A/N: I always tell myself that I'm not going to post as frequently and then all the positive feedback spurs me on. Thanks to all of you who have written feedback. I truly appreciate it and I use what you say to help improve my writing.
Ghoti: I think you have a really good point. I won't say much because I don't want to give anything away but there's more coming in future chapters. However, I wanted you to know that I found this feedback very valuable and it helped me to more clearly see how some things should progress.
naughty little munchkin: Thanks for being such a faithful and enthusiastic reader! I look forward to reading more from you as well!
*****
Chapter 16
Keelin rose sleepily the next morning, scrubbing at her eyes with her fists in the hopes that it would help clarify her vision. It was all to no avail. Her vision was blurry thanks to fatigue caused by a night of restless sleep filled with incessant dreams about the prince. She had to admit to herself that her relationship with him was growing into a bigger and bigger problem with each moment that she passed in his company. She would soon have to make a decision as to what she intended to do about that relationship. It was not one that she was eager to make.
Rising from her pallet, Keelin yawned so enthusiastically that it felt like her mouth would split at the corners. She rubbed her hand over her head, feeling the mess that her braid had become after a night of tossing and turning. She yawned again and rubbed at her eyes once more.
"Do you ever sleep anymore?" a concerned voice asked. Keelin recognized it as that of Alinda.
"Rarely," she offered by way of response, not feeling up to involving herself in a conversation, even with her dear friend. Her mind was too foggy for much deep thought. In fact, she found that it required all of her concentration simply to remember how to get herself ready for the day.
Shuffling over to the washbasin, Keelin splashed her face liberally, gasping at the coldness of the water. In spite of her discomfort, she found that the cold water did help to clear her mind and to rouse her a little more. She splashed it over her face a few more times before washing her face and bathing her wrists in it. It was not quite as good as a full night's sound sleep, but it did help her to feel somewhat refreshed.
As Alinda washed, Keelin undid the braid in her hair and combed through her tangled tresses, finding that the painful unknotting of her hair also helped to rouse her. This realization nearly made her groan. If she could not get a good night's sleep soon, she would be forced to inflict pain upon herself in a constant manner in order to remain in a state of wakefulness.
Once her hair was tied back, Keelin shimmied out of her night shift and replaced it with her servant's garb. Lastly, she settled her white cap over the knot of hair that rested on the back of her head.
"Let us only hope that there will be no surprise balls announced today," Keelin said dryly as she stretched, working the kinks out of her body.
Alinda smiled warmly at her. "Let us hope," she echoed. "Still, one can never tell. Royalty is always so unpredictable that it seems they do things on the merest of whims."
She had hardly spoken the words when a woman rushed into the chamber and bolted straight for Sarah, speaking in excited, but hushed, tones with the head seamstress. Sarah gasped in surprise and looked around at the other women.
"It would seem that I have spoken too soon," Keelin said, feeling her spirits sink at the prospect of non-stop work for another week.
"You brought this upon us," Alinda accused, with a groan.
"I can almost believe that I have," Keelin said, worried that she may have indeed. Perhaps the king had decided to push his son in the princess's direction again because of the prince's frequent absenteeism. Perhaps it was the time that he was spending with Keelin, unbeknownst to the king, that was the cause of this new ball.
Keelin was to be quickly disabused of this notion, however, as Sarah turned to the other women as soon as the unknown servant woman left the chamber. She indicated for them to move closer to her and they all flocked around her, like obedient children answering the summons of their mother.
"Why, 'tis scandalous!" Sarah declared, her face marked with both disbelief and a sort of feral pleasure at the news she had just received. She twisted her hands together impatiently, unable to resist passing on the news that she had just received. "The Italians are to part almost this moment! It would seem that the princess is accused of being unchaste and with a minstrel!"
A collective gasp rose from the women and Keelin's hand flew to her throat. This news was so strange that she thought it must surely be nothing more than a silly rumor that had originated somewhere else in the castle. It was clear that the king of England intended his son to marry the Italian princess. Surely she could not be leaving before their engagement had been announced? To her horror, Keelin found herself feeling a sense of positive exultation at the thought of the exquisite Italian beauty parting from the castle. Why should it matter to her if the princess went or stayed? Keelin did not even want to acknowledge the insidious little voice that said it was because she had regarded the princess as competition for the affections of the prince.
"Which minstrel?" one of the other sewing women cried out, her face contorted with fear, telling everyone in the chamber quite clearly that she fancied one of them. Her face turned red as she realized that everyone was staring at her, but she continued to fix her gaze on Sarah.
"Why, the minstrel who wrote the ballad in praise of the princess," Sarah said.
The relief on the face of the other woman was plain and Keelin could see that several of the women seemed to file this information away for future reference. For now, they had much to gossip about, what with the disgrace of the princess, but they would be wanting for gossip later. The love affair between a fellow sewing women and one of the minstrels would do quite well.
"What is to become of the minstrel?" Alinda asked.
"That is also a scandal," Sarah said excitedly. "His Majesty ordered that the man be hanged but it seems that the minstrel has disappeared from the dungeon."
Sarah lost everyone's attention as the women began to turn to one another and chatter excitedly. Surely this was the most titillating news that had been spread at the castle in quite some time. Keelin even heard one of the women say that it was even more scandalous than the Earl of Essex news had been and Keelin blushed deeply when the other women looked over and realized that she had heard them.
Alinda began to chatter excitedly at her friend, but Keelin's mind was a million miles away. The moment Sarah had said that the minstrel had disappeared from the dungeon, it had become quite clear to Keelin what had happened. She was positive that the prince had brought about the man's disappearance, unwilling for him to hang for his affair with the princess. In fact, Keelin believed that the prince might even see the minstrel as being his deliverer. After what he had said about the princess in the forest last night, there could be no doubt in Keelin's mind that he was relieved by this little scandal.
Sarah called the women to attention again, her eyes gleaming. They realized that she must have an object of particular interest and quickly grew quiet in anticipation of her revelation. They found that it was well worth their trouble.
"I have not even told you the most scandalous part!" she exclaimed. "It seems that His Majesty, the king, stumbled upon the princess in the act." She smiled in triumph as the women gasped and then delivered the final stunning piece of news. "His Majesty was not alone. He was accompanied by his foreign advisor, the Duke of Canterbury, Sir Edwyn of Netherfield, and His Highness, the prince!"
The chatter of the women quickly reached fever pitch as they bandied this new information about.
"Can you believe it?" Alinda gasped, grasping her friend's arm a bit too tightly for comfort. "I have never heard of such a scandal!"
Keelin's mind, however, was not with her friend. She was mulling over the list of people who had been with the king when he had found the princess. The more she thought about it, the more Keelin was certain that all was not well with Prince Rhain. She was certain that his father had been about to have a serious chat with his son, very likely one in which he would impress upon his son the need to marry Princess Concetta. Now Keelin was more certain than ever that the prince was in a great deal of trouble and that it was all due to her.
Sarah had indulged the women, but now she grew stern with them, calling impatiently for their attention. "What are you all about? Do you think that you can lie about all the day long and talk idly with one another? There is work to be done. Make haste to the sewing chamber now."
Alinda made a sour face. "The old crone," she murmured, so that only Keelin could hear her. "You may be certain that she felt herself very important whilst she was delivering the news but now that she is no longer the center of attention, she shoos us off to work."
"Come now, Alinda, you know 'tis our duty, after all," Keelin chided, smiling at her friend.
"Well of course 'tis our duty. I was merely saying that the crone acts as if she were doing all of the sewing single-handedly while we laze about when it was she who kept us from our work in the first place."
"Aye, but believe me when I say that there are head servants in the castle that are far worse than Sarah. If you knew what a tyrant the kitchen wench is, you would fall to your knees and kiss Sarah's feet in gratitude."
Alinda made a horrible face at the thought. "I would sooner kiss a pig's feet," she declared, making Keelin giggle.
"I never knew you had such…interests," Keelin said, barely able to conceal her mirth. "After all, the pigs do slog about in their own filth all the day long."
Alinda stuck her tongue out at Keelin and then smiled at her friend. "Enough of pigs and sewing crones, what think you of this news of the Italian princess?"
Keelin knew that she would have to answer carefully so as not to appear to know more of the princess than she ought. More importantly, she must not violate the confidence of the prince.
"I am all amazement," she said. "'Tis beyond anything. I cannot believe that a princess could conduct herself in such a manner."
Alinda studied her very closely as she replied and Keelin felt uncomfortable. Why was her friend regarding her in that manner? She could not know anything about Keelin and the prince, could she?
"'Tis most extraordinary," Alinda said. "I should have thought she would at least be clever enough to carry on her affair where no one was likely to find her."
Keelin gasped. "Alinda, really! She should not have been having an affair in the first place! Is it not the duty of a princess to be the model of virtue for her people?"
Her friend seemed to be startled by Keelin's exclamation. She smiled quickly and answered, "Oh, of course. I merely meant that she is not only unchaste, she is also very foolish."
"Foolish indeed," Keelin echoed.
"After all, she was to be the bride of His Highness, the prince. Why would any woman do anything to risk that honor?"
"I hardly know," Keelin said, nonchalantly. "Perhaps she did not love His Highness."
"Love? These royal folk never marry for love," Alinda said, laughing openly at her friend. Keelin was stung.
"How should you know what they do and do not do?" Keelin asked defensively. "I should think that some of them do indeed marry for love."
Alinda regarded her friend with an expression that was something akin to sympathy. "Keelin, you have such innocent and pure thoughts. 'Tis obvious that you know nothing of royalty. I have lived all my life in this castle and I have seen things that would shock you beyond your powers of belief. All is not beauty and virtue within the castle's walls. Such conduct as that of the Italian princess is hardly rare."
Keelin felt a little angry with her friend. It hurt her that Alinda was treating her as if she were a naïve and foolish child. "I cannot claim to know what life in a castle is like; I am merely stating what I always believed to be the role of royalty. I certainly understand that such behavior as that of the princess's exists in the world. I was daily a witness to such behavior and behavior far worse than hers, at that. 'Tis only because that behavior was committed by a man that it was not brought to light as the disgrace of the princess was. Believe me, Alinda, I am no fool when it comes to the realities of how those of higher birth conduct themselves."
She picked up her pace so that she moved ahead of Alinda. When she reached the sewing chamber, she seated herself and studied her work intently, refusing to look at her friend. She did not understand Alinda's behavior. Her friend had always been so kind and understanding. There was a sharpness to her today that Keelin was not certain she liked. It was as if her friend was intentionally trying to hurt her and Keelin did not like it. She wondered what could possibly motivate Alinda to such action.
The day passed by as any normal day in the sewing chamber did. The women did their usual amount and type of work and the chamber was punctuated all the day long with the accents of the women chattering about the scandal. Keelin was one of the few who did not speak, even though Alinda attempted to start a conversation with her several times that day. Keelin's feelings were simply too wounded for her to wish to converse with her friend. When their workday was finally finished, Keelin set her work aside and walked toward to door, not bothering to wait for Alinda. Her friend caught up with her, however, and held her back until all the other women had gone.
"Do not be angry with me," Alinda pleaded, looking into Keelin's eyes. Alinda's eyes were filled with tears that threatened to spill at any moment. "I do not know what has made me such a shrew today. Perhaps I did not get enough sleep last night either."
Keelin sighed, unwilling and unable to stay mad at her friend. "'Tis all right, Alinda. All is forgiven."
"Truly, Keelin, I did not mean to make sport of you. I think you very intelligent and your conversation is always stimulating to me. I suppose that, perhaps, I am simply feeling a bit too much sympathy for the Italian princess."
"How can you possibly feel sympathy for such a woman?" Keelin asked incredulously.
"Think about it, Keelin," Alinda said. "You said yourself that your master evaded punishment for so long because he was a man. Do you not see that women have so few choices in this world? Do you not see that we are not valued for anything more than our appearance and ability to bear children? We have not the freedoms of men. Men see to it that we are kept subordinate and so we are punished where a man would not be punished."
"What you say is true, but we do have a choice, Alinda. Men may control our freedom and some of our choices, but they can never control all of our choices. As women, we can choose how to conduct ourselves and that is the greatest choice of all. Because of this, I naturally find fault with a woman who chooses to throw away her own virtue. Once lost, it may never be regained."
Alinda had a stubborn look on her face. "What you say may be true, but I still think the princess is not entirely at fault. The world may see her that way, but I admire her for doing what she pleased. I cannot say that I would conduct myself in the same manner, but I should hope I would have the courage to make my own choices in all aspects of my life, even if it meant I was to face great challenges or to be punished."
They were silent for a moment and then the brooding expression upon Alinda's face melted away, replaced by a smile. "Come now; let us not talk of such heavy subjects any longer. Let us join the others at dinner," she said, tugging on her friend's hand.
Keelin followed, but she was elsewhere mentally. Alinda's words had made a very great impression on her. She felt that there was something her friend was not telling her either, some great choice that Alinda was struggling with herself. However, Keelin also found that Alinda's words had a great deal of application in her own life. She pondered them, wondering if perhaps she ought to take them as words of wisdom and attempt to use them in her own situation. After all, was it not her fear of the challenges she might face that kept her from fully dedicating herself to a relationship with the prince? She wondered if perhaps she ought to think more like her friend.
