My Envied Lady: Chapter 10

Chapter 10
What was silent in the father speaks in the son, and often I found in the son the unveiled secret of the father.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

As night fell it marked the end of idle days for the castle's inhabitants. Sabina began the following morning greeting the princes who had come to court her, in a grand reception in the throne room. She was wearing one of her new gowns, bright green with gold embroidered flowers and trim, her hair held in place by a snood of gold wire netting studded with pearls.

She looks like the warm, shining sun with Maenad as the shadowy, cold moon, thought Johan, who was also at the reception as part of his duties to the King. He stood on one side of the throne with Dame Barbara, Peewit and Maenad on the other side. The Smurfs were somewhere, taking in the pageantry.

The Princess greeted each suitor meekly yet politely (as was proper,) while a herald introduced each one to the court. She kept glancing back to her uncle and her friends the whole time. The only one she greeted with genuine warmth was her cousin, Gerard, who was oddly enough the only young royal who had not come to seek her hand. He was two years her junior, slight and soft-spoken with straw-colored hair.

Four princes had come to court her. One appeared to be around twenty; he was pale, pudgy and didn't look like he had worked a day in his life. Another was a handsome, golden-haired youth who looked around eighteen and who appeared to only there because his parents were forcing him, judging by the stern-looking couple who followed him everywhere. There was a thirty year old foreign prince with slicked back hair who seemed friendly but could barely speak their language; and a man in fabulous robes who was old enough to be her father, trying his best to move closer to her.

Johan barely heard the herald recite the often lengthy titles of these men, even through he'd be expected to recognize them later on. Watching Sabina meet prospective husbands was becoming unbearable. He thought he could simply let her fulfill her duty as a princess, and move on to another pretty girl, like the other squires seemed to be able to do so easily. He'd resisted coming to terms with his feelings, but no other girls could compare to her. Try as he might devote himself entirely to King, God and Country, his feelings for her were a soft spot in otherwise impenetrable armor. He excused himself to go prepare for the next day's competitions.

The reception ended, and the first of many feasts began. Maenad, not recognizing her place as usual, went to go ask some of the nobles about the Merovingians, earning her many strange looks, as the Merovingian dynasty had died out long before anyone else in the room was born. Peewit pulled her away with the promise of a music vendor at the fair, before she could embarrass herself further. She obviously wanted to stay and "gossip" but the King seconded Peewit's suggestion and the two went to the fair. A couple of her squire admirers followed the jester. They pounced on the opportunity to escort a pretty and unattached young lady, no matter how strangely she acted. For the first time since she was brought to the castle, she looked almost helpless as she was led out of the hall by her male entourage.

Concentrating on polishing the King's armor provided Johan a fair enough distraction, until Sabina found him anyway, alone in the King's private chambers.

"During the feast, I heard the strangest thing from one of the knights Gerard brought with him."

"Oh, what was that?" Johan replied, concentrating on a spot of tarnish on the gilded helm.

"He said he recognized you because of your father, who he said was a prince. Was he?"

Johan set down the helmet and sighed. "He used to be a prince. He's not anymore."

"But he was a prince at one time, which makes you a prince as well, as much a prince as that Lothar, anyway. He only claims the title because of his mother."

"My father was a prince of a kingdom in the north of England that no longer exists. The Normans crushed his family, and my father had to flee for his life. There is a new dynasty ruling that land now. It's not something my father likes to talk about, to be honest."

"I see. I never knew. I'm sorry." All Sabina knew of Johan's family previously was that his father had been a foreigner, a poor knight-errant with no land. His mother was a noblewoman who died in the same plague that took her parents years ago. He had been one of the King's most trusted Knights, which was how Johan came to be fostered here, but she thought that was the only reason for his prestige.

"It's all right. But you see, I'm no more a prince than Maenad is a priestess. Even less so, since I've never seen my father's native country." Johan continued. "He had to work to gain the trust of your Uncle and to be allowed to marry my mother." "Still, you behave in a princelier manner than any of the men in the hall." She sat on the chair next to him.

"You don't mean that. It's your duty to marry a proper prince, right?"

"No, I mean it. I couldn't wait to escape them. None of them want to discuss anything interesting with me. As soon as I overheard about your father, I ran to find out if it was true. And it is, to me, anyway," she blushed and moved in closer to him, "If you were among them, my choice of princes would be easy. I've always thought of you as my first love, Johan."

Johan was struck dumb by this confession. Instead of answering, he put his hand on her chin and kissed her. She put her arms around him and returned the kiss, savoring the moment. He pulled away after a few moments, and they sat smiling at each other, holding each others' hands, until Sabina shyly excused herself to return to the festivities before she was missed.

In much better spirits, Johan finished up with the armor, and followed her to the hall. Had they been caught, they would have been in terrible trouble, worse than if they'd lost Peewit and the werewolf in the forest. But tempting fate had never filled him with such joy.