Pawns and Queens--A 15th Century Gwynedd Story--Chapter Seven

[Evie]

Previous chapter:  https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3208.0.html


Chapter Seven

January 24, 1464
The Konungamóðir's private chamber
Eistenfalla, Eistenmarcke
Morning

Queen Ingrid of Eistenmarcke awoke in the King of Nördmarcke's embrace. She gently extricated herself, shaking Torval awake.

"What color is the Jouvian girl's hair?" she asked.

Torval sat up, still groggy from the drugged slumber induced by the previous night's ritual. He had not anticipated that, nor the aphrodisiac effects of whatever substance Ingrid had used to create the smoky haze in which she conjured up her visions, but he had no complaints about that particular side effect, since he had intended on spending the night in Ingrid's bed anyway. But the hazy thinking, he could do very well without.

"Red, I think. Or maybe auburn. I haven't met her, but Renier and Rémy both have red hair, and I believe Alixa of Gwynedd does too. So it seems likely her younger sisters would as well."

Ingrid smiled. "Perfect. And this next eldest daughter's name?"

Torval searched his memory. "Cécile."

"Verify that she has red or auburn hair; that detail is very important. If she does, we can marry her to Haakon."

"To Haakon? Why? And why should her hair color be of any importance?" King Torval stood and walked over to the wash basin, splashing water on his face in an effort to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

"It's important because of the prophecy. 'The Bride of Fire will be wed for the sake of the land.'"

Torval shook his head. "He's only twelve, Ingrid. Would he even know what to do with a wife?"

She laughed, "Oh yes, he is very eager to learn all the many things that can be done with a wife, but alas for him, we only need this bride for one very specific purpose. But she will serve him well enough for practice, and once he understands his duty, I know he will be all too happy to see it through. He wishes to be seen as a young man now, ready for kingship. Well, he is not as ready as he thinks, but this will be a good first step. So remember, my sweet," Ingrid said, giving Torval a lingering kiss, "it must be red. Otherwise we shall need to find another girl to serve the purpose, but this one would be ideal if she is suitable, because she would help to bind the agreement with the Jouvian King. Two purposes served for the price of one."

"I will send my messenger to find out. I have a message to send back to Renier anyway."

#

January 24, 1464
Palais de Trebaçeaux
The Kingdom of Joux
Late Morning

King Torval's messenger stepped off the Portal stone in the Cathédral de Trebaçeaux. He had been charged with getting a closer look at the elder of the Buyenne-Furstan princesses, which would be a neat trick, since the King's daughters were rarely let outside of the castle's curtain walls and quite often were kept indoors in whichever portion of the Keep the family was housed.

That would likely be the top floor, so he would try there next if he didn't find them anywhere in the more accessible portions of the castle. It would be difficult to access the Royal apartments, but that's why Torval reached deep into his pockets to produce sufficient coin for his services. He was more than some mere errand boy.

The day was sunny and fair, the weather mild by Northern standards. With any luck, the princesses would not be locked up indoors this day. Fortunately there would not be a great many ladies of gentle birth residing on Trebaçeaux's castle grounds, for Renier had little use for women aside from keeping a few maidservants on hand to do the sort of work considered too menial for a man, and some pretty wenches available for warming his bed or his son's. But the former would be difficult to confuse for a princess, and as for the latter sort of woman whose presence Renier was willing to tolerate, the messenger had visited Joux's king frequently enough to recognize he had a preferred type. As for the Dauphin, he suspected anything reasonably attractive and wearing skirts that could be flipped up would serve for Rémy's purposes, but he would likely keep his favorites elsewhere where they would be less likely to attract his father's ire. Or his eye, for that matter. He suspected Renier might not be particularly bothered by the thought of sharing a woman with his son, though young Rémy, being so much in his father's shadow, would likely rather not risk losing his women to the higher ranking man.

So a young woman having sixteen years of age and the proper dress and deportment to be a Princess of Joux, and hopefully having hair of red that matched the russet hair of her father and brother, was the elusive quarry he sought. At least she was a maiden princess, so her hair was likely to be worn uncovered. Otherwise he might have to approach closely enough to see the color of her eyebrows, and that would be much more difficult.

As he entered through the gatehouse of the castle and into the outer bailey, the sounds of girlish voices on the other side of the stable block drew his attention. Casually wandering in that direction, he stopped as two young girls, one in her mid-teens and the other still a child, emerged from one of the stalls. Noticing his presence, they stopped in their tracks, their eyes wary as a doe and a fawn who sensed a predator's approach. He bowed in greeting, and the older girl took the younger one's hand before giving him a barely perceptible nod and bolting for the entrance to the Keep, her little sister in tow.

It had only been the briefest of encounters, but it had been sufficient. The young ladies were dressed in the colors of the royal house of Joux, in gowns of the appropriate rank and station. Their hair was red. But perhaps most telling, the elder of the girls had facial features that closely resembled a feminine version of Rémy of Joux.

That had certainly turned out to be easier than expected! The messenger whistled a jolly tune as he continued towards the Great Hall to await his private audience with Joux's King.

#

January 24, 1464
Palais de Trebaçeaux
The Kingdom of Joux
Afternoon

"The King of Nördmarcke would be well pleased to accept your offer of a marriage alliance with your older unmarried daughter Cécile.  However, since he received your latest correspondence, he regrets that certain situations have changed, so while he is still eager for an alliance with Your August Majesty, there would need to be some alterations made in the contract to fit the present circumstances."

Renier, King of Joux, eyed King Torval's messenger with suspicion. "What sort of changes?"

"His Majesty of Nördmarcke regrets to inform you that he accepted an offer of marriage from the Dowager Queen Ingrid of Eistenmarcke mere hours before your message arrived, and the betrothal has already been formalized. Her son's lands adjoin his own, you see, and the lady holds land claims of her own, so it seemed too advantageous an offer to pass up. But young King Haakon is on the very threshold of manhood, a handsome and fit lad, tall and strong for his years and very eager to wed and do his dynastic duty to his House, especially if he can win the reputedly beautiful Cécile of Joux to be his consort."

That last bit was overdoing it, Renier thought privately. Very few men of his own Court, much less beyond it, had been permitted near enough to his daughters to be any judge of whether they were beautiful or not. He knew flattery when he heard it, but while he was displeased by the changed offer, he didn't dismiss it out of hand. "And how old is young Haakon?"

"He is in his twelfth year, Your Majesty, soon to be thirteen at Midsummer. But he has the size and look of an older youth, perhaps fourteen or fifteen. I think the Princess would be well pleased."

Renier didn't really give a rat's pink arse what Cécile would or wouldn't be pleased by; she would wed at his command regardless, to whomever he selected for her and whenever she might prove most useful.

Twelve. The boy was likely inexperienced and therefore malleable. He was heir to a large kingdom with aspirations of its own; perhaps Renier could turn those aspirations to his own advantage. The woman regent was unimportant. Once Haakon came of age, which would be very soon, she would be packed off to Nördmarcke to do her duty towards Torval and breed him sons, leaving Haakon more open to listening to the advice of his more experienced father-by-marriage.

Joux had need of fighting men, preferably quite expendable ones, and also ships, and Eistenmarcke had those to spare, as well as the lumber to build even more. With more ships and a kingdom of fierce allies, he could launch an invasion of Orsal and Tralia and eventually the other coastal kingdoms as well. Perhaps he could even send his forces up the Beldour River and take Beldouria.

"Tell King Torval I accept his offer. The Princess Cécile shall be well pleased to wed with his new stepson King Haakon."

The messenger bowed, the reverence nearly managing to conceal a faint smirk. Evidently he thought he had won some sort of advantage in the exchange. Insolent fool! Renier could have the man's powers Blocked for such disrespect, but he wouldn't call on his pet Healer to waste his time with the man. For now, at least, the messenger and his Deryni abilities served a vital purpose. Renier could be patient.

But someday, when his services were no longer required, this upstart messenger would learn the hard way why it was best never to cross the Sovereign King of Joux.

#

January 24, 1464
Rhemuth Castle
Mid-afternoon

"Now that we've managed to talk my reprobate brother down from the metaphorical cliff, would you like to meet our sisters?" Prince Camber asked his brother's bride-to-be as they left the Royal Chapel. "I feel certain I can assure you that that meeting will be far less fraught."

The dry humor brought a smile to Catalina's face. "I would love to meet your sisters.  And Colin could use a few hours of sleep in his own familiar bed, I think." She glanced at Nicholas, who nodded.

"Yes, I think that's badly needed if we're meant to make a public appearance at the feast in Catalina's honor later tonight." Briefly, he filled his younger brother in on the unrestful night he had spent in their late father's bedchamber. "Sebastian should have had an opportunity to do a ritual cleansing by now, but if you could follow up on his efforts and also bless the chamber, that would help."

"I should be able to stop by there before you need to retire for the night," Camber assured his brother as they continued through the bailey towards the front steps of the Great Hall. Entering the large building, Catalina caught a glimpse of the main hall through the screens passage as they walked through the large entryway. What she saw of the room looked magnificent, though judging from the bustle of activity she saw inside, the servants were busily preparing the hall for the evening banquet, so she decided she would satisfy her curiosity later once everything was prepared for the festivities in her honor.

Instead of walking through the hall, Prince Camber continued through the large entryway to a smaller side door that opened onto an arcade facing well-tended gardens. To the left, about midway down the block of residential apartments on that side of the garden courtyard, she saw the tower where she had spent the previous night; to the right, directly across from that tower and set in the middle of another long block of apartments, was a similar tower. Camber led them in that direction, though another door and up another stair to one of the upper stories of the tower.

"My apartment is there," he said, pointing to one of the doors they passed, "and until this week, Colin's was just beyond it." Looking at his brother, he asked, "Would you like to go on and get started on that nap, and I can take your lady up to our sisters' rooms? I'd be glad to escort her back to the King's Tower once they're done; chances are that the ladies are planning to press me into service anyway, since they said something about collecting items for the Andelonian ladies to use while waiting for their own belongings to arrive, and I feel certain Richeldis and Elisa aren't meaning to lug everything across the bailey themselves, and Miranda is hardly in a condition to do any heavy lifting right now."

"Our sisters have a magical ability to make squires or manservants materialize from thin air with a mere beckon and a smile, turning them into pack mules," Colin said drily, "so I suspect you are relatively safe from becoming a beast of burden. But if you wouldn't mind bringing Catalina the rest of the way up, that would be appreciated. If that's alright with you?" he added with a glance at his betrothed wife.

"Yes. Sleep." She smiled up at him, brushing a wrinkle from his tunic. "And you might want to consider changing clothes before the evening meal."

"See? Barely here a full day yet, and she's already figured out you need a keeper, Colin!" Camber grinned at his brother as he led Catalina away and up another set of stairs. "This upper floor is where the Haldane ladies live. Maman's apartment, now that she has moved back into the Queen's Tower, is the first one at the top of the stairs, then the apartment beyond hers is shared by Richeldis and Elisa, our youngest sisters. That's where we're headed. Beyond that one is Miranda's former apartment, where she is currently staying again until she returns to Orsalia after your wedding."

"And the longer apartment block on the other side of this Tower?" Catalina asked.

"That's for courtiers, visiting dignitaries, short-term visitors, and others in temporary residence at the Castle. It was pretty full last month when most of the nobility arrived for the Christmas and Twelfth Night Courts, only to end up attending a royal funeral as well." Camber sighed. "It's been a very eventful month."

"And shaping up to be a very eventful year, I think," Catalina added. "I'm very sorry."

"At least your arrival and the upcoming wedding is a cause for celebration that we are in desperate need of at the moment," Camber said with a smile as he knocked on his sisters' door.

#

Princess Richeldis of Gwynedd happened to be closest to the door when they heard the knock, so she leaped up to open it, too eager to meet her new sister-by-marriage to wait on her maidservant to get there first. Waving Ellyn back with a smile, she opened the door to find her youngest brother standing in the corridor beside the Andelonian princess.

"Bienvenida a Rhemuth!" she greeted the new arrival with a curtsey.

The raven-haired lady before her responded with a delighted smile and a curtsey of her own. "Thank you very much."

"Su Alteza Real, may I present my sister Princess Richeldis," the prince introduced the two more formally, "and the other dark haired lady you see emerging from the chamber beyond is our sister Princess Elisa," he added as the youngest of his siblings entered the room, also sinking into a brief curtsey before excitedly crossing the rest of the short distance to greet her new sister. "Sisters, may I present Her Royal Highness Catalina of Andelon."

"'Catherine' is fine," Catalina said. "I am trying to grow more accustomed to it."

"Come, let us show you what we've collected for you and your ladies!" Elisa said, leading their visitor towards the adjoining room. "We're so excited you're here already, since we weren't expecting you so early. I heard you had some sort of misadventure on your way here; was it dreadfully scary? I'm sorry, I'm probably talking too much...."

"You could at least let the poor lady get a word in edgewise," Richeldis teased as they entered the next room together. "Catherine, may I present a couple of my ladies? The one with the stunning auburn hair is Noella, Countess of Kierney, and my friend in the green gown is Lady Gabrielle Morgan." Both ladies curtseyed deeply to the new arrival.

"I'm very pleased to meet you all, and I am certain my ladies-in-waiting will be excited to make your acquaintances in the upcoming days as well," Catalina told them.

"Here are the gowns and other finery we were able to collect for your use," Richeldis told her, leading her to a pile of garments neatly laid out on one of the chamber's beds. Catalina picked up a gown and held it up in front of herself, admiring the fine handiwork. The style of the garment was a little bit different from how it was customarily fashioned in Andelon, and the fabrics used were slightly thicker, but it was no less attractive for all that.

"These are lovely! Thank you, my ladies and I are deeply appreciative."

"We thought you might all want something fresh to wear, especially with the feast Maman has planned for you tonight," Elisa said, "though we had to guess at the sizes. Fortunately the outer layers are loose enough that they should fit nearly any lady, but if there is someone among your entourage who is especially hard to fit in any of these kirtles, let us know and we'll see if we can find another in a more suitable size, or perhaps alter some of these to fit. And by the way, Catherine, your ensemble is utterly stunning, especially those sleeves! Is that the customary fashion in Andelon?"

"Yes, and thank you!" Catalina glanced down at her outfit. "What you call a 'kirtle' is more or less the same as our 'gamurra,' with the sleeve pieces tied on separately so we can mix and match the fabrics to the gown as we choose. The chemise is likely very similar to the ones you wear, only since mine is silk, it puffs out nicely through the gaps in the sleeves. You could likely achieve a similar effect with a very fine linen. If there is much of a gap between the front panels of the gamurra, a contrasting stomacher can be added for modesty, though mine laces up tightly enough that a stomacher isn't necessary unless I just want to add one for that pop of extra color. Then belted over it all, I wear the 'giornea'." She tugged at a fold of her sideless surcoat-like garment. "Though normally I only wear the giornea outdoors or if it is very cold. Wearing it all the time is a bit much in the Andelonian climate. Normally I would also have my head covered with a little jeweled black cap or a sheer veil, and it is also currently very fashionable to cover one's braided hair in a silk casing called a 'coazzone' that matches some part of your outfit, with ribbons laced over that, a fine hair net called the 'rete' covering the back of the head above the coazzone, and then a fine silk cord fillet called the 'lenza' tied around the crown of the head, sometimes suspending a jewel over the brow, helps to keep the rete in place."

"It all sounds lovely!" Elisa exclaimed admiringly.

"It can be, depending on the skills of your seamstress and hairdresser. It can also be a bit fussy and over the top, if they have gaudy tastes." Catalina grinned. "Though hopefully once my wedding trousseau arrives next week, you will find it more elegant than gaudy."

"Speaking of clothing, since we are running ever shorter on time and I'm sure Catherine's ladies would appreciate having something fresher to wear tonight, are any of these garments packed and ready to go?" Camber hinted none too delicately, fearing that if the ladies got too entrenched in a discussion about comparative fashions, they would still be talking about clothing late into the night rather than changing into any of the garments they were discussing.

"Joscelin is having a large traveling chest brought up," Richeldis informed him. "He and his squires should be here any minute now."

"Duke Joscelin Morgan is Lady Gabrielle's brother, and the handsomest lord in Rhemuth," Elisa explained to Catalina over the laughter of said lord's sister.

"Don't let Joss hear you say that; he's insufferable enough as it is!" Lady Gabrielle joked as she and Countess Noella began to pick up the gathered outfits and started folding them for packing into the expected traveling chest.

#

The aforementioned duke had indeed arrived within minutes of Catalina's arrival, giving the ladies barely enough time to finish folding the gowns before the traveling chest was brought into the apartment for them to fill with, as Duke Joscelin referred to the articles of clothing, "feminine fripperies." He'd had the foresight to bring along several strapping young lads to assist in lifting the chest afterwards and bringing it out into the main corridor, though instead of laboriously lugging the laden chest down the spiral stairs as Catalina had envisioned, he had them set it down carefully next to one of the clear-glazed windows looking down into the gardens.

Crouching down beside it, the young duke placed what appeared to be Ward Cubes at the four corners of the chest before setting some sort of spell that almost appeared to be a form of warding at first, except that the typical dome of protection failed to appear. Instead, a faintly glowing rectangle appeared around the base of the chest. "All right...so far, so good," he murmured. Glancing up at his squires, he told them, "Wait here."

Catalina watched curiously as the young blond duke disappeared through the entrance to the stairwell. A few minutes later, she could see him outside in the garden, repeating a similar sort of ritual on a paved section of the grounds below. Again, a glowing rectangle appeared at his feet, this one appearing to Catalina's eye to be slightly larger than the first, though looking down from several stories above him, it was difficult to tell for certain.

Once he had finished making the necessary preparations, Duke Joscelin looked up at their window. His senior squire, seeing that his master was ready to proceed, gave him a salute, and then the chest...simply vanished. Looking down at the gardens, Catalina saw it was now standing within the boundaries of the rectangle below, with about a foot of clearance on all sides between the chest and the sides of the glowing box.

After ascertaining that the chest had been teleported safely, the senior squire began carefully dispersing the wards, or whatever one might call the sort of magic Catalina had just witnessed. The other men bowed respectfully to her before heading downstairs to join the duke, who was doing the same to the glowing perimeter in the garden, to assist him in transporting the chest the rest of the way to her apartment.

Catalina, quite impressed and rather surprised to see a form of magic she'd never encountered before, for the Andelonian archives were quite extensive when it came to Deryni lore, turned to Duke Joscelin's squire. "I'm sorry, I missed hearing your name earlier."

"It's Anselm, Your Highness," the youth informed her.

"I've never seen that form of spellwork done before, but it looks very handy. What are its limits? Can it be done over greater distances, or with people?"

"No, I'm afraid not, my lady. Generally it can only be used on inanimate objects, or at least I've never heard of it being used successfully on a living creature, and I would be very hesitant to attempt its use on a person unless it could be proven safe with an animal. You also have to have a line of sight with the intended destination, so that further limits its usefulness. But for getting objects safely down to ground level without needing to carry them down stone steps, it's very useful. Unfortunately we still need to lug the thing up the stairs, since we can't envision an upstairs landing spot for it from the ground, but at least this cuts down on some of the labor." He grinned. "If you'll excuse me now, my lady, Duke Joscelin is downstairs informing me he still has use for my strong back and weak mind."

The princess laughed, excusing the squire to go attend to his duties. Turning to Prince Camber and the princesses, she said, "I should go back as well. My ladies are quite likely wondering where I've been."

"I'll escort you over," the prince said, "since I need to go bless Colin's bedchamber anyway."

#

"Where have you been?!" Lady Amina hissed under her breath as Catalina arrived back at her apartment. Prince Camber had excused himself at the door, turning and walking through the large salon to the other door leading into the King's chambers, while Catalina found herself nearly dragged into her new antechamber by her duenna.

As she walked by the rest of her ladies-in-waiting, who were excitedly pulling out gowns from the recently delivered chest in the shared solar and retreating into their smaller bedchambers to try them on, Amina delivered a litany of alarmed complaints to her Princesa. "Don Riordan brought that squire of your prometido into your chamber, and they had their hands all over your bed!" she exclaimed, looking quite scandalized. "And they were doing something strange in the other chamber as well!"

"Oh, good! Yes, I know all about that. The beds needed a psychic cleansing, especially the Prince's. I'm glad to know that's been taken care of." She glanced at Amina. "And how do you know they were doing the same in His Royal Highness's private chamber?"

Lady Amina blushed, glancing guiltily towards the adjoining door. It was closed, but Catalina noticed a large brass key in the lock. Walking over to remove the lock, she crouched to see how much of the adjoining bedchamber could be seen through the keyhole. Fortunately, due to the recessed nook the door was in, not much could be seen of the room beyond, though Catalina saw Prince Camber walk past her narrow field of vision. She straightened, replacing the key in the lock before turning back towards Amina.

"That is mi prometido's private space, Amina. You have no need to be peeking in there for any reason."

"I heard strange goings-on in there," her camerera muttered.

"And did you think to ask Don Riordan what he and Sebastian were doing? I'm certain he would have informed you, had you simply asked."

"Where have you been all day?" Amina asked, neatly deflecting the question. "You said you were going to meet the King, but you cannot have been there this whole time! I have been nearly sick with worry for you!"

Catalina removed her outer garment, placing it carefully on a rack that had been brought into the chamber in her absence and climbing onto the bed to check for lingering resonances, carefully lowering her shields to open herself up to any residual effects. This time, it felt fully cleansed. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief; if she was going to wake up from an erotic dream in the middle of the night, she would much prefer for it to be fully of her own mind's devising. "As I said, we went to meet the King and Queen, and then afterwards Prince Nicholas took me to see the Chapel Royal where we will hold our wedding Mass. After that, I went with Prince Camber to meet his younger sisters, who have very generously collected and shared a nice assortment of gowns for us to wear this week, so why don't we have a closer look and select what we want to wear to the feast tonight?"

Her duenna appeared only slightly mollified. "It is not seemly for you to be roaming around without your ladies with you to protect you. Especially with a man you barely know!"

"¡Dios mío, Amina, basta!" Catalina exclaimed. "It is not seemly for you to carry on so when I was with my new family-by-marriage the entire day! If I cannot count on an entire family of Deryni to protect me, who can I count on? Now enough of this, if you wish to come along with the rest of us to tonight's banquet!"

#

January 24, 1464
Rhemuth Castle Great Hall
Early Evening

Princess Catalina looked around the ancient Great Hall that had once belonged to Kelson the Great of revered memory. She could sense the layers of history that had taken place in this large hall, and would have been quite in awe had she not grown up in a palace with a similar august history. As it was, the sumptuously appointed hall still inspired a sense of deep respect.

She had been given a place of honor with her betrothed husband on one side of her and Cinhil's young Queen on the other side, Alixa taking the position that would normally have been her husband's by right, had he been in good enough health to join in the festivities. Also at the High Table were the rest of the Haldane family, with the eldest daughter, Queen Miranda of Orsal and Tralia, seated on the other side of Prince Nicholas. This was the first time Catalina had seen Nicholas's eldest sister, since she had been taking her rest at the same time that he had, being well into her second trimester of pregnancy and under her physician's orders to not overexert herself.

At the moment, the Queen of Orsal and Prince Nicholas were taking a few minutes to catch up on each other's lives, leaving Catalina free to take in the sights, sounds, and flavors of the feast and the night's entertainment.

The court herald announced the arrival of two more arrivals, and Catalina glanced towards the entrance to see Don Riordan and Don Salim enter the room, the two men escorted by a page in Haldane livery to the places that had been reserved for them. Riordan appeared to have been supplied with a Gwyneddan outfit–a deep burgundy silk velvet surcoat, knee length, belted over a black brocade doublet and hose that suited him well. Catalina was grateful to whomever had supplied it; in all the agitation over the ladies' delayed luggage, she had quite forgotten that the two male members of her retinue were in the same predicament also. Don Salim had decided on a different approach, his preferred desert robes made more festive by the use of subtle illusory magic to give him the resplendent appearance of a young and handsome sultan. Judging by the reactions of some of the Gwyneddan ladies whose tables the two newcomers passed on the way to their seats, their appearances met with hearty approval by the local women. Catalina stifled a laugh as she watched the two fondly. Of course Riordan and Salim were already turning heads here in Rhemuth! The more things changed, the more some things stayed the same.

They took their seats at the same table with the ladies of her entourage, also in a high place of honor compared to the other lower tables, given that the feast was meant to celebrate their arrival as well. Catalina could tell her ladies were enjoying taking in the unfamiliar sights and partaking in the unfamiliar dishes, though enough familiar dishes were also included to prevent the meal from seeming completely alien to their tastes. Amina alone seemed to pick at her food, looking overwhelmed by the strangeness of everything around her.

Amina seems quite out of sorts this evening, she Mind-Spoke to Riordan, who briefly glanced up at her before turning his attention back to his meal.

I noticed that too, earlier, he replied. I suspect she's homesick. Hopefully it will wear off quickly.

I've heard of travelers having trouble adjusting to living in a new land at first, and sometimes needing a little time to adjust. My mother warned me of that before we left. But I didn't think it would hit Amina so quickly or so hard.

She might also be worried about her shifting role in your new court, Riordan observed.

Really? How so?

As a married woman, you won't have constant need for a duenna, which I think is the primary role Amina thinks of herself fulfilling in relation to you, Su Alteza. Though of course you would still need a camarera, but in this strange land where things are done differently, perhaps she fears she will be replaced. But that would be a conversation best had with Amina, not me. I'm just guessing based on my years of acquaintance with Amina.

Doña Rosalita chose that moment to ask Riordan a question. He tilted his head towards her to better hear her above the murmur of the crowd of diners around them, breaking the psychic link between himself and the Princesa. Catalina turned to see Queen Alixa looking at her retinue's table curiously.

"My Andelonian household," Catalina informed her. "My camarera, Doña Amina–I think you would say Mistress of the Bedchamber?--is on the corner closest to us. Beside her are Don Riordan and Don Salim, my private secretary and weapons master, and then beyond them are my ladies-in-waiting: Rosalita, Consuelo, Maria, Felipa, Ana, Sarita, Emanuela, Beatriz, and Leonor. Some of them are only here for a few months to help me adjust to my new home, but they will return to Andelon once I have become well enough acquainted with the ladies here in Rhemuth to know which ones might be best suited to invite to join my retinue. Have you any suggestions on which Gwyneddan ladies I should get to know?"

Alixa smiled. "I'm still learning them all, to be honest, but I can point out most of the dukes' wives and daughters at least, and those of the earls as well. I'm still learning the names and faces of the lesser lords' family members, since many don't tend to visit Rhemuth as often, and I'm certain there are a few I've never had a chance to meet even after seven years of marriage to Cinhil."

Catalina looked around the hall. "Are your ladies seated nearby?"

Alixa blushed. "Honestly, I haven't had a chance to think about a retinue of my own yet. I used to be one of Queen Soraya's ladies-in-waiting until last month, and since then, we've been dealing with the aftermath of the late King's death and trying to arrange introductions for Richeldis and Elisa to meet appropriate suitors. I suppose I shall have to turn more attention to the matter one of these days. It's been an overwhelming month."

"And now even more so with a lot of foreign visitors arriving early and a wedding tossed in on top of everything!" Catalina gave the young Queen a sympathetic look. "If it would help, maybe we can share my ladies, should you have need of their services, at least until things settle down a little and we can both take a proper look at the matter of selecting new ladies for our respective households. I imagine most of Queen Soraya's ladies are closer to her age than to ours?"

Alixa nodded. "Yes, I think most of them are within five or ten years of her age in either direction. I felt like the odd one out, though I was honored to be invited to join them."

"I assume she would prefer to keep them, and that they would also prefer to remain in her service, being well used to each other after all this time," Catalina observed.

"You're likely right. Queen Soraya tends not to be very keen on change, and she likes things to be done a certain way."

"I imagine so, and she can keep doing things as she likes them in her own household. But as the current Queen of Gwynedd, I'm sure you realize you can set your own style for how you'd like things done in yours." Catalina smiled as she saw a glimmer of faint excitement dawn in Alixa's eyes.

"I could, couldn't I?" Alixa's dawning excitement turned to thoughtful reflection. "I wouldn't want to be too extravagant, with us gearing up for a war. But maybe once you've been here a bit longer, we could help each other select suitable ladies for both of our household needs. I think I'd like that."


Next chapter:  https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3212.0.html

[DerynifanK]

I think it will be fascinating to watch the machinations of your unholy trio of villains; Renier, Torval, and Ingrid. And I suspect there will be more. I hope our hero's can survive it. I do feel sorry for poor Cecile. I can't see anything good in her future.

[Evie]

I think it will be fascinating to watch the machinations of your unholy trio of villains; Renier, Torval, and Ingrid. And I suspect there will be more. I hope our hero's can survive it. I do feel sorry for poor Cecile. I can't see anything good in her future.

"Always in motion is the future."--Yoda

But I think it's safe to say that Cécile's dreams of romantic bliss probably don't include a calculating little git of a bridegroom and scheming in-laws.

[revanne]

Don Salim in desert robes *sigh*

[Evie]

Don Salim in desert robes *sigh*

I was waiting for this entirely predictable comment.   

[DerynifanK]

I love the teleportation spell. Wish I could do that. My bad back would much appreciate it.

[Evie]

I love the teleportation spell. Wish I could do that. My bad back would much appreciate it.

So would mine! Though since I'm not Deryni, I would need Joss Morgan to come visit me frequently to use it on my behalf. 

[revanne]

Don Salim in desert robes *sigh*

I was waiting for this entirely predictable comment. 

I would hate to disappoint.