Aside from Heaven
Chapter 3B
She holds a secret
'Related to the King?' Genevieve reared back, looking at him quizzically.
"Yes."
"How so?"
Guy looked at Genevieve, a scowl on his face. "I have never had a wife so interested in my former paramours!"
Genevieve was not to be dissuaded. "I'm glad you weren't alone. That was the one thing I remember telling you."
"Aye. That you did. You told me to fall in love. And obtain a vineyard, grow grapes, and become a fat drunkard. I did three of the four."
~~~...~~~
Alise, was truthfully nineteen years of age, was sweet-tempered and gentle-natured. She had a kind word for all and the servants loved her dearly. She was fair enough, slightly plump in a manner that Roland appreciated, and she had a mind like a steel trap when it came to expenditures. She was not a spendthrift and didn't seem to care if she had the latest fashions in every color, although it pleased Roland to dress her richly.
Alise came with an estate, and an income, which upon her marriage, was immediately handed over to her husband to manage. Combined with the income he already controlled and his newly acquired title and estates, the FitzGisborne's were considered up and coming in addition to comfortably well-off.
It was a wonderful start for the dynasty Roland planned to build.
Their courtship was a whirlwind, both knowing when they first sat down next to each other at dinner that evening, they were sitting next to future spouses. Henry mercifully left them to their own ends during the following two weeks, allowing them to get to know each other.
Both were grateful for two weeks of wooing. In many cases, such as the king and queen's, a couple didn't get that luxury, most marrying within days of meeting, and, in the words of a young noblewoman overheard in the garden, expected to disrobe and lay beneath a grunting, sweating man, whether one liked him or not!
And then have to put up with a man's mistresses and dalliances with grace! A wife was supposed to be grateful that at least, her place was secure.
Roland wasn't stupid and he wasn't completely cold. Initially, a wife was simply a way to an end; specifically, children. And a way to add additional income to the family coffers. It was a business arrangement, a political arrangement, one that could work successfully, if both partners worked at it. But after meeting Alise and discovering an intelligent, quick-witted brain beneath the pretty dark-haired curls, he was, in a sense, reminded of Genevieve.
And there was a strange stirring beneath his doublet; one that did not involve his member.
The two spent much time in the garden, beneath the willow. Alise knew her garden, knew her herbs and knew her grapes. She knew wine, she adored poetry.
Alise was not shy and much to Roland's pleasure, was an enthusiastic and responsive partner in the bedroom. She let him know, soon after their marriage, that while her body belonged to him and she was pleased to give it to him and open to exploring their mutual baser desires, his body belonged to her, and she would not turn the other cheek, nor would she ignore mistresses or paramours.
"You think too much for a woman," Roland murmured in her ear. She had strange, almost blasphemous notions; that women should be in charge of their own fortunes, that they should not be married off just because men were considered level-headed and stronger. That men and women were equal partners. She didn't seem to care much for the feudal system, of Pope, King, Lord, and peasant.
Thankfully, she only spoke of her opinions when she and Roland were alone.
Three weeks after their marriage, Henry requested he and his bride accompany the royal entourage for an afternoon of hawking. It would prove to be an interesting afternoon.
~~~...~~~
"Married life agrees with you, FitzGisborne!" Henry and Roland walked towards the field, a ways from Eleanor and Alise, the two women happily situated on the ground, spread with the picnic and baby Beatrice in a basket. Henry's two older children were playing, pestering Henry's hawk handler, who showed much tolerance for the prince and princess. The hawks were hooded, tethered to a bar. A musician strolled around the edges of the small group, tuning his lute.
"Thanks to your gracious thoughtfulness, sire." Roland knew who buttered his bread and who he must continue to appease to keep keep it so. "She pleases me and that is more than most men can say."
Henry roared, clapping the younger man on the back. "So true, so true!"
The musician began to sing, much to the delight of the queen and Alise.
Henry's smile was forced. "Do you like this?"
"I am tone-deaf," Roland admitted.
"'Tis frightful. Absolute warbling, but Eleanor likes it and it appears Alise does as well."
"Apparently."
"I should send him with you when you return to England. A wedding gift."
Roland grimaced. "Your majesty is too kind."
"No, I am not. I am a right bastard!"
Smiling, Roland tilted towards the king. "Might I ask a question?"
"You might ask, and you might get an answer."
It was a delicate question, one that needed to be... "It concerns Alise. Who is she and why was such a lovely prize bestowed upon me?"
Henry was thoughtful. "Alise hasn't told you?"
"I have not asked."
The field was open, the sun out with no clouds in sight. Much to the servants dismay, Henry wandered farther from the small group, nodding to his wife and Roland's before turning his back on them. "Alise's mother was the beloved mistress of Raymond VII, the Count of Toulouse." He noticed Roland's blank stare. "Raymond's mother was sister to my father. We are cousins."
"My wife is the great-granddaughter of old King Henry?" This is a great gift indeed. What did I do?
"Aye." Henry was now turning slowly, to look fondly at the pastoral scene of his wife and young children. The two men were out of hearing range of the wandering musician. "Raymond wished for a son and divorced two wives over the issue, or lack thereof. Sadly, the only child he sired, besides his daughter with his first wife, was another daughter – Alise."
Roland's mind raced, trying to refresh his recent history. Raymond had fought an unwinable battle with the French King, as well as the Catholic Church in an area rife with Catharians, a scourge the Church sought to eradicate.
Much about his wife suddenly made sense.
"Raymond's daughter, Joan, was married to Alphonse, King Louis of France's brother, the same Alphonse who was handed my lands!" He took a breath and lowered his voice, attempting to calm himself. "She was quite young when she was sent to the French Court, and has no memory or love of her former home or her father." Eleanor motioned to the two men, beckoning them to come join the women and children to eat. Henry shook his head and leaned in. "He was forced to give one daughter up, ensuring his lands would go to France upon his death. He did not want the same fate for his other daughter. Raymond was given no choice in the matter, therefore he kept his mistress and Alise secret from the courts and the public eye." A feast had been laid out on the cloth where the women and children reclined and Eleanor, now determined to rein in her husband, sent a servant in the men's direction. Henry gave a chop with his hand, halting the young man. "Her mother died when Alise was twelve and rather than find a husband for her, she was allowed to stay with her grandfather, who was long in years and in poor health. They were very close. The estate is remote and quiet and according to Raymond, no one bothers them, however when the old man passed some months ago, Raymond was frantic to remove her without notice and marry her to someone more of his choosing." Henry was perused the sky, as if to find a lone cloud above them. "Someone with no French connections or loyalties and more... open-minded than the Church."
"He does not wish the estate to fall into French or Church hands."
"Correct." Henry smiled indulgently. "My cousin entrusted me to find her a strong and titled husband; one who is staunchly English. One who would fight to keep those lands out of the wrong hands; out of French or Church hands." The king's voice lowered. "Do not mistake my words, Sir Roland. You are steadfast and true and I have rewarded you greatly. The restoration of your grandfather's title and former properties were not only payment for your past service, but your future service as well, keeping her safe and away from barbarians. Raymond wanted her married well. I ensured it."
"My life is yours."
"It would be most wise if you remember that." Henry's voice remained low. "She has been faithful to attend Mass and confession each week, ensuring she is seen by the spies of the church. I do not want Rome in England routing out Catharians. Make sure she knows that. The loyal Catholics who have taken over the lands of the Catharians are nothing short of barbarians! I will not tolerate my people being cut down like pigs over a few heretics! I will hunt them down myself, thank you very much!" Suddenly, he brightened. "But I am sure your lady understands that."
Nottingham was far away from Rome. There were many places to hide, if necessary. Alise was intelligent, resourceful. Considering the divine beings he walked with and spoken to on a level he would never admit to, Roland's opinion of the Holy Church was not so very high and he understood the Catharians. In time, their beliefs and ideas would take root again, under a different movement, so if Alise wished to explore her faith privately, it was of little concern to him, however-
"I have something that needs attended to."
Ah. A favor. One he would be paid well for. "Sire?"
"Eleanor would like her parents to know she has been safely delivered of another child. In addition, I am sure you would like to take a quick look at your wife's estates before you return to England. I would also be pleased if you checked on my cousin, Raymond. I hear rumors he is frail, and knowing how he fares would ease mine and my mother's mind." He clapped Roland on the back. "Make sure there is nothing on that estate which could incriminate your wife," he smiled through gritted teeth. "Even if you have to burn it down to the very foundations and into the ground and rebuild. But mind the grapes. I hear the grapes are exquisite! Shall we eat?" With that, the king stalked off, leaving Roland with much to think about.
~~~...~~~
Alise, he decided, was determined to steal his soul. With another woman dancing in the back of his mind, he had hoped to simply develop fondness for his wife and future wives, but this one stirred feelings that bothered him. He needed to find a quiet, solitary place, where he could beg and plead and hopefully speak to that angel he had swung with on that... what did she call it? A porch swing? Alise was not Genevieve, but something about her...
He shook his head and returned to the task at hand.
The castle was quiet, the rooms given to him and his wife, lit gently with several small lamps. The light glowed on Alise's skin. There was a certain beauty, Roland thought to himself, of a woman's body, stretched taut, beads of perspiration pearling on corded muscles. A woman's body in itself, was a work of art, something God Himself had fashioned lovingly. Alise's arms were raised, her wrists tied with silken scarves to the top of the bedposts. She was blind-folded and purring like a kitten.
Roland nipped at the backs of her knees, making her giggle, before licking up her thighs to wonderfully full hips. He pinched the fleshy part with his teeth before continuing up her spine, lapping at the glistening seeds of salted skin, nibbling at the soft crease at her neck. He reached around her, teasing the folds between her legs. "This belongs to me."
Alise pressed backwards against him. He was equally naked, his erection blatant and obvious, pressed to her cheeks. "Aye, my lord. It does." She pressed back further into him. "Just as that belongs to me."
"Aye." It was a whisper, a breath against her neck. For a time, he teased her, plied her with honey kisses, bringing her to a heated furor, the edge of the precipice. He moved to her ear, whispering softly. "The king charges me to bear a message to his queen's family."
"My lord? Please might we discuss this later?"
He continued to tease her with his fingers, his lips.
"He also wishes me to see his cousin, Raymond."
Her writhing came to a halt. "My lord?"
"Your father."
Her breathing hitched. "You know?"
"I would know all of your secrets, Alise. I am your husband."
She pressed against him, reclaiming his attention and rubbing enticingly. She had been a virgin when she came to his bed, something that delighted him, and came to their wedding night with an open and willing mind and body. Already, she was learning that which delighted him. He continued to toy, sweetly torture her, so close to the edge...
"May I go, as well?" She was on the verge...
Roland moved his hand from between her legs. "Mais, non." He now moved to her breasts, teasing the nipples, the stubble of his evening beard, his teeth, worrying her neck. On occasion, he left marks, tiny things that she made every effort to hide, much to the good humor of the court. "I wish to make this trip quickly. Upon my return, we shall return to England."
"You wish to oversee the lands the King awarded you."
"The lands of my grandfather," Roland specified. "Oui." Her interest in their mutual game was waning and Roland did not wish that. He continued plying her with kisses, a heated touch, attempting to bring her back to that mindless, wondrous, carnal oblivion.
"La invèrn jardin."
The winter garden.
Roland promptly released her, hands up and away from her body. He backed away, nothing touching. "Do you need a moment?" She'd used the strongest of their mutual safe words, so he had precious little hope that she simply needed to compose herself.
"Non." Alise sounded... resigned. "You wish to converse, not exchange pleasure. Please untie me, remove the scarves. I would look upon you, eye to eye, and we will talk." Roland did so, treating her as gently as he had on their wedding night, like something precious and valuable; fragile. As she turned to face him, he reached for her robe. "Non." She warded the garment off. "I wish honesty from you, husband, as you wish it from me. I can think of no better way to exchange such, than as we were when we came naked into this world, having not yet sinned nor lied."
At that moment, the very thing Roland had fought from happening, flooded his very being, thrust from the back of his mind and settled into his heart. To deny it was futile, pointless.
Should I not love? Could I possibly spend nine centuries, going through life without loving... someone? Spend life after life pining for someone who had yet to walk the earth? Who is to say Genevieve's soul is not anchored in this beautiful, intelligent, astute woman?
And brave. She is very brave.
This talk might take a while. "Would you like some wine?"
"That would be nice."
Slightly inclining his head, Roland backed up, before turning to the side table, where a decanter of white wine sat. He poured a single swallow, tasting it, and ensuring the ripeness of the fruit, before deciding it was to his taste and ascertaining that it was not tainted. He then poured two glasses, offering a chalice to her.
She took a sip before asking quietly, "What do you wish to know?" He watched as she set her backbone, seeming to become taller. "I will answer honestly."
It was apparent that she was irate with him and in hindsight, Roland did not blame her. He would make a point to apologize later. "As will I." Roland took a sip before setting his almost-full glass down. "Your father is Raymond VII of Toulouse. You are the great-grand daughter of King Henry II of England and as so, are related to King Henry III of England."
That stubborn chin that Roland knew existed rose. "Oui."
"He is a Catharian."
"My father supported open discussion-"
"Alise," Roland's voice cajoled. "Do not attempt to humor me. This discussion is between you and I and I will have God's truth from you." He took a step closer to her. "You are safe here with me and I wish to protect you. I cannot protect you if I do not have the truth. Now, again. Your father was a Catharian."
Alise bit her lip. "Maybe. I do not know." She shrugged. "I have never been to my father's house. Truth, I have not seen him in three years. He came frequently when my mother was alive. Less so, after she passed. I missed him. I... miss him. He brought me gifts; dolls and books, ensured I had tutors who taught me to read, taught me of the world, things only taught to the worthy, to sons. I never discussed religion with him."
For now, her involvement in her father's religious questing placated Roland, however he pressed further. "Your grandfather was a Catharian."
"Yes."
"You are a Catharian."
Her smile gave him pause. "I have studied it."
Roland tapped her gently on the nose. "You are a Catharian." She stood before him, naked and resolute. "I have watched you. You eat no meat."
"Meat makes me ill," she began her oft rehearsed answer matter-of-factly. "It has since I was small. It makes me bloated and lethargic. I prefer fish."
If anyone noticed his wife's eating habits, they said nothing. Sharing trenchers covered her habit well. Many times, Roland realized that after cutting the meat, she would move it around, picking out the vegetables, slyly pushing the cuts back to his side. Several times, she complained to the cook that the meat was simply over-done and it upset her stomach, asking if she could please add more vegetables or if there by chance, some fish in the smokehouse...
"I know you go to confession each Friday. You, who are beloved by the servants, your family, deeply cared for by your husband." She looked up in shock at his declaration. "Surely, you knew I have feelings for you?"
"Oui, but-"
"I have to wonder what is so sinful that you could must possibly confess with such... fervency?"
Alise's face softened. "I confess to lustful longings for my husband, for surely, according to the teaching of the Church, to want or long for his touch and his body is surely wrong. That I would enjoy his attentions whether we have children or not. He pleases me and I yearn for the night, every night, for he brings me such pleasure. I am told that it is a duty to lie beneath you, but how can such joy, such passion be something to suffer through?" Suddenly, her face fell. "And I confess my jealousy for the woman he cries out for in his sleep."
Her admission stunned Roland. There were times, years ago, when Thomas would wake him, telling him his dreams were dark; that he thrashed about in his sleep. "There is no one I would dre-."
"Genevieve. Who is Genevieve?" She took advantage of her husband's shocked silence. "Who is she? I hate her. I confess my hate for her every single Friday."
How unfair to Alise. How unfair to Genevieve.
Roland reached out and pulled his wife to him. "You have no need to worry about Genevieve-
"You cry for her! You love her so! I am afraid to touch you!"
"Alise." He tried so hard to soothe her. "Genevieve does not walk this earth."
His wife's head jerked up, almost catching him under the chin. "She died? Oh, my lord. My... Roland, I feel so very shamed." She looked down, focusing on his chest, her fingers tracing a gentle, unknown pattern. "Now I feel so very guilty. I should hurt for you." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I do hurt for you."
"Hurt for me no longer. I command it." Roland stepped back, smiling. "Next time, I am caught in an ancient memory in sleep, poke me in the ribs." This made her laugh. "You have now changed the subject and I intend for there to be answers. Your father was a Catharian, as was your grandfather, as are you." He wagged his finger. "As long as your beliefs are held to you, I care not."
"I may not discuss my thoughts, my beliefs?"
"Alise. How can I protect you-"
"Do you realize what it is to be chattel? I am grateful for a kind and thoughtful lord and husband, but I was married to a man I barely knew and had I not found you pleasing both in form and mind, I would have still been married to you! Do you know a woman is not required to speak according to the Church? Or, I could stand before the priest and scream to the rafters that no, I do not wish to wed the man across from me, that the priest would stand aside, while my husband beat me and then still pronounce us man and wife, while I lay broken and bleeding on the altar? Do you realize that it is a husband's right to throw away his wife's inheritance and she can do nothing about it? I am here, your wife because I must be... protected and not allowed or trusted by men or the Church to manage my own estate! My estate that I have run for some years!"
She took a breath and continued on, stunning Roland with the truth of her words.
"You love to watch me pleasure myself. You say it is so you know how and where I like to be touched, but according to the priests of Rome, it is a greater sin for me to pleasure myself than it is for a man to rape me. If I cry foul, I will be accused of leading my rapist astray!"
This angered Roland. Not anger at his wife, but anger at her words, which sadly, were true. "Any man who dare lay a hand on you, or say one word against you, will die by my hand!" He laid two fingers across her lips, to silence her forth-coming argument. "Henry does not want Rome in England, nor does he wish the havoc Rome and the French King rent upon his people. Louis will have all that is Plantagenet lands handed to him, as well as Foix and Toulouseone way or the other," he hissed. "How much of Carcassonne does Louis hold? Trencavel? And when he has it all, then his eye will turn to England! Henry will not stand for it and will punish any who would give Rome, or Louis, any reason to cross the Channel." He began to tap her lips with each word. "He. Will. Not. Have. The Same. Barbarians. Taking. English. Titles and Lands!" Now he cupped her face tenderly. "Let me protect you. Henry gave me the power to do so. If there is any cause or reason hidden at your grandfather's manse that would bring the wrath of Rome down on his lands, tell me now. I will go and ensure it does not happen."
Alise swallowed several time, her eyes darting back and forth.
She holds a secret. I see it. I can tell.
"My grandfather had a hidden library." Roland had to lean over her to hear. Her words were chilling. "If you can find it, then I will accept what you decide to do; if you decide to save it or destroy it."
"What is in it?"
"If you find it, you will know."
"Alise? What is in it?"
She smiled sadly. "What is Rome most terrified of every man having that is easily obtained?"
It took a moment for Roland to realize what she was saying and when it dawned on him, it was if the air was knocked from his lungs. "Oh," he whispered. "Knowledge."
She nodded. "And knowledge is power."
"Great power." He pulled her back into his embrace. "I will do my damndest to hide it. Forgive me if I cannot." He waited until her shaking – or was it his? - subsided, before releasing her and backing her towards the bed. "I believe you and I have some unfinished business, my lady." Within minutes, the creak of the ropes beneath the bed covered the sounds of contentment and release of the two in the bed.
But Roland's mind was not quelled.
Tbc.