Carol Lynn Stewart by Door in the Sky

Author:Door in the Sky
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-10T22:54:34+00:00

Chapter 22

IBRAHIM WAS in her chamber. Maríana blinked and sat up in her bed. Glow from the banked hearth fire gave a muted illumination to Alys asleep on her pallet, the dark mounds that formed the divan and her tapestry frame. But no Ibrahim.

She leaned back against her pillow. Why did her stomach tremble? The nausea that had plagued her for the past two months had fled. The midwife had even allowed her to go down to the great hall that evening. Henri’s eyes had shone when he saw her descend the staircase. He had kept her at his side as he went around the family table, greeting guests who had come to Reuilles-le-château for the wedding. Their wedding.

She lifted her arms up over her head and stretched. Baroness Maríana de Bauçais. Henri had told her that Bauçais was north of Paris. His fief bordered the sea that separated the Kingdom of France from Britain. But he owed fealty to Louis of France. Would he take her to Paris to see the king? She would like that.

And the sea. Henri had told her that in Bauçais he awoke every morning to the sound of gulls, the salt and sea weed fragrance of the ocean. He would take her there after the wedding, as soon as she was well enough to travel. Perhaps after the baby was born. The midwife had not let her stay for the feast. Johanna had ordered her to return to her chamber before the first course was served. Still, she was growing stronger each day. It would not be long until she would be able to join her Henri. To wed him.

She looked at the far corner of her chamber where her wedding gown hung. She knew every stitch, had tried it on every morning since it had been made. Jeanne had done well with this gown. Pale embroidered violets trimmed the ivory silk. After she tried it on, Maríana had made Alys cover it with a blanket. She did not want Henri to see it until she stood before Father Gregory with him.

Henri came to her each day with tales of his fief, of Bauçais. Of green fields and thick forest that stretched from Gréves to the sea. His fief supported three large towns! Her father’s fief only supported Reuilles-la-ville. Henri said that his château was smaller than Reuilles-le-château. As if this mattered! His eyes had warmed while he told her of Bauçais, of his brother Guy. But when she asked about his father, his eyes had dimmed, and when she mentioned his mother, a flash of something like rage had shone from his face. A puzzle. His mother still lived, she knew that.

Ah, well. She need not worry. His mother had retired to Fontevrault Abbey. And Henri assured her that his brother Guy would adore his bride, his Maríana. Still, she would be far from everything she had ever known. Far from Johanna, from Geneviéve. Far from Ibrahim.

She wriggled deeper into the bed. A whispering rustle drew her attention.

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