Paris (Capital of the Kingdom of France) 12.17
They had reached their destination, they had spent so much together.
Henry looked around, looked out the window of the dark carriage.
His eyes were enchanted by the landscape, to what was around them, he vaguely remembered those places.
The many houses, the stony streets covered with gray paved stones.
The houses were definitely higher than those he had seen in Warwick, each of them seemed to be the same as the other, with the dark tiled roofs touching the blue sky of the city.
The city was large, luxurious and numerous fountains occupied the largest and widest squares in the city centre.
-You seem thrilled by the beauty of Paris- Kara commented, sometimes turning her blue sky-coloured eyes and passing them by the prince again outside the carriage window.
-Say Henry ... have you ever come this far...in Paris, perhaps to visit your maternal family?-.
At those words the prince almost took a turn of melancholy seriousness, even though he did not take his gaze from the urban landscape outside the carriage for a second.
-Only once, when I was little, in the company of my mother- he finally admitted turning his grey eyes towards the young woman seated in front of him.
-And you say...- the prince began to ask, also curious about Kara's private life -is your home nearby?-.
-Once...-the ambassador admitted nervously playing with her brown hair locked in the ponytail -a long time ago, when I was younger, but now nothing of mine can be found here-.
Henry noticed how her tone had suddenly changed, he didn't want to force her to talk about her past if she didn't feel it.
-Do your friends live here?- Henry ventured trying to divert the argument in every way and at this point replacing the subject.
-I have no friends, they are something that I cannot afford... - Kara admitted this time lowering her gaze but with less melancholy or even less regret.
-How come? Everyone has friends...- asked the prince looking into her eyes.
-I am a state woman, a mercenary- the ambassador admitted bitterly taking a look of complete seriousness and slowly caressing the skirt of her light blue dress -if you want to go on in life you can't have time for friends nor for other emotional bonds-.
Her eyes looked so serious that Henry seemed to believe what she was saying, even if only for a few seconds.
-Do you mean that you will never have time in your life for physical or spiritual affection, such as love?-.
At those words the prince noticed how a blush appeared on her cheeks -I... I didn't mean that- she admitted almost stammering.
The man noticed how she looked away, almost as if embarrassed by her own words.
It was now evident that the young woman felt affection for him and although she tried to hide it the prince was shrewd and intelligent enough to understand it.
He quickly turned his gaze out of the transparent windows: the landscape had completely changed.
Now there were not tall houses or large squares around them, perhaps with some fountain in the middle, no, all of this was as if it suddenly disappeared.
It now left room for grassy and vast fields, fruit trees that were already beginning to produce their colourful and juicy first fruits and numerous fir trees to accompany their path laterally.
They were on dirt ground.
-Where are we at this moment?- Henry asked out of great curiosity.
In his mind, in his childhood memories, he remembered that road, those sweet smells of citrus fruits, fresh leaves, fir trees and damp grass.
He just didn't know how or what to connect it to.
-We are not far away- Kara admitted in turn looking out the window of the carriage -in a few minutes we will reach the palace-. That's what Henry had to connect it to, the road to get to the castle. The sky was blue, covered with soft white clouds, like large, wide cotton balls. Soon the unpaved terrain of the road was replaced by the calm and soft feel of the cobblestones that covered the ground. The huge gate was opened, and once they crossed the threshold the landscape changed again. Huge gardens extended to the horizon: low and green hedges flanked the carriage and their path and in every part of the garden huge marble fountains led magnificent water games and gushed. But the thing that most struck the prince was the grandeur and opulence of the enormous palace. Of course, Warwick's palace was also huge and sumptuous and the gardens were equally large, but it was the curiosity of the new and childhood memories that struck him so much.
The carriage door opened, Henry got out, the air was fresh. Two royal guards soon grabbed the prince's arms and moved them over his back. Henry was paralyzed, he didn't know what that meant and given all the bad experiences he was scared. -What the hell are you doing?! - Kara scolded noticing the harsh ways in which the man was treated by the guards -have you lost your mind? Remember that who you are mistreating is a prince of royal blood!- that young woman was really tough and decisive when she wanted to and clearly he could see how aggressively she protected him. -He is an Englishman- retorted one of the royal guards, searching every little part of the man's body with his own hands, checking that he did not have any hidden weapons -it is necessary to carry out a security check-. Henry was surprised that mere royal guards would behave like this in front of a royal, of their prince. But was it possible they thought he was not a prince, or at least their prince? It could perhaps have been the poor way he dressed. The fact is that not even Kara was able to persuade the two men to let him go, so they led him into the palace by pressing his arms to his back.
Henry looked around, that palace was majestic, it was sumptuous, full of objects of gold and pure silver and the marble stairs...some attendants walked through the corridors and whispered in each other's ears questions about the English prince. Kara was following the two guards, she was angry with them, almost embittered, but she couldn't do anything else, some people just had their ideas. Moreover, she was not even part of the royal family, she therefore had no right to order.
They passed through long corridors, they were white, they were luminous, they illuminated the body and face of the prince: his golden hair and his pale face. Other guards opened the two sides of the huge and massive oak door, keeping silence. Henry looked down, he was all of a sudden embarrassed, he almost felt like he had to throw up from fear. The room was large and spacious: it had luxurious gold chandeliers and a white and shiny floor of fresh marble. The two guards led the presumed prince into the middle of the room, made him kneel on the ground, pressed his knees to the cold floor. -What should this farce be?!- a strong, elderly, powerful voice coming from above, like a divine voice scolded them -don't you know that you are humiliating a prince of royal blood?-. At those words both guards turned pale, the ambassador was therefore right, that young English man, dressed in poor clothes was really a prince. The two knelt down, lowered their heads, prayed for forgiveness.
-I beg you your majesty, do not condemn us, we regret what we have brought to the prince...- but at those words full of terror the sovereign made a deep laugh come out of his old and chapped lips.
He slowly lowered his hands to his knees, looked at the repentant pale bodies of the two soldiers.
-Do not worry, there will be no harm, but now go, let me speak privately with my grandson- already humiliated, the two guards left the room immediately, closing behind them the heavy door.
After that a quiet silence full of tension reached the air, giving a sense of despair to both the prince and Kara who followed the scene from afar.
The sovereign descended from his throne, walked slowly towards his grandson, the footsteps of the sovereign's precious leather soles echoed on the marble floor.
Henry looked down, he was sweating, he was embarrassed.
This continued for some seconds before the step of the sire stopped short before him and a large, pale and wrinkled hand gently took the smooth chin of the man.
He treated him softly, gently, as if he were frail or still a child.
Henry thought the ruler was angry or irritated by his presence, to see his grandson.
Henry's father had killed the daughter of the sovereign of France but in every way the man seemed to treat his grandson with delicacy and respect.
-Get up- the man prayed gently taking one of the man's shoulders and helping him to get up from the cold floor.
His grandfather was old, plump, but in every way he wore a sincere and open smile on his wrinkled face.
He had wavy, white hair which fell slightly below the sovereign's shoulders and two eyes, small and of a colour similar to black.
He touched his grandson's hair, caressed it, with his big hands he observed his young and enchanting face, his nose, his grey eyes and his tight lips.
-You really look like my daughter much more than I thought- commented the elderly man, remembering in his memory the immense beauty and elegance of Henry's mother -you were only a child when you came here the last time, just six years old, in the company of Eleanor-.
From how the man spoke it was clear to Henry of how the sovereign mourned the death of his daughter and how he still felt partly guilty and angry about it.
But all that anxiety that the prince felt soon disappeared when his grandfather's arms tightened against his thin body.
He was hugging him so tightly that he was afraid he could no longer breathe.
The prince rested his head, his golden blond hair on his grandfather's shoulder, he was happy to be there and that the man would give him all the attention that in his childhood had been denied him by his father.
He felt protected, he felt safe, he hoped to be able to stay in France for a long time to come.
-I am very pleased with your stay here, Henry- the king admitted breaking away from his hug and looking at his grandson in his grey eyes.
-Thank you so much for hosting me, grandfather- said the one returning a sincere smile to the elderly man -I am really grateful-.
-I had to do it- he admitted jokingly placing one of his hands on one of the prince's shoulders -I could never let my grandson remain to die in a dirty cell, your mother would have never allowed-.
Henry smiled, his grandfather liked him, he was a good, honest man and he could make happy even very difficult situations.
He didn't remember his grandfather at all and on the one hand he felt guilty for not remembering such a good person.