Power & The Price

That very night, William awaited for the maid to leave Katherine’s chamber before he knocked and opened the door. ‘Your Majesty,’ he began, his eyes still darting around to see whether someone had spotted him.

Katherine was standing by the window. Her hair had been braided in two braids, and she wore only her shift and her red petticoat. It was not cold, but from the times he had seen her half-dressed, it appeared she always wore another layer around her legs for warmth.

‘Will,’ she said, grinning. ‘Sit.’

‘I just came from council,’ he said, sitting on the edge of her bed and crossing his legs. ‘You?’

Katherine turned and put her hands behind her back. ‘I just came from Henry. We discussed our interests and danced to some music. So far so good.’

As she threw herself onto the bed and scrambled back up to a seated posture, William wondered how much was wise to tell her considering the confidentiality. The match had to work out for the common good of both the countries, both the people involved in the marriage, the houses… and yet something gnawed at him — he imagined something could be gained by leveraging it against Katherine.

‘Really?’ he asked, gazing into her eyes. ‘I’ve heard he can be quite difficult to deal with.’

Katherine made a face and sat down beside him, her posture shy. ‘Well, I wished that I’d known about the lovers,’ she said.

The corners of his mouth twitched. ‘It appears a Massouric trait. I’ve heard the Queen shares her bed with her secretary of state.’

‘He’s still a young lad,’ she said. ‘In fact, Henry said they were classmates when he was being given his education in the countryside. He was a year up from Henry. Henry’s own lover is yet another classmate.’

‘Really?’ he asked again. ‘They teach women in this country’s military academies?’

Will already knew the answer, but was interested to see her attitude towards her suitor. Katherine sighed deeply and clicked her tongue. ‘No,’ she said, keeping her tone rather placid, ‘Henry doesn’t discriminate in love. Both men and women have found his favor.’

‘And you don’t worry that this will make him neglect you?’ he asked.

She chuckled. ‘Perhaps if I were some pure Christian maid I would have. Admittedly, given what I’ve seen of his treatment of his favorites, I’d prefer to stay well-liked but certainly not favoured by him.’

‘Wise,’ he said, then felt himself grin at the forbidden knowledge he decided to pass through. ‘Did you hear Queen Louise is to abdicate? She wishes to give him the kingdom with a warm hand, not a cold one.’

Katherine lifted her head and held her breath.

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked, chuckling. ‘You’re a queen in your own right, my dear. Were you expecting to stay his superior while you were courting?’

She nodded slowly. ‘Does Henry know?’ she asked.

Will shrugged. ‘It seemed quite secretive. At least to us, and of course we are outsiders.’

Katherine’s turned her gaze down to the recently lacquered floor, playing with her braids that were so long that they rested in her lap, and felt herself lean on William again. ‘All of this diplomacy has been very tiring,’ she said. ‘And very complex.’

Will sighed contently and put an arm around her, dragging his thumb repeatedly over the bones in her shoulder. ‘It’s just a bit new, little hare. Remember: you were not raised for this. In due time, things will all reveal themselves for what they are. People, situations, plots, everything.’

Mischievously, she looked up from beneath her white eyebrows. ‘Almost a looming way to put it.’

He knocked his head against hers briefly. ‘Then, I’ll rephrase. In due time, everything will be so clear you will be able to see all the way to the bottom.’

‘I hope so,’ she said. ‘In the mean time, I will consider to seek your guidance.’

‘A fine honour,’ he began, his voice a mere whisper, ‘To be bestowed upon some nobody from the city of Astwick…’

William had hoped that the news would spread, and he had expected Katherine to be the way it would, but he had no idea whether Henry would be surprised or even believe her. When he received word that Henry would throw a party for his nearest that night, the day after he had told Katherine, in which the theme would be that everyone were to dress as if they were meeting the king, he was happy to learn that he had a seemingly perfect way to speak to Henry. That would prove useful, he thought, given that he was to rule.

The next time he saw Katherine was again in the evening, but this time, he only saw her from his office, which overlooked a bit of the garden where the fountain now ran with wine again and the crowd was wearing immaculate court gowns and overdecorated doublets.

Katherine was by herself then. She had her hair in curls, of which only a bit of hair at the front was visible, and the rest was modestly covered by a veil — a very Ilworthian style against a backdrop of Massouric and Argentan courtiers. Besides that, she had an usually shy look on her face as she looked through the crowd in search of Henry.

Henry was sitting underneath the bridge that crossed the moat, in ermine robes and a crown borrowed from another prince’s fancy dress chest, and so far too small for the pudgy young man. Among him, half-lying and half-sitting in the damp darkness of the makeshift cave beneath the slippery wooden bridge, was a small group of adolescents and young adults Katherine had learned to think of as his friends, lovers, confidantes, and his camarilla. Where Henry went, at least one of them did. They were men and women, of prestigious noble birth and from the streets, supernaturally attractive or unconventionally charming, and they were all equals in the eyes of their sun, around which their daily life revolved, Prince Henry.

He had been awaiting Katherine, but when a cloaked figure scooted closer to him, he did not object to the presence of the other young lady. Her hair was dark and her face much more striking than the others’ — the way her lips curved into a delicate bow, the red on her cheeks, the slate grey eyes beneath dark lashes each distinguished her to the point of uniqueness. With her mystical beauty, nobody had to work to remember her name: Diane Neville, heiress to Le Roumont.

‘The King,’ Diane said, and cast her eyes downward the way she would if she was curtsying.

Henry grinned with great satisfaction. ‘So, you’ve heard…’

‘Haven’t we all?’ she cooed. ‘It’s not every day that we hear such shocking news. And so soon after the succession crisis of Ilworth…’

She briefly went quiet, her eyes sooty from charcoal or simply the light. Henry drew her in.

‘Well, Mother isn’t dim,’ he said. ‘If she thought it was a bad time, she wouldn’t have done it.’

He looked down Diane’s face which pointed up at him, her large eyes full of ineffable knowledge and mystery, windows straight into her stormy inner world. ‘Wouldn’t she?’ she asked. She clicked her tongue. ‘Henry, do you still intend to wed…’

She was quiet again and grazed her teeth across his cheek, then exhaled and continued, ‘… the foreign bitch?’

There was just enough amusement in her tone to make him chuckle, and just enough depth to put him under her spell. ‘Well… who cares who I marry, right? At the end of the day, it’ll be the way it always was. Just instead of screwing you lot, I’ll be screwing you lot and occasionally whoever Mother believes I should marry for the alliance.’

‘And she didn’t come to the party?’ Diane purred on.

‘She did,’ Henry said. ‘At least she said she would. Diane, you’d love her if only you met her. Quarrel with Mother, not with either of us, if you disagree.’

‘Did you show her the cellar yet?’ she asked.

Henry huffed. ‘I’ve gone hunting with her and shown her how to use an arquebus. Hardly the sort of activity that leads you to explore an… honorary dungeon. Really, Di, you should be happy for me. She hasn’t run off yet.’

Diane crawled closer to him and lay her head in his lap. ‘My dear… it’s because you’re marrying down,’ she explained calmly as he stroked her hair. ‘You’re marrying down so far that even if she finds you as despicable as all the others, she’ll stay.’

‘What?’ he chuckled. ‘She’s… the queen. Queen of Ilworth and Otterdon Island. That’s one more title than what I’m getting. I’m not even king yet.’

Her face turned stern, her eyes suddenly appearing much cooler and icier than before when framed with a slight frown. ‘I don’t take it that you’ve been to Ilworth, then…’

’Suit yourself,’ Henry said. ‘Perhaps you’re irritated by the fact that there are no young bachelor kings crying for their Massouric duchess to whip them bloody and ride them bruised.’

‘Isn’t there?’ she asked. ‘I can think of one.’

A shadow was cast across Henry’s face, and Diane felt his legs tense up when he looked. ‘Katherine.’

‘There you are,’ she said, chuckling as her shoes slid through the mud, holding herself tight against the stone of the bridge. ‘I’ve been looking for you all evening.’

Diane rose and crossed her arms, quiet, observing the Queen. She awkwardly made her way further down, dressed in her purple gown that rustled so loudly that many conversations ceased from it, and was so awkwardly voluminous that the sleek styles of Henry’s courtiers appeared feline against its ungraceful silhouette.

Henry extended his arm for her, and she took his hand immediately. ‘Who told you about my secret hiding place?’ he asked.

Katherine hesitantly stepped over Diane and stumbled her way to sitting down next to Henry. ‘Nobody,’ she said. ‘I heard the noise.’

‘Oh,’ he said and scraped his throat. ‘Katherine, this is Diane. Heiress to Le Roumont.’

‘Pleasure,’ Katherine said, extending her hand to Diane.

Instead of kissing her hand as she had imagined, Diane shook it. ‘My pleasure. Love the outfit, Lady Katherine.’

Henry shot her an irritated glance. ‘Lady Diane is a good friend of mine. I believe the two of you have a lot in common.’

‘Do we now?’ Diane shot. ‘If you will tell me about yourself, Lady Katherine, it would delight me greatly to see our similarities.’

‘Come now,’ Henry replied. ‘What’s come over you?’

Katherine chuckled and leaned over to Henry. ‘I know you’ve many lovers, but I hope many of them carry less jealousy than this one does.’

‘And you?’ Diane asked. ‘Will we have to tolerate jealousy from yours?’

The queen raised her pale brows. ‘What lovers? I’ve come straight from the convent.’

‘If that is true, I imagine our prince hesitates to show you his real face,’ Diane said softly. ‘Perhaps you should ask him to show you his collection of correspondences. He cherishes it greatly. As his future wife, you really ought to know.’

Katherine turned to Henry wordlessly, and the latter took the word instead, reluctantly: ‘If you want to see, you’re free to come with me.’

‘Do you think I should?’ Katherine asked.

‘Sure,’ Henry answered plainly. ‘You’ll see it down the line anyway. I’ll take you now if that’s what you want.’

Henry began to feel nervous. As he slid back out of the cavern, Katherine trailing close behind, he straightened himself and patted the mud off of his breeches. His collection… the thought of sharing it with his prospect gave him a rare bout of the chills.

‘Shall we retire to my chambers instead?’ he asked when they were out of earshot. ‘It’ll be far more entertaining. And besides, it’s far closer. You can tell Diane you liked the collection.’

Katherine caught up to him, kicking through the high grass that separated the path from the garden. She was shaking her head. ‘I’ll never hear the last of it. And you’ll have to tell me what it is anyway, given that I’m sure to be interrogated by Diane.’

‘And that matters?’ Henry asked.

She looked over reluctantly. ‘Yes, it matters. I’ll be the butt of every joke if that whore learns you talked me out of it.’

Henry rolled his eyes. ‘You are already getting mighty comfortable, aren’t you, Katherine? That whore is my friend. She won’t have to learn, I’ll take it to the grave.’

‘Are you afraid of my judgment?’ she suddenly asked.

He huffed and opened the door for her. ‘There are few things I’m actually afraid of. Under no circumstance do you qualify.’

Once inside, Katherine began to chuckle. ‘I wonder… will it be severed hands, bullets fished from dead men’s chests, surgically removed nipples from children under the age of five…?’

‘If that’s what you’re expecting…’

He felt reassured that Katherine had listed such gruesome collections, and even felt his interest piqued in a way he had not before following her boldness. She had arrived a few days ago, and he had thought her to be an utterly dull creature with little to her both physically and mentally, but given her sudden charisma, he had to second-guess. Perhaps, he thought, her reaction to the collection would give a definitive sign of her character.

They made their way to the courtyard and crossed the guards into the prince’s own apartments, where Henry twisted the head of one of the statues.

‘Is this a sign of what’s to come?’ Katherine asked, her arms crossed before her.

Henry looked up mischievously. ‘Not without your permission, of course.’

She chuckled, but the sound was muffled by a deep dragging of a hidden door that opened with a hinge. Both of them stared directly into the dark, windowless room before them. Henry took a torch from the hallway.

‘Follow if you dare,’ he said with a theatrically thunderous tone.

‘You don’t scare me either,’ Katherine admitted as she hurried after him, eager to remain in the dim light in the torch lest she were to get lost in the labyrinth of dark hallways. ‘Give me a reason first.’

Henry walked on, Katherine holding onto his arm, and dipped the torch onto another, which ignited it. He followed by igniting the next a few feet over, and then another on the wall facing it, and as it became brighter and brighter in the room, Katherine let her eyes glide over the windowless room.

It had to be part of the original design of Souchon Palace — likely an armory. There were no windows and the walls were made of stones that were so thick she wondered if she could hear a thing going on in the next room over if only the door had been closed. In the middle there was a large table within which, beneath a pane of glass, letters were embedded. The legs of the table, elegantly curved and carved, showed stylized portrayals of skulls, scythes, axes, and various bones. On the wall were a couple of paintings, each portraying a famous execution.

‘I was expecting more swords,’ Katherine said.

Henry looked at her with his brows raised. ‘You don’t even know what you’re looking at. Go ahead and read one, if you’re feeling so bold. You’ll come back on your word.’

Katherine gave him a look and took her hands off of his arm, sauntering towards the long table. She picked one, a particularly yellowed example with faded ink, dated a rough two-hundred years in the past.

My liege,

The incomparable King Henry,

It has come to my attention that my stay in your cellar has been suspended not to be replaced by freedom, but to be snuffed out in death. As your trustworthy and ever-loyal counselor, I must urge Your Majesty that any such actions may result in an uprising much larger than the both of us.

Despite my heinous crimes, which I have confessed at the first instance possible, it is my belief that after my frequent bouts with the pear of anguish, I consider myself having paid for my sins, and I shall now begin my life again as a guiltless innocent.

I pray that you may reconsider. Your greatness is vast, and I believe you are capable of grace and forgiveness the same as any man of God.

Yours expectant, most loyal, and yours sincerely, Raoul de Sainte-Vallac

Katherine reread the letter quietly and looked up to Henry, who was standing on the opposite end of the table, grinning broadly. ‘And they’re all like this?’

‘Some worse,’ he said at last.

Henry felt even slightly uncomfortable at the ease that Katherine portrayed. If this was not enough to deter her, he realized that he could have looked in that instance at a woman who could he could relate to.

‘Was this the most recent King Henry he’s appealing to?’ she asked instead, sauntering around the table.

He looked up in thought. ‘Probably. The one whose blood I share most potently.’

‘Promising,’ she said.

At that, he could not help but chuckle. ‘This is among the stranger reactions that I’ve received upon sharing the fact that I collect confessions and letters from those due to be executed. Recent and historical, might I add.’

‘We’ve all got our things,’ Katherine said. ‘I’ve yet to find mine.’

Henry looked her up and down for the first time since she had arrived to Souchon Palace. ‘You’re short and slight. You might enjoy horse-riding. Perhaps that’ll be your thing.’

The room was hot and getting darker from the smoke that came from the torches. ‘You’d say that, but I really am no good.’

He crossed his arms before him, the taffeta of his brilliant blue sleeves crinkling. ‘Does that go for all animals?’

The torch light shone yellow onto Katherine’s purple dress, filling the air with smoke that began to thicken. ‘What do you mean? The animals I can ride?’ she asked, let a pause fall, and resumed, ‘I can think of a couple of animals I can ride. Just not any horses.’

Check, Henry thought. A happy grin appeared on his face. His mother had finally picked right, and he could not be more pleased with the choice.

Recognizing the pause that it took for him to respond, Katherine raised her brows. ‘You?’

She casually hopped onto the table, careful to sit mainly on the wooden framing and not on the pane of glass, just in case it could not hold her. Henry said: ‘I’m decent on a horse.’

‘And?’

‘Well, I’m not often the one riding any other sort of animal,’ he said uncertainly. ‘Given the fact I usually am a sort of animal.’

The corners of her mouth curled up with amusement. ‘So what I see here is quite straightforward. An animal who can be ridden, and a jockey suitable to ride it.’

‘I suppose that much is true,’ he said, feeling his cheeks burn red beneath the skin as he came closer to her.

Katherine leaned back on her arms and gazed contently into her suitor’s face. ‘I’m completely disoriented,’ she said. ‘How far are we from the Ilworthian wing of the palace right now?’

Henry looked over his shoulder carefully and when he saw nobody passing them by, no footsteps to be heard in the deep silence of the eldest parts of the building, slid both his hands between the cold wood of the table and the smooth satin of Katherine’s dress, weighed down by the weight of her warm legs, and pulled her up into his arms.

‘Honestly?’ he asked, shaking as he hoisted Katherine up comfortably, ‘No idea where they’ve put you… but my apartments are above this place.’

She wrapped her arms around him, leaning forward so her neck and chest fell right into the crook of his shoulder and the side of his face, and her face was plastered to the side of his, covering the curvature and shape of his head and chest with more ease than most of his suits of armour did. ‘And the stables?’ she purred.

‘The stables?’ Henry chuckled as he walked out, with a type of disturbing pride at his prestigious conquest-to-be, ‘I think you’ll come to regret that, Kathy… you don’t know how much straw you can fish out of your own ass until you’ve fucked in a hayloft. We’ve just met and I’d like to keep up appearances as you may have gathered — so I refuse to take you anywhere decrepit or gnarly until I know you won’t gossip about it after.’

Katherine moved about in his arms, her legs wiggling beneath his grasp. ‘Bold of you to say I don’t know how much straw you can fish out of your own ass. You’re forgetting I was a nun before I ascended.’

‘Yes,’ he said, beginning to ascend the stairs slowly. ‘Nuns. Known for fucking in haylofts.’

‘Not like my abbess could do anything about it. They sent me to the nunnery for a good education in piety and virtue. If they’d failed even that…’

‘I imagine you’re full of stories,’ Henry said offhandedly, beginning to lose his breath from shuffling up the spiral stairs with Katherine still in his arms. ‘Why don’t you indulge in a bit of nostalgia for me? See what sort of a prospect I’ve been brought?’

‘If I must…’ Katherine began. ‘I always volunteered to prune the pear and apple trees. It was a horrid task, but it supplied me with a ladder, and put me out of sight for a few hours at a time. Now, when put against the wall, that ladder was just high enough to get me over the gate, and on the other side of that gate, I’d await the company of my knight and champion, then just Dolcotshire’s most exotic knight with two Baradran parents, Henry de Vega… Funny that the two of you should share a name. And the times we’ve shared were quite something, I’ll have you know.’

Once on top of the staircase, Katherine climbed out of is grasp and kissed him with such fierceness that Henry thought he would topple over and crack his skull open on the stone of the staircase. He yanked himself away from her and held her little face in his hands.

‘And the abbess knew?’ he panted.

Katherine cackled darkly. ‘You bet. Probably warmed herself right back up in those freezing Dolcotshire nights just thinking about it. I wonder, Henry, have you ever fucked a knight?’

‘My Charlie is a knight,’ he said.

She grinned and leaned in. ‘Not some girlish jockey like Charlie. I mean a real knight. One with arms the size of your thighs. Charlie’s no more of a knight than Walter, and Walter’s just a promoted footman.’

Henry thought about the two lads — indeed, they rivalled one another when it came to scrawniness. Instead of replying, which was a useless affair as far as he was concerned, he picked her up again and threw her over his shoulder, his arms firmly grasped around her thighs. She yelped and almost immediately relaxed — a sure sign this had not been the first time she had been roughly picked up.

‘Know,’ she said with great amusement, ‘If you bed me now you’ll have to marry me later.’

He huffed, and squeezed her butt in response. ‘We’ll see about that, Kathy.’