The Rebuilding--Chapter Three

[Evie]

Previous chapter: https://rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3533.0.html


Chapter Three

January 7, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The King's Study
Morning

King Nicholas worked his way through the small pile of correspondence, heartily thankful that it was mostly of the usual sort and not the wartime military dispatches he had grown all too accustomed to during the previous year. An unusual message in the stack caught his eye, not the usual sort of folded parchment or vellum sealed with wax and the signet stamp of some knight or great lord of Gwynedd, but a much more humble-looking sheet of rough paper, folded and sealed with what appeared to be a blob of candle wax mashed under someone's thumb. It was not unheard of for a commoner to send a message to the King, but normally even those would be on finer paper, sealed with a merchant's personal stamp or one with the mark of some trade guild. Curious and somewhat amused by this slight deviation from the routine, and needing some diversion from the boring task at hand, the King reached for this crude-looking message.

His amusement died as he broke the brittle seal and surveyed the contents of the letter. "Bloody hell...." Stronger language came to mind as he reread it in its entirety, anger mingling with bewilderment.

"Your Majesty?" his squire Oisin said inquiringly as he watched the king's reaction to the odd-looking message. "Is it bad news?"

"It's certainly not good news!" the king replied, finally looking up at his squire. "Go and find my brother at once, and also the King's Champion. And once they arrive, inform the guard that we are not to be disturbed."

#

January 7, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The King's Study
Late Morning

Prince Camber read the roughly penned message again, this time deciphering the badly scrawled and misspelled text a little more easily, having struggled through it once earlier.

Fer Tha raysin o Tha layt kIng Kinnilis riteful air fer nin yeers fatherd On a formir Chamermayd secretly wed with him ten Yeers ago at rhaymith paymint is Do five hunerd sovrins fer me payns Leev it in a sack in tha hollo tree in kingsmeed at thee rivers fork. If yoo do not I will sel tha storee to tha peny Brodsheets fer me rekonpens.

Attempting it aloud, he repeated for Joss's benefit, "For the raising of the late King Cinhil's rightful heir for nine years, fathered on a former chambermaid secretly wed with him ten years ago at Rhemuth, payment is due five hundred sovereigns for my pains. Leave it in a sack in the hollow tree in Kingsmeade at the river's fork. If you do not, I will sell the story to the penny broadsheets for my recompense."

Duke Joscelin gave an unamused snort. "Surely whoever sent this couldn't possibly have thought it would be convincing? I might be able to imagine Cinhil having a dalliance with a chambermaid ten years ago–God knows we've all had our share of such offers over the years!--but he would hardly have been stupid enough to promise marriage to one, much less follow through with it! There was only one woman at that time who he might have been tempted to contract a marriage with, secret or otherwise, but Aoife of Llyr sure as hell isn't a chambermaid!"

"Oh, I don't believe the claim either," said the King, "but this was enclosed inside the letter." He pushed a second piece of paper across his desk towards them, this one of slightly better quality than the first, the edges trimmed into a neat rectangle. A sketch of a boy's face stared up at them, the artwork somewhat amateurish yet recognizably Haldane in its features.

"Sweet Jesu!" breathed Joss, glancing at Prince Camber.

Camber picked up the portrait, studying it closely, his face growing pale. "Merde alors!"  Putting it back on the desk, he picked up the letter again, this time closing his eyes and focusing as he brushed a finger across what remained of the wax seal. A man's face briefly flitted through his mind.

"Joss...do you remember the man you pointed out in the crowd a few days ago after the Coronation? The one glaring at me as if looks could kill?"

"What man was this?" Colin asked sharply, hearing about this incident for the first time.

The King's Champion Mind-Shared his memory of the incident with the King. "He looked vaguely familiar to both of us," Joss said, "but I'm not sure why. Do you recognize him?"

Colin thought back, trying to recall if he might have seen the man in question ten years earlier, and in what context. At last he had a glimmer of a memory of a younger man with the same coloring and facial features, only better dressed in Haldane household livery and appearing in better health. The younger man's habitual expression was less surly but his eyes held a similar arrogance. Colin felt sure he could place the man now.

"I think that's Jarvis Pratt. He worked as one of Father's stable hands for a few months, until his carelessness got one of our horses killed. If I remember rightly, he had a bit of a temper and a tendency to overindulge in drink also." Colin frowned in thought. "But this is an odd way to seek revenge, ten years after the fact. I don't suppose any of our chambermaids actually did happen to fall pregnant around that time, or at least leave Rhemuth close to the same time he was sent packing? Maybe that's what gave him the notion to invent a Haldane heir and blame it on a chambermaid?"

Camber studied the picture quietly. "Ten years ago, I would have been fourteen," he said.

Joss and Colin looked at him. "Yes..." Colin prompted.

Camber closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat, a pained expression on his face. "I was a stupid, thoughtless little git at fourteen. Not stupid enough to secretly marry a chambermaid, but I might have fathered a child on one."

"One that you knew about and tried to hide rather than provide for?" Colin asked, his voice growing dangerously quiet.

"No! Sweet Jesu, no! I would have taken responsibility, if I knew. I wasn't that much of a git! But...I'm just thinking, this boy looks only a little bit like Cinhil." Camber sighed. "Look at him again. He looks a lot like that limning Miranda made of me when she was learning how to paint portraiture."

The king dropped his eyes to the sketch, then back to his brother's face. "Crap. So which of your former pretty lights of love left Rhemuth around ten years ago?"

Camber thought back. "I'm not sure. Margery Cobb left around that time, but I heard a rumor not long afterwards that she'd had some sort of accident involving an overturned cart and died. Annie Cooper's father found a husband for her, but I've seen her with her family in Rhemuth several times since then when riding past their stall in Market Square, and all of her children are little copper-topped redheads. Emma Yonge left suddenly too. I heard she eloped with someone and that they'd left Rhemuth together."

"That's what I remember!" Joss murmured under his breath.

"What is?" Colin asked.

"Emma was the cheerful blonde girl from Jenas, wasn't she?" Joss asked. "I spotted her flirting with that stable hand Jarvis about a week before King Uthyr released him from service. It struck me as odd at the time because I had seen them together just a month earlier, and she hadn't seemed all that impressed by him then. I had meant to warn her off him next time I saw her, because there was something about him that seemed off and Emma was a sweet and kind-hearted girl, if a bit too free with her favors for her own good, but then Jarvis ended up killing the King's horse and got flogged for it and dismissed from service, and I never saw Emma after that. It didn't enter my mind that they might have left Rhemuth together."

"I suppose we need to find out where Jarvis Pratt is keeping himself these days," said Colin, "and also discover if Emma is actually with him or if their disappearance around the same time is merely coincidental. Though I suspect you're right, Camber–if this boy is actually a Haldane and doesn't simply bear a remarkable resemblance to us, I'd bet my new Andelonian stallion on you having sired him rather than Cinhil. Ten years ago, I was already firmly committed to Mellie, and while Cinhil wasn't wed to Alixa yet, I don't think he'd have been dallying with chambermaids while carrying on a clandestine romance with Aoife of Llyr. He had too much affection and respect for Aoife to be bedding other women on the side while attempting to court her. And our father only had eyes for Maman, so it seems likely we can count out any chance of him siring a child on one of our domestic servants as well. He'd have known all too well how badly Maman would have reacted to that, had she ever found out!"

"You know, there's also the possibility someone drew a sketch of some completely made-up boy who happens to resemble a young Haldane just to wind you up and make it seem more plausible that Cinhil left behind a secret heir, so Jarvis–or whoever is behind this–could extort money from you," Joss observed.

"True," said Camber, "though that wouldn't explain Jarvis glaring daggers at me unless he simply hates all Haldanes on general principle. I certainly had nothing to do with getting him dismissed from Father's service!"

"If a man can't accept responsibility for his own failures, and prefers to blame your late father for his misfortunes instead, do you think he would be rational enough to avoid shifting blame onto your father's sons now that your father is well beyond his reach?" asked Joss. "During the short time he was in service here, Jarvis seemed always to be looking for some axe to grind, some other person to blame when things went awry, or some trifling reason to take offense. Even if he hadn't been careless with the horse feed, I'm sure it would have only been a matter of time before he found himself dismissed for insolence or some other cause. If nothing else, his drunken binges on his half-days off were setting a poor example for some of the younger stable lads."

"In any case, if the lad is Camber's child or any other Haldane's, we'd need to see him properly provided for," said Colin, "but as this particular child is being put forward as a potential pretender to the throne, it's especially urgent that we investigate if he actually exists. And the extortion attempt needs to be dealt with. Merely asking for financial support or reimbursement for raising a Haldane child would be one thing, but threatening to sell a story about some alleged secret marriage entered into by our late King who is no longer around to counter those allegations, and thereby claiming this boy is the rightful heir to Gwynedd, is nothing short of treason."

Camber paled. "I'm sure the boy himself is unaware of that, at his young age! Chances are he knows nothing about any of this. I'd lay money on this plot being all Jarvis's doing."

"Likewise," the King agreed. "No worries, I'm not looking to string a nine-year-old nephew up on the gallows. Nor will I seek to harm his mother, should she prove to be innocent of any complicity in the matter. Jarvis, on the other hand, has just signed his death warrant with that extortion attempt and thumbprint."

#

January 7, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The Queen's Tower
Morning

The Dowager Queen Alixa sat in her solar in the Queen's Tower, sewing a gown for her daughter Cynewyn to wear once she was a little older. At the rate the infant was growing, Alixa worried that by the time she managed to finish the garment, Cynewyn might be ready to wear it already. Queen Catalina had taught her how to add a tiny border of protective stitchwork around the hem of the gown, but though the border also added an element of decorative ornamentation that was very pretty, it was also a little time-consuming and energy-depleting to create, so Alixa preferred to work on the design for only short stretches at a time.

Beside her, the Princess Cécile finished her writing assignment. Although Lord Riordan had returned to Andelon the previous October, he had agreed to continue making monthly visits to assign the young Jouvian princess some basic studies to help her catch up on the education she had missed during the years since their mother Éloïse of Joux had died, at least until Alixa managed to interview and hire a suitable tutor to continue Cécile's studies. Even in the short time Lord Riordan had worked with Cécile, she had shown remarkable improvement in her ability to read and write, and was getting better at comprehending longer passages of written material. Her Gwyneddan had grown nearly fluent from daily use, though Alixa wanted her to feel more comfortable with the basics of reading and writing her own native language and Gwyneddan before pushing her to add any additional languages to her knowledge base. In truth, Alixa was still quite behind when it came to learning other languages herself, though she could manage simple Latin and very rudimentary conversation in Andelonian now and had learned a few basic phrases in Torenthi. Fortunately Camber had the linguistic proficiency that she lacked.

Noella, Countess of Kierney, entered the room. During their month of shared confinement together after their babies were born, Alixa had grown close to the Borderer and regretted that Noella would be unable to accompany her when she returned to Joux, but as she was Kierney's Countess, her husband could hardly spare his wife much longer here at the Court at Rhemuth now that things in Kierney were returning back to normal after the war, much less allow her to go abroad to a foreign court across the Southern Sea. But for now, Noella had kindly offered to assist Alixa with setting up and helping to train a suitable household who would be able to accompany her upon her return to Trebaçeaux.

"I just spoke to the Duke of Corwyn," Countess Noella informed Alixa, "and while he is still wavering a bit, I think he is starting to lean towards allowing Lady Gabrielle to accompany you, as long as Lady Marissa can also join you, which I also think would be very beneficial. Having a matron with decades of experience to draw upon, but who still possesses a lot of youthful vitality for her age and the eagerness to experience new things that Lady Marissa has, can only be an asset. And as I recall, her late husband was also an ambassador to the Court of Orsal and Tralia, so she might be a good mentor to help guide you in navigating your relationship with the Hort."

"That would be very helpful indeed," agreed Alixa. "And were you able to speak with Lord Geoffrey? I was very impressed by his daughter Abigail when he presented her at Christmas Court, and Sir Sebastian has informed me that she has some training as an intelligencer, but that it would be best not to mention that if I should choose to speak with their mother about taking her into my household. Certainly I would not wish to put the girl in harm's way, but having someone who is a trained listener and who is worldly-wise enough to know when to be wary would be helpful. My one concern about Lady Gabrielle is that she might be a little too green for the Jouvian Court yet."

"I was only able to speak with Lord Geoffrey in passing, but he said he would convey the invitation to his daughter on his next visit to Tre-Arilan. As for Lady Gabrielle's naïveté, that's also her brother's chief concern, though I think he's rather hopeful that his heiress won't be able to get herself into too much trouble if she spends most of her days in your solar and her evenings under Lady Marissa's watchful eye. But Gabrielle and Abigail are also very close in age, so if they turn out to have compatible personalities, it could be that a friendship with Abigail will help Gabrielle become more aware of possible dangers she is currently heedless to. Sometimes at that age, it's easier to dismiss a brother's or even a beloved chaperone's advice as mere fuss and bother over nothing, but having a friend her own age expressing the same cautions might make her take more note of them."

"Let's hope." Alixa glanced at the short list Countess Noella held out to her. "So, the Jouvian defectors who have taken refuge at our Court are willing to return with us after all?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, or at least the comte and the chevalier with the Healing gift have, provided it is safe for them to do so. You must admit, it would be very difficult for any Jouvian who once fought in Prince Rémy's forces, however unwillingly, to find a place and a means of livelihood in Gwynedd, and the King can hardly keep them housed here under his protection forever. At least that wouldn't be much of a life for them even if he did. So the Count of Morigny and the Chevalier de L'Orme are very willing to swear fealty to you and enter your household service. As for the other two Jouvians, I think they are taking more of a 'wait and see' approach, wanting to be certain you can actually hold on to the throne you intend to claim before risking a return to the kingdom of their birth. "

"I suppose that's understandable, though I'm glad at least two of them are willing to take their chances with me," said Alixa with a humorless chuckle. "I've a feeling I might require guards once Renier discovers I'm returning home to stay and that I intend to rule Joux. My understanding is that the Hort has set up the Ruling Council to rule technically in Renier's name, but not at Renier's orders, because had he not suffered his apoplexy, the Hort had already determined to have him executed. Instead, allowing Renier to continue to live–if one can call it that–is Adémar's somewhat cruel mercy, under the circumstances, but once my year of official mourning is over and I return to Joux for good, the Hort intends for me to be Regent of Joux until Renier either dies of the natural decline in his faculties that he is already experiencing, or unless he attempts to make some move against me, which would give the Hort grounds to decide that Renier has recovered sufficiently to be executed." Alixa sighed. "Normally I would consider the Hort to be a ruthless, heartless bastard for doing such a thing rather than simply sentencing and executing Renier outright, but given that it's in the interests of buying me enough time to prepare properly for my reign, I suppose I'm not in much of a position to complain."

"How would King Renier make any sort of move against you, given that he's trapped in an immobile body?" asked Noella, surprised. "I was given to understand he's not even able to speak anymore, much less get around on his own."

"He's a Deryni, and even though he's under very tight controls, he still has his wits and his basic powers. And he's cunning. I'm sure he'd find some way," Alixa replied. "So while he lives, and even afterwards, I don't dare let down my guard."

#

January 7, 1465
A few miles west of Rhemuth
Tre-Arilan
Morning

"Are you out of your bloody mind, Geoffrey?!" Mary Arilan glared at her husband, profoundly irritated. It was hard to remember the last time she wasn't irritated by Geoffrey, except for when she was outright angry with him, or worse, filled with blinding rage. Their marriage hadn't always been filled with such bitterness and hostility. It had once been friendly, even affectionate, if never an overwhelming grande passion, but all had changed between them since their son Jourdain had died, carrying out one of those damnable fact-finding missions for his father and the late King. It had been Geoffrey's fault, but he had refused to apologize, and even if he had, she could never forgive him for training their son in such dangerous work and then putting him in harm's way. It was not like losing a child to some incurable disease or random accident; they had weathered that too. But Jourdain's death had been entirely preventable.

And now, not content with having killed their first born, and having nearly managed to kill their second son by sending him deep behind enemy lines during the war (a fact that Sebastian had attempted to hide from her, but he couldn't hide the nightmares, and she'd once overheard him babbling in his sleep in some strange foreign tongue), now he wanted to send one of their daughters into another enemy kingdom? Enough was enough!

"Was it not enough for you that the Jouvians raped, plundered and burned their way throughout our kingdom all last spring and summer? And now you want to send our Abigail straight into their waiting arms? I cannot fathom what you are thinking! Are you even thinking?! This had better not be one of your damned intelligencer missions!"

"Still your waspish tongue, woman," Geoffrey said tiredly. "It's not the King asking, it's Queen Alixa. She is in need of ladies-in-waiting, both while she is still here in Rhemuth and when she returns to Joux in a year or so to claim her birthright. Prince Rémy is dead now, and Joux's King might as well be. He quite likely will be within the next year or two. Queen Alixa will be sovereign Queen of Joux then, and surely you can't possibly object to her despite her Jouvian birth? Her intent is to rebuild Joux and restore it to something greater than the sullied mess that Renier and Rémy have made of that kingdom. But in order to do that, she will need help–reliable retainers she can trust completely–and she's more likely to find those here in Gwynedd than in the Court of Trebaçeaux as things stand currently. She does our house great honor to invite Abigail to join her, and it would be a good educational experience for Abigail to be part of a royal entourage."

"Let her join our Queen's entourage, then, not Joux's!" Mary retorted mulishly.

"Queen Catherine is not the one who extended the invitation," replied Geoffrey. "She has a full household at present. But for the past ten years, Queen Alixa has been consort to Cinhil Haldane, and you've never once had any objection to her. Why now? Is it only because I'm the one who has come bearing the invitation from Rhemuth and not someone else?" He sighed. "I suppose I should have kept quiet and waited for some royal courier to deliver it instead, but despite your loathing for me, I didn't think you so petty that you'd allow that to stand in the way of our daughter's prospects for advancement and a brilliant future just because you think in doing so you're somehow getting the better of me."

"I am not...!"  Mary threw up her hands and stalked out of the room, barely overcoming the urge to pick up the heaviest object she could lift and throw it at his bloody exasperating head.

#

January 7, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The Queen's Tower
Late Morning

Prince Camber made his way up the stairs of the Queen's Tower to Queen Alixa's apartment. After leaving the King's study, he had gone straight to the Royal Chapel, attempting to restore his tattered composure in prayer, and while he had come away afterwards feeling a little more at peace with himself and the mistakes of his past, he was still troubled by what Alixa's reaction might be to the news. By the time they had first met, when he had gone to the Île d'Orsal to collect Cinhil's young bride, he had already begun his university studies and had amended the more wayward behavior of his earlier youth, committing himself to becoming a seminarian and future priest because that seemed the best course to follow for someone with his scholarly inclinations and his desire to use his natural gifts and talents to the benefit of the House of Haldane and to the kingdom. Alixa knew little if anything of the reckless, irresponsible youth he once had been.

But now she needed to know. And she would need to hear it from him. If there was any possibility that the boy in the sketch was his son, Camber couldn't imagine having Alixa find out about him from some other source. She didn't deserve to be blindsided like that. But how might this unexpected news alter her perception of him, once she knew?

He supposed he was about to find out. Camber knocked on the door and waited for the guard to announce his arrival.

#

January 7, 1465
A few miles west of Rhemuth
Tre-Arilan
Late Morning

Abigail Arilan found her mother furiously scrubbing out the dairy shed, a task she normally delegated to one of their housemaids, but which allowed her a means of venting her anger during her husband's infrequent visits home. She laid a calming hand on her mother's shoulder. Lady Mary whirled to face her, her anger visibly subsiding as she realized it was her daughter interrupting her work and not Lord Geoffrey.

"Are we going to have the cleanest cheese this side of Jenas, Mama?" Abigail quipped, her winsome smile dispelling more of her mother's pent-up anger.

"He just makes me so mad!" Mary admitted. There was no need for her to specify who she meant. "Promise me you're not going to be taken in by his quick-talking charm and sent on one of his damn fool missions!"

"I'm not, Mama." Abigail took her mother's hand. "But I would like to enter Queen Alixa's household, and preferably with your blessing. It's the sort of opportunity there's no guarantee I would get again in future, and I would hate to miss out on it."

"You would be going to Joux, Abigail! It's not safe in Joux!"

Abigail hugged her mother. "It's not always safe here either, darling Mama! We had a war on our doorstep just a few months ago. Accidents happen. Plagues happen. My baby brother Keller died of cot death in his sleep. You can't protect us from everything in life."

"I can at least do my best to protect you from your father!"

"To the best of my knowledge, Papa isn't joining Queen Alixa's household." Abigail kissed her mother. "It's my decision to make, Mama. I'm of age now. But I would rather have your blessing than go to Joux without it."

Mary sighed in defeat, holding her daughter close. After a long moment, she said, "Go then. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Always, Mama."

#

January 7, 1465
Rhemuth Castle
The Queen's Tower
Late Morning

Alixa could tell something was wrong the moment Camber entered the room. His normally cheerful personality was strangely subdued, his face pale as if he'd just been dealt a sudden shock, and most concerning to her, his mind was so tightly shuttered, it might as well be enclosed in a shell of adamant.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Camber took a deep breath. "Is there somewhere more private where we can talk?"

Alixa set down her sewing and stood. "Cécile, could you stay here and keep an ear out for Cynewyn? She should be waking up soon. If she and Nadia are a bit much for you to handle by yourself, you can take them back to the nursery. Noella, attend me."

She followed Camber out of the apartment, stopping only to grab a heavy cloak on their way out, the Countess of Kierney doing the same and following a discreet distance behind as they made their way upstairs to the greater privacy at the top of Queen's Tower.

"What's the matter?" Alixa asked again, once she and Camber were on the curtain wall, safely out of earshot of everyone, including Noella, although they stayed within sight of the young dowager queen's companion for propriety's sake. Not that Alixa didn't trust Camber--she would hardly have proposed marriage to him if she didn't--but years of living in Rhemuth's Court had taught her that rumors needed little encouragement to grow wings and fly, and too many gossips were eager to spread juicy speculation about young widows who kept company with handsome men unless a chaperone was very clearly somewhere in sight.

Camber leaned against the parapet wall overlooking the Molling River below. "How much did Cinhil tell you about my wildly misspent younger years?" he asked.

Alixa smiled. A mental image Cinhil had shared with her of young Camber fleeing a storage room, with Colin wearing one of Miranda's gowns giving chase to him, leapt into her mind. "Well, I understand you Haldane hellions were quite the handful. Why do you ask?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "By the time you met me, I had mostly amended my ways, but before that...well, let's just say I wasn't born a priest...."

"No?" Alixa gave him an impish grin. "That's a disappointment." An image popped into his mind of an infant looking like a shrunken version of himself, complete with neatly trimmed beard, wearing a cassock. Despite his somber mood, Camber burst into laughter.

"Sweet Jesu, Alixa, that looks horrifying!"

"Doesn't it, though?" Alixa took his hand. "I was never under any illusions that you were secretly Saint Camber, mon vieux. So which of your youthful offenses are you feeling a sudden need to confess?"

He took another steadying breath, the words coming out in a swift rush. "I might have fathered a son. But not anytime recently! If I did, it would have been around ten years ago."

Camber risked a quick look at Alixa in the silence that followed. She regarded him steadily, her dark blue-gray eyes filled with compassion rather than judgment.

"Ten years ago? Oh, my sweet friend, you would have been barely more than a child yourself!" Alixa frowned in thought. "What makes you think now after all these years that you might have a son?"

Camber filled Alixa in on the discoveries made earlier that morning. As he finished telling her about the disturbing new revelations, he added, "I am still hoping that maybe I'm wrong and that all of this is just some elaborate hoax, but if the boy is my son, then I need to do what I can to make amends to his mother, assuming she's still alive. If she's who I think she is, then I can't imagine her colluding with Jarvis Pratt on a treasonous plot like this, at least not of her own volition. But I realize all of this is an unlooked-for complication on top of all our other plans. If you feel like you need to withdraw your offer...."

The raw vulnerability in Camber's expression was heartbreaking. Alixa squeezed his hand gently. "Hush, none of that, mon cher ami. It is unexpected, I'll admit, but in a way it's also a bit of a relief." 

Camber's startled gaze met hers. "A relief? How?!"

Alixa looked away, blushing. "I need heirs, my future husband. And if this child proves to be yours, then at least we'll know you're not sterile, unless something else has happened in the past ten years to make you so." Glancing back at him, she added, "It took seven years of trying for Cinhil and I to produce Cynewyn. Some of that was due to his health issues, but I had some problems of my own also during that time that certainly didn't help." She paused, unaccustomed to talking about such intimate matters with anyone but her late husband, but knowing it was a necessary conversation to have with her future one. "When I am feeling particularly anxious, sometimes for several weeks or months on end, my courses have a tendency to stop until things settle back into a more normal state and I am feeling more relaxed again. As you can imagine, given the nature of Cinhil's illness and its frequent setbacks, finding occasions when I was less anxious about him and he had the necessary vigor was often a challenge, especially since Healer James says there are only a few days every month when a woman is likely to be fertile, so those occasions had to coincide with my fertile days as well. I've been wondering how quickly I'll be able to produce an heir once we move to Joux and have to deal with sorting out all of the chaos and instability my father and brother have left in their wake. It's far too much to expect that's going to be worry-free!"

Camber considered the problem. "Yes, I can imagine that's going to be fraught with difficulties for at least the first few months. I suppose we could marry first, and hopefully have an heir or heiress on the way before we move to Joux permanently, but given Renier's health issues, there's little guarantee we'd have the luxury of being able to wait that long. Even if his health wasn't starting to decline, I can't imagine the Hort would be happy about keeping Joux under a Ruling Council for any longer than strictly necessary."

"Not to mention I think the Jouvian people would want to see their future sovereign wed at Trebaçeaux," Alixa added. "And I'm not free to officially enter a betrothal with you, much less a marriage, until September at the very earliest. Or at least not without raising a lot of eyebrows."

"No, let's not do that," Camber agreed, somewhat reluctantly because he was very eager to wed Alixa, but even had it not been for the court of public opinion, he realized Cinhil's widow needed more time to allow her heart to heal before remarrying. Even though marrying him had been her own idea, he was not altogether certain Alixa would have chosen to remarry if the matter hadn't been forced upon her by the Hort. "There's also the potential problem that rushing into a marriage with me too early might raise some speculation about whether Cynewyn is Cinhil's child or mine. I don't know if Cinhil ever told you, but that was an allegation he was given warning that Renier might try to make against you."

Alixa stared at him. ''Sacré Bleu! I wish I could be surprised, but I can't. That sounds just like something Renier might think of. Maybe I should be grateful the man was struck dumb before he could express that thought aloud!" She sighed. "So I suppose we should wait until next year's Twelfth Night Feast to announce our official betrothal as we originally planned. The Hort expects me to start making regular visits to Joux after the winter thaw, so likely starting with the Ruling Council meeting this coming March. But I don't think he's expecting me to move there permanently until next summer. So how do you feel about a wedding in Joux sometime between June and August of next year, depending on how long it will take us to make the final preparations? Hopefully, given the circumstances, no one will think waiting a year and a half to remarry is unseemly haste."

"That works for me," said Camber. "Whenever you think is best."

Alixa glanced up at him, then swiftly away, twin flags of color rising in her cheeks. "Once we are betrothed, then that's considered binding in the eyes of God and Holy Church, yes? And any consummation after that would make it a true and lawful marriage?"

"Yes. There wouldn't be grounds for an annulment after that, unless previous grounds for one existed. A wedding ceremony taking place after that would pretty much just be a formality, the Church's public nuptial blessing on a marriage that is already indissoluble, since unlike the other sacraments, marriage is a sacrament that isn't bestowed by a priest, but that a man and his wife bestow on each other."

"Then...maybe there would be time to see if we can make an heir before we have to move to Joux. Would that work?"

Camber nodded. "I'm certainly willing to give that my best effort, if you're sure you'll feel ready by then. Of course, if we manage to accomplish that, your people might end up witnessing a wedding with a visibly pregnant bride by next summer, though at least there wouldn't be any further doubt about their future Queen's fertility."


Next chapter: https://rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3537.0.html

[tmcd]

Dang, they sure do have good memories for random servants years ago! I can't remember names of people I danced with a couple of weeks ago.

because had he not suffered his apoplexy,

Nit: personally, I think I'd add a comma in there. Maybe before "because"? Or maybe after it, making "had he not suffered his apoplexy" an explanatory clause set off by commas?

[Evie]

Dang, they sure do have good memories for random servants years ago! I can't remember names of people I danced with a couple of weeks ago.

because had he not suffered his apoplexy,

Nit: personally, I think I'd add a comma in there. Maybe before "because"? Or maybe after it, making "had he not suffered his apoplexy" an explanatory clause set off by commas?

Re: memories--Yeah, one might think they were Deryni or something, with uncanny access to their own deeply buried memories, much less those of others....  I remember the first time or two I read the first Deryni books, I wondered how certain characters seemed to have unusually sharp memories, even years later, for little details most people wouldn't be able to remember with any clarity, and then it eventually occurred to me, "Oh! That must be a Deryni thing...." 

Re: the comma--I had to really search to find the full sentence (for future reference, seeing the entire sentence is pretty necessary for me to make a determination of this sort), but yes, an additional comma there would add some clarity. And it could logically go into either place you suggest, but after reading it both ways, I think before "because" might work better.

ETA: Comma added.

[Demercia]

Jarvis is clearly living up to his name.  He could probably have milked Camber's conscience for years without committing a capital offence.

I'm relieved at Alexa's reaction - I did wonder what twist might be in the mind of our author re their relationship.

[Evie]

Jarvis is clearly living up to his name.  He could probably have milked Camber's conscience for years without committing a capital offence.

I'm relieved at Alexa's reaction - I did wonder what twist might be in the mind of our author re their relationship.

Yeah, Jarvis is a prat, isn't he? I'll admit when I was trying to think up a surname for him, the slang meaning did not escape me.    Although apparently the surname comes from the Old English word "prætt," meaning tricky, wily, or cunning. Any of the various interpretations of Pratt/prat work, as far as I'm concerned!

Alixa is more of a realist than an idealist. Having grown up as Renier's daughter and Rémy's sister, she would just be glad that Camber's previous relationship(s) were consensual and that he genuinely cares about the welfare of his son and the former chambermaid he unwittingly fathered a child with! She might not have expected to hear he had a child, but I'm sure she would have heard enough tales of his younger years from Cinhil and his other siblings to know that Camber didn't grow up as a saintly little choir boy.  (Choir boy? Maybe. Saintly? Bwahahaha!) That said, she would not have asked him to marry her if she didn't think she could at least very much like and respect the man he is now, even if she is currently not sure she can ever love another man again the way she loved Cinhil.

[Evie]

Speaking of Camber as a choir boy....  This was one of the YouTube videos I would sometimes play as I was writing the story, because I tend to imagine this as Camber's singing voice:

Besides this one, there were quite a few others, mostly medieval ambiance videos reflecting whatever background setting was appropriate for the scene I was writing at the moment. But this one was my go-to if I needed to do a deep dive into Camber's POV or if I just wanted something serene playing in the background while I wrote.

[Jerusha]

I do hope Camber, Joss and Colin can get Toby away from Jarvis before Jarvis does something even more stupid than he already has. Never trust a violent man.

[Evie]

I do hope Camber, Joss and Colin can get Toby away from Jarvis before Jarvis does something even more stupid than he already has. Never trust a violent man.

Well, given that Jarvis's days are now numbered, thanks to his own stupidity, I don't think Toby will need to worry about him for too much longer, at least once they manage to get Jarvis into their custody. Of course finding him might be the trick, but I think Jarvis has also unwittingly given them a place to start looking. 

[tmcd]

Evie, if you want background music to listen to when writing, why not try Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus OST - Children of the Omnissiah - 10 Hour Version? I'm sure it'll put you in a cheerful mood.

[Evie]

Evie, if you want background music to listen to when writing, why not try Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus OST - Children of the Omnissiah - 10 Hour Version? I'm sure it'll put you in a cheerful mood.

Um...Isn't Warhammer pretty much grimdark? Are you certain you want me listening to that while I write?  How many Eistenmarker invasions and human sacrifices are you hoping for here?

[revanne]

Dang, they sure do have good memories for random servants years ago! I can't remember names of people I danced with a couple of weeks ago.

Quite apart from the Deryni thing I think people's memories were better in the past when, even for those who were literate and had ready access to writing materials, committing things to memory rather than writing them down was common practice. And people didn't have as much stuff cluttering up their minds.

[Evie]

Dang, they sure do have good memories for random servants years ago! I can't remember names of people I danced with a couple of weeks ago.

Quite apart from the Deryni thing I think people's memories were better in the past when, even for those who were literate and had ready access to writing materials, committing things to memory rather than writing them down was common practice. And people didn't have as much stuff cluttering up their minds.

There's that as well. I remember the fairly long list of phone numbers I had memorized for family members and friends before the advent of speed dial or in-phone contact lists. I'm not at all sure my children have ever memorized a single phone number aside from their own and the old landline phone number we used to have at home when they were children. By the time they were old enough to use a phone regularly, mobile phones with contact lists were already available. There was a written list of phone numbers of our neighbors tacked to the wall near the landline phone, but I'm sure they didn't bother to learn it.

[drakensis]

Honestly, these days I need to look up my own phone number. Never mind, anyone else's.

[revanne]

I know my number but no-one else's which would be a lot of use if my phone was out of use and I needed to phone someone 

[JudithR]

If I'm using the landline (I have contacts who don't use mobiles), I usually have to check the number but if it's repeat calls (think HMRC) then the number goes into my temporary memory.  As a rule, on either fixed or mobile phones, I don't answer if I don't recognise the number.  Church stuff, I've a second email.