidinous.

  Her turn came later in the day, as she knew it would. Rowena had been wandering around the house with a satisfied smile on her face; her husband was home and promising love, and she believed him. The absence had been good for their marriage and she was convinced it would grow stronger, and they would be happy.

  Simon had said he needed to go to the castle with important documents for the constable, sent directly from the king. As he passed Aubrette, he whispered in her ear to meet him in the stable. For this, she gave an implausible excuse to get away from Rowena and ran to her room, quickly changing from her plain, serviceable clothes into the blue dress. She brushed through her long hair and pinched her cheeks to make them redden for him. She slipped out of the house and hastened to the stables. He was there, waiting for her, aching for her.

  Aubrette ran onto his body and they quickly stumbled into one of the empty stalls. She pushed the shirt from his body and he impatiently unlaced her gown. He pulled the dress from her shoulders, and pulled its skirt up to expose her buttocks, squeezing them so tight she moaned in both pain and pleasure. His cock was straining to get into her; they fell onto the golden hay and came together swiftly with all the hunger and urgency their separation had enforced. He felt alive with Aubrette; she was begging for more, wanting to please him in ways his wife was disinclined to perform. He cursed in delicious pain as she sank her teeth into his shoulder in an effort to stifle her urge to scream at his provocative lovemaking.