Michael Jecks - The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover

And yet …

The few times Baldwin had seen her during this ride, her excitement, her apparent repressed glee, had been a little out of place. It must be that she was glad to be free again, he thought.

He would have mentioned it to Simon, but when he turned to look at his old friend, he saw that Simon was already asleep.

Baldwin blew out the candle and lay staring up at the ceiling. All he could see was the body of Enguerrand, Comte de Foix, the blood forming a cushion for his head on the snow. Two dead men already, he told himself. The musician in London, as Blaket had said, and now the Comte.

There was nothing for him to trouble himself about, though. No. He rolled over on the bed, and was soon asleep.

They had let Jack go. There was little point in trying to maintain the charade that he was in danger, not when he lay on his belly and smiled at them, as though knowing that they would like to harm him but in truth did not dare. Disgruntled, Ricard had jerked his head, and all had released him.

Philip was the last to speak. He held his fist under Jack’s nose. ‘See this? See this, little mystery man? When I have the chance, one day I’ll use this on you, and you’ll not know what day of the week it is, I swear!’

‘Fearful,’ Jack said, eyeing the clenched fist closely. ‘Wash it first, would you?’

‘You …’ Philip swung twice, hard, the fist striking on the cheek, the nose. Jack was just able to roll his head enough to absorb the blows, but the blood began to trickle from his nostrils.

Ricard grabbed the fist before it could swing again. ‘Philip, get out of here.’

‘Just leave me with him for a little. I’ll find out what he’s about.’

‘Leave him! You want the Queen to hear you’ve been brawling? She’ll abandon you here without a penny. You want that?’

‘He’s a spy. He killed Peter, and now he’s here to spy on us all.’

‘Who’d want to spy on us?’ Janin asked reasonably.

‘I’ll bet he killed the Frenchie too,’ Philip spat, pointing at Jack. ‘And because he says he’ll see us dead, you let him get away with it all!’

Jack watched him throw his hands in the air, then stride angrily from the room. The others were eyeing him cautiously, as though he might at any moment turn and kill them all.

‘Is there any truth in what he says?’

‘What, that I may have killed this man Peter? I never even met the man. And as for the Frenchman — why would I do that? No, I’m innocent, just an ordinary drummer. That’s me.’

Alicia was content enough with the large room she shared with the Queen and the other ladies.

It was hard to find a moment to speak to the Queen without being overheard, but as she washed the dust from her mistress and brushed it from her hair, she could whisper a little.

‘Have you seen him again?’ Isabella asked. Her lips scarcely moved.

‘Yes. There was a shadow down in the doorway when I fetched the water, and Lady Joan was there.’

‘Joan of Bar. My husband’s niece. He does me the honour of a noble spy, at least.’

Alicia smiled at that. Of all the ladies-in-waiting, she was the least by birth, and if it were not for the fact that the Queen had insisted on her presence, she would never have been brought along. The Queen already had Lady Joan of Bar and Alice de Toeni, the Dowager Countess of Warwick. King Edward had pointedly asked why she should need any more people, and Alicia had smiled to herself at the Queen’s indignant response.

‘Why, would you have the King’s ambassador arrive at my brother’s door like a beggar? If you seek a peace with my brother and would have me treat with him as an equal, you will need to allow me to appear as though I have some status in your eyes, my lord. You would grudge me my own maid?’

It was a telling comment. The Archbishop Reynolds supported her, as did Henry Eastry, prior of Christ Church. There were enough men who would be unwilling to see her humiliated before her own brother for the King to acquiesce, finally, albeit with a bad grace.

But there were spies about her at all times.

‘Is she back yet?’

‘No, my lady.’

There was another pause while the Queen considered. ‘She is the King’s lady. She could be sending information to him, but if so, she is also telling Despenser. We must remain careful.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you see him?’

‘Thickset, broad-shouldered, with a slow sort of mien. I would not think him a nobleman. He didn’t have that kind of breeding.’

‘His face.’

‘Didn’t see it. He was in shadows. Lady Joan was between him and the torches.’

Queen Isabella nodded faintly. ‘Watch her, then, and let me know if you see him again.’

‘I will, my-’

‘You are taking your time, child. Is our queen’s toilet complete?’

‘Lady Alice, I think I can decide for myself when my toilet is complete. Where is Lady Joan?’

‘I do not know. She went out a little while ago.’

‘Perhaps you should send someone to ensure that she is quite safe? And while you are out there, you could send for my musicians. I think I need a little music to lighten my mood. I find myself a little distraite .’

‘Very well. Alicia, you go and-’

‘Countess Alice, I think I asked you to go,’ the Queen said. In her voice was a hint of steel. Although she did not turn her head to look at the Dowager Countess directly, there was enough menace in her tone to make Alice de Toeni colour.

‘I should insist, my lady. I am of noble blood, and it would be better if I did not leave you alone. We are in a foreign country, and-’

‘Lady Alice, this is the land of my birth. You suggest that my own countrymen would harm me? For sooth ! Now, begone. If there is any trouble, you may point out that it was the absence of Lady Joan that forced you to leave me alone. Now, go !’

As soon as the door had slammed, she gave herself over to giggling. ‘Did you see her face? She was like a stuffed frog!’

Alicia was more concerned. ‘But what if she causes you trouble? She could tell the King that you sent her away like a serf.’

‘She will. With fortune, it will be too late,’ Queen Isabella said with a cold certainty, and Alicia wondered at that. It was not the first time she had heard that hard, ruthless edge to her mistress’s voice, but it was the first time that she had seen the glitter of certainty in her eyes.

While the Queen waited for her musicians, Alicia noticed that she appeared unsettled. Usually Alicia would leave to go about other duties while the musicians played, but tonight she was unusually tired. The effect of the journey and the feeling that she must spend her time in cautious observation of all those about her, she supposed.

The men trooped in, a very motley band. Still, as the first struck a tune on his gittern, and another started to saw on his rebec, she warmed to them. They might be the tattiest churls ever to have been scraped from the kennel, but they could certainly play their instruments. Even when they had been in a fight. The man with the bodhran was looking quite battered, although he stood there with his head turned away from the drum, his ear near the skin as he beat out the rhythms, like a man with nothing on his mind whatever, other than the urgent need for the music he had to play. Then the rebec player glanced over at the others in turn, each nodding to him, and he ducked his upper body and sawed faster on his fiddle, and as though by magic all the others joined in at the same time, this time playing a furious, quick dance tune. Alicia’s foot could not keep still — it began to tap in time.

But all the while her mind was not on the music. It was on the Queen, sitting here so close to her, her head moving, smiling all the while.