Templar Prize

by Deanna Ashford

  ‘Of course.’ She spoke curtly. ‘I am not foolish, Martin. You will soon discover that I am right and you are wrong.’

  ‘I truly hope that is the case.’ He turned away from them and began to stride up the beach to join his men.

  ‘That young man is most irritating,’ Berengaria commented. ‘And quite wrong in his presumptions.’

  Edwina, however, feared that Martin might well be right and that it was the princess who was wrong in placing her trust in this so-called emperor. Nevertheless, she was only a lady-in-waiting and it was not her place to question Berengaria’s judgements.

  There was silence between them for some time and eventually Edwina looked up the beach, wondering when the men would return. Even though it was well past noon, it was still getting warmer and it might be prudent in the circumstances to find some kind of shade soon.

  Edwina dug her toes further into the sand and wriggled them, enjoying the feel of the rough grains against her skin. ‘When I was little I used to escape from my maids and run around barefoot,’ she said, wanting to break the silence even though Berengaria seemed lost in thought. ‘There was a pond nearby, hidden in a small copse, and when no one was around I used to strip down to my shift and swim in the icy cold water.’

  ‘Was that not foolish?’ Berengaria sounded horrified by such behaviour and Edwina found herself pitying the young woman. Most likely she had lived a protected regimented existence with none of the freedoms of childhood that most other people were allowed to experience.

  ‘I was safe enough. There was no one around to harm me.’ Edwina just happened to glance casually along the beach in the other direction and spotted a small troop of mounted men riding towards them. ‘I wonder who they are?’ she said, suddenly feeling very uneasy.

  ‘Perhaps it is our escort.’ Berengaria shaded her eyes with her hand and stared at them. ‘No doubt the emperor has sent them.’

  ‘It is way too soon for that.’ Edwina rose to her feet, her concern increasing as she noticed that the men guarding the longboat looked agitated and appeared to be beckoning to her. ‘I think they want us to return to the boat.’

  ‘Return to the boat? Of course not,’ Berengaria said. ‘There’s no need for that.’

  ‘But we do not know who those men are.’

  ‘They look like soldiers to me,’ Berengaria said coolly. ‘This is convenient, is it not? They will be able to escort us to the emperor.’

  By now Edwina was becoming even more troubled. One of the crew, brandishing his sword, was running protectively towards them. However, he was easily overtaken by the leader of the soldiers, a dark-haired man in a gaudy uniform, who was galloping straight for her and Berengaria.

  As a couple of mounted men stopped to restrain the armed crew member, the dark-haired soldier brought his horse to a halt directly in front of them in a wild flurry of sand. Brushing away the grains that had showered onto her skirt, Berengaria stood up and glared irritatedly at him. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I think the question is, who are you, my lady? You are the trespasser on our land, not I,’ he responded in excellent French as he dismounted.

  Berengaria stiffened and for a moment the plump, rather unprepossessing young woman looked incredibly regal. ‘I am Princess Berengaria of Navarre, the future Queen of England.’

  ‘Princess.’ He bowed, his manner becoming far more respectful. ‘How fortunate to come upon you like this. We saw your ship at anchor in the bay. My emperor was planning to despatch an envoy to your vessel to invite you to enjoy the pleasures of his castle in Limassol.’

  Riding pillion behind a Cypriot soldier was far from easy and very uncomfortable, Edwina thought as they at last entered the bailey of the castle in Limassol. She glanced over at the princess who was perched behind the captain, her skirts rucked up rather inelegantly to display her plump hose-covered calves. Berengaria seemed blithely unconcerned by the situation but Edwina had seen the soldiers take the two crew men captive and they had not treated them at all kindly. They had bound their hands and forced them to run behind the horses, tethered by long ropes to one of the riders’ pommels. If one of them had fallen they would have been dragged over the rough ground and might well have been badly hurt. Fortunately, both had managed to remain on their feet until now. As she glanced back at them, Edwina saw that both had fallen to their knees and were breathing heavily, clearly exhausted by their ordeal.

  What had happened to Martin and the others? she wondered worriedly as her escort dismounted and politely helped her down from the horse.

  ‘Not an altogether pleasant journey, but at least now we will be housed in comfort,’ Berengaria commented after she too had dismounted. She smiled at the captain who was handsome in a dark, rather swarthy fashion.

  ‘I will have you escorted to your rooms,’ he said, gesturing towards a skinny, hatchet-faced women who stood on the steps leading into the keep. Before they had left the beach Edwina had seen a soldier ride off so they were clearly expected. ‘No doubt you will wish to bathe and have something to eat before resting.’

  ‘First I need to speak to the emperor,’ Berengaria announced.

  ‘Regretfully, Majesty, he is not here but he returns on the morrow.’

  ‘How inconvenient!’ Berengaria exclaimed. ‘Then it will have to be a meal and a comfortable bed.’

  ‘Which you shall have.’ The captain bowed and then strode off to supervise the prisoners. They were being led down some steps, which appeared to go underneath the side of the keep, perhaps to the dungeons, Edwina surmised uneasily.

  ‘Noble ladies, this way.’ The hard-faced woman gestured for her and Berengaria to follow her.

  As they walked into the cool interior of the castle, Edwina was surprised by the opulent luxury that confronted her. It was far more elaborately furnished than any of the castles she had ever been in, either in England or in France; everywhere she looked there were gilded ornaments and oriental-looking lamps.

  ‘This is all rather exotic,’ Berengaria said disapprovingly as she looked at the ornate fabrics covering, the walls and the elaborately carved furniture and sumptuous, brilliantly coloured upholstery. ‘I prefer simpler furnishings myself.’

  They were escorted up a wide stone staircase into a large finely appointed room, which to Edwina’s amazement had a thick carpet covering most of the floor and gold-threaded damask curtains at the wide windows instead of shutters. There was a massive bed in one corner of the room and a large bathtub, which had been lined with a white sheet, and was now being filled with water by a long line of servants. Judging by the pleasant odour, the water was scented and Edwina decided that she would take the opportunity to bathe even if Berengaria refused to.

  ‘Your clothes need wash,’ the woman said in hesitant French. ‘You give me, I find more for you to wear.’ She looked rather disapprovingly at their plain woollen gowns. ‘Better clothes,’ she added emphatically.

  ‘First I want to eat and rest,’ Berengaria informed her.

  ‘No, bath,’ the woman said stubbornly.

  ‘We are guests, my lady. No doubt customs here are different and it would disrespect them in some way if we did not bathe,’ Edwina said, desperate to avail herself of the pleasure of the steaming perfumed water.

  ‘I suppose.’ Berengaria sighed heavily. ‘Then it appears I will bathe.’ She stood there and watched the servants file from the room, then turned to look expectantly at the woman. ‘You are dismissed.’

  ‘I stay,’ the woman insisted, crossing her arms. ‘Want clothes to wash.’

  Berengaria gave her a frosty look and walked over to the tub to dabble her fingers in the water. ‘At home bathing was always so chilly and uncomfortable. Navarre is much colder than Cyprus and drying myself afterwards in a draughty chamber was far from pleasant.’

  ‘It will not be so here,’ Edwina pointed out, ‘and you will discover, when we reach the Holy Land, that many houses there have separate rooms for bathing, with pipes that carry hot water so that
few servants are needed to provide such comforts. The Comte de Chalais has told me all about it.’

  ‘Even here, life and customs are so different from ours.’ Berengaria glanced back at the woman who stubbornly stood her ground. ‘I suppose I will have to avail myself of the bath but there is not even a screen to protect my modesty when I undress.’

  ‘Here.’ Edwina picked up a linen towel. ‘I will unfasten your gown, and then hold this towel out in front of you.’

  ‘So I undress myself?’

  ‘Are you not able to do so?’ Edwina asked.

  ‘As you are well aware, my maidservants have always done it for me,’ Berengaria replied rather curtly as Edwina began to unfasten the back lacings of the princess’s gown. ‘But I am quite able,’ she added stiffly. ‘Now be sure to hold the towel out as wide as possible. I have no wish for that woman to see me undressing.’

  As Edwina did as ordered, Berengaria removed her veil and began, rather awkwardly, to struggle out of her dress. Edwina’s widespread arms were beginning to get a little uncomfortable by the time Berengaria had rather clumsily divested herself of her shoes, hose and petticoats. At last she stood there dressed in a long, lace-edged linen shift, cut low at the neck, which displayed her plump arms and large breasts to full advantage. It made Edwina even more conscious of the skinniness of her body at present. Although the large amounts of food Stephen had insisted she consume recently were gradually helping to make some of her missing curves reappear.

  Berengaria was just about to step into the tub when the maidservant brusquely pushed Edwina aside and bent to pick up the princess’s discarded garments. ‘That also,’ she added, straightening and pointing to the shift Berengaria was wearing.

  Berengaria looked at her in disbelief. ‘But I always wear a shift when bathing.’

  ‘Wash this too.’ The woman grabbed hold of the skirt of the offending shift.

  ‘Stop her, Edwina.’ Berengaria tried to shy away from her.

  ‘I find more servants,’ the woman said in a decisive voice.

  ‘I think she means that she will bring more servants in and force you to remove it,’ Edwina explained.

  ‘This is ridiculous. She wants me naked,’ Berengaria said anxiously. ‘Tell her that this is no way to treat a princess.’

  ‘We are in a strange castle in a foreign land with no one to protect us. Do you not think in the circumstances it might be wiser to concede to her wishes? Bathing in the nude will not harm you, I do it all the time.’

  The woman was still resolutely clinging onto Berengaria’s shift. ‘Very well,’ the princess said. Jerking herself away from the woman, she glared at her. ‘Close your eyes,’ she ordered as she turned her back on her. ‘And you close your eyes also, Edwina.’

  Edwina had no idea if the woman had done as Berengaria asked but she closed her eyes, not opening them again until she heard a loud splash as Berengaria sat down in the water.

  ‘Good.’ The woman moved to put the discarded clothes in a woven basket by the bed. Then she walked back to Edwina. ‘Now you.’

  5

  ‘Is this not ridiculous?’ Berengaria gave a girlish giggle.

  ‘Indeed it is,’ Edwina agreed. She had bathed after Berengaria and, as the servant had taken away their clothes for washing, they had both resorted to wrapping the linen towels around their bodies to provide them with temporary clothing. ‘I do find it strange that they have not yet provided us with something suitable to wear,’ Edwina added with a trace of concern.

  ‘No doubt they will soon,’ Berengaria replied airily. ‘It is not as if they were expecting us. They may have had to send someone into the town to find garments appropriate for a princess.’

  Berengaria shifted rather awkwardly on her small stool. The low seats were all they had to sit on but at least they were the right height for the table on which their meal had been served.

  ‘I do not want any more,’ Edwina said as the princess eyed the last portion of spiced lamb and rice. The food was delicious but they had been obliged to eat with their fingers as there had been no sign of any eating utensils.

  Berengaria gobbled it up greedily. ‘It is a pity they did not serve sweetmeats as well.’

  ‘We can always ask the servants when they return.’

  ‘If any of them understand us,’ Berengaria complained. ‘That horrible woman seemed to be the only servant in this castle that has even a smattering of French.’

  ‘I know a few Arabic words, Stephen taught them to me, but I do not know any Greek at all.’

  ‘Stephen, the Comte de Chalais?’ Berengaria smiled knowingly. ‘He is handsome, though not quite as good-looking as my betrothed. You have a fondness for him, do you, Edwina?’

  ‘Stephen and I have known each other a long time,’ she admitted. ‘We were once betrothed but my brother decided that I should marry another.’

  ‘I do not judge you, Edwina. We cannot always help where our heart lies.’ She smiled understandingly. ‘I am a fortunate woman. I fell in love with my betrothed the first moment I laid eyes on him. Princesses are not often that blessed in their choice of husbands.’

  Berengaria cleansed her fingers in the bowl of lemon-scented water that had accompanied the meal. Then she picked up her goblet and finished off the delicious, rather powerful red wine. Edwina found that the wine was making her feel rather light-headed. Perhaps it was having a similar effect on Berengaria, who seemed far more relaxed and at ease than usual.

  ‘I like this habit of putting carpets on the floor,’ Berengaria commented as she dug her bare toes in the thick pile. ‘It seems a waste just to put them on walls as ornaments, does it not? Walking barefoot on these is quite delightful. And I must admit that wearing so little is strangely invigorating, although my priest would tell me it was sinful to enjoy such simple sensual pleasures.’

  ‘Surely it cannot be sinful to enjoy the freedom of our own bodies? After all it was God who fashioned them, was it not?’

  ‘I have never really thought about it,’ Berengaria admitted. ‘In the past I was expected to accept what I was told by my religious advisors and never question anything.’

  ‘When you are queen you can question whatever you want.’

  Berengaria smiled. ‘Apart from my husband. I doubt that Richard would like that.’ She looked rather anxiously at Edwina. ‘You will not tell anyone about this, will you? Such indiscretions must be kept secret.’

  ‘I would never think to tell anyone.’ Edwina found that she really liked this side of Berengaria, a side she had not seen before. Relaxed like this, the usually rather repressed princess was so much easier to get along with. ‘Even so, at present it strikes me that we should be more concerned about the fate of Martin of Edessa and his men.’

  ‘No doubt they are safe,’ Berengaria said with a serene smile.

  ‘Did you not see them bind the men they captured on the beach?’

  ‘Do not forget, Edwina, that they were foolishly brandishing their weapons when the emperor’s soldiers approached,’ Berengaria replied. ‘Once the Cypriots learn that my men are no threat to them, they will all be released. I promise that I will raise the matter with the emperor when I see him in the morning.’

  Edwina did not feel as positive as Berengaria sounded, especially when she recalled Martin’s warnings about the emperor. However, she just had to be patient at present. She glanced over at the window and saw that it was very dark outside. ‘It must be getting late, I suppose.’

  Berengaria yawned, delicately covering her mouth with her hand. ‘As there is nothing else to do, we might as well retire. You’ll share the bed with me, of course.’

  Edwina had already discovered that there was no maidservant’s pallet, on which she could have slept, stored beneath the large bed. ‘We have no nightgowns,’ she said, not certain that Berengaria would consider sleeping in the nude, even though she rarely wore anything in bed with Stephen these days. There was no point, he would have it off in an instant.

  �
�Then we will have to sleep in these towels,’ Berengaria said. ‘Although mine does not feel that secure.’ She readjusted the top so it covered a little more of her ample breasts. ‘I will get into bed first. You blow out the candles, Edwina. But leave at least one alight; I do not like total darkness.’

  As Berengaria went to stand up, the corner of her towel snagged on the table and somehow the basin of lemon-scented water toppled over and its entire contents spilled into her lap. ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed. ‘I am soaked.’

  ‘You cannot sleep in that,’ Edwina said. ‘I’ll turn my back and you remove the wet towel and get into bed. Once you are safely concealed under the covers I’ll spread it out to dry.’

  ‘But I’ll be naked in bed,’ Berengaria pointed out uneasily. A faint blush formed on her cheeks.

  ‘You can wear my towel if you wish.’

  ‘No, leave it be.’ Berengaria coloured even more. ‘I’ll sleep unclothed.’

  ‘The bed is large and wide enough for three at least. I will not even know that you are not wearing a nightgown,’ Edwina reassured her. ‘After all you may have to become accustomed to being unclothed when you are wed and share a bed with your husband,’ she added as she stood up and turned around. ‘I am not looking now, to preserve your modesty.’

  Edwina heard the princess scuttle towards the bed. There was a rustle of sheets and then Berengaria said, ‘I am safely in bed.’ Edwina moved around the room, blowing out the last of the candles apart from the one on the nightstand. Still keeping her eyes averted from the princess, she picked up the damp towel and laid it out to dry. ‘Did you mean what you said? Will I be expected to be naked in bed with my husband?’ Berengaria asked in a small voice.

  Edwina climbed into the other side of the bed, feeling the towel pull away from her a little as she slid between the cool sheets. ‘The king does not strike me as a man who will appreciate too much feminine modesty.’ Edwina glanced over at Berengaria who had the bedclothes clutched to her bosom.

  ‘But sleeping unclothed.’ Berengaria drew in her breath. ‘Would that not be sinful to share a bed with a man when naked?’