Song of a Peacebringer – Chapter 14: Foul Words and Foul Play
After dinner, Gregory joined his sister in her study room, the library where she'd taken her lessons with William of Tyre, and now continued her studies and her poetry. The cave of wonders, Baldwin called it, after the Arabian tale about the hidden treasure house in the desert.
"You weren't at dinner," Gregory accused, taking a seat across from his sister, reading some text by the light of a pair of oil lamps on her desk. "I had to discuss monastic laws with the Patriarch of Jerusalem all by myself."
"And what did you think of Heraclitus, Brother?" Aude asked, marking her place and putting the book aside.
"I think he's a pompous man who's lost what little godliness he had in his search for power," Gregory said honestly. Aude laughed.
"That's the patriarch of Jerusalem, to be sure. I am sorry to have left you to your own defense -- I had business to tell the king."
"You mean about Balian," Gregory observed. Her brother was no fool – he knew what new people at court meant for his sister. "He was at dinner—Brother John told me they'd seen you earlier, near Tiberias' room. I assumed that was why you were not with us."
"They did see me, " Aude remarked. "Tell me, Gregory," she inquired, "When Guy first met Balian, in Messina, do you know what the reaction was? It was in Messina, was it not?" she inquired. They had to have met before, for Guy to ask why Balian sat at his table.
"Immediate dislike. Guy's very haughty, and Balian – well, the man was a blacksmith. He'll take no gall from princes or paupers, either way. At dinner they were spitting poison at each other."
"I saw that, too," Aude admitted, smiling a little at her brother's look, which had turned to abject surprise at her announcement.
"Are you a spy as well as a poet? How come I did not see you?" Gregory asked, amused and astonished.
"Your sister has her ways," Aude said with a smile, playing with the embroidery on her sleeve. Gregory rolled his eyes and gestured to the stack of papers beside his chair.
"Very well, keep your secrets. But don't think I won't find out one day. Brothers have ways of finding things. And speaking of finding things," Gregory mentioned, pulling a stack of papers from the desk, "I've been reading your Song of Roland, Aude. It's very good."
"Do you think so?" Aude asked, interested in her brother's opinion, which she could always count on to be honest with her.
"I do. And Baldwin's right – you should have Ganelon brought to justice at the end, as it says here, in your note."
"But I need to finish Montgisard – I had an idea for it after listening to Tiberias lecture on the rarity of perfect knights this afternoon," Aude explained.
"Is that what you're going to call it?" Gregory asked. "The Tale of Montgisard, or simply Montgisard?"
"Until I've found something else," Aude answered dismissively.
Gregory nodded, as if to say that he understood, but his face betrayed that he was thinking of something else entirely, something that vexed him considerably. "Aude, tell me truly what your situation here is," he said finally, looking at her with a determined look. Aude laughed nervously at the sudden interrogation, taken aback.
"I've told you already what goes on with me here, Gregory; what more do you want to know?"
"I've heard a great deal about your poetry, and your friendship with the king, Aude, but I've heard no talk at all of marriage! Father sent you here to become a bride, and here you are, twenty-one and still very much unmarried!" Gregory exclaimed.
"Do my accomplishments here mean nothing to Father?" Aude asked angrily. "I have a reputation, respect!"
"It is not seemly!" Gregory nearly shouted. He looked at his sister hopelessly, taking a deep breath and sighing. "Aude, poetry won't keep you safe and protect you in your old age, no matter how heroic your knights are nor how fair and just your ladies. No tale, no matter how fantastic, will keep your fingers warm as you copy it out again on a cold night, believe me, I know!" Gregory implored. "A spinster's life is not a pleasant one, sister. Baldwin will die, and without your protector, who then will you turn to? Tiberias? He sees you as a daughter, but he is old, too, and cannot be a safeguard. Our lord of Lusiginan, Guy? He barely tolerates his own wife, and will have little time for you. You must marry, Aude!"
"It is not as simple as that, Gregory!" Aude spat back. "No one…no one will have me," she said sadly.
Gregory looked at his sister suspiciously. "Your age, is that the impediment?"
"It is my association!" Aude revealed dismally. "I am a ward of the King, a ward of Jerusalem. Whoever marries me will be doubly bound to serve Baldwin, a bond that no knight here wants, though none will say it. It's Guy they'll follow. No one wants to feed a dying fire – no one wants a princess without a throne."
"So you must wait?" Gregory ascertained. Aude nodded.
"Until he's dead, or he chooses a husband for me. But there is little doubt among those who know him best he will not do that. I've been too good a friend for him to let me leave him before he's gone the way of God. When he's dead Guy will use me as a pawn to suit his purposes and his wife's demands, if Sybilla allows him the power to do that."
"So you remain husbandless and wait upon a dying king," Gregory said softly. Aude nodded.
"And for now that's all I need. If you'll excuse me, brother, I've had a long day and I need my sleep. Can you find your way back to the guest quarters?"
"I think I'm able to do that," Gregory said, kissing his sister on the cheek, all malice gone from his voice. "I'm going to attend Divine Office with Brother John tomorrow – I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. Perhaps you'll join the Knights of the Hospital and give up the Rule," Aude said with a slim smile, locking the door of her study behind her brother and going back downstairs to Sybilla's rooms.
"You weren't at dinner, Aude," Sybilla observed when Aude returned to their room for the night, dropping the latch on the door behind her. Did all of Jerusalem notice that? Aude asked herself.
"I was working with Baldwin. I am sorry."
"That seems to be your excuse for everything," Sybilla remarked with a touch of acid. "It surprises me how much you seem to serve my brother now and not me. You weren't with him when you followed Balian and me," the older woman accused. "Why were you watching me, Audemande? I want the truth."
Aude took a deep breath and chose her words wisely. "Sybilla, I've been your lady and companion for five years now. I've watched you birth two children and raise a third. I know your moods better than any other lady at this court. There's nothing you could hide from me, even if you wished it. Especially when it's love. And… I saw the way you looked at Balian," Aude added.
"What way is that?" Sybilla asked, evasive.
"The way a bride looks at her bridegroom on their wedding night. Full of lust."
Sybilla rolled her eyes. "You are a woman, Aude. Surely you lust after someone at this court. It's not a crime, just a sin."
"I am not a married woman, Sybilla. I do not have a duty and a trust with a husband!" Aude exclaimed.
The Princess of Jerusalem looked at her lady in waiting with an angry glance. "My husband is a Templar who claims the vow of chastity his order imparts on him against sharing my bed and goes to sow his seeds with whores, Aude! Am I not allowed a little freedom, too?"
"A woman's freedom comes at too high a cost!" Aude shouted, her brother's harsh words from earlier ringing in her ears as she said it. For a moment neither woman said anything. Sybilla's eyes were bright with fire, like burning coals in her perfect, beautiful face. It made her look more like a devil or an avenging angel, at the least, rather than a human woman.
The Princess digested all of this and then said, slowly, "You've spoken to Baldwin about this. He's the one who told you to follow me!" Sybilla accused, her ideas gaining ground.
"No!" Aude assured her, frightened that her lady would form the wrong impression of her ideas on this matter. Baldwin had nothing do with it, and he didn't need to be more estranged from Sybilla than he was already.
"Tiberias, then!" exclaimed Sybilla. It was the truth – Aude could not hide from that. "Oh, your face tells all, Aude! That old fox asked you to follow me!" Sybilla pointed one elegantly long finger at her companion, scowling.
"He only asks that you be more discreet!" Aude defended.
"I have done nothing wrong!" the Princess declared.
"Yet, Sybilla," Aude said, letting the single deadly word hang in the air between them. Sybilla looked at her venomously.
"I am a princess of Jerusalem, and you have no right to lecture me," she said dangerously, her voice low, eyes flashing.
"What rights does a friend have? A friend who does not want to see her princess or her king hurt? Please, Sybilla. For your brother?" Aude plead.
"I've done enough in my life for my brother, Aude. I want to do something for myself," Sybilla said, wrenching the curtains on her bed shut and leaving Aude to crawl into her trundle bed beside Sybilla's, feeling wretched indeed.