Once Upon A Time (Historical Romance) (27 page)

Escobar laughed and his cold lusterless eyes moved over Jilliana in appreciation of her beauty. "I think not, Your Highness. Your mother has asked that I bring you both to her."

With a loud cry, Ruyen ran at Escobar, brandishing his sword.

"Stop him!" the Castilian cried. "Do not let him get to me!"

Jilliana cried out, reaching for Ruyen. She screamed as arrows tore through his body and he fell backward into the sea.

She ran to him, pulling and dragging him from the blood-colored water. "Ruyen," she cried, lacing her fingers through his. "What have they done to you!"

He had been struck by three arrows, and the front of his jerkin was covered with blood. His eyes were so sad as he looked at her. "My dearest love, do not cry… remember me ... and tell our bab—"

His head fell sideways and he went limp. Pressing her lips to his, she stood slowly, facing the man who was responsible for Ruyen's death.

"You will die for this," she said past the sob that was building in her throat.

Escobar looked frightened, not of Queen Jilliana, but because Queen Melesant might very well take his life for killing her son.

With a booted foot, he turned Ruyen over, staring at him for a long time to make certain he was not breathing. "Bring him along later," he said to one of his men. "Give me time to explain to the queen."

Jilliana slumped forward into a shadowy world of blackness. She did not want to live in a world without Ruyen.

29

Queen Eleanor, surrounded by her ladies, listened to the young minstrel play the lute and sing about her days of glory. In irritation, she held up her hand for the singer to stop.

"I want no more morose songs about the past. I want happy songs. Ladies, dance, laugh, be merry."

So saying, she left the gallery, indicating that she wanted to be alone.

These days her prison was becoming too hard to bear. Perhaps it was because Jilliana was no longer with her. The girl had given her a purpose and allowed her to strike out at Henry from her walled prison.

Life no longer held challenge or meaning. The days were too empty, the nights too long.

When she reached her sanctuary, away from the others, she leaned her head against the window and looked out at the bleakness of the day.

"Your Majesty."

Eleanor looked up at her maid. "Have I a letter from Richard?"

"Nay, Your Majesty, but there is something quite odd, that I think you might want to know about."

"What can that be?"

"I was below in the kitchen arranging your tea tray when two men came to the door. They looked to be beggars, and cook, being soft-hearted, offered them bread and admonished them to be on their way. And what do you think?"

Eleanor looked indifferent. "You tell me."

"One of the men said he must get a message to Queen Eleanor."

"Why should I listen to a beggar?"

The maid's voice rose with excitement. "Your Majesty, he said he had come from your ward."

"I have no war—" There was the merest shimmer of hope in her eyes. "What else did this person say?"

"The one man said that he was from Talshamar, and I believed him."

"Where is he?" Excitement was growing within Eleanor. "Bring him to me at once."

"I was certain you would want to see them. They are just outside the door."

Eleanor was poised and regal when the two men entered. They stood several paces from her while she looked them over. They merely looked like beggars to her, and none too clean either.

"Which of you said he was from Talshamar?"

Sir Edward bowed. "Tis I, Your Majesty. I am Sir Edward, one of the knights who accompanied Queen Jilliana to London and then on to Falcon Bruine."

"Why then are you not with Jilliana now? Why do you come seeking bread at my door?"

"Your Majesty, terrible trouble befell my queen. I know not if she is alive or dead."

Eleanor motioned the man closer so she could watch his eyes as he spoke. She could usually discern when someone was speaking the truth.

"Why say you this, Sir Edward, if that is your true name?"

"A small number of us accompanied the queen to Falcon Bruine." He dropped to one knee and lowered his head. "I feel such shame. It was my duty to keep the queen safe. I have not done so."

"What has happened to Jilliana?"

"Her Majesty has been locked in her chamber and is not allowed to leave. Queen Melesant plans to keep her there until she has the baby."

"What is this? Did you say that Queen Jilliana is with child?"

"Aye, Majesty. We were preparing for our homeward voyage when we were set upon by Queen Melesant's soldiers. Some of our men were slain and others taken to the dungeon."

She read truth in his earnest eyes. "Stand up, Sir Edward, and tell me what happened to Humphrey."

"I am told that he is one of those in the dungeon. I did not see him among my slain countrymen so I believe it to be true."

"You appear to be a resourceful young knight. How is it that you escaped when the others were killed or captured?"

"I was wounded and left for dead. Had it not been for Princess Cassandra and Rob Gilbert, here, I would surely have died."

Eleanor restlessly moved up and down the floor she had paced so many times in the past. She was wondering why Queen Melesant had so brazenly committed such an offense. With her quick mind, she finally understood and shook her head.

"The Castilian queen believes that she can control Talshamar if she takes Jilliana's baby. To control Talshamar, Jilliana would have to be dead, and that I shall never allow. A plague on Melesant—from the devil she came, from the devil she will return!"

"But what can we do, Your Majesty?"

"Do not look so dejected, sir knight," Eleanor said with confidence. "I have defeated more able opponents than that silly queen. She is no match for me."

"But, Madame, you are a prisoner."

Eleanor laughed softly. "You have given me purpose just when I thought I would die if I had to spend another day listening to my silly ladies chattering and gossiping. Ameria, escort these men to a room and prepare a bath. Sir Edward, you shall dine with me tonight and we will plan our stratagem."

Sir Edward had heard much about Eleanor and most of it bad. After today, he would be her most staunch defender if anyone tried to defame her name. Cassandra had been right to send him here, for Queen Eleanor had readily agreed to help him.

Cassandra flattened her body against the wall, listening to her mother rage at Escobar. "
You fool
! You killed my son, and for this you shall pay!"

"He tried to kill me, Majesty. What could I do?"

"Ruyen was a better man than you will ever be. Do you believe I would trade my son's life for yours?
Never
!"

Cassandra pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out in pain. Ruyen dead, how could that be! She swallowed a sob and turned her attention back to her mother.

Melesant's fingers curled into tight fists as she spent her fury on Escobar. "You dared to take it upon yourself to harm my son!"

He had never seen her so enraged, and he moved quickly out of her reach. "I saw no other recourse. I had to stop him. He had betrayed you."

"You are a little man," Melesant said contemptuously, "and little men have little thoughts. Do you think I could not have controlled my own son? Have I not done so before?"

"Yes, Majesty." Escobar cringed as she vented her fury on him. "What would you have me do?"

"You have already set events in motion that cannot be stopped." She advanced on him and he drew back. Although she did not raise her voice, he flinched. "When next you decide that you can dictate policy on Falcon Bruine, that is the day I send you back to Castile minus your head!"

"Yes, Majesty."

"Get from my sight. I no longer want to look upon you."

"Yes, Majesty."

"Go!"

Escobar scurried out the door, passing Cassandra without seeing her. When she entered the room, Cassandra found her mother slumped in her chair, her eyes filled with tears.

Cassandra knew that for her own safety, she must play the innocent fool. "Why are you sad, Mother?"

Melesant stiffened her back. "I have sad tidings, daughter. Your brother has been ... is dead."

Cassandra clutched her hands, trying not to cry. "But how could such a thing happen?"

"Does it matter? He's dead."

The pain was almost too great for Cassandra to bear. "I…want to see his body."

Melesant dabbed at her eyes. "His body was taken away so no one would make a martyr out of him. I'll soon bring this rebellion under control."

"I want to see my brother's body," Cassandra insisted.

"Silly girl, I told you no one will know where he is buried. I have had him laid to rest in secret."

Anger choked Cassandra. Her mother was an unfeeling monster, and she wanted to confront her and accuse her of causing Ruyen's death. It might have been by Escobar's command, but it was her mother's doing none the less.

Instead, Cassandra moved to the door, her head lowered, as if in prayer. Her mother saw her as no threat, therefore her movements were not restricted. She would go now to the village and question the people. Surely someone knew where Ruyen had been buried.

All was quiet in the huntsman's cabin deep in the woods. Outside the cabin, armed men waited, their faces careworn, their swords at hand should trouble come.

Sir Piermont stood over his wounded prince, his aged face furrowed with worry. Prince Ruyen's wounds were deep but he was still alive, and the old knight prayed he would recover. He turned to his squire. "No one but those of us who are gathered here must know that Prince Ruyen is alive. We must guard this secret with our lives."

The huntsman's wife, Mert, spooned foul-tasting medicine into Ruyen's mouth, and he shoved her hand away, groaning.

"It was luck that you found the prince when you did, or he would have died from his wounds. As it is, he may die still, but at least he has a chance," Mert said.

"It was not luck that led us to the prince in his need," Sir Piermont told her. "We followed three of Escobar's foreign soldiers into the woods, knowing they were up to no good. We overheard them say that the queen had ordered her son buried in an unmarked grave. Now those Castilians occupy the grave they dug for our prince."

Ruyen was fighting his way out of a dense fog and he called out to Jilliana. His mind was filled with torment because his reckless actions had only prolonged her suffering and she was once more his mother's prisoner.

"I must save her," he said weakly. He tried to rise, only to have persistent hands restrain him.

He recognized Sir Piermont's voice. "You must not move, Your Highness. Your wounds are severe. You must rest and grow stronger before you can help anyone."

The chill of the room made Ruyen shiver, and though he fought to remain conscious, he finally gave up his struggle and surrendered to the blackness that engulfed him.

"There," the old woman said in satisfaction. "He'll sleep through the night"

Melesant stormed into Jilliana's chamber to find her lying on the bed, her eyes swollen from crying and dull with pain. She was obviously grieving over Ruyen, and that nettled Melesant.

"Did you think you could escape me?" she raged. "You have not lived long enough to battle me and win."

Jilliana eased herself off the bed and stood defiantly before Ruyen's mother. "You must be in torment knowing you caused the death of your own son."

Melesant moved around the bed and stood at the window. "When one is placed in power, there are many things one must do that are distasteful." She shrugged. "I would much rather my son were alive, but he knew the risks if he defied me."

"Ruyen would rather have died with honor than live with dishonor."

Melesant whipped her head around and her eyes gleamed with hatred. "You think you knew him so well. If you had not muddled his brain with your soft ways and swaying hips, I could have won him to my side."

"Ruyen was most concerned for the people of this island. Even if I had not been here, he would have warred against you, and he would have won because he had the loyalty of the islanders."

"Little good it did him."

"I pity you, Melesant. You killed the best part of you when you killed your son."

"Do not pity me, Jilliana, rather pity yourself. I am free, you are not."

"Yes, but you paid a high price, did you not."

Melesant wanted to strike Jilliana. She had come here to humble her, to taunt her, but she found in Ruyen's wife a strength and courage she could only admire. "A high price indeed, but worth it since I will soon hold the scepters of both Falcon Bruine and Talshamar."

"You will never reign in Talshamar," Jilliana told her.

"You do not understand, do you? I will rule through the child you carry. When your baby is born, it will be taken from you. But fear not that the babe will be harmed. I shall take particular care of its health and make it my heir."

Jilliana could not hide her horror. "You cannot have my baby!"

Melesant laughed gleefully. She had found a way after all to bring Jilliana to her knees—the child. "Oh, but I can."

"You would do this to your own son's child?"

"Let me tell you, my girl, I have done many things, performed many tasks that would offend your delicate sensibilities. I bear no shame for anything and ask pardon of no one."

Now Jilliana was frightened, not for herself, but for her unborn child. "Have pity, Melesant. Do not take my baby from me."

Melesant swept to the door, then turned back to her prisoner. "I have every right to the child." She smiled maliciously. "Unless you have bedded someone besides my son and are now attempting to pass the brat off as Ruyen's."

"You are disgusting."

Only Melesant's eyes seemed alive in her stone face, and what she saw in those eyes made Jilliana shudder.

"Only consider," Melesant said smoothly, "without your child, Falcon Bruine has no heir except Cassandra, and I fear my daughter is addle-brained and could never rule this island."

"You are mad. There is nothing wrong with Cassandra."