The Fatal Crown(2)
“Maud! Where are you, child?” She winced at the sound of Aldyth’s anxious voice. Distant kinswoman of her Saxon mother, Aldyth had acted as combination nurse and foster mother ever since her birth. “I know you’re here, a guard saw you open the door. Maud! Come out at once!”
Maud’s heart thumped so loudly she was sure Aldyth must hear it. The puppy, struggling to be free, gave a sharp bark. Footsteps approached the tapestries.
“By the Rood, here you are!” Aldyth’s plump arm reached behind the tapestries, jerking her out. “What mischief is this? The Emperor’s escort is ready to leave for Germany, and I have run out of excuses to feed your father.” She paused. “He’s threatening to whip you.”
Aldyth scanned Maud’s appearance with critical concern. The thick, cinnamon-colored hair, twined with gilt ribbon, fell in two plaits to the tiny waist, framing a creamy oval face. From under dark feathered brows, luminous eyes the color of pewter stared fearfully at Aldyth. The slender body, almost lost in the saffron gown and amber velvet tunic, was stiff with fear. Aldyth’s face softened and she made a clucking sound as she straightened the skirt of Maud’s gown.
“No tears or tantrums, my child. The King is not to be trifled with this morning. Give me that animal.” She pried the puppy loose from Maud’s grasp and set it on its feet. “Come.” She held out her hand.
Maud shrank back against the tapestries. “I don’t want to leave England, Aldyth. Oh, please, can’t you find a way for me to stay?”
“What has come over you, child? You’ve known for months that you must leave in April. The betrothal ceremony is to be held next month.”
Maud stared at her in stricken silence. It was true. She had known she was to travel to Germany in order to become the betrothed of the powerful Holy Roman Emperor, a man close to her father’s age, ever since his envoys had arrived at the English court to ask for her hand a year ago. The offer had been presented to her as a great honor for the House of Normandy. At the time, the prospect of going to strange places had seemed exciting, an adventure she could lord over her twin brother, William, her father’s heir and the focal point of everyone’s attention. But now that the moment had actually arrived, she was filled with fear and anguish.
“Come, my poppet,” Aldyth continued in a wheedling voice. “Let us find your father and tell him you’re ready to go.” She held out a plump hand.
Maud’s lower lip began to tremble. “Where is Madam, my mother?”
“The Queen is in the chapel, praying you will have a safe journey.”
“All she does is pray,” Maud murmured with an unaccustomed surge of bitterness, wondering, not for the first time, how her mother had managed to become a queen when she behaved in all aspects like a nun. How could she have believed for a moment that the pious Queen would be able to protect her against her formidable father?
She knew it was wicked to have such thoughts about her devout mother, but at the moment she did not care; her pent-up fears suddenly burst out of control.
“Please, please, please don’t make me go,” she cried. In despair she threw herself onto the newly spread rushes of the solar floor. The soft grasses mixed with wildflowers felt cool against her burning cheeks.
Suddenly the door of the solar swung open with terrifying force. Henry, King of England and Duke of Normandy, strode into the solar, two greyhound pups snapping at his heels. He was followed by his only legitimate son, Prince William, and the eldest of his bastard sons, Robert. The King’s hooded black eyes widened in disapproval when he saw Maud on her knees.
“By God’s splendor, Mistress, what wickedness is this? Get up at once!”
Mortified, Maud rose hastily to her feet, brushing bits of grass off her skirts. Her father, his bull-like frame clad in rusty brown tunic and hose, the crown of England planted firmly on his dark head, folded thick muscular arms across a broad chest.
“What is the meaning of this unseemly behavior?” His soft voice held a threatening undertone. “The emperor’s ambassador, Graf von Hennstien, grows impatient to leave.”
“I don’t want to go to Germany to be married, Sire,” Maud said in a choked voice.
“Not want to go? Not want to go?” Henry turned to the two boys. “Did you hear that, my sons? I arrange the finest match in Christendom for your sister and the ungrateful creature refuses to go!”
Henry swung round and scowled at Maud. “What in God’s name is the difficulty now? Are you squeamish about the marriage itself? I’ve already explained that it won’t be celebrated until you are thirteen, but the betrothal ceremony has been arranged for May since last year. This was a convenient time for the Emperor and the plans cannot be altered now.”