Read Online The Queen's Pawn by Christy English - Free Book Online

turned at once to Bertrand, and called for a song.
    He bowed low, his hose displaying his leg to advantage. Convent-bred as I was, even I noticed the fine line of his thigh in his rose-colored hose. He caught me looking and winked, and I laughed in spite of myself.
    “The princess has not heard enough music, locked away in her nunnery. Play something for her now.”
    Bertrand might have amused himself by smiling at me, but he knew where his duty lay. He strummed his lute, all sign of laughter gone, and sang a song for the queen that was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes.
    He sang of beauty that endured forever, and of a queen that held all men under her sway. His voice wove a spell over me, and over all the women there. I knew that he was desired not only for his fine leg but for his voice, and the spell it cast.
    When he was done, the queen applauded him, and her women followed suit. I clapped as well, a beat late, for I had to wipe tears from my eyes.
    Eleanor, always one to chastise me for weeping, reached out and took my hand. She pressed a handkerchief embroidered with her crest into my palm. She drew it from her sleeve with a flourish, so that all her court ladies could see. This sign of favor granted to me, she turned to Bertrand, her public voice ringing in the room like the peal of a bell.
    “You have moved us all to tears, Bertrand, and given me much pleasure.”
    “Your Majesty, the pleasure is all mine.”
    Eleanor’s smile turned wicked. “Indeed, Bertrand, that is not what my ladies tell me.”
    Laughter filled the room. As I watched, Mathilde and Angeline blushed, and a few others raised their hands to their cheeks, or to their mouths, to cover their laughter. Bertrand said nothing, but took the warm laughter as yet more applause, and bowed once more to the queen.
    Shocked, I met Eleanor’s glance, and she smiled at me. I realized that she meant to tell me that her troubadour sampled the favors of her women, and she approved.
    I knew little of the pleasures of love. The Reverend Mother in the abbey had instructed me on my duties in my marriage to the prince. Now that I had seen Richard, I hoped that those duties would be sweet. But the queen’s women were not married to her troubadour, and some were not married at all.
    I saw that adultery and lasciviousness were things that Eleanor winked at among her women, but I knew she would not wink at them in me. She sought to teach me this, as she sought to teach me everything. While these women might sport with lowborn chanteurs, she and I could not.
    I set aside my maiden modesty, and looked once more on the troubadour. He had risen from his bow under the gaze of all those women. While he smiled at them boldly, he had the courtesy not to turn his gaze on me.
    “Ladies, I find myself growing tired,” Eleanor said. “Please leave me. I will see you all in the great hall for this evening’s feast.”
    Her women rose, some still laughing, and as one they bowed to her. Amaria, Eleanor’s chief lady-in-waiting, made a gesture, and the other women filed out, as orderly as the nuns in the abbey I came from, and I saw once more the queen’s power. Eleanor held these women with such authority that they did her least bidding without question, without hesitation.
    I thought to go as well, but she held me there, her hand on mine. Bertrand bowed to her, but when she raised one hand, he stayed.
    Marie Helene met my eyes across the room. She was the last lady to leave, and she caught my gaze before drawing the door closed behind her.
    “Do you like the woman I have asked to attend you?” Eleanor asked once we were alone.
    “Yes, Your Majesty. I thank you. She has taken very good care of me.”
    “As she should. Very well, then. I will let you keep her.”
    “Thank you, Your Majesty”
    I glanced at Bertrand. He had taken a stool along the far wall, a simple stool that one of the ladies had abandoned in her flight. He did not look at us or seem to listen as we