He hooked his thumbs in the wide leather belt encircling his waist and began to pace the solar on legs bowed from many hours in the saddle. He strode to the prie-dieu with its pale blue cushion, wheeled around, and walked back to Maud. The two pups tumbled after him, joined by Maud’s puppy, the runt of the litter.
“I just don’t want to leave home,” Maud whispered. “Please, I beg of you, let me remain in England.”
“Where is the Queen?” Henry asked Aldyth, ignoring Maud. “Why isn’t she here to deal with this coil? Why are such tasks left always to me?”
“She’s in the chapel, Sire,” the Saxon nurse replied.
The King glowered at Maud. “I need not have asked. If your mother spent less time on her knees and more time teaching you the rudiments of proper behavior we would all be better served!” He took a menacing step in her direction, as if she were to blame for the Queen’s absence.
“Robert—don’t let him send me away.” In desperation, Maud ran to her half-brother, a sturdy youth of fourteen, with deep-set dark eyes and brown hair, a gentler version of his father. They had developed a deep affection for each other ever since Robert had come to live at court three years earlier.
“Think of all the merry times you will have, Sister,” her half-brother said, as he put an arm around her shoulders.
“There’s no more time to waste,” Henry said. “Robert, fetch me a riding whip from the stables.”
Robert’s face paled. He tightened his arm protectively around Maud’s shoulders. “Let me talk to Maud alone, Sire. I can convince her to be reasonable.”
“The time for talk is over. A disobedient child is like an unwilling ass. It must be made to obey. Get me the whip.”
“I’ll get one for you, Father.” Maud’s twin brother, William, flaxen-haired and blue-eyed, gave his sister a nasty smile as he ran from the solar.
“Do you think to shame me before the Emperor’s escort? To make me the laughingstock of Europe? By God’s splendor, I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget.”
At the ominous tone in her father’s voice, Maud’s stomach twisted into a coiled knot; terrified, she clung to her brother like a leech.
William ran into the solar waving a short leather whip in one hand. “Here, Sire.” He brandished the whip above his head with a triumphant smirk.
As far back as Maud could remember William had hated her. Jealous of her place in the King’s affections, which he resented sharing with a girl who was quicker at her lessons and more skilled at games, he lost no opportunity to be cruel, consistently rejecting her clumsy attempts to win his love. Now, enraged and hurt at her twin’s gloating expression, Maud suddenly leapt at William, knocking him headlong to the ground. The whip flew from his grasp, and he set up a loud howl as she fell upon him. Clawing, biting, pulling at his flaxen curls, Maud managed to leave several scratches on her brother’s pink and white face before Robert succeeded in prying her loose.
King Henry picked up the whip and slapped the leather thongs into his open palm. “Come here, girl, we’ll soon exorcise that willful demon.”
Maud clutched at Robert with all her strength but Aldyth dragged her rigid body across the rushes to the King. William continued to lie on the ground, sniveling and whimpering.
“Stop bleating like a goat,” King Henry growled. “You ought to be ashamed, William, letting a girl get the better of you. If you don’t learn to defend yourself more successfully, what kind of a prince will you make, eh?” He gave his son a hard look, before muttering under his breath, “I always said Maud should have been the boy.”
William turned crimson. His sobs abated as he rose to his feet and wiped his dripping nose with the sleeve of his grubby tan jerkin. Hatred gleamed in his pale blue eyes as he glanced at his sister.
As the King approached, Maud, her face white and pinched, slowly backed away. His hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder with fingers of steel. She twisted away from his grasp, almost wrenching her arm from its socket, then ran toward the bed, stumbled against an oak table, and fell to her knees. Quicker than the blink of an eye he was beside her. She tried to crawl under the table but his booted black foot barred her way. Maud saw his arm lift in a menacing gesture, heard the sound of the whip whistling through the air as his hand descended. Through her gown and tunic she could feel a stinging pain as the leather thongs bit into her back.
Her body sagged forward against her knees. She made no outcry but bit her lip, drawing blood. Tears welled up in her gray eyes and rolled down her cheeks.