The next few days passed quickly. Energy started to build in the castle. One could feel the excitement and tension simply by walking past the residents' rooms. The electric excitement filled the air as fast as smoke fills a room. All the advisors, their families, members of the royal family, servants, and friends of the kingdom were chattering endlessly about the arrival of the family from Bayonne. Except for Thérèse. Her attitude had shifted from general annoyance to a constant feeling of deep dread about the affair. Thankfully, her mother hadn't been told about her causing a scene with Claude. Or if she had, she'd decided not to do anything about it.
Thérèse and Brigitte had spent a lot of time together the past few days. It was mainly for the purpose of preparing for the ball being held in honor of Bayonne's royal family. Brigitte and Thérèse had been choosing material for their dresses and deciding how they wanted their hair to be done. Brigitte had chosen a light green dress with white silk and pearls as accents. It would complement her light skin. She was hoping her fiance, who was a wealthy merchant currently at sea, would be back in time to escort her. Thérèse decided on a black and gold pattern for her dress. The upper part would be black, with a thin gold strip around her waist. The skirt would be black with a thin, sheer silver fabric on top to make the dress catch the light. It would also have gold pleats in the bottom to match the strip on her waist.
Despite the fact that Thérèse was generally unexcited about the ball, she couldn't help but admire the dress when she tried it on for the first time. It fit her better than she'd hoped. Thérèse was always a bit insecure when it came to formal clothing. She felt like it made her body look awkward and out of place. But the castle seamstresses had done a wonderful job. Thérèse felt a small bubble of hope rise in her stomach when she saw herself in the mirror.
It burst when a servant told Thérèse her mother wanted to see her. She quickly changed back into her clothes and gave the gown to her seamstress. Thérèse walked across the castle to her mother's chambers. Her main room was located on the top floor of the castle. Thérèse had to climb four flights of stairs to get there. It was a square room. The walls were made of light gray stone. There was always a slight draft. There was a large window on one wall that overlooked the rest of the kingdom. One half of the view was the forest where Thérèse had her special place. The other half was the city of Argence. The two halves were intersected by a wide stone path that led from the castle to the city. There were trees and houses as far Thérèse could see. On the horizon the city merged with the sun.
The queen's room was decorated simply. She had never been one for frills. There was simple wooden furniture, a bed, and a desk in front of the window. On the walls were a few bland paintings and tapestries. A dusty bookshelf sat in one corner. It was filled with outdated volumes of text. The queen was sitting at the table in the middle of the room when Thérèse walked in. She softly closed the creaky door behind her.
"Sit." her mother said without looking up from her writing. Thérèse did as she was told. Her mother was in a chair on the short side of the rectangular table. Thérèse took a seat on one of the long sides, so that they were separated by its corner. Her mother continued to write for a few minutes. Thérèse sat quietly and listened to the soft scratching on the paper. A bird darted past the window. Thérèse's mother folded the paper and set it to the side. She sighed deeply and looked at Thérèse. She leaned forward and held Thérèse's cheeks in her palms. She gave a small smile then folded her hands in her lap.
"Why am I here, mother?" Thérèse asked. She turned her eyes down to look at the floor.
"I wanted to talk with you privately about an…idea, I guess you could call it." Her mother rose and walked to the window. She placed her hands on the stone edge of the wide opening. The sleeves of her blue dress cascaded down over her wrists, leaving just her fingertips visible on the window's ledge.
"Bayonne's delegation will be here tomorrow morning. As you know, their king and queen have a son." Thérèse's stomach dropped and her mouth went dry. She knew exactly where this was going.
"I think it would be a good idea for you to speak with him. A lot." Thérèse's mother turned to face her to see if she understood. Thérèse understood perfectly. Her mother wanted her to form a relationship with this complete stranger in hopes they'd get married. Then Argence would have a king and Thérèse wouldn't rule alone when her mother was gone. She felt the blood rise to her face.
"No, mother. I'm only tolerating this whole charade to please you. I want nothing to do with their son and I want nothing to do with Bayonne."
The queen's face went red.
"Why can you never see that I'm doing everything for you?" She shouted at Thérèse.
"You've seen how miserable it is to rule alone. I can't run the kingdom forever! Eventually you'll have to take the crown and keep Argence alive. I don't care if you like it or not, that's how it is. So please, make things easy for yourself and cooperate with me."
Thérèse had made it very clear she had no intentions of getting married. Ever since her father, the former king, had died, she decided she would never love another man. Her father's death had been very hard for her. He'd gotten very sick very fast, and there was nothing Argence's doctors or priests could do. He died holding Thérèse's hand. She had been a child, but she knew she never wanted another man in her life now that her father was gone. No one would ever match up to him. Thérèse stood up and walked towards her mother.
"Why can't you see that I don't want this kingdom? Pass it to one of your advisors! You have the power! I won't talk with their son, I won't marry, and above all else I will not inherit your misery!" she shouted. A servant walking through the courtyard stopped and looked up at the window. Their shouting must have been audible to anyone standing below the window. Thérèse locked eyes with him. She walked to the ledge and leaned her upper half out.
"Move along!" she yelled. The servant jumped and broke into a run towards the stables.
As Thérèse turned back to face her mother she was met with a hard slap. Her mother grabbed the back of her neck in one hand and pushed her towards the window. She jerkily forced her to lean out of the window and look out upon the city. She pushed her so far out that Thérèse was worried she would fall. She fumbled her hands along the ledge trying to find something to hang on to. After a few seconds her hands slipped off the edge and hung limply in front of her, out of the window.
"Look at it!" her mother shrieked. "Look at everything your father and I, and my mother before him, and her father before her, and our whole family line has worked to build! It is your responsibility, Thérèse, not your choice. You will inherit Argence when I'm gone, and I will not let you lead it alone as I have." She pulled Thérèse back from the window and grabbed both her shoulders. She spun her around to look her in the eyes. Thérèse could feel her mother's sharp nails in her upper arms and knew she would have bruises in the morning.
"If not this son, then the next. If not him, then the next. I will keep trying until you have found a husband. It is not a matter of if, but when. Do you understand me?" The queen looked at Thérèse with an intensity that was impossible to match. Thérèse looked her in the eyes. She saw her brown curly hair graying at the temples. The fine lines starting to form around her eyes and mouth were more pronounced than Thérèse remembered. Her once bright skin had a hue that bordered on sickly.
"I will not." Thérèse said defiantly, tilted her jaw upwards.
Thérèse's mother yelled in anger and threw her to the floor. Thérèse landed hard on her stomach and hands. She heard her mother's shoes clicking on the floor. She walked out, and slammed the door behind her as she left. Thérèse heard a painting fall because of the force. She curled up on the floor and cried.
—
It was almost an hour before Thérèse picked herself up off the floor. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed loudly a few times. She was brushing off her dress when she felt a sharp pain in the palm of her hand. She turned her left hand over and saw she'd gotten a splinter from the wooden floor when she fell. After a few minutes she was able to work it out of her hand and keep it from bleeding too much. She walked to the window once again and leaned forward with her chin in her hands so her elbows rested on the ledge. It had started to snow. Thérèse watched the light, fluffy flakes floating gently from the heavens to the earth. Somewhere in the distance a horse snorted. There were children running in the courtyard. They had managed to escape their parents for a little while to play in the fresh powder. Thérèse let out a sigh and had to stop tears from falling again.
She loved Argence with all of her heart. It was her home, she had never known anything else. She knew her mother loved her and only acted the way she did because it was in Thérèse's best interests. She had seen her mother shoulder her father's responsibilities after his death. It hadn't been easy. At first, she was taken advantage of multiple times. Eventually she learned that she couldn't trust everyone in the castle. She was mocked and ridiculed, and even survived an assassination attempt. Everything changed when she made an example of one of her advisors. She knew he had betrayed her and lied to her. Instead of giving him a trial, as was the custom, she killed him herself. He asked for permission to approach her during an advisor meeting, like the one Thérèse had just gone to. He stood by her side and leaned in to whisper something to her. As he did, she stabbed him in the stomach with a silver dagger. She whispered to him that she knew what he had done. She pulled the dagger out and set it on the table, stained crimson red with the advisor's blood. When he fell to the floor, she left his body there for the rest of the two-hour meeting. Her place at the round table was permanently marked when the blood from the knife soaked into the wood. She would never let a servant clean it. No one dared to go against Thérèse's mother after that night.
Thérèse didn't think she would be able to handle the pressure like her mother could. She wanted to stay in Argence, but she didn't think she was brave enough to lead an entire kingdom. Thousands of people would be looking to her for guidance and protection.
Thérèse felt a sudden wetness on the tip of her nose and snapped out of her trance. While her mind had wandered the light snow had turned into a winter storm. The fluffy flakes had turned thick and heavy and wet. The children had run inside. She could see a few stablehands rushing to get the horses into their stalls. The daytime gatekeeper was taking shelter behind one of the columns on the side of the gate. It was just wide enough for him to stand behind and avoid the weather's wrath. Thérèse saw Olivier running from the stable to the gate. He exchanged a few words with the gatekeeper, who refused to let Olivier through. Eventually Olivier gave up. He ran fifty steps to the gatekeeper's right and clambered over the black stone wall that acted as a sort of fence. The gatekeeper started yelling but did not make any effort to chase after him. He ran around the side of the castle and out of Thérèse's view. He was probably going to use the back door they had done through when they went to the garden with Brigitte and Bernard. That was closer to the servants' quarters and he could avoid the daytime gatekeeper. Thérèse pulled herself away from the window and went down to find him.
She had just descended the stairs and was getting back into the main hallway when she saw Olivier.
That was fast. Thérèse thought. Olivier was wearing a black shirt with long sleeves and a floor-length maroon cloak, brown leather pants, and boots. His brown hair was soaked and dripped onto his shoulders and the floor. He was panting from running. As he got closer, Thérèse could see that his bright green eyes were filled with concern. Thérèse frowned and wrinkled her forehead.
"Olivier, is everything okay?" she asked as he approached.
"Bisou is waiting and I've prepped Larkspur. You need to come with me. We need to go to…" he darted his eyes around. "You know, the forest." Thérèse had only shown Olivier her spot once, and he had treated the secret as though his life depended on it.
"Ok, let me just go get something heavier to wear. The weather is awful right now." she said.
Olivier shook his head.
"There's no time. We have to go. Now." he said. He took off his cloak and handed it to her. Olivier turned and started to run down the hall. She wrapped the cloak around her shoulders. It dragged on the floor behind her as she chased after him. When the daytime gatekeeper saw Thérèse coming he scrambled to let them through. A stablehand held Bisou and Olivier's jet-black workhorse, Larkspur, just outside the gate. The thick, wet snow pounded mercilessly against all of their bodies.
They mounted their horses and took off at a run towards the forest. Olivier and Larkspur led the way. Olivier's cloak flapped in the wind behind Thérèse. She could feel Bisou's sides heaving as she tried to keep up with Larkspur. They reached Thérèse's spot in a few minutes. Olivier jumped off of Larkspur and sloppily tied him to a tree. Thérèse did the same with Bisou. She stumbled forward when her feet hit the ground. Olivier caught her arm and pulled her upright. He was standing completely still. At first, Thérèse was confused. There was no way Olivier could know about what Thérèse had seen here less than a week ago. Brigitte was the only one who knew. She would never betray Thérèse by sharing a secret like that. The dead man's blood had been covered with snow, as well as any footprints the group left. They had taken their candles and the dagger. There was nothing to show the gruesome execution that had taken place there. Thérèse looked at Olivier with a confused expression.
Without speaking he took her hand and led her to the edge of the ravine. Thérèse felt anxiety fill her body. She knew exactly what Olivier had found. He pointed silently into the ravine. There, Thérèse saw the dead man's body. It was mostly bones and frozen flesh. The animals of the forest had already gotten to the softer parts of his body. What little clothing the man had worn hung limply from his decaying form. Thérèse gasped and stepped back.
"I was on forest patrol with the dogs when they caught a scent. They led me here and tried to go into the ravine, but I stopped them. I thought it was just a dead animal they had smelled. But when I looked down, that's what I found." Olivier explained. "I haven't told anyone else yet. I know this place is special to you and I don't want you to lose that, but I don't know what to do. We can't just leave him down there." Oliver looked at her, waiting for a response. Thérèse realized there was no way to avoid the situation. She told Olivier everything that had occurred at the clearing. His eyes widened and his face lost its color. As she finished, he swallowed hard and nodded shakily.
"You and Brigitte are the only ones who know." she said as she finished. "I'd prefer to leave Bernard out of this, his first reaction would be to declare war. You know how he is." Olivier nodded and ran his hands through his hair.
"We can't deal with this right now, not with Bayonne coming so soon. There's nothing we can do. They'll be here tomorrow morning, even with the storm slowing them down." Thérèse said.
Olivier nodded. They turned away from the ravine. The pair untied their horses and rode back to the castle. Olivier took the horses back to the stable while Thérèse ran inside. She got back to her room and stripped off her soaking wet dress and Olivier's cloak. She left her drenched clothing in a pile in front of the fire. She pulled on a simple but warm yellow dress and thick socks. She left to go find Brigitte. She took her room's hidden door and made her way to the side hallway that led to Brigitte and Bernard's rooms. Suddenly, she felt extremely sick to her stomach. She coughed hard once, and then bent over in the hallway. She had one hand on her stomach and the other braced against the wall. She was sick on the floor. All of the stress of the past couple weeks had caught up to her, and her body was fighting back. When she was done, she heard footsteps approaching her. It was Bernard. He looked at her and at the floor. He sighed and held out his hand.
"Come on." he said. He jerked his head towards his room. "Let's get you cleaned up." She went back to his room and washed her face and drank some water. Bernard's room was lit entirely by candlelight. The only other source of light was a small window on one wall. The room was furnished with black and gold, Bernard's signature colors. His closet was black with gold details. His bed had black blankets and gold pillows. Black bearskin rugs decorated the dark red wooden floors. Maps of various surrounding kingdoms hung on every wall. On one wall two giant black drapes hung across the walls, opening like curtains to reveal a portrait of Bernard on his warhorse. As Thérèse composed herself, Bernard made himself comfortable on a black couch in the center of the room. He had a drink sitting on the rectangular golden table in front of him. Thérèse sat next to him on the couch. He spread out and slung one arm across the back of the couch, the other by his side, with his hand across his thigh. He kicked off his black boots and left his legs slightly spread. Thérèse crossed her legs and sat stiffly. She wasn't uncomfortable around Bernard. She just felt extremely awkward.
"So what happened?" Bernard asked nonchalantly.
"Nothing. I'm just nervous about the coming weeks." Thérèse responded. She anxiously pulled at a loose strand of her hair. Bernard nodded and took a drink from his mug.
"Understandable." he said.
They sat there in awkward silence, neither meeting the others' eyes.
"You know Thérèse," Bernard started. "Though we've had our disagreements, I hope you know I can be trusted if you need anything."
"Yes, I know. Thank you." she responded. "I should probably be going. It's late. Early morning, and all that." she laughed nervously.
Bernard cleared his throat and stood up.
"Do you want me to walk you back to your room?" he offered.
"No, I'll be alright. But thank you." Thérèse walked quickly to the door and left Bernard's room. He watched her walk out and stared at the door for a few seconds after it closed behind her. He had a look of longing on his face, and his eyes watched the place Thérèse had just been. He looked at the ground and put his hands into his pockets.
"I'll never understand that girl." he said aloud.