An Accidental Queen

Chapter 2

WE RETURNED to the manor in time for the bountiful feast. The mysterious guests had arrived on horseback, and the kitchen servants were preoccupied with baking the brown bread and cutting the venison, preparing rare haricot beans from exotic places and slicing vegetables. Soft aromas floated in through the corridor, wrapping around me like a long woven blanket as I closed my eyes in eager anticipation.

"Why are you idle while we are all toiling away at our work?" Gerard, responsible for hunting for the master's game, asked gruffly, though his eyes were playful.

A deer was draped across his broad shoulders, and the frozen expression on the poor fawn's face made me gulp. I loved animals, especially the fawns that played on the edge of the manor, between the pastures and the forest. Between washes, I would sit behind a tree stump and observe them, transfixed by their natural serenity. As a child, I would name them—considering them my woodland friends.

"The poor animal." I sighed, exhaling sadness. "She was young."

"She died quickly, with no pain," Gerard reassured me, though he must have thought me very odd for my sadness.

"I hope that is the truth." I averted my gaze.

I reminded myself that he didn't mean to be cruel. His service was hunting, just as mine was laundering. I knew his father had been the hunter of the manor before him, just as my mother had been a laundress. He had little say in the matter of his livelihood, and besides, our masters had to eat.

"I was told that our future master's bride is but twelve years old. Is that the truth?" I asked, as if the villein knew any better than I about the affairs within the manor. Gerard often kept to himself and did not like to spend his time playing knucklebones or hunting for sport with the other men. After his work, he would return to his hut on the edge of the manor. For this, he had earned himself a reputation of abnormality, and I doubted anyone would have shared manor news with him.

A line appeared between Gerard's brows. "I have not seen her. But if it is true, it will be strange for our master to be wed to a child. I would not enjoy such a fate."

"I wonder if she is beautiful." It took me a moment to realize that I had spoken aloud, as Gerard stared at me, his mouth agape.

I felt my heart rate increase, and my palms grew clammy, clutching the basket of laundry to my chest to hide beneath the stack of clothes. I knew that Bernard sometimes joined Gerard on his hunts, and if the villein suspected my affection for the man, I could be in grave peril.

"I only hope she knows how to appreciate good venison," Gerard commented off-handedly, dismissing my candid remark, to my profound relief.

We parted ways as Gerard carried the venison to the kitchen. I retreated through an exterior passageway so as not to disrupt the master's noble guests and then walked through the screen's passage to the great hall. I stood below the minstrels' gallery, where the hearty Song of Roland had played strings, harp, and lute, strumming in a haunting yet beautiful melody.

The noble guests and knights had already settled in the great hall, with Count Frederic and Countess Emeline seated atop the dais at the high table, smiling down at their guests regally. It was customary for the countess to eat her food in private, with only her ladies-in-waiting gathered around her for the sake of maintaining the utmost standard of cleanliness and politeness. To avoid impropriety, she nibbled at a piece of bread while her husband gnawed on his.

Lady Adeliza sat beside her parents, her wide blue eyes concealed beneath a thin veil in a fashion befitting any eligible unmarried woman. She did not indulge in much besides a loaf of bread and a gauntlet of wine, imitating the elegant movements of her good mother. She had recently been betrothed to the King's son: a match that had struck pride in the hearts of her kin. I supposed she would soon live in his court.