As people rushed about her, Liz stood still in the middle of the road. She was staring at the gate where two guards stood. 'This is it,' she thought to herself. There would be no turning back. 'I just hope I'm in time.' With the fear that she might be too late to safe Maurice, Liz started to run. As soon as she was in sight of the people, she remembered that courtiers did not run, they floated.
Smoothing her gown, she tried to remember what Alex had instructed before. 'Head high, shoulders back, and confidence.' A throng of peasants were blocking the entrance, desperately trying to get in to see the king about their matters. However, the guards did an effective job of keeping them out. "How am I going to get in?" Liz whispered as she kept walking toward the gates.
Luckily, one of the guards spotted her in her gown and yelled out, "Make way for the lady!" Almost immediately, the peasants were pushed out of the way to make a path for Liz. As she walked past them, she noticed that some of them looked at her with envy, some with hate. She felt an urge to cry out, "No, I'm one of you!" But she clamped this urge when she saw the guards.
As soon as she was in, Liz gave a sigh of relief. Now she had to find Maurice. A breeze cooled her flushed face and the hem of her gown floated a little. Liz hurried to bring it back down to cover her shoes. The lady's shoes had been too large for her and even when she and Alex tried stuffing it, Liz couldn't walk in them. The only solution they could think of was to have Liz wear her own tattered shoes and pray that no one would notice them under her gown.
Now that she was in, where was she to go? Liz felt very lost as people rushed on by her. Guards and pages and courtiers as well as servants and various other people all were around her. Liz realized that she had no idea where to look. Maybe inside the castle? Liz quaked on the inside at this thought but tried not let it show. After all, as a courtier, she practically lived in the castle, right?
As she was crossing the drawbridge and was about to answer, she heard Maurice's voice. He was there below her near the rear gate! Liz's heart broke to see him gaunt and dirty but, worse of all, he was chained. Liz's anger started growing to see him fettered like an animal along with all the other people. Maurice was desperately trying to plead with the driver to let him go. "Please, I'm sure my family will come and pay for me soon." However, the driver paid him no attention as he herded Maurice and the others onto a caged wagon.
Pulling the small sack of money out, Liz clutched the bag before murmuring to herself, "God give me strength. Then she ran down to where Maurice was, trying to get there before the wagon left.
Just as the horse started to move, Liz got there. She quickly grabbed the horse's bridle as she looked at the driver. He was a large man with a red face and did not look too happy at being stopped. "Whaddya want?" he grumbled loudly.
Maurice grabbed the bars of the cart and gaped at the person before him. Could it be...? No, it was Liz. He looked at her in wonderment before she gave him a reassuring smile. She then turned to the driver.
Liz tried to get the words out of her mouth. To her surprise, she heard herself saying clearly, "I wish to address you on the matter of that man," and she pointed at Maurice. "He is my servant and I wish to pay the debt against him."
"He's the property of Cartier now. Move outta the way!"
'He doesn't think I have the money,' Liz thought. She held up her small bag filled with the coins. "I will pay you twenty gold francs," she said confidently.
"You can have me for twenty gold francs but you can't have him. Now move!" People all around them were beginning to stare now but Liz paid no attention to them. She couldn't believe how rude this man was acting. 'I am a courtier,' she reminded herself.
"Release him now or I will go to the King with this matter." 'Maybe that will scare him.'
"The King's the one that sold him to Cartier and he is going to America." The driver made an attempt to get the horse moving but Liz kept a firm grip to prevent the horse from starting forward.
Liz was furious. She was tired of pretending that buying and selling people was to be condoned. "Do you honestly think it right to barter people like chattel and chain them like animals?" she snapped.
"Yes, I do!" the man yelled before spitting down on the ground right next to where Liz was standing.
Indignantly, Liz recoiled and said, "Why you ill-mannered tub of guts!"
The man was aware of the crowd around them and snapped. He leaned half-way out of his seat and roared down, "Move down before I run you over!" As if to prove his point, the man started to snap the reins before a voice rang out.
"You dare to raise your voice to a lady?" Liz froze. That voice. It couldn't be. Could it?
Liz turned. It was him. There sitting astride in his horse was Prince Max. 'Please don't let him recognize me,' Liz begged. She then noticed that everyone was curtsying. 'Curtsy to royalty, do not throw prostrate yourself like a peasant,' Liz instructed herself. Mustering her courage, she slowly gave a curtsy to Max.
As for Max, he was transfixed. This woman before him...he couldn't find the words to describe her. She was not one of the normal courtiers around him, yet she looked so familiar. There was no denying her beauty, but there was something else about her that grabbed Max's attention. Then he looked deeply in her eyes and saw the fire in there, the spirit.
He realized that everyone was waiting for him to speak again. He tore his eyes from the woman's and spoke. "What seems to be the problem here?"
The driver was quick to defend himself. "This woman here wants to buy this man back but I's told her already that he's been sold to Cartier. And I'm only doing my job by taking these thieves and criminals to the ship."
For a moment, Liz was in awe of being in Max's presence but with those words, she snapped back to attention. "A servant is not a criminal, your highness, and those that are cannot help themselves."
Max was taken aback for a moment. Those words were not unfamiliar to him, for he had studied it before, but to hear it from a woman - well, that was just simply unheard of. Intrigued, he decided to hear more of what this woman thought of this matter.
He sat up a little straighter in the saddle and exchanged looks with Michael. Giving him a small wink, he turned back to the woman and asked, "Really? Well then, by all means, enlighten us."
Flustered, Liz desperately tried to think back. 'You can do this, Liz. You've read the book a million times and you know it by heart. Just show them that you know this.'
Taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the spiel, she began. "If you suffer your people to be ill-educated and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for the crimes that their education first disposed them off, then what, sire, is to be concluded except that you create criminals, and then punish them?"
When she was done, there was silence throughout the courtyard. It was obvious that no one had expected that to be spoken in front of the crowed prince of France, much less from a woman.
Max smiled. He couldn't help it. It was just so...refreshing to hear someone speak to him in this manner. So full of fire, passion. It didn't even matter that this woman had slighted his country, just to hear her speak.
He turned to the driver. "Release him," he said simply. The crowd gasped. This was unheard of, a member of the royal family paying any attention to the peasants' matter.
"What?" the driver croaked. "Sire, I have orders..."
"I said release him!" Max roared. It annoyed him to no end that his words were being questioned.
The man nodded mutely and hurriedly rushed to unlock the door and chains. Liz watched in silent joy that her ploy had worked and Maurice was actually being released. She went and held Maurice's hands in happiness once he stepped on the ground.
Maurice had tears in his eyes as he whispered, "I thought I was looking at a vision of your mother."
Liz's heart swelled to hear these words. She knew so little about her mother and these words meant the world to her. Swallowing her emotions, she whispered, "Meet me at the bridge." Then noticing that almost every person in the courtyard was staring at her she said loudly, "Prepare the carriage. We will leave at once."
Maurice nodded in understanding as he hobbled off to leave in the back entrance which the poorer people and servants were forced to use. Liz tried to ignore the pressure of everyone's looks as she retreated to the main gate. 'Please just let me get out of here,' she thought.
She curtsied to Max and said humbly, "I thank you, sire." Liz knew that had he not been there, she might not have gotten Maurice back.
To her horror (and minor pleasure) she saw that Prince Max was following her. She hurried her steps, worried that he might recognize her as the servant girl with the apples.
Max noticed her quickened step and matched her pace. "I could have sworn that I knew every courtier in the province," he began, but paused. There was still something nagging at him. She seemed so familiar. "Have we met?"
Liz's breath caught in her throat. He knew. Desperately, she shook her head. "Umm...I don't think so." She could feel his gaze piercing at her. She refused to look him in his eyes, knowing how captivating they could be, having been lost in them only moments earlier. She knew she would have to explain why he had never met her before.
"I am visiting my cousin," she informed him.
"Really? And who might that be?" It amazed Max that she seemed so ... nervous and shy around him. All the other courtiers that he had met had been anything but. They were coy, certainly, but not shy. They had all but jumped at him in their eagerness. For him to have to do any work to inquire about a woman was something new to him.
Liz on the other hand was panicking inwardly. 'Why?' she silently screamed at him. 'Can't you just go let all those other fawn over you and leave me alone?' Part of her was flattered that he was paying so much attention to her but she just wanted to get back to the safety of her own house.
"The only one I have, sire," she told Max weakly.
A smile passed over Max's lips at this. "Yes," he told Liz slowly. "We've been over this. If you do not wish to tell me your name, the very least you can do is tell me hers, so that I may inquire about who you are." He paused before continuing. "For anyone who can quote Thomas More is well worth the effort."
Liz stopped in her tracks. She turned to look at Max. Wonderment crept in her face and she asked, "The prince has read Utopia?"
Pleased that he had captured his full attention, Max gave a full blown smile, and Liz was drawn in for a second. "Yes. I found it sentimental and dull." Liz's smile faded as he continued, "I confess, the plight of the everyday rustic bores me."
Unsure of what to say without disclosing her true status, Liz asked, "I take it you do not converse with many peasants." Max laughed as if she had just told a joke. "Good heavens, no. Naturally not?"
Liz couldn't believe it. Her first impressions about him had been so wrong. Right now he was so arrogant and condescending. His words only added to her frayed nerves. She started walking again.
"Forgive me, your highness, there is nothing natural about that. "A country's character is defined by these everyday rustics, as you call them. They may be at the bottom, but they are the legs of this country and that position demands respect."
A little stunned by her retort, Max paused for a second before jogging quickly to catch up with her. He stood in front of her, forcing her to stop. "Am I to understand you find me arrogant?" he asked in astonishment.
Liz didn't answer him, but she didn't have to. He saw it in her eyes. "You gave one man back his life, but did you even glance at the others?" Liz asked him.
Max was silent. She had read him like an open book, and he knew it. He whispered, "Who are you?"
Liz knew that if she didn't give him something, he would follow her, badgering her. "I fear the only name I can leave you with is Comtesse Nancy de Lancret."
Max smiled once again. Finally, he had gotten her name, or so he thought. "There now, that wasn't so hard was it?"
Liz found herself starting to smile when a voice interrupted. "Max, darling! There you are. You're father has been looking for you!" Liz almost fainted with astonishment. There was the Queen of France, right in front of her. Then she noticed who was next to her. It was the Princess Isabel, younger sister of Max.
Max smiled patiently at his mother. "Hello, Mother, Isabel. I trust you both are well."
Liz took advantage of this distraction to scurry away. However, even if her departure was unnoticed by Max, it wasn't by Isabel. She had seen the two of them talking and the look on Max's face when they were.
Diane spoke. "Come along, Max. Your father wants a word with you."
Max sighed. "Yes, I suppose he does. In a minute, Mother." When he turned back to where Liz was, she was gone. Surprised, he looked all around but couldn't find her. Hmmm...he'd just have to find her again now, wouldn't he?
Well, this is the last of the complete parts I have written. I don't know when my next update is going to be since I'm going to be moving into college soon. However, if I get enough fb back, I may be persuaded to post the next part before I leave. ;) I know FF.Net is going through a bit of revamping so this may damper the number of FBs I get, so I'll take that into consideration. :) It's good to be back and caught up. See you later!