The Queen's Lady

by Shannon Drake

  For a moment Gwenyth felt a surge of resentment on behalf of Scotland. She loved her homeland. There was nothing as beautiful as the rocky coast, with its shades of gray, green and mauve in spring and summer turning to a fantasy of white come winter. And she loved her country’s rugged castles, a match for the steep crags of the landscape. But perhaps she wasn’t being fair to Mary. The queen had been away for a long time. It couldn’t help that the French themselves considered Scotland a land where barbarians still roamed, possessed of nothing that could compare with the sophistication of their own country.

  Mary was barely nineteen and a widow. No longer Queen of France but ruler of the country that was her birthright, a country she hardly knew.

  The queen smiled at those around her. “We have won through,” she said with forced cheer.

  “Yes,” agreed Mary Seton. “Despite all those wretched threats from Elizabeth.”

  There had been a certain sense of nervousness when they had sailed, since Queen Elizabeth had not responded to their request for safe passage. Many in France and Scotland had feared that the English queen intended to waylay and capture her cousin. There had been a terrifying moment when they had been stopped on their journey by English ships. However, the English crews had merely saluted, and their vessels, other than those in Mary’s immediate party, had been inspected for pirates. Lord Eglington had been detained, but he had been assured of safe conduct after interrogation. At Tynemouth, Mary’s horses and mules had been confiscated, with promises of a safe return once proper documents were obtained.

  “This is quite exciting,” Mary Seton said, indicating the tall Scotsman.

  The queen looked out at the shore again, staring at the man in question. “He is not for you,” she said simply.

  “Perhaps there are more like him,” Mary Livingstone said lightly.

  “There are many like him,” Gwenyth said. They all turned to stare at her, and she flushed. “Scotland is known for birthing some of the finest warriors in the world,” she said, upset with herself for sounding so defensive.

  “I vow we will have peace,” Queen Mary said, her gaze still on the shore, then she shivered slightly.

  It was not the cold, Gwenyth thought, that caused the shiver. She knew that Mary was thinking that France was a far grander country than Scotland, offering far more comfortable accommodations along with its warmer weather. Much of the known world, and certainly the French themselves, considered the country to be the epitome of art and learning and felt that Scotland had been blessed to be tied to such a great power by marriage. In France, Mary had known the finest of everything. Gwenyth feared that the queen would be disappointed by the amenities her homeland offered.

  Cheers went up from the shore, as Mary offered a radiant smile. Despite their early arrival after five days at sea, a good-sized crowd had mustered. “Curiosity,” Mary whispered to Gwenyth, a dry note in her voice.

  “They’ve come to honor their queen,” Gwenyth protested.

  Mary merely smiled and waved; radiant, she stepped from the ship, to be greeted first by her half brother James and then the milling court around him. The people were shouting joyously. Perhaps they had come out of nothing more than curiosity, but they were impressed now, as well they should be. Mary had never forgotten her Scots tongue; she spoke it fluently, with no trace of an accent. Her voice was clear, and she was not only beautiful—tall, stately and slender—but she moved with an unmistakably regal grace.

  Gwenyth stood slightly behind the queen and Lord James. The towering blond man, Lord Rowan, slipped past her, bending to whisper in Lord James’s ear. “It’s time to move on. She’s done well. Let’s not take a chance that the mood will turn.”

  When he moved to retreat, Gwenyth caught his eyes and she knew her own were indignant. He wasn’t, however, cowed in the least by her fury; instead was amused. His lips twitched, and Gwenyth felt her anger deepen. Mary of Scotland was a caring queen. True, she was young, and she had grown up in France, but since the death of her young husband—not just the King and her marriage partner, but her dear friend since childhood—Mary had demonstrated a firm grasp of statesmanship. That this man should doubt her in any way was nothing less than infuriating. And, Gwenyth decided, traitorous.

  Soon they were all mounted, ready to ride to Holyrood Palace, where they would dine while the queen’s rooms were prepared. Gwenyth sighed softly. This homecoming would be a good thing. The people would continue to rally around Mary. Meanwhile, Gwenyth herself was content simply to revel in the familiarity of the truest home she had ever known. Though the day was a bit foggy, even what some might call dismal, the gray and mauve skies were as much a part of Scotland’s wild beauty as the rugged landscape itself.

  “At the least,” one of the young Marys said, “it seems that Mary will be adored and honored here. Even if it isn’t France,” she added sadly.

  Gwenyth was dismayed to feel a strange chill as they rode through Leith. There was nothing to cause her such discomfort, she assured herself. People were cheering the queen’s passage with great enthusiasm. She had no reason for uneasiness.

  “Why the frown?”

  She turned, startled, to see that Rowan Graham had moved up and was riding at her side—and regarding her with amusement.

  “I am not frowning,” she said.

  “Really? And to think I had imagined you might have the intelligence to worry about the future despite the fanfare.”

  “Worry about the future?” she said indignantly. “Why should I worry that the concerns of the world might impose themselves upon a queen?”

  He stared forward, a strange look of both amusement and distance in his eyes. “A Catholic queen has suddenly come home to rule a nation that has wholeheartedly embraced Protestantism in the last year.” He turned back to her. “Surely that is cause for concern?”

  “Queen Mary’s half brother, the Lord James, has assured her that she may worship as she chooses,” she said.

  “Indeed,” he said, and laughed aloud, which she thought quite rude.

  “Would you deny the queen her right to worship God?” she inquired. “If so, perhaps you’d be best off returning to the Highlands, my lord,” she said sweetly.

  “Ah, such fierce loyalty.”

  “No more than you, too, owe your queen,” she snapped.

  “How long have you been gone, Lady Gwenyth?” he asked softly in return.

  “A year.”

  “Then such pretense on your part is either foolish or you are sadly not as well-read or intelligent as I had imagined. You speak of loyalty, but surely you know loyalty is something to be earned. Perhaps your young queen does indeed deserve such a fierce defense, but she must prove herself to her people, having been gone so long. Have you been gone so long that you have forgotten how it is here? That there are parts of this land where the monarchy and government mean nothing, and devotion is given first and foremost to one’s own clan? When there is no war to fight, we fight among ourselves. I am a loyal man, my lady. Fiercely loyal to Scotland. Young Mary is our queen, and as such, she has not just my loyalty but every shred of strength I can provide, both my sword arm and my life. But if she wishes to gain real control as a monarch, she will have to come to know her people and make them love her. For if they love her…no battle in her name will be too great. History has proven us reckless, far too ready to die for those with the passion to lead us into battle. Time will tell if Mary is one such.”

  Gwenyth stared at him, incredulous. It was a heroic speech, but she sensed something of a threat in it, as well. “You, my lord, haven’t the manners of a Highland hound,” she returned, fighting for control.

  He didn’t lose his temper, only shrugged. She was further irritated when once again he laughed out loud. “A year in France has made you quite high and mighty, has it not? Have you forgotten that your own father hailed from the Highlands?”

  Was that a subtle rebuke? Her father had died on the battlefield with James V, though he’d not left s
uch a great legacy as the king. He’d been Laird MacLeod of Islington Isle, but the tiny spit of land just off the high tors barely afforded a meager living for those who lived upon it. Riches had not sent her to France to serve Queen Mary; respect for her father’s memory was all that had been left her.

  “It’s my understanding that my father was stalwart and brave, and courteous at all times,” she informed him.

  “Ah, how sharp that dagger,” he murmured.

  “What is the matter with you, Laird Rowan? This is a day of great joy. A young queen has returned to claim her birthright. Look around you. People are happy.”

  “Indeed,” he agreed. “So far.”

  “Beware. Your words hold a hint of what might sound traitorous to other ears,” she informed him coolly.

  “My point,” he said softly, “is that this Scotland is a far different place than the Scotland she left so long ago—indeed, even from the Scotland you left behind. But if you think I am less than pleased to see Mary here, you are mistaken. It is my entire aim to keep Mary on her throne. I, too, believe a man—or a woman—must worship God from the heart and as seems best, not turning upon details that have so torn apart the Catholic Church and the people of this country. Men of power write policy and interpret words on paper, yet it is the innocents who so often die because of that simple fact. I speak bluntly and boldly—that is my way. I will always be here to guard your Mary—even against herself, if need be. You, my dear, are young, with the idealistic perceptions of youth. May God guard you, as well.”

  “I hope He will start by helping me avoid the boors of my own country,” she returned, her chin high.

  “With one so charming and dedicated as yourself, dear Lady Gwenyth, how could our Maker not oblige?”

  Kneeing her horse, she hurried forward, keeping her place within Mary’s vanguard, but putting some distance between herself and the rough Laird Rowan. She heard his soft laughter follow her and shivered. He had managed to cast a pall over what should have been a day of unalloyed triumph. Why, she wondered, did she let his subtle byplay disturb her so deeply?

  She turned her horse back toward him. Riding was one of her finer talents, and she wasn’t averse to displaying her abilities as she swerved her mount, covered the distance she’d put between them, then swerved once again and rode up beside him.

  “You know nothing,” she informed him heatedly. “You do not know Mary. She was sent to France as a child and given a husband. And she was a friend, the best friend possible, to him. The poor king was sickly from the beginning, but Mary remained a dear and loyal friend—and wife. In the end, despite the wretched conditions of the sickroom, she never once wavered. She cared for him until his death, then mourned his loss with dignity. And as the world changed around her, she kept that dignity. As diplomats and courtiers from all over the world came with petitions and suggestions for her next marriage, she weighed her options, including what was best for Scotland, with deep concern and a full understanding of the statesmanship demanded by her position. How dare you doubt her?” she demanded.

  This time, he didn’t laugh. Instead, his eyes softened. “If she has the power to earn such passionate praise from one such as yourself, my lady, then there must be deep resources indeed beneath her lovely and noble appearance. May you always be so certain in all things,” he said at last, softly.

  “Why should not one be certain, sir?” she inquired.

  “Because the wind is quick to change.”

  “And do you, like the wind, change so easily, Laird Rowan?”

  He studied her for a moment, almost fondly, as if he had stumbled upon a curious child. “The wind will blow, and it will bend the great trees in the forest, whether I wish it were so or not,” he said. “When there is a storm brewing, ’tis best to take heed. The bough that does not bend will break.”

  “That,” she said, “is the problem with the Scots.”

  “You are a Scot,” he reminded her.

  “Yes. And I have seen far too often how easily great lords can be bribed to one point of view or another.”

  He looked ahead. Whether she liked him or not, the man had a fine profile: strong, clean-shaven chin; high, broad cheekbones; sharp eyes; and a wide brow. Perhaps it was his appearance that allowed him to be so patronizing without fear of reprisal.

  “There are things I know, my lady, and things I know about my people. They are superstitious. They believe in evil. They believe in God—and they believe in the devil.”

  “Don’t you?”

  He looked at her again. “I believe in God, because it comforts me to do so. And if there is good, then truly there must be evil. Does it matter to a greater being—one so great as God—if a man believes in one interpretation of His word or another? I’m afraid He does not whisper His true wisdom into my ears.”

  “How amazing. From your behavior, one would assume He did,” she retorted.

  He smiled slightly. “I have seen a great deal of tragedy and misery—sad old women condemned to the flames as witches, great men meeting the same fate for their convictions. What do I believe in? Compromise. And compromise, I propose, is what the queen must do.”

  “Compromise—or bow down?” she inquired, trying not to allow the heat she felt into her words.

  “Compromise,” he assured her.

  Then it was he who moved on. Perhaps he had decided he was wasting his wisdom on a mere lady-in-waiting, that he no longer found her amusing….

  “I shall tell the queen about you,” she murmured to herself, more worried than she cared to admit about the doubts he had planted in her mind. The barons here were indeed powerful men, men whose loyalty Mary needed to retain.

  Lord Rowan, she convinced herself as the day wore on, was a man to be watched, to be wary of. There was no reason to expect anything but the best for both Scotland, and the queen. The nobles had come to greet her with full hearts, as had the common folk. The very air seemed alive with hope and happiness. And why not? Mary offered youth mixed with wisdom, an eagerness to be home and pleasure at the sight of her people—whether her heart was inwardly breaking or not.

  Some things were true. Though Gwenyth did not believe her own beloved homeland was barbarous or uncouth, it could not be denied that the landscape was rough, wild and often dangerous. As could the Scottish nobles.

  No, this was not France, but it was a land with much to offer its lovely queen.

  AS THEY CONTINUED ALONG the road to Edinburgh, Rowan was pleased to see that prudence was evident in the populace’s welcome to the queen. People lined the streets, many among them costumed and employed to both welcome and amuse. Fifty men were dressed as Moors, turbaned, wearing ballooned trousers of yellow taffeta, and bowing the procession along as if offering tremendous riches. Four young maidens representing the virtues greeted the queen from atop a hastily erected stage. A child walked up shyly to present Queen Mary with a Bible and Psalter.

  There had been heated arguments before the queen’s arrival, with several of the Protestant lords desirous of presenting an effigy of a burning priest for Mary’s viewing. Many among their own number had furiously decried such an idea. There were some subtle hints as they rode past that this was no longer a Catholic country: burning effigies of biblical sons who had worshiped false idols, and a slight hint in the child’s speech that the queen should embrace the religion of her country. But none of it was heavy-handed, allowing the new queen to ignore what she might not like. And the festive tenor of the day was real; people were ready and willing to welcome back such a beautiful monarch.

  As Rowan carefully watched the activity surrounding the queen, he found his eyes frequently straying to her maid, the Lady Gwenyth, whose eyes were fixed upon the queen and those around her. The young woman was strikingly beautiful. In fact, all the queen’s attendants were attractive—something, he mused, that the queen probably allowed because she herself was so regal and lovely, so she did not fear the glory of those around her. It was something that spoke well of her,
Rowan thought.

  But what was it about Lady Gwenyth that drew him so strongly? Certainly she was lovely, but the same could be said of many women. There was something, he realized, about her speech and her eyes that he found most provocative. A fire simmered within her, a fire to match the color of her hair—not really brown, not really blond, streaked with shades of red. And her eyes, a tempestuous mix of green, brown and gold. She wasn’t as tall as the queen, but as even few men equaled Mary’s height, it was not surprising that her maids were all diminutive in comparison. Still, Gwenyth was of a respectable height, perhaps five-foot-six. She gave her loyalty, and did so fiercely. She had shown herself ready and able to argue her point lucidly and with an effective command of language. She had a sharp wit. He smiled, thinking that when she disdained someone, she would do it with a cutting edge. When she hated someone, it would be with fervor. And when she loved, it would be with a passion and depth that could not be questioned or mistrusted.

  A strange searing pain suddenly tore at his heart. Strange, for he had long ago accepted the tragedy of his own situation. He could not forget, would never truly heal. Yet he could not deny the carnal reality of his nature, though he allowed it free rein only when circumstances conspired to provide an acceptable mixture of time, place and partner. This girl in the queen’s retinue was never to be taken lightly, and therefore…

  Never to be taken at all.

  He should keep his distance, yet he smiled as he recalled the joys of debating with her. She was far too amusing. Far too tempting.

  Her eyes met his suddenly, and she didn’t flush or look away. She gazed at him instead with defiance. Understandable, given that he had dared to express his wariness about this homecoming. A homecoming that, he was forced to admit, was going exceptionally well, at least so far. He was surprised to find himself the first to look away, and to cover his feelings, he rode forward, nearer to James Stewart. Nearer to Queen Mary. The people continued to boisterously cheer her, but….