Chapter 3o: The Plea
Mellor-(I'm liking the name)...thankyouthankyou.
Lizzie-Lol! Hehehehe...I know... the King and Queen were beginning to irritate me...I felt that b/c I brought Natalie back, Bram oughtta come too. Glad you liked it (even if it was only for the new found sensibility of the monarchs)
Loving-Life...! yay! You're back! I'm so pleased that you liked ch. 21...thanks for the complements. (You're always important to me!)
Oooo...O.o...I shall keep the it's, its, your, and you're 's in check...thanks for pointing them out!
ElvenSilver- coughs nervously...yes, uh...thanks for the complements...and yeah, it's been a while, but I've got stuff going these first three (full) weeks of July.
A general note: Please forgive the horrible time lapse between Chapter 29 and this chapter. I'm having a horrible time with the finale and drawing it all up to a satisfying denouement. I hope this chapter will do.
Abby's leg was cramped. She couldn't move it. Honestly, she could hardly move anything, let alone a leg. Keosha and Sophia had fallen asleep an hour ago...or a minute ago, Abby couldn't be sure. Abby shifted slightly, wincing as unpleasant tingles ran through her body. Bram's sharp gaze turned to her, and met her eyes.
From beyond the door, she could hear vague mumblings, all hazy, whether from the wood obscuring them or from Abby's cramped and worried mind.
Bram finally spoke, the first to do so after they'd finally arrived at the end of the passage.
" We've got to get through. As soon as they've finished speakin' ye must open that door and go through," Abby gripped his arm,
" And what about you? Are you not staying?" She watched him, her fingernails almost piercing his skin through the cloth of his shirt. He pried her hand off him.
" I cannot...I've already stayed too long. Just be sure to catch both of them at the same time... I'll be 'opin' for ye're success." With that, the man disappeared down the passageway, leaving Abby and her two friends alone.
How long she waited, the woman wasn't sure. Finally there was a lapse in the sound beyond the door, and the noblewoman took a deep breath and leaned towards Keosha and Sophia. She touched them on the shoulders gently and they woke, both momentarily unsure of where they were. Abby leaned towards them,
" I think this is time," she whispered. They nodded and all three stood, brushing themselves off in an effort to look acceptable. Abigail turned towards the wooden door and reached for the small wooden handle.
But before her fingertips brushed the worn handle, the door slide open.
They held their breath as a head poked in. Natalia's worried face greeted them...
" You all 'ight?" They nodded. " Whe'e's Bram?" Abby shrugeged.
" He said he'd been here too long and left." Natalie shrugged, though she didn't seem satisfied by the explanation.
" The King and Queen've left. Don't fuss," she soothed Abby, whose eyes had widened in shock and fear. " You've not missed you'e chance. They'll be back in less than twenty minutes. I p'omise." Abby nodded. And Sophia, on her right, nudged her.
" Breathe," she advised when the noblewoman had looked at her. " You'll secure an audience with their Majesties." Abby nodded, trying to feel reassured. 'Not necessarily legally,' Sophia thought to herself, 'but one must do what is required.'
Natalia handed them a bundle of a napkin and a small water-skin. " I don't know when exactly they'll come back, so keep safe." With that, she closed the door, leaving the three women in darkness. Natalia turned and began straightening the room. She tidied and cleaned, trying to fill the time until the King and Queen came back.
Five minutes crawled by, followed by another...and another. Finally, eleven minutes had passed since the King and Queen had left, and Natalia had run out of things to do. She sat, staring at the clock for what seemed like an hour, but was only a carefully regulated two minutes.
Behind the door, Abigail, Sophia and Keosha were munching quietly on the meat-stuffed bread rolls and pasties from Natalia, occasionally sipping from the water-skin, much oblivious to the turmoil which surrounded the woman on the other side.
Fifteen minutes passed. Then the clock showed the progression of eighteen minutes...
Twenty-two minutes...followed by twenty-three...
Natalia paced nervously, her senses alert to the point of being frantic. The woman's palms were sweating and her movements were agitated, as she walked quickly and slowly by turns. Suddenly, she froze. Footsteps echoed in the corridor, and she turned in a panicked circle before seating herself on a chair, needlework in hand. The steps came closer and closer...paused at the door...and moved on. Natalia fought the urge to open the door and yell at whomever had walked by.
" Who do they think they are? Walking by as if they had a right..." the woman muttered unreasonably under her breath as she resumed her jittery pacing of the room. Finally, twenty-seven minutes later, more steps were heard in the corridor. Natalia sat with her needlework again, her back to the door. The footsteps slowed and stopped. And the door opened.
The Queen's golden eyes were tired but alert as she called,
" Natalia? Would you mind ringing for some tea?" Natalia nodded, walked over to the cord, and pulled it. The King and Queen sat down at a small table as Natalia gathered her mistress's own needlework in case she called for it. A quiet scratching at the door bade the maid servant to open it, and a maid stood, awaiting the reason for the bell.
" Tea for five, please." Natalia requested very quietly. The maid nodded and left as Natalia closed the door and turned back. " The tea will be here soon, your Majesties."
" Very good, thank you Natalia." The King said, as Natalia sat and continued her needlework. The King and Queen sat in silence, and Natalia prayed that Abby would recognise the timing. To the woman's relief, the tapestry covering the small door moved slightly and the Queen turned in alarm. The King rose form his chair and drew his sword.
Then, quite suddenly, there were three more people in the room than a minute before. All three women immediately sank into deep curtsies in front of the stunned monarchs. Natalia took the silence as an opportunity.
" You Majesties, my I p'esent the Countess Abigail of Mattensworth, Lady Sophia of Lelly's B'ook, and Keosha Jameson, the Countess's maidse'vant and my cousin." The Queen glanced at Natalia, her brow lifted in a half amused half vexed look. The King was less amused.
" You come, uninvited to her Majesty's quarters. What have you to say for yourselves before I summon the guards?" He was standing, his sword still unsheathed as he glared at the prostrate figures. Abby raised her head.
" I beg your forgiveness for my intrusion, your Majesties. But I knew that I could not obtain a proper audience with either of you either today or tomorrow. Please, hear what I have to say." The King, his face as unforgiving as could be, opened his mouth, obviously to refuse, but the Queen stopped him. She beckoned him and he leaned towards her to hear what she whispered to him. After a moment of listening, he straightened, paused and then nodded. His comely features had softened.
" We will hear you." The King sat with courtly grace and waited with steepled fingers to hear what the Countess had to say. Abby licked her dry lips nervously before continuing, the thought of her beloved Marcus imprisoned spurring her on.
" I thank you, your Majesties for your mercy. I am here to beg your further mercy on a poor man who is imprisoned so wrongly." She paused, and looked directly into the King's eyes. " The former Count Marcus DeBracey is wrongfully accused. The accusations against him over the affair of the gypsies' escape are woefully ignorant. He did not simply assist them, but was an active part in their flight!" For a moment, the whole room stared at her in shock.
'Has she gone mad!' Sophia thought wonderingly.
Keosha narrowed her eyes... 'The idea was to impress his innocence, not his guilt!'
Abigail, the Countess, her face pale as the moon, continued. " Marcus DeBracey was a leading force against the gypsies' erroneous imprisonment and also their righteous escape from your dungeons! You have jailed a man for helping innocent people! And now you would lead him to a trial, where it is almost certain he should meet death. Would you put a man to death for standing for justice? You, whose father imposed the force and weight of truth and justice in the civilised world...you would have a man executed for doing truth's work?" Again she paused, and the woman held her head high, her eyes burning with a fierce, blue light. A silence of wonder filled the Queen's chambers.
" Would you execute a man whose only crime is serving the innocent? This man I speak of is an honourable, handsome, strong, sympathetic, and loving man...would you execute such a man? Would you execute a man who has given his titles and very nearly his life without complaint? Your Majesties," Abby threw herself forward at the King's feet and turned her teary but potent gaze to his face. " Would you execute the only man to kiss me? Would you execute my beloved?" Her words rang through her audience's ears and squeezed their hearts. Tears fell silently from the Countess of Mattensworth's face onto the King's felt shoes. A whisper escaped her trembling lips, so faint that those in the room had to strive to hear it.
" Marcus is innocent, my King. I beg you...do not kill an guiltless man." A tear ran down the King's face, a twin to those on his wife's. The Queen reached over an held her husband's hand. They exchanged one look, a look full of meaning and love. And that is all it took.
Drawing a shaky breath, the King replied,
" No...I would not kill such a man. He is pardoned." Abby's tears did not cease as she rose.
" Thank you, sire. Could I...could I see him? Please?" The King raised his voice and called for a guard. While he waited for them, he wrote out a short note and, using his signet-ring, sealed the note with scarlet sealing wax. When a squad of guards had entered the room and stood at attention, he spoke,
" The former Count DeBracey is to be acquitted of all charges and brought here immediately. Give this to the Count John, who will see that my orders are carried out." The squad saluted and marched out of the chambers.
When the captain of the squad handed Count John the note, he glanced questioningly at the man before opening it. The man's tired brown eyes scanned the note which freed his only son. Relief and happiness flooded his previously fatigued features and he stood somewhat shakily.
As the Count made his way to the dungeons, the King signed a write acquitting Marcus DeBracey of any charges and reinstating his nobility and his knighthood.
Within minutes, father and son embraced as Sir Marcus DeBracey left his prison cell, a free man.
I'm sorry that this is so short after such a long interlude between chapters, please forgive me and if you could find it in your hearts to review, I'd really like that.
Posted on: July 29th, 2005 (Edited with many thanks to Akwyn and re-posted on the 30th of July)
