The Captive Heart Read Free Page A

the royal party? My house is not large, but I would not stint on anything or appear inhospitable.”
    “The king, the queen, and their two remaining servants will share your apartment, Sir Udolf. If there is a chamber for the little prince; Edmee, his nurse; and my daughter, the rest of the party will sleep wherever you have the space for us.”
    “You must have the bedspace nearest the hearth,” Sir Udolf said. “You are not well, physician. I hear the rattle in your chest.”
    “It has been cold for spring,” Alexander Givet said.
    “The season can be cruel here in Northumbria,” the baron admitted. He waved to a servant, who came to stand by his master’s side. “Ask the cook when the dinner will be ready, and bring this gentleman more wine,” Sir Udolf said. It was pleasant having another man with whom he could talk. He had had some small education in his youth, but his son could not even write his own name or read. Hayle had not wanted to learn, and could be neither forced nor cosseted into doing it. He was not a man to sit talking of a winter’s evening. He preferred the company of his little mistress, Maida.
    The servant returned to say, “The meal will be ready within the hour, my lord.”
    Sir Udolf nodded his acknowledgment. “Go upstairs and tell the queen,” he said. Then, turning to the physician, he said, “The meal will be simple compared to what you have at court, I fear.”
    “The king will be content with a good soup and some bread,” the physician surprised his host by saying. “He has never been a man to enjoy a heavy, oversauced meal, Sir Udolf. Sauces often hide spoilage of the meat. The king prefers light meals. Watch what the queen eats when she comes to the high board, and you will see her preferences. She has a delicate belly, and always has.”
    Sir Udolf nodded and gave the orders to his servant. The queen returned to the hall just as the steward announced that the dinner was served. She and her son joined Sir Udolf at the high board while the others took their places at the trestles below. Edmee and the queen’s tiring woman, Fayme, sat with Alix and her father. The physician had more color in his face now that he was warm again.
    “The queen was pleased with the food they brought the king,” Fayme confided to the others. “A nice thick hot soup, fresh bread, butter, and a baked apple. We were able to get him to eat it all. I did not believe in a place so rough there would be good food.”
    “We’re fortunate to have a place at all tonight to lay our heads,” Edmee remarked. “My poor wee princeling being robbed of his rightful place and his heritage. Well, if those Yorkist pretenders believe they can hold on to their stolen goods, they’re wrong. You mark my words, the queen will see to it, and we’ll be back in London before you know it.” She popped a piece of meat pie into her mouth. Edmee was an old woman now, at least sixty. No one knew for certain. A hot meal had restored her spirits.
    “I do not think that we will be back in London quite so soon,” Alexander Givet said quietly. “I know for a fact that the queen means to send to Queen Marie of Scotland and ask for refuge once the storm has stopped. She means for us to shelter in Scotland. Queen Marie must give her refuge, for their shared blood demands it, but she will be able to do little more than that. Her own child has only recently become king, and he is near our prince in age. It will take time to rebuild our king’s forces. She might even send her son to Anjou for his own safety. He and his father will now be hunted down with an eye towards killing them both.”
    “Mary, Jesu, have mercy!” Edmee cried, and she crossed herself. “They would not kill a child, would they?”
    “Every moment Henry and Edward Plantagenet live, they present a danger to King Edward of York,” the physician answered. “The father they will kill outright when he is caught. The boy will suffer a tragic accident. It is