«I suppose». Alyce had been squeezing the wad of doughy bread into a ball, and she pressed it between her palms to form a flattened patty before tearing it into quarters. Across from Se, the other new-made knight, Sir Jovett, was watching her curiously, and she caught his eye as she reached across Se to hand each of them one of the pieces.
«Friends forever!» she whispered, very deliberately putting the third piece in her mouth and chewing.
«Friends forever!» they answered, doing as she had done.
«And take this last piece to my brother», she added, placing the remaining quarter in Se's hand. «Make him the same pledge».
«I will», Se promised, and slipped it into a pouch at his belt.
Alyce glanced toward the center dais, where the king and queen sat flanked by several of their great lords and their wives, and sighed.
«I wish Ahern could have come», she said in a low voice. «He would have liked this much more. Se, you and Jovett will write to me, won't you? I've missed both of you so much already!»
«Of course we'll write», Se assured her. «And better than that, I think your father intends to send someone at intervals to continue your training — probably Father Paschal. If we can, we'll try to persuade him that Jovett and I should be his escorts. Not that we'll get to see much of you, with you in the convent. But at least we can bring you letters in person».
Alyce smiled shyly, lowering her blue gaze. «Thank you — both of you. At least I'll have something to look forward to».
But the brief respite of the presence of friends from home was not to last. The orders of Keryell Earl of Lendour required the two young knights to depart the following morning, with but scant time to bid his daughters a proper farewell.
«Ahern wants us back as well», Se told Alyce, as he and Jovett waited for the grooms to finish saddling their horses. «It won't be easy for him either, you know».
«You'll make sure he's careful, won't you?» she said to both of them, not voicing the concerns they had shared with her about the new lady of Cynfyn.
«You needn't worry, little one», Jovett said fondly. «We'll look after him».
* * *
The drab, dreary days of winter seemed even more oppressive, once the two left. Alyce pined for several days, knowing that it was only a matter of time before she and Marie were sent away. Jessamy did her best to see that her young charges were included in appropriate activities, along with her own children, but Alyce found that the turning of the new year only marked the uncertainty of what lay ahead.
It was mid-January when the dreaded summons came from the queen. The two sisters had found an abiding affinity with young Prince Brion, and he with them, so they were inclined to spend many of their waking hours playing with him and minding Krispin, who was a mellow, contented baby. On that fateful morning, Jessamy came to fetch them from the solar, where the two of them were sprawled before the fireplace with Jesiana, Krispin in his basket between them, watching Brion tussle with a chubby hound puppy. Krispin was chewing on the ear of a stuffed toy that might once have been a cat or rabbit.
«Alyce, Marie, the queen wishes to see you», Jessamy said, as all three girls scrambled dutifully to their feet and Jesiana came to give her a hug. «Go now, please. She's in her bedchamber. I'll stay with the boys».
Both girls hurriedly adjusted their clothing and inspected one another's hair and faces, Alyce brushing at a wayward curl escaping from her sister's ribbon-fillet.
«Do you know what it's about?» she asked.
Jessamy inclined her head. «I do — though I think it will not please you overmuch. The queen informs me that you are to go this week to Arc-en-Ciel. Probably in the next day or two».
Alyce thought she had hid her dismay reasonably well, but Jessamy came to tilt her chin up slightly, also giving Marie a hug.
«You needn't look so glum», she said with a chuckle. «A convent education has much to recommend it; and Arc-en-Ciel is better than most. I would not let you be sent there, if I did not approve».
The sisters exchanged dubious glances.
«'Must we go there, Tante Jessamy?» Alyce said in a low voice.
«I'm afraid you must», Jessamy replied. «The nuns can teach you a great deal. Their discipline is firm, but their devotion to the Blessed Lady is sound, and their confessors seem tolerant of our race — so long as one does not flaunt one's powers, of course. My daughter has found it quite satisfactory».
«Has she a true call to the religious life?» Marie asked doubtfully.
«Of course. At least she assures me that she does. This is not to say that all who take the veil have a genuine vocation; indeed, some are even forced to do so, as we all know well.
«But that will not be your case, I assure you. You will find that most of the girls in the school are gently born, come there to learn the gentle arts and skills expected of noble wives and mothers. Believe me, there are far worse fates. I was younger than you when I was married off to a man old enough to be my father. The king hopes to spare you that — as does your father».
«I think I remember Uncle Sief», Alyce said quietly, after a reflective pause. «If the choice had been yours, would you have taken the veil rather than marry him?»
Jessamy shrugged, smiling thinly. «I was not given the choice», she said. «But I cannot say that I regret my children — who would be very different people, if a different father had been theirs. As for my marriage…» She shrugged. «It was no better or worse than most. Sief was not a bad man. And I have the old queen to thank for the fact that I was spared the marriage bed for the first few years, allowed to finish my girlhood in the household of dear Queen Dulchesse. Service to Gwynedd's queens has brought me a great deal of satisfaction».
Neither girl answered that comment, only bobbing dutiful curtsies before taking their leave.
«It won't be that bad, Mares», Alyce murmured to her sister as they walked, laying an arm around her shoulders. «Think of all we can learn. And we'll be safe for the next few years».
Marie merely bit at her lip and said nothing as the pair of them made their way to the queen's chambers.
* * *
They found Queen Richeldis seated before the fire in her boudoir, well-wrapped up in a fur-lined robe. Two maids were combing the tangles from her long black hair, recently washed, and her face was aglow from the warmth of the fire — and not alone from that, for she was breeding again, though she bore this pregnancy with far less discomfort than that of Brion or the ill-fated child lost in Pwyllheli.
«You sent for us, Majesty?» Alyce asked, dipping in a curtsy.
«Dear Alyce… Marie… come sit by the fire», the queen replied, indicating a place in the fur rug at her feet. «You may leave us», she added, dismissing the maids.
«Ladies, I have news for you that brings me little joy», she said, when the maids had gone. «The king has decided that it's time you took up your studies at Arc-en-Ciel. If the weather holds, you're to go tomorrow».
«So soon?» Marie blurted, falling silent at her sister's sharp glance.
«Pray, pardon my sister, Madam», Alyce said hastily, taking her sister's hand. «We know that this but fulfills our father's wishes — and we are grateful that we were permitted to stay at court until after the feasts of Christmas and the new year».
«Yes, well, you did turn many a young man's head during the festivities», Richeldis observed with a droll smile. «And not a few old men's heads as well, I am told. I suggest that you view your time at the convent as welcome respite from the marriage mart. And you needn't pack your lovely court gowns. The girls at Arc-en-Ciel wear a form of the order's habit. It's tidy and warm and saves squabbling over whose gown is prettiest. Believe me, this is useful. I spent some time in a convent school myself».
«In Llannedd, Madam?» Alyce dared to ask.
Richeldis inclined her head. «Ladies destined for noble husbands must learn reading and writing and ciphering as well as the domestic arts necessary for running a gr
eat lord's household. I hope you will make the most of your time there. Jessamy's daughter will befriend you, I’m sure».
«But, she's a nun», Marie said doubtfully.
«That's true», Richeldis agreed, smiling, «but she isn't a very old nun; I've met her. Not so many years ago, she was a girl just like you. Do give her a chance — both of you. You will need a friend there».
The slight waver in the queen's final words reminded Alyce that Deryni like herself and Marie would, indeed, need a friend within the constricted atmosphere of convent life, and she bowed her head briefly.
«I shall miss the children», she said quietly.
«And they shall miss you», Richeldis replied. «And I shall miss you!» She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. «In truth, I almost envy you. Most of my other ladies are decades older than I. Your presence at court has taken me back to more carefree days of my own girlhood».
«It has?» Marie said, brightening.
«It has!» The queen hugged the younger girl briefly around the shoulders and smiled. «You'd best be off now. I’m sure you'll wish to take a few things with you. And it will be an early start in the morning, I’m sure. The king wastes no time, once he's made a decision».
* * *
That night, the two of them supped in the nursery with Jessamy and her children, after which Jessamy helped them select what to pack for the morrow. Later, when huddled beneath their sleeping furs and coverlets in the bed they shared, the sisters conferred about the future.
«What will it be like, do you think?» Marie whispered. «Will the nuns be very strict?»
«I don't know», Alyce admitted. «But Lady Megory says that Tante Jessamy's daughter likes it there».
Marie's snort managed to convey both acknowledgement and skepticism.
«I don't want to wear a habit!» she said after a short silence.
«Well, we must», Alyce replied. «Think of it as camouflage, so that we'll blend in with the other girls», she added. «But Tante Jessamy says we don't have to wear the wimple».
«Thank God for that!» Marie retorted. «What do you suppose they'll teach us?»
«Not what we'd like to learn, I'll warrant!» Alyce said with a snicker. «Father wants us to learn lady-things, like fine needlework. And I think he hopes that Tante Jessamy will teach us some of the other things we do want to learn».
«She has to be careful, though», Marie said. «Even with the king as her patron, she daren't be open about what she is».
«No, and we mustn't be, either», Alyce replied. «Promise me you'll be discreet, Mares».
«I'll certainly try», Marie agreed. «Oh, Alyce, what's to become of us?»
Alyce merely hugged her sister close, for there was no answer to that question. Come the morrow, they would know all too well, for better or for worse.
* * *
Alyce had feared she would not sleep at all, as visions of what might be danced behind her closed eyelids, but all too soon, Mistress Anjelica was shaking her to wakefulness, a candle in her hand.
«Wake you now, little ones», she murmured. «You'll want something warm in your stomachs before you ride out into the cold. At least it looks to be a fine day dawning».
It was, indeed, a fine day, once the sun came up — bright and sunny, if very cold. The king had assigned a ginger-haired young knight called Sir Jiri Redfearn to escort them, along with half a dozen of the household guard. Jessamy had decided to bring along her nine-year-old, for a surprise visit with her sister. A maid also rode with them, for they would stay the night in the convent's guest house, and a manservant to manage the single pack horse.
Their little cavalcade was on its way not long after first light, wending its way northward along the east bank of the river, past the seminary called Arx Fidei, and then into the foothills. They rode slowly, perhaps in deference to Jessamy, for though fit enough, she was of an age to be mother of all of them save the maid and the manservant.
The short winter day was drawing to a close as their party crested a hill and came, at last, within sight of the convent's bell tower. The gold of the dying sun kissed the snow before the barred convent gates, and shone in rainbow shimmers on the mist beginning to rise as the day's warmth faded and the shadows lengthened. As they picked their way down that last slope toward the entrance, a bell was ringing out one of the afternoon offices.
«There it is, my dears», Jessamy announced. «Notre Dame d'Arc-en-Ciel, the royal convent of our Lady of the Rainbow. The order began in Bremagne, did you know?»
When both her young charges shook their heads, Jessamy continued affably.
«Well, then. Its foundation dates back several centuries, to the site of a very ancient holy well now contained within the grounds of the Mother House at Fessy, near Remigny. The well had long been a place of popular devotion, perhaps even pre-Christian, but one spring afternoon, after a very emphatic rain shower, an apparition of our Blessed Lady appeared from within a rainbow. It was witnessed by three young girls of noble family who had stopped to pray for a sign regarding whom they should wed».
«What kind of an apparition?» Marie wanted to know. «What did it look like?»
«Well, it's said that our Lady appeared as a young woman little older than yourselves», Jessamy replied, «arrayed in a sky-blue robe and veil and clasping a rainbow around her shoulders like a shining mantle. No one knows precisely what she told them, but within two or three years, they had gained the support of the Archbishop of Remigny and had persuaded the king to give them a generous endowment of land just outside the city, where they established a convent for the domestic education of young ladies of gentle birth.
«For their habit, they adopted the pale blue of the apparition's robes, with a white wimple and a band of rainbow edging to the veil. The vowed sisters wear it on a blue veil, and also on the bottom of the scapular — which is a sort of tabard or apron — and novices take a white veil with rainbow edging, but you'll wear neither — though you will wear the blue habit. Those who come for the school do not take binding vows, of course. Like you, they come for finishing as proper ladies, though some do stay — which you will not. But this will be a sheltered place for you to spend your next few years. I promise I shall stay in touch regularly.
They had reached the convent gate by now, whose arch displayed a rainbow picked out in mosaic tiles, and Jessamy bent to pull a tasseled rope that rang a bell within. Almost immediately, a tiny aperture opened at eye-level and a pair of hazel eyes peered out.
«Blessings upon all who come in peace», a musical voice said. «How may I assist you?»
«I am Lady Jessamy MacAthan, mother of Sister Iris Jessilde, and I bring two new students seeking refuge beneath the Rainbow», Jessamy said easily.
«Under our Lady's grace, all who seek shall find such refuge», the voice replied. «A moment, if you please».
The aperture closed, they heard the sounds of thumping, of metal against metal as a bar was withdrawn, and then a wicket gate opened in the larger door, just high enough for a single rider to enter, crouched down. Drawing aside, Jessamy nodded to her daughter, who urged her pony through the opening, then gestured for Alyce and Marie to follow. Except by special permission, men were not permitted within the walls of Arc-en-Ciel, so their escort would retire to lodgings in the nearby village for the night. Meanwhile, Jessamy and the maid followed behind Alyce, Marie, and Jesiana, and the servant with the pack horse gave its lead over to a nun who led it through the doorway.
Inside, Jesiana was already off her pony and hurtling toward a slight figure in blue robes and the rainbow-edged white veil of a novice. Three more blue-robed women were waiting a little beyond, on the bottom step leading up to the chapel door, all wearing the sky-blue veil of professed sisters. The one in the center, a handsome woman of indeterminate years, also wore a silver pectoral cross.
«Welcome back to Arc-en-Ciel, dear Jessamy», she said quietly, holding out both her hands in greeting. «And these must be the two demoiselles of w
hom you wrote».
«They are, Reverend Mother», Jessamy replied, dismounting. «And thank you for meeting us in person».
She went and bent to kiss the woman's hand and then embrace her. Alyce and Marie also got down from their ponies, coming shyly forward as Jessamy beckoned.
«Mother, these are Alyce and Marie de Corwyn, daughters of the Earl of Lendour», Jessamy said, with a sweep of her hand. «Girls, this is Mother Iris Judiana, in whose charge you will be for the next several years».
Dutifully Alyce and Marie came forward to dip in pretty curtsies and kiss the mother superior's hand, earning them a faint smile of apparent approval.
«I bid you welcome, dear daughters», said Iris Judiana. «Sister Iris Rose will take you to the robing room, where you may clothe yourselves in the habit of our order. We shall meet you in the chapel shortly, where you will be enrolled beneath the Rainbow. Jessamy, I believe your Jesiana has already gone with her sister to the parlor. You are welcome to join them for a few minutes, if you wish, while the girls prepare themselves. I believe you know the way».
«Yes, Mother, thank you».
With a nod to the mother superior and a wink to Alyce and Marie, Jessamy hurried off in the direction her daughter had disappeared. At the same time, the novice called Iris Rose gave the newcomers a shy smile and indicated that they should follow, conducting her charges silently into the cloister enclosure. Passage along a short stretch of corridor paved with encaustic tiles in cream and blue brought them at last to an arched door whose rounded door case had been painted like a rainbow.
«In here, please», Iris Rose murmured, finally speaking, as she opened the door and stood aside to let them enter.
The robing room was cozy and warm, near to the parlor where visitors were received, and had its own fireplace and several screens to provide for the modesty of those who used it. Several robes of pale blue wool were laid out on a table before the fire, along with a folded stack of white wool under-gowns and a pair of cinctures plaited of different-colored cords of rainbow hues. Fingering the lining of a dark blue mantle draped over a corner of one of the screens, Alyce decided that the fur was rabbit, or possibly squirrel. Not so sumptuous as the fox-lined cloaks she and Marie wore at present, but clearly the sisters of the rainbow did not intend their votaries to freeze to death.
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