The Troubadour's Romance Read Free

Your Majesty. In time we may yet heal, though I shall not be near you. And though she will have no memory of my touch or voice, I pray some gentle words and moments will give her a stronger beginning than was mine. My mother died birthing me, and I knew no touch save the wolf who left me this prize. ”
    “ S urely there was a servant who .. . ”
    V eronique shrugged. “ The seneschal ’ s wife nursed many children, and my father tossed one more upon the teetering pile. Nay, there was no loving touch. Mayhap that is the reason I fell prey to it. I would this maid knows more of love than I. Then when love ’ s first touch comes, it will not burn, but rather, glow. ”
    Eleanor ’ s eyes held pity for the first time. “ Have you named her? ”
    “ I would leave that to you, Madame, for I yielded her the moment you entered this room. ”
    Eleanor ’ s smile was gentler than it had been in some time.
    “ You yielded all, demoiselle. Give her something more than your brief touch. Give her the name she will carry. ”
    “ Felise , ” V eronique breathed, tears coming to her eyes. She knew in this instant that Eleanor had given her the single thread of hope that she might see her daughter again one day. She would now have a name to seek. “ And the name of her g randfather yet she will bear. Fel ise de Raissa. ”
    The queen gave Veronique ’ s hand a soft squeeze and rose to leave her. Once she was gone, Veronique rested back in the pillows and took pleasure in the child ’ s feeding, stroking the babe ’ s tiny head and smiling a contented smile.
    “ I do not leave you lightly, fair Felise , but, because you are all that I love, I give you over to the strongest to raise. Be not timid as your mother, nor shrinking and mild. And though I give no name for your sire, you are not without a proud and strong father. Yea, I love him even so. In time he will know full well that his seed brought life, for he will venture to these castle walls again, and you will be ever near the queen. Many years cannot fade but that he asks whose child you might be.
    “ I am better placed in a convent, ma petite, ” she whis pered. “ I was never skilled in wifely matters, nor in occupa tions of men. In all these years beside my queen, I have served with and for women only. But I will not take the veil, my darling child, until I have seen that you prosper. ” She kissed the tiny reddish head. “ We shall be one in spirit, until then. ”
     

 
     
     
    One
     
    The sound of clattering hooves and the loud bellowing of an angered citizen disrupted the quiet afternoon. Felise had let her eyes drift slightly closed as her maid, Daria, brushed her hair. The long, fiery tresses reached nearly to her knees, and when she was seated, they were wont to drag in the rushes. Upon the sound of the street noise, Felise bolted to her feet and dashed to the second-floor window.
    This London was alive with happenings, so varied were the sounds, sights, and smells. She had come with her family to wait upon King Henry ’ s pleasure over the Christ mas festival and perhaps even visit with the queen. Felise , at the age of eight and ten, had been mostly in the keep of her adoptive parents, traveling abroad only a little, and on this visit to London her spirits were wildly stimulated.
    She leaned dangerously out the window to see what was causing the commotion and found a group of a dozen knights crowded together, their destriers ’ thick flanks brushing up against the walls of the buildings and one another in the narrow street, and the smashed cart full of breads that a merchant had been pulling. The cause of the chaos was obvious. The group of horsed men could not pass the merchant without doing at least a small amount of damage. Some clumsy beast did worse than jar the squat merchant; by the looks of the scene, the wheel was off the cart and the breads were well scattered, and nearly turned back into dough by the monstrous hooves.
    His bald head red