“What is it?” I ask, noting the strain on her face.
“The guard has told me Cardinal Bertrand de Deux has arrived.”
***
No more notes come from Joanna. The Cardinal is advising her now, and she must listen if she wants to keep her crown.
Day after weary day passes, with no visitors, no news of what is happening except the meager bits of information our guard lets slip. The Cardinal is staying at Castle Nuovo. He intends to reenact the homage ceremony of succession for little Charles Martel, giving it the legitimacy of Papal approval.
Each time the door to our cell opens my heart stutters, certain they have come to execute us. Our guard knows this, he sees it in our faces. He has begun to stamp his feet outside our door, as though there were many men standing there, before opening it to bring us our meal.
I count the lines scratched on my wall one evening and realize it is December. They will be preparing for Yuletide in the castle. Here in our dreary, damp little cell the thought is preposterous.
The bells of every church and cathedral in Naples ring out on Christmas morning. Sancia and I awkwardly wish each other a happy Christmas, neither meeting the other’s eyes. We have been entirely forgotten.
Not entirely. The disembodied voice of my great-grandmother comes to taunt me in the moments just before sleep and at the edge of waking:
“This girl will travel far from home and rise high above her station. She will be mother to a queen. Prepare yourself, for the end will be swift. She will die cruelly and all she has accomplished will come to nothing, crushed under Fortune’s wheel.”
I push away the dire prophecy and say nothing to Sancia, but I cannot dispel the gloom that has once more fallen over us.
Four days after Christmas we hear it: the tramp of several pairs of boots approaching our cell. Sancia stands up, her eyes wide in her pinched face. I stay seated, waiting.
The key rattles in the lock of the door to our cell.
I straighten my shoulders and hold my head high. From the moment I left my Sicilian robe in the dirt at Trapani I was committed to the golden crown prince and his unpredictable wife, to glorious Naples, the jewel of the Mediterranean, the sun-lit city of intellect and art and trade... and to the destiny my great-grandmother saw at my birth.
The door swings open. Four armed men march in. Two of them seize Sancia. She gives a little gasp but does not resist. The other two grab my arms and haul me up from my chair. We are hurried down the hallway and up the stairs and out into the front courtyard.
After so many months in our dark cell, I am blinded by the sudden sunlight and stumble. Even before my eyes adjust enough to see, I hear the roar of the people waiting on the streets to vilify us.
I shake off the arm of the guard who caught my stumble and walk toward the waiting wagons proudly. I do not fear death. If I had stayed in Trapani I would have died years ago, worn out with hard work and old before my time. Instead, what a life I have lived! Bowed to by counts and countesses, the confidante of kings and queens, my advice has ruled a kingdom! The things I have seen and done, the policies I and my family have implemented—a life worth living no matter what the cost.
“Courage!” I call to Sancia as they hoist me into the prisoner’s cage on the wagon bed. I stand tall with my head high as they bind me to the pole in the center of the cage. Staring straight ahead I begin to recite the Lord’s Prayer in Latin in a loud, clear voice. After a moment Sancia joins in from the second wagon.
The wagon shifts as the executioner climbs in behind me. The cage door clangs shut and we jerk forward.
“Maroccia,” I hear Sancia say as my wagon passes hers. She does not sound afraid. She sounds like she is murmuring a blessing.
I never got to see Maroccia walk. I close my eyes and imagine her toddling forward on her fat little legs, crowing with pride at her clever accomplishment. A little countess already, with her father’s noble blood in her veins. She turns to peek back at me over her shoulder, and gives me an impish, dimpled grin.
Walk, Maroccia. Walk into the future.
Maroccia takes another step and claps her chubby hands, laughing.
I feel my lips curving upward. I want to laugh with Maroccia. I want to clap.
My great-grandmother was wrong.
She did not see all that I have accomplished. She did not see the influence we had, the things that Fortune’s wheel can never crush. And she did not see little Maroccia walk.
Little Countess Maroccia.
The Neapolitan nobility—perhaps one day the Angevins themselves—are marked forever with the blood of a fisherman’s daughter and an African slave.
Author’s Note
Most of the people and main events in this story are historically accurate. I have invented their conversations and a few scenes, such as the opening scene at the river and the scenes between Philippa and Raymond. The facts of this story were recorded by Boccaccio, a contemporary of King Robert, who visited Naples often and knew not only the royals but also Philippa and Raymond. Boccaccio wrote a full chapter on Phillipa’s life in his book, The Fates Of Illustrious Men. (Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York, 1965) In this account he speaks disparagingly of Raymond, echoing the sentiment of the times: “What a ridiculous thing to see an African from a slave prison, from the vapor of the kitchen, standing before Robert, the King, performing royal service for the young nobleman, governing the court and making laws for those in power!” He records Philippa’s rise in the court of King Robert and Queen Sancia, stating, “...for nothing serious, arduous, or great was accomplished unless it was approved by Robert, Philippa, and Sancia.” I also read Joanna’s biography, (The Lady Queen, by Nancy Goldstone) which quotes letters and court records of the time.
I have tried to portray Naples in the 14th century as accurately as I can, by travelling to Naples twice, speaking to historians there, and visiting the streets, castles, and cathedrals mentioned in the book which still exist. However, it is likely I have made some errors, for which I beg my readers’ indulgence.
The 15th century picture of Naples on the back shows Naples as it would have looked when Philippa was there, although the long pier would not have been there then. The cover picture is a painting of Philippa made to go with Boccaccio’s account of her. It was painted shortly after her death, and depicts the major events of her life: breastfeeding infant Charles, her marriage to Raymond, and in the top right, which has been omitted on the cover, her death.
The Girl Who Would Be Queen
The Girl Who Tempted Fortune is the second novel in the Kingdom of Naples series. If you enjoyed it you will also enjoy The Girl Who Would Be Queen. Here’s a little about it:
The Girl Who Would Be Queen
Ruling a kingdom in the 14th Century was no task for a woman.
When King Robert of Naples died in 1342, beautiful, sixteen-year-old Joanna and her younger sister Maria became the heirs to one of the largest, wealthiest and most sophisticated kingdoms in Europe.
Born in a male-dominated world in the passionate south of Italy and surrounded by ambitious male cousins with an equal claim to the crown, will these sisters be able to maintain control over their kingdom? With only their wits, beauty, and the love of their people to aid them, Joanna and Maria, bound together by their strong love and fierce rivalry, are prepared to do anything to hold onto their beloved Kingdom.
But can they survive a kidnapping, court intrigues, civil war, and a royal murder from tearing their Kingdom apart? Find the answer in this gripping true story of 14th Century Europe.
Praise for The Girl Who Would Be Queen:
"Absolutely fascinating!" ~D. D., Amazon reader
"Be prepared for the ride – once you start, you won’t want to stop reading until the princesses meet their fates." ~ Barbara B., Amazon reader.
"I couldn't breeze through this detail-rich book, nor could I put it down. It's a historical drama, first and foremost, but one leavened with romance, betrayal, greed and disco
very." ~R, Campbell, Amazon reader.
"If you love the historical genre this is a must read." M.48, Amazon reader.
"Definitely a great read! I want more!" ~Tajuana, Amazon reader.
Buy The Girl Who Would Be Queen at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NV148DP
And please consider posting a short review on Amazon of The Girl Who Tempted Fortune. I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
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