She and Arnou often rode horseback together. She gloried in these times with him, admiring his skill in the saddle, even if he didn’t quite measure up to Rowan’s ability. He wore gloves when he went riding; that’s how he kept his hands so soft, unlike Rowan, with his calloused hands. Time and again, she scolded herself for comparing Arnou to Rowan. Her former guardian was out of her life forever, and Arnou would soon be her husband. Best if she kept that in mind.
One evening shortly after her arrival, a servant approached the long trestle table while they ate dinner in the great hall. Looking annoyed, Arnou glanced his way. “Yes?”
The servant stepped closer. “I beg your pardon, sir, but you asked me to inform you as soon as we captured the traitor.”
“Ah, yes.” He dabbed a napkin across his lips while Allegra looked from him to the servant. “Follow the usual procedure,” the king said.
“Yes, sir.”
After the servant left, she glanced at Arnou. “What traitor? I thought all the members of the war faction had been caught.”
He waved his hand. “This is something different. You mustn’t concern yourself with these matters.”
She persisted. “As future queen, I want to know about these so-called matters. Now tell me to whom the servant was referring.”
Arnou sighed. “Well, if you must know, one of the leading landowners has protested my taking the throne. He doesn’t recognize me as the rightful ruler, one of the reasons why I desire your hand in marriage.”
“So he was arrested?”
“Well, of course, what else would you do with a traitor?”
But merely protesting doesn’t make him a traitor. However, she wouldn’t argue that point with him now. Fast losing her appetite, she set her fork down. “And what did you mean by ‘the usual procedure’?”
A scowl crossed his face. “Inquisitive now, aren’t we?” He sighed again. “All I meant was that I wanted the man interro–er, questioned. I’d like to know if he has supporters who feel the same as he. After all, I don’t want to begin my–our–reign without the loyal support of all the people.” He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, I see what you mean.” Put that way, it made sense. Why, then, did a feeling of unease grip her, as if he had left much unsaid?
He patted her hand. “Now, I don’t want you to worry your pretty head about state affairs. Let me deal with governing the country, and you can smile and look beautiful for all our subjects.”
Smile? Look beautiful? Indignation stirred inside her, but she would keep quiet for now. Later, she would have to deal with these concerns.
In the quiet that followed, she thought she heard loud sounds, like screaming, coming from below. The dungeon?
Apparently, Arnou noted her startled look. He laughed. “Servants, they get noisy at times.”
Has he no control over his servants? As if aware of her discomfort, Arnou discussed trivial subjects, relating gossip about the leading families of the country. She tried to respond, with forced laughter at his anecdotes, adding occasional bits of conversation.
Excusing herself shortly after, Allegra headed upstairs to her room. A throbbing began in her head, one of her rare headaches coming on. Since Elsa dined with the steward and his wife, she had no one to talk to. Too restless to lie down, she paced the floor, opening and closing her fists. Her sense of disquiet intensified, a definite suspicion that things were not as they had first appeared upon her arrival at the castle. She wanted to give Arnou the benefit of the doubt, yet his condescending attitude riled her. Some day before their marriage, she must confront him with her misgivings before she became his wife and queen of Fomoria.
The following day, while Arnou met with his council, she resolved to explore a part of the castle she had never seen, the dungeon. At one time earlier, Arnou had told her that murderers, thieves and rapists were jailed in the dungeon until their trials came up. That made sense, but it saddened her that the castle–indeed, the capital–lacked more humane facilities for holding criminals. From previous observation, she knew that the jailer rarely ventured below, and then only when a new criminal was captured.
While all the servants were busy with their tasks, and Elsa remained in her room, she headed for the dungeon, walking past the great hall and on down a long corridor. She hurried past the kitchen, catching the aromas of baking bread and onions, then followed another long corridor to her right that led to the blacksmith’s shop. Dressed plainly in a brown cotton dress, she hoped to avoid notice from any servants who might glance her way. She stepped lightly, lest her footsteps echo on the wooden floor. Reaching long, winding stairs, she descended one flight to the basement and on down another flight to the dungeon.
She took a deep breath before opening the thick wooden door to the dungeon. She wanted to see but remain unseen, for surely it would give the prisoners false hope to view someone at the door. As silently as possible, she eased the door open, thankful the hinges were well-oiled. The stench hit her like a blast of noxious air. Far worse, the sounds that came from the cells shocked and angered her–moans and cries, men praying for mercy. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the dark, then she saw every cell occupied, the men all looking like the lowest beggars. She closed the door and leaned against it for countless minutes as she shook all over, sickened by all she had seen and heard, struggling for composure.
She retraced her steps, determined to question Arnou about the prisoners. After searching for him to no avail, she found he had left the castle to visit a few of the leading families and would be away for several days. She garnered that bit of information from the steward, whose look of warm sympathy told her that he might become her friend. And she needed a friend besides Elsa, one who, she hoped, had influence with the king.
Day by day, she learned the names of the servants and the tasks assigned to each one. She considered the castle to be well-run, the steward a great help without whose aid the castle couldn’t function. His wife, amiable and competent, supervised the servants. While grateful that the castle was so ably managed, Allegra wished she had more to keep her busy. She often used the library, enjoying the wide selection of books, but yearned for more worthwhile activities. Soon, when Arnou returned, she resolved to ask him for permission to attend the council meetings. For that matter, why should she ask him? As future queen, she had the right to add her opinion and contribute to the discussions.
The prisoners in the dungeon became a constant worry, and she suspected that there was more to their incarceration than what Arnou had told her. On another day during Arnou’s absence, she headed for the dungeon again, determined to discover if the prisoners still suffered such distress. Possibly they had been sickened by food poisoning on her earlier visit. That would surely account for the stench. Reaching the dungeon, she opened the door and caught the same stench, the same cries. She realized that her suspicion of food poisoning was far-fetched, yet she feared arriving at any other judgment. When Arnou returned from his visits, she would question him, even if it meant risking his anger. Could it be he wasn’t aware of the conditions among the prisoners? She had to find out.
Arnou returned the following day, early in the afternoon. With a perfunctory glance her way, he remarked that it was time for his fencing practice, ”for I’ve been out of practice too long.” After his fencing practice, he gave orders for water to be brought to his room for bathing. Much later, as darkness began to fall, they sat down to the evening meal. Reluctant to discuss her suspicions during this quiet time, she decided to talk to him later that evening. He had just returned from his visits; far better to let him relax. Instead, he told her of his visits to many of the leading families, thankful he had gained their acceptance.
After dinner, she went upstairs to her room to talk to Elsa for a while. As a deepening darkness fell over her room, the maid rose to light the candles.
Setting the tinder box down, Elsa looked her way. “My lady, forgive my boldness, but are you happy here?”<
br />
“Yes, of course,” she replied much too quickly. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it seems that you have changed, just a little bit, mind you.” She sighed. “I almost get the impression that you were happier in Avador.”
Allegra sat, searching for the right words. “I just wish I had more to keep me busy. I’ve resolved to manage more of the household affairs, oh, not to usurp anyone else’s duties, you understand, but to complement their tasks. I’d like to beautify the castle and the surrounding grounds. For example, I’d like to plant a rose garden and other flowers, plant more trees.”
“Good ideas, my lady. The grounds do look rather bare, aside from the apple orchard.”
Allegra nodded. “So that’s what I intend to do, but I think it best if I wait awhile, give the servants more time to get used to me..” She paused. “Now, I want to go talk to His Majesty.”
She left the warmth of the bedroom and walked out to the cool, dank hallway. Rushlights on the wall gave dim illumination, the fires flickering in a draft. Thinking to find Arnou in his office, she headed downstairs but didn’t find him there. Strange, he surely didn’t go to bed so early, unless he was fatigued from his journey. Nevertheless, she retraced her steps and made her way to his bedchamber, several doors down from hers.
Approaching his room, she heard giggling from inside, followed by Arnou’s voice, speaking words she couldn’t make out through the thick door. By all that was sacred, what was going on here? Slowly, she eased the door open an inch. By the moonlight that poured through the room’s lone window, she saw Arnou in bed with a girl, one of the servants, she assumed. Arnou, soon to be her husband!
Rage and hurt resentment churned inside her. Tempted to slam the door, she forced herself to close it gently. Brushing angry tears from her eyes, she turned away and hurried back to her own room. What to do now? How to confront Arnou with his perfidy, his infidelity?
She jerked her door open and rushed inside. Elsa looked up from her reading in the adjoining room. “My lady!” The maid came forward, looking distressed. “What’s wrong?”
“Arnou!” she blurted, “in bed with one of the servant girls.”
“Oh, my lady, my dear princess!”
“He couldn’t wait for our marriage, oh, no! He has to take one of the servant girls to bed. “That you should discover this now, before your wedding!”
“Wedding! I refuse to marry him now. I’ll find shelter with one of the families here, or else return to Avador.” And what then? she agonized. Rowan didn’t love her. Where could she go?
“I’m so sorry that you should discover the king’s dalliance like this, but it’s the way of royalty.”
“What! You’re taking his side? Is there no one I can trust?”
“You can depend on me, my lady. I understand, and believe me, I sympathize. But this is how it is with men, especially those who are well-born. My own dear husband was faithful, I feel sure. But men of wealth and influence, especially a king, are not content with one woman.
Allegra folded her arms across her chest, her face still burning with rage. “I won’t stand for it, will not stand for it. I’ll talk to the king tomorrow, tell him I’m leaving the castle. I’ll be out of his life forever. I won’t have to look at him again!”
“My lady, is that wise? To throw all this away, your position as future queen, the good of the country? Can you find it in your heart to forgive him?”
“He hasn’t asked my forgiveness, how could he? He doesn’t know I caught him screwing one of the servants. I can’t live with him, can no longer stand to be around him.” Yet she realized there was more to her anger that the king’s infidelity. She thought of the dungeon, the stench and screams. Was Arnou unaware of the prisoners?
Elsa heaved a deep sigh. “Dear princess, I understand your feelings. But I fear you are going from bad to worse if you leave him. Think this over carefully, I beg of you.”
“I’ve thought, and I’ve decided. I’ll tell the king tomorrow.”
***
But when she confronted Arnou the following day, he answered with a cynical smile.
“Oh, no, you’re not leaving the castle, not after all I’ve been through to gain the throne. And let me tell you something else, my dear, I can sleep with whomever I want. You will stay here in Fomoria, and we will wed as planned, not too long from now.”
“Then let me tell you something, Your Majesty, I refuse to stay here. Even now, my maid is packing my things. I can’t get out of here soon enough.”
He offered her a mock sympathetic smile. “Ah, poor princess, thinks she can leave anytime. But no, you are staying here.”
Inwardly, she was shaking, but she would not reveal her hurt anger. “And if I refuse?’
“Ah, I can think of ways to make you stay. Your maid–what’s her name, Elsa? How would you like me to imprison her for life?”
Dizziness assailed her. Her face grew hot, then cold. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered.
“You think not? Just try me. So you see, my dear, you’re staying here.” He pointed a finger at her. “And let me tell you something else. If you complain to anyone or if you show by word or deed of your discontent, your maid goes to the dungeon.” He turned to leave, then looked her way again. “And if you think you can sneak away in the dead of night, know this.: I have ample men guarding the castle, inside and out. You wouldn’t get far if you tried.”
Fighting angry tears, she turned away. Now, more than ever, she was a prisoner.
Chapter Nineteen
In the following days, Allegra avoided Arnou as much as possible, yet for the sake of appearances, they ate their meals together. Elsa’s fate remained ever on her mind. Because of her maid, she must pretend that all was normal in her relationship with the king and that she was eagerly awaiting the wedding. She put on a happy face in Elsa’s presence, having told her she had changed her mind about leaving. Mindful of what a faithful servant Elsa had been, she had given her a few days to visit a friend who lived in a village close by.
One morning during breakfast, Arnou came to the table, a letter in his hand. Outside, a hesitant sun broke through a cloudy sky. Here in the great hall, a chill had settled over the room, despite a fire blazing in the fireplace. She drew her woolen shawl closer around her shoulders and tied it in front.
While the servants set bowls of oatmeal and mugs of hot tea on the table, she looked Arnou’s way, wondering at the contents of the letter but unwilling to ask him. She hated to admit how much she looked forward to any news from outside.
Arnou opened the letter. “Letter here from the Minister of State in Avador.”
“Donat Fand,” she replied. “I met him once.”
“Ah, no.” In the room’s semi-darkness, he squinted as he studied the letter. “Apparently Avador has a new minister, man by the name of Rowan Leinster.”
Happiness burst inside her. Rowan!
His eyes narrowed. “You know him?”
“Vaguely,” she lied, vowing to be more circumspect in the future. “I met him at a party once. I was just surprised that Donat Fand no longer served as Minister of State.”
“Well, an assistant from Avador brought me this letter late yesterday. I believe you were elsewhere when he arrived. The Minister of State–this Rowan Leinster–plans to visit us to renew diplomatic relations.”
He would come here!
Arnou scowled. “Stupid clod, doesn’t know a thing about protocol. Doesn’t give me much time to contact the leading families and arrange a proper reception for him.” He sipped his tea, frowning in thought. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll have an intimate dinner for him, just the three of us, when he first arrives. Then I’ll have a proper reception for him several days hence.” He nodded. “Yes, I think that will work very well. I’ll talk to my secretary shortly and have him send out invitations. Since all of the leading families live within a short distance of the castle, there should be no problem in their receiving the invitations in time. After cons
ulting the steward, I’ll be gone for much of the day, most likely won’t return until quite late. I need to talk to one of the important men in Maligigi, request that he serve as Minister of Coinage. Since I need other men to serve me, I will visit others and present the invitations at the same time.” He smiled her way, as if all was normal between them. “So the castle is yours today. What will you do?”
“I have plenty to keep me busy.” She sipped her tea as ideas brewed in her mind. When Rowan arrived, she must somehow find a way to speak to him alone. She had to escape the castle, could never go through with a marriage to a man she loathed, a man who could not even wait for the wedding, taking one of the servant girls to bed. Was she expecting too much, to expect fidelity in marriage?
Shortly after breakfast, Arnou headed for the steward’s office, and later she saw him ride away from the castle. The prisoners remained a constant concern. She supposed that casting criminals in a dungeon was accepted procedure. Thinking back to her childhood here, she had no idea if her father had imprisoned anyone but supposed he had. Yet to incarcerate a protestor, one who had only questioned the king’s legality, seemed extreme. Wouldn’t it have been far better for Arnou to have established rapport with the man and prove how ably he, the king, could govern the country?
The fact remained, conditions in the dungeon were deplorable. The stench alone was enough to make one gag.
Her mind made up, she headed for the dungeon again. The chambermaids were busy in the upper rooms, the other servants about their chores. She wended her way downstairs, past the kitchen and farther on, past the blacksmith’s. She walked carefully down the slippery stone steps, then down another flight to the dungeon. This time, she would face the prisoners, discover their crimes. Were they murderers and rapists, as Arnou had said? Or were they simply men who had disputed Arnou’s right to the throne? Most important, would they tell her the truth?
Allegra's Dream (Avador Book 4, a Books We Love Fantasy Romance) Page 11
