A Child Upon the Throne by Mary Ellen Johnson

Author:Mary Ellen Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2018-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Fordwich

"Do you think 'tis possible to desire someone to the point of madness?"

Maria Rendell's eyebrows lifted. She studied her granddaughter, who, with her high color and shining eyes, did not appear mad but rather unusually healthy.

"Aye, I do." Maria's fingers curled over the arms of her throne-like chair which had been plumped with cushions and positioned to catch the cross currents from various tower windows. Colorful wall tapestries, most depicting scenes from Arthurian romances, stirred in the breeze.

"Is that how you felt about your lord Sussex, or your husband?" Margery pressed. "That you'd become mad from it all?"

Maria considered. She had endured a public flogging, invective hurled at her from pulpits across the kingdom, but it had been her moon who had driven her to distraction. For, beyond their lovemaking, she'd never been able to truly reach her husband. In thrall to a restless, discontented nature, he'd remained so frustratingly aloof. At least until after that night along the River Wear and the Scottish raid that had resulted in Richard's death and Phillip's disfigurement.

Feeling her way, Maria spoke carefully. "Passion is a grand thing—"

"Lust," Margery corrected. "Lust."

So, Maria wondered. Who is this man? She leaned over to scratch her faithful Canis between his ears. The great dog exhaled in pleasure, placed his grizzled muzzle on her knees, and gazed up at her with adoring eyes.

Margery was seated on a bench opposite her grandmother, hands clenched in her lap. "I understand that each of us has our rightful place in society, I do! Though the actions of people like me can hardly be judged important when compared to kings and queens and the like. Most of us go from birth to death with hardly anyone even taking notice. We're here and gone with no more consequence than sunlight glancing off a stream. And yet we constrain ourselves with so many rules—the church, our neighbors, our family..." She hesitated. "The ones we impose upon ourselves."

Maria nodded, though she had no idea where their conversation was leading. But she'd lived too long to directly ask questions she sensed could be more truthfully answered with tact.

"Duty and obligation. How I once chafed at those words."

Jackdaws drowsed in their cages, heads tucked beneath their wings. Maria removed Canis's muzzle from her knees and poured her and Margery wine from the small table between them. Leaning forward to hand her a goblet, Maria studied her granddaughter, whose gaze was fixed on a mass of wildflowers arrayed before the cold hearth.

"Sometimes we must do the right thing," Margery said, as if speaking to herself. "Even when we would prefer spinning lovely tales and living in another world."

"And what world is that?"

"A world without past or future. Simply me and... someone." This past month, Margery had come to realize that her peasant blood ran stronger than she'd ever imagined. At times she fancied Fulco the Smithy had been conjured from the heat and flames of his forge, and feared that all too soon he would simply disappear. Poof! Like smoke from an extinguished fire.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.