The Loves of the Lionheart by Margaret Brazear

Author:Margaret Brazear
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret Brazear
Published: 2019-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

THEY ARRIVED IN NORMANDY to bright sunshine, the flowers the colours of a glorious rainbow. It had been twenty years since Alys set foot in this land, since she had smelled the wonderful blooms, heard the enchanting music, and just being here brought more of those treacherous tears.

She wanted to stay, but knew that was unlikely to be her fate. Her destiny had always been in the hands of kings and nothing had changed; now it was in the hands of a new king, King Richard, who had his own reasons for keeping her confined.

The castle was not far from the coast. She would be able to look out of its windows and see the ships on the sea, could even smell the salt air and the fresh cut grass.

“Why does he want me, My Lady?” She asked of Eleanor. “Am I to see him? Talk with him?”

Eleanor shook her head as she led her inside the great hall to where a sumptuous meal was laid out ready.

“Richard has ordered that you have every comfort whilst you are here. He has sent for ladies from your brother’s court, a concession which you should appreciate. It was not easy for him to arrange this.” She paused as though waiting for a sign of gratitude, but Alys privately thought it far more likely that Philip had sent these ladies to serve his sister. She did not believe for one moment that it had been Richard’s idea. “As well as the ladies,” Eleanor went on, “you are to have dressmakers when you need them and horses.”

“Horses? I can ride out?”

“Of course, but not alone naturally. That would not be safe.”

Alys sat beside the table and poured herself some ale. She would not wait for the Queen to seat herself; she had gone far beyond such niceties.

“So, I am a prisoner still,” she said. “Why does he not send me to a convent and be done with it? At least there I would have a certain future.”

“You are still betrothed to my son,” Eleanor replied. Alys’ eyes opened wide in surprise. “You did not realise that, did you?”

“I thought he might have dissolved the betrothal before this. How can I still be promised to him when he refuses to marry me, when I have betrayed him with his own father? How is that possible?”

“Nothing has yet been done to dissolve the union,” Eleanor said. “Philip still demands that you wed, the betrothal is still binding. While that is the case, Richard is still responsible for you. He takes that responsibility very seriously; that is why he has brought you here.”

“I do not believe that, My Lady,” Alys said. “He has brought me here for his own ends, likely more to do with my dowry lands and not wanting to part with them than any sense of duty. Also, he may well be returning to Winchester after the coronation and he’ll not want to stay under the same roof as me.”

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