My Envied Lady: Chapter 20

Chapter 20
The sun rose over the castle, which had been thrown into chaos. The king and his squire had both been seriously hurt in an assassination and kidnapping attempt, along with one of the court ladies. King Gerard rushed to lend his uncle support during his recovery, and Prince Andrew also arrived to comfort his betrothed after such a harrowing experience. He brought along one of his father's most trusted knights, Sir Cosimo. Papa Smurf left plenty of healing salves and tinctures before he returned to the Cursed Country. Gerard's first action as his uncle's regent was to send men out to search the countryside for Prince Lothar, if he still lived. Maenad was badly hurt by the boar spears, but even barely conscious and lying on a stretcher she had the presence of mind to produce a jeweled dagger. Nobody wanted to know how she had gotten it, or why the huntsmen had used boar spears on a lady, even one dressed as an old man. Lothar's bloody signet ring was found, confirming that he had not come away from the fight in good shape either. The tinctures Papa Smurf provided induced a deep dreamless sleep. Johan awoke to find himself in his own bed. His fever had broken and his foot was re-bandaged and feeling better. The King! Was he all right? "Don't move, Johan! Here, let me get this!" Peewit jumped from a chair and ran to the bedside with a crutch. "Gilbert says you're to use this until he tells you not to." "Is the King all right?" "He slept all day but now he's awake and eating. Still weak, though. He actually said he wanted to speak with you when you were awake and ready." "How long have I been asleep?" "All day. I've been playing music for you to make it pleasant though." "It's a good thing I was drugged." "What did you say?" "I said...It's too bad I was drugged. I missed the whole thing! But you said the King wanted to see me?" He knew he was in trouble, but taking responsibility for his decisions was preferable to listening to an encore performance. Dressed and on the crutch, he made his way to the King's chambers. Servants and members of the court quickly got out of his way when they saw him. It was both flattering and embarrassing at the same time. Maenad sat on a cushioned stool near the King's bed, wearing a dark red dress and looking deceptively prim and proper. Only the glittering dagger in a new sheath on her girdle and signet ring on her thumb betrayed her true nature. "Please sit, Johan," the King said, setting a plate of quail aside. A servant took the bowl away and closed the door behind him. "Well, now that you're both here, we have some important things to discuss," he said, cutting right to the chase. Johan never knew him to insist on formalities unless it was necessary. "Maenad, you have been a prisoner here. You are a reformed highway, uh, woman, and you've been hostile to my subjects. I could have you magically bound again, but I'm not going to. You put yourself in harm's way to save Johan and I from an assassin and a traitor, and for that I give you a full pardon and your freedom." Maenad beamed in spite of herself. "Princess Sabina tells me you don't have a family or a homeland to go to, and you have proven yourself loyal to myself and my family, so I'd like to extend an offer for you to stay here as her tutor. At least until her wedding. You would still be my subject, mind you, and follow all the laws of this land." Maenad put her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "I had planned on going to your Holy Land as soon as I wasn't under Fenris's paw to see what all the fuss is about…but it's…it's been nice to have a home again...I accept. Until she is married." "Very good. You are dismissed, Lady Maenad." "One last thing?" "Yes?" "The soldiers who saw me shift. They are sworn to secrecy, yes? In the past when humans have found out about my secret, things have not gone well for me." "They already know." "Thank you." She curtsied, and left. After the door closed again, the King turned his attention to Johan. "I don't know what to do with you. You're usually so responsible and trustworthy, but you deliberately went against what I ordered. You're like a son to me; I was terrified you'd go and almost get killed again, and that's exactly what you did. It's not like you, Johan. I'm disappointed." Johan did not reply, but the look of guilt on his face was apparent. "But you did rescue Sabina and Maenad when I was unable to. You did it twice. Because of that, I won't discipline you this time. But I mean it when I say I don't want you to go out and hunt down Lothar or whatever heroic plan you have in your head. You're already a hero for what you just did. Tremaine says you ought to be knighted early. Stay here. Assist Gerard and Andrew with running the Castle. Maenad will be staying here for a while, you can spend some time getting to know her. In a gentlemanly way, of course." " Maenad ?" The king chuckled. "I wondered what had gotten into you to disobey me after Sabina and Maenad were kidnapped. Don't think I haven't noticed how strangely you've been acting. Then I remembered all the time you two were spending together lately. She's an odd one, but she is very pretty, and she seems to share your love of adventure. I think you could be a good influence on her." "Maenad…of course..." he mumbled. He would later curse himself for playing along, but it seemed far safer to admit to liking Maenad than to admit who his true feelings were for. Johan's regret for that decision began as soon as he left the King's chambers. Maenad pranced up to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "His Majesty called me Lady Maenad, and says we can spend some time getting to know each other!" She flashed him a wicked smile and fluttered her eyelashes. "You were listening in! You sly old wolf!" "Ah, ah! You have to keep my secret. I know things about you too, you know. Why else would you admit to courting me?" "You little…." "Come on, tell me you don't look forward to making Gauvain and Joachim green with envy?" She loped away giggling like the youth she appeared to be before he could think of a good comeback. Sabina was barely allowed to lift a finger by herself after her ordeal, between Dame Barbara, her cousin Gerard, and Prince Andrew fussing over her like mother hens. Andrew was much more relaxed now that his parents weren't prodding him to interact with her, and he spent a nice amount of time with her, supervised by Dame Barbara, of course. The Prince was eager to introduce her to Sir Cosimo. He was a very handsome knight, about the same age as Andrew. They had grown up together in Andrew's court and were close friends. Very close, thought Sabina. He looks as Cosimo the same way Johan looks at me. Could this be like the story Maenad had told her about Emperor Hadrian, who despised his arranged wife, but loved the youth Antinous so much he had the youth made into a god after he drowned? It had been one of Maenad's lesson plans that Dame Barbara did not authorize, she thought slyly. If this was indeed the case, Andrew couldn't be too upset about her and Johan, could he? Though rumor around the castle was that Johan had become another of Maenad's suitors, and that she had finally accepted his advances after the daring rescue. It had to be a charade, just like her betrothal to Prince Andrew. He'd sworn his love for her in the cave. If only she could escape all this pampering and talk to him. She laid down the book of Ladylike manners she was supposed to be studying (written by a man, of course) and wandered out of the library into the hallway. "Sabina! You're supposed to be resting! A Lady of your delicate constitution needs rest for a full recovery from such trauma!" "Yes, Dame Barbara." She sighed and went back to her book. "Tell me what you've learned so far about the proper way to walk." " Ladies should walk erect, with dignity, neither trotting nor running, nor dallying either, with their eyes fixed on the ground ahead of them. They are to be particularly careful that they do not regard men as the sparrowhawk does the lark." "Very good. Now make sure you put that into practice!" "Can I ask you a question now, Dame Barbara? Something that I've been wondering about." "Oh, very well. We can continue your lesson later." "Did you know Prince Edelhart?" Barbara stiffened at the name. "Yes, I knew Sir Edelhart. Arrogant, ill-mannered, boorish, good for nothing but fighting. I'll never understand what my Yvette saw in him." " Your Yvette?" "I was Yvette's governess; haven't I mentioned that? She was one of my first charges. And she was such a flower of ladylike behavior! Until Edelhart seduced her, anyway. I still don't know where I went wrong. I warned her time and time again he was only after her money and title! He may have been high born at one time, but he was a lowly mercenary when he came here with your uncle. He'd lost everything, and he wanted it back." "But my Uncle agreed to the marriage?" "Yes, though I tried to convince him otherwise. Yvette was his fosterling; I'm confident that if her father Lord Onfroi were still alive, he would have listened to reason. Why do you want to know all this, anyway? Did Johan tell you about him?" "Oh, no. I heard Gerard mention him, that's all." Later that evening, Maenad arrived for a lesson of her own. She insisted there be no interruptions as they needed to make up for lost time. "Language takes constant practice to master!" She said as she shooed the maidservant out of Sabina's room. She said nothing about what had happened between her and Johan, but pulled out a dusty text and set Sabina to translating. Until three taps sounded on the glass panes of Sabina's window. "Hello, my love!" Maenad sang as she helped Johan in. Johan ignored her, and went straight to Sabina, dropping his crutch to return the princess's embrace. Maenad slipped out of the room. Let them be happy, even if just for a little while. Like I once was, she thought, closing the door.

Trivia

 * The instruction on proper walking is quoted from an actual 13th century book called Chastoiement des Dames (The Ladies' Instruction) by Robert de Blois, for those curious about polishing their manners.