The Captive Heart Read Free

they saw the faint outline of a house ahead of them. Coming to a stop, they waited briefly, but Sir Udolf jumped from his mount and pounded upon the door of the dwelling. It opened, and the faint light of the interior beckoned to them.
    “Come in! Come in!” the baron called to them.
    And then there were several boys coming to take their horses to the safety of the barns. Alix Givet dismounted from her small mare, patting the beast to comfort it. Its dark mane was frozen stiff. She went to her father’s side. He was being helped down from his own gelding and could barely stand. “Lean on me, Papa,” she said softly.
    “I am rigid with the cold,” he murmured quietly, and then came the ominous cough that had been worrying her these past weeks. He balanced himself a moment, his hand upon her small shoulder as he began to walk towards the house with his daughter.
    Once inside, they were brought to the hall, where a hot fire was burning in the large hearth. The queen was already warming her hands over it, the little prince by her side. The king had been seated in a high-backed chair near the warmth, and there was quickly a goblet of wine in his hand. His eyes were closed, and Alix could see he was shaking ever so slightly.
    “Welcome to my home!” Sir Udolf said. “I have instructed my servants to prepare a place for you. Your Highness,” he addressed the queen. “My house is not grand, but you shall have the best I can offer you. My own apartment is yours.”
    “ Merci , Sir Udolf,” Margaret of Anjou said softly. “Is there to be food soon? The king needs to eat, and then he must be put to bed to rest. This has been a terrible day for him, and he is not well, as you know.”
    Seeing the expression of distress upon their host’s face, Alix spoke up. “Madame, perhaps it would be best if the king were made comfortable first, and a warm supper brought to him,” she suggested quietly.
    “Ah, ma chérie Alix, that would indeed be best,” the queen said, sounding relieved, for she herself had suddenly realized that Sir Udolf’s cook would not be ready for guests. Margaret of Anjou went to her husband’s side. “Henry,” she said, “let us go now to our chambers, and Alix, will you watch over little Edward? I see his nurse has fallen asleep, poor woman. She is too old for all this excitement.” The queen helped her husband to stand, and then following Sir Udolf’s steward, the royal fugitives walked from the hall.
    “This is terrible,” Sir Udolf said when they were gone. “That the king should be driven from his lands. He is a good man, and she a good queen. I am glad now more than ever to be a simple man. To have so much power that others would covet it is frightening.” And he shook his head, sighing.
    “I must agree with you, sir,” Alexander Givet said from his place near the fire. “But once King Henry’s court was a pleasant place to be. He is a learned man.”
    “What place had you among it all?” Sir Udolf asked, curious.
    “I am the queen’s physician. I came with her from Anjou many years back with my late wife, who was one of the queen’s ladies. The young girl playing now with the prince is our daughter, Alix. My name is Alexander Givet.”
    “I, too, am widowed,” Sir Udolf replied.
    “Have you children?” the physician inquired.
    “A son, Hayle. He is twenty. His mother and I were wed several years before he was born. Audrey was not strong. She died when Hayle was four, birthing our daughter, who lived but a day. I married again eight years ago, but she turned out to be a nag. I was not unhappy when she died three years later of a winter ailment. I have a farm wife now, who satisfies my manly urges when I need her. I do not need another wife.”
    Alexander Givet chuckled. “I am widowed two years now, and I have no need for a wife. My daughter takes good care of me, and we are content in the queen’s service.”
    “Tell me, physician,” the baron said, “how am I to house