The Falcon and the Flower Part 20

The Lady of Hay, Mathilda, was outraged and insisted her husband Wil iam de Braose leave Nottingham immediately.

They would return to their own estates, which bordered those of her good friend Avisa, and wouldn't she have a thing or two to pour into her ears. John was a cold-blooded child murderer.

Hadn't he disposed of his own nephew Arthur because he posed a threat to the throne? Something must be done, she told everyone she encountered.

It did not take King John twenty-four hours in Nottingham to learn which way the wind blew. He ordered the queen pack up the royal household to remove to Gloucester and gave her one day to accomplish the impossible. He insisted that he wished to be in Gloucester by September. If she was not ready, he to be in Gloucester by September. If she was not ready, he informed her, she would have to fol ow, but it would be at her own peril because he needed his soldiers at his back and was wil ing to spare her a mere token escort.

John sat down with Ranulf for a serious tete-a-tete on their favorite subject, money. De Blundevil e offered him a hundred thousand crowns for Jasmine. John promptly accepted and invited the earl, his best friend, to accom- pany the royal party to Gloucester where Isabel a would be able to indulge herself planning a secret wedding.

Estel e sat in a bath of Epsom salts, bewailing the fact that she had no nipbone plant to add to the water. A quiet knock on the chamber door sent Jasmine quickly to stop any from entering while Estel e was naked. She opened the door a crack to see a young page. "The court is ordered to Gloucester. You have one day to ready yourselves," he piped.

"G.o.d's love." Estel e moaned. "I'm tempted to poison al the horses. My a.r.s.e wil never be the same again."

"Why don't you ride in a litter, Grandmother?" Jasmine asked with concern.

"What? And admit I'm an old woman? 'Tis a good thing my backbone is stronger than my backside."

Jasmine couldn't hide a smile. Pride kept Estel e in the saddle. Pride was what she herself had inherited from Estel e.

Pride was a luxury that came with a high price, but oh, how she scorned those without it. "I've warmed this towel at the fire. Let me dry you and you can slip right into bed," soothed Jasmine.

"Thank you, darling, but it can't be done. I have to go down to the tents and give Gervase a sealed message from de Burgh."

"Didn't he return with the king?" Jasmine asked, surprised.

"No. He took the Scottish princesses to his uncle, Hubert de Burgh, for safekeeping."

Jasmine didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed.

"Wel , that's good. The wretched man is forever threatening me with marriage."

Estel e began to dress. "There are men about far more wretched than de Burgh."

"I know," admitted Jasmine. "I hope Ranulf de Blundevil e goes back to Chester."

"Don't count on it," advised Estel e. "He and John are close as copulating dogs."

"Grandmother!" Jasmine exclaimed, shocked at her language. "Don't be obscene."

"I abhor obscenity!" said the old woman. "Bar this door while I'm gone."

As it turned out, Queen Isabel a was nowhere near ready to depart at the end of the twenty-four-hour ultimatum John had issued. Thinking only of himself, as he was wont to do, he left for Gloucester, taking the lion's share of the knights and men- at-arms. The Earl of Chester was stuck escorting the queen and her ladies. This, however, gave him ample time to discuss the plan for the secret wedding. Isabel a was extremely excited by her own cleverness for she had thought of the perfect cover to blind everyone to her plotting.

It was the upcoming wedding of Falkes de Breaute to Joan, the widow of the Earl of Devon. Joan had provided the thirty thousand crowns King John demanded for her hand in marriage, and the wedding was to take place as soon as de Breaute reached Gloucester after he had done the king's dirty work of dispossessing the bishops of their Canterbury holdings. So al the talk was of "the wedding."

Much to Jasmine's annoyance, Chester seemed to enjoy her company. For the most part she remained silent while Ranulf impressed upon her his exalted ancestry, his importance to the realm, the number of cities and towns he ruled, the jewel of these being Chester, an ancient, wal ed Roman city.

When the weather turned cold and nasty for traveling, which was unusual for autumn, he described the sun-warmed coast of Brittany around the Gulf of St. Malo, an area he had governed for her grandfather. She knew the stark and graceless earl was wooing her. She tried being graceless earl was wooing her. She tried being cold and distant, but he did not seem to notice. Next she told him pointedly, "My lord earl, I do not think it is wise for us to be seen so much together. I am promised in marriage."

He was amused. "No man is more aware than I that you are promised in marriage," he said enigmatical y.

She relaxed a little, offering a silent prayer for Falcon de Burgh. He served as a powerful barrier between her and men's unwanted attentions. But Ranulf de Blundevil e seemed impervious to the implied wrath of her betrothed.

To Jasmine the journey seemed endless as mile after weary mile they walked their horses at a snail's pace toward Gloucester. She was tired, irritable, and a smal knot of apprehension was growing inside of her because of Chester's insidious presence. She was picking up vibrations from the man that frightened her. He was almost like a predator circling his prey in ever smal er circles, and she had the feeling that she might be trapped if she didn't proceed with caution. At last the spire of Gloucester Cathedral could be seen in the distance. It had taken them over three weary weeks to make the journey.

Falcon de Burgh and a dozen of his best fighting men were playing nursemaid to Alexander of Scotland's two little sisters and their personal servants. The hard-bitten Norman soldiers had set out with tight-lipped anger and disgust at their a.s.signment. Everything that could possibly go wrong had done so. The little girls cried because they were leaving their done so. The little girls cried because they were leaving their dogs and pets behind, then their horses became lame and de Burgh had to purchase new mounts for them at Newcastle.

The children and their servants spoke with such a thick Scots'

burr that communication was almost impossible, resulting in one misunderstanding after another. The weather had a wil of its own and chose to be per- verse until de Burgh's men were at their wit's end. Final y the whole debacle degenerated into farce. Falcon was relieved that his men's high spirits broke out in hilarity. The horseplay and heels-in-the-air laughing fits were infinitely preferable to a volcanic erruption of frayed tempers.

They jousted and pushed at each other with their rough hands when they mounted, played devastatingly cruel jokes on one another, and seemed to exult in the inclement weather. The more bitter the wind, the more they threw off their hats and opened wide the necks of their leather jacks, laughing boisterously. It was as if the wind lifted their wild spirits. And indeed to men who lived by the sword, this was like a holiday, sauntering from castle to castle along the east coast. The little girls were tucked in their beds by suppertime, leaving the long evenings free for the men to laugh and drink and gamble and tel tal tales, each outdoing the one told before.

The next night, spent at Folkingham Castle, turned out to be the most miserable experience of the whole wretched journey.

It was pouring cats and dogs, the heavens chucking down everything they had. The place was in such disrepair they spent the night in the leaky stables with their mounts, vying with one another for piles of moldy, wet hay.

Tempers frayed somewhat around midnight with curses and accusations of "witless b.a.s.t.a.r.d" and "weak-livered wh.o.r.eson." A voice said, "Horse s.h.i.+t's supposed to be lucky, stop whining." Another voice answered, "Lucky for me, unlucky for you!" This was fol owed by the sickening thud of a fist in a face. When the gray wet dawn arrived at least half of de Burgh's men sported black eyes and sheepish countenances.

After an hour in the saddle, both children were sneezing and coughing and their servants were almost useless. De Burgh realized that winter had arrived early and no more warm autumn days would be forthcoming. He made a quick decision. Instead of going directly south from Spalding, he turned east, skirting the wash, and rode into Norfolk.

The de Burghs had vast holdings in this part of England.

Hubert's Castle Rising was a snug, wel -appointed place where the children could be put to bed until they were wel and Falcon and his men could He before roaring fires, eating and drinking their heads off if they so chose.

The hour was late when they arrived at Castle Rising, and Falcon was surprised to see that the stables were almost ful .

He glanced up in the darkness and saw that the de Burgh flag was flying, indicating that Hubert was in residence. They clattered over the drawbridge and rode under the spiked portcul is to the inner bailey where he left his men to deal with their charges. He walked through the pa.s.sageway with guardrooms on either side fil ed with men at their evening meal.

Hubert's face split into a broad grin. "Falcon, lad, wel met. Is Salisbury here?"

"No. I've only a dozen of my men with me, but you're the one man in al England I'm glad to meet up with tonight."

"Why's that?" Hubert asked suspiciously.

"I'm escorting the Scots' princesses to you for safekeeping and I'm glad to be shut of them," he said, grinning. "We don't make very good nursemaids."

"s.h.i.+t, that's al we need," Hugh exclaimed, looking decidedly uncomfortable. He indicated the man sitting on his right.

"Falcon, this is the Bishop of Norwich."

"Yes," Falcon said, nodding, "I've known the bishop since I was a lad in these parts."

"Aye, wel , that's why I rode up here to get his advice about how to proceed with the news I received from the latest s.h.i.+p."

Hubert hesitated, then plunged in, "Pope Innocent has excommunicated John. The s.h.i.+t wil real y fly when he finds out."

Falcon removed his damp cloak and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's why you hoped Salisbury was with me."

"Aye." Hubert nodded. "In Greece they used to kil the messenger who delivered bad news . . . but I figured even John wouldn't kil his own brother."

"Don't count on it," Falcon said grimly. He turned to the bishop. "What wil this mean?"

The Bishop of Norwich puffed out his lips. "It wil al blow over as soon as the king accepts Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. Then the Pope wil reinstate him. In the meantime, John won't be able to attend church or receive the sacrament. While he is under the ban of excommunication, any religious service he attends wil be invalid."

Falcon said careful y, "And if the king refuses to obey the Pope? Where do you stand in this?"

"Of course he wil obey the Pope. We al must obey the Pope, for his is the higher authority. I shal certainly obey him."

"You may, my lord bishop; the king may not. What then?"

"It would be anathema. The Pope would lay England under an interdict. Al religious services would be ordered to be suspended. No burial services, no wil s probated. We would cease to be a Christian land. With a papal ban the Pope could curse King John within and without, sleeping or waking, going and sitting, standing and riding, lying aboveground and underwater, speaking and drinking, in field, in town . . ."

Falcon beckoned Hubert with a jerk of his head. What he had to impart could not be said before the bishop. Hubert rose from the table and said, "I'd better take a look at the little princesses. Special quarters wil need to be plenished."

When they were alone Falcon said, "John has sent Falkes de Breaute to confiscate al the lands of Canterbury. Salisbury is on his way to dispatch Wil iam Marshal to Rome to read the Pope a tirade. John is a b.l.o.o.d.y fool! He has no support from his northern barons, but thinks he can rule without it. Now he makes war against the church. If he thinks he can rule without the support of the church, he is wrong, dead wrong."

"Christ!" said Hubert, shaking his head. "No wonder he was afraid to stay in the north and returned to Gloucester.

Salisbury's gone to Chepstow, ye say? My men wil have to escort the princesses to Corfe. Tomorrow I'm on my way to Chepstow. Perhaps Salisbury and myself with Wil iam Marshal's help can bring John to his senses. Wil you ride with me?"

"Only as far as Gloucester. I'm getting married, remember?

Then I'm going to my own castle in Wales at Mountain Ash to sit out the winter. John is unstable. I can smel civil war on the air. What the hel would I do if he ordered me to ride against Nottingham or Lincoln? Do you think I'd sacrifice my men in a civil war?" he said with disgust.

"Your men wors.h.i.+p you," his uncle pointed out.

"They wouldn't for long if I ordered them to fight their brothers."

"Those who stick by him wil get preferment, rewards,"

advised Hugh.

"Oh, aye, next time I see you, you'l likely be justiciar." Falcon flashed his wolf's grin, then shook his head. "The price is too high for me," he said honestly.

Chapter 23.

Gloucester Castle was the most wel -appointed and comfortable stronghold Jasmine had ever seen. No wonder the king had kept it in his possessive Norman fingers when he had divorced Avisa. The household chamberlaine ushered her to her own s.p.a.cious room, high in the castle with a breathtaking view of the Black Mountains of Wales. Behind these rose some of the highest peaks in the world, the Cambrian Mountains.

She hung Feather's cage by the window and gave Quil a little pan of water and an old slipper. It was only after she was unpacked and settled in that she learned her chamber was just a short distance from the apartment occupied by the Earl of Chester. She decided that on the morrow she would have a word with the chamberlaine and demand a room close to her grandmother.

Estel e needed to replenish her supply of medicinal herbs and reasoned that she would be able to find most of them close by along the banks of the great River Severn. Also Joan of Devon wanted to learn how to make scented candles. Rushlights, torches, and quarion candles, which were widely in use, smoked and stank. Estel e had spoken of using beeswax mixed with the oils of flowers, and the bride-to-be was quite taken with the idea.

Jasmine was trying to decide what she would wear to the wedding, which was only three days away. It must be something demure, modest, perhaps even prim to discourage men's eyes from feasting upon her, especial y those of Chester and the king. The trouble was that Estel e had always seen that she was dressed like a fairy princess. She thought perhaps she would wear the shel -pink velvet because it was plain and cut with a high square neckline. Of course the underdress that went with it was delicate as a spider's web, embroidered with silver threads. She sighed, realizing no matter which she chose, she would stand out. The contrast between her dresses and the queen's was very marked, since Jasmine's were al in pastel shades to complement her flaxen tresses, while the queen wore jewel-bright tones that showed off her vivid darkness and the ladies of the court al copied the queen's fas.h.i.+ons.

Next morning Jasmine chose a pair of boots and a warm cloak so that she could go out with Estel e to gather plants, but before she left her chamber, a young page brought a summons from the queen. Jasmine was puzzled that Isabel a wanted to speak with her privately, and a.s.sumed it was in connection with some card reading or magic she wanted her to perform at the wedding celebration.

Isabel a was stil abed though the bedcurtains had been thrown back to let in the pale wintery suns.h.i.+ne. Jasmine noticed immediately that the queen's eyes were unnatural y bright s.h.i.+ning and glittering with suppressed excitement. She licked her lips with antic.i.p.ation before she spoke. "I want you to prepare for a wedding tomorrow. Do you have a suitable gown, Lady Jasmine?"

Jasmine was slightly confused. "I thought the wedding was two days from now, your majesty. Has the date been changed?"

"I am referring to your wedding, Lady Jasmine," Isabel a said, the corners of her mouth lifting with delicious malice.

"My wedding?" Jasmine repeated blankly.

Isabel a's eyes glittered with mischief. "The king has decided to honor you with a great marriage. He has given your hand to Ranulf de Blundevil e, the Earl of Chester. The wedding wil be tomorrow night."

Jasmine was stunned. "Your majesty, that is impossible. I am betrothed to Falcon de Burgh."

Isabel a waved her hand in dismissal. "The king has decided upon a more fitting match for one with royal blood. He has considered the matter careful y, and if he searched the length and breadth of the kingdom he could not find a wealthier or more powerful baron for you. You should be highly honored."

"I am not honored, I am dishonored to be used as p.a.w.nbait!

My father Wil iam of Salisbury contracted me to Falcon de Burgh. I wil not marry the Earl of Chester!"

Isabel a's eyes flashed dangerously and her mouth turned sulky and cruel. "My husband is not asking you to marry Chester, he is commanding you to do so. Must I point out to you that Salisbury is nothing more than a b.a.s.t.a.r.d? John is your king! Seek your room, mistress, you wil need to prepare yourself for this wedding."

Jasmine was so angry she wanted to slap Isabel a sil y. A petulant, spoiled, child-b.i.t.c.h was trying to ruin her life on a whim. "I wil speak to the king," Jasmine said coldly.

Isabel a laughed. "He and Chester have ridden out somewhere. Do you not recal you predicted al this yourself, Lady Jasmine, when first you read the tarot cards? I remember your words exactly. 'The three of cups represents a bride, a happy fulfil ing card denoting joy in antic.i.p.ation of marriage.' It was reversed and you said that meant a broken betrothal. So it al came right from your own mouth."

Jasmine cast her mind back. It had meant interference of a third party to break up a betrothal. She remembered that her card had been placed slightly beneath those representing the queen and king, which indicated that they would step on her.

"Tomorrow evening you wil be wed. You are dismissed."

Jasmine whirled about and ran from the room. She did not stop running until she was safely inside her grandmother's chamber. There she flung off the cloak she had been wearing.

Her blood was high at the moment, she needed no cloak to keep her warm. "Estel e, I knew they were up to something!

Isabel a has just informed me I'm to wed the Earl of Chester tomorrow evening."

"By the rood, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d has bought you from John! His pride never recovered when the king's daughter-in-law divorced him. Now he takes his revenge by marrying another with royal blood."

"There wil be no marriage! John cannot do this, can he Estel e?" she cried.

"John can do anything he fancies," Estel e said quietly.

"Where the hel is de Burgh when I need him?" Jasmine cried in anguish.

"I wil speak to John. I know something terrible about him I can use to coerce him."