And here I bring you a brand new character to love! (I hope XD) I apologize for the wait on this one guys! Hopefully it will have been worth it! Leave me a review when you're finished reading!
Chapter Six
When word came to the palace that the Duke of Buckingham had accepted the invitation to negotiate peace, everyone flew into a frenzy.
The council quickly started to assign various tasks that needed to be looked at, and the serving staff bore the brunt of their demands. Katherine felt incredibly sorry for the endless number of cooks and seamstresses and chamber maids and shoemakers who were suddenly sought out and laden down with work. Menus needed to be settled, which meant that various animals would need to be slaughtered for the many feasts and banquets that would be thrown in honour of the Duke and his traveling party. There would be masques and dancing and entertainments that would also be needed in order to keep him entertained between rounds of negotiations. And that wasn't even taking into account the yards and yards of fabric that would then be needed for the sheets and tapestries and hangings that would be used by the Duke and his party…or the new clothes that everyone was bound to want in order to show off their wealth.
For her part, Katherine was well aware that the initial greeting of this English party was just as important as everything that happened during their visit. And as expected, the King assigned her to the task of preparing for the first day that the Duke would arrive. This meant not only the initial set up of how he would be greeted when he landed in Calais, but also how he would be accompanied to the palace and who would be in the courtyard to greet him and his traveling party, as well as the banquet that would follow. Philippe had made it very clear to the disgruntled council that they were to give her every bit of help that they could if she should need it.
But it wasn't the council whom she sought after they had been dismissed. Instead it was Queen Anne, the only other woman at court who had been through these same procedures before when it came to welcoming foreign powers to the French court.
"I have no idea of where I should even begin," Katherine confessed to her, cheeks flushed with shame at being given such a mighty responsibility without the faintest notion of how to handle it.
Yet Anne had been nothing but understanding, quickly calming her nerves as she prepared to help Kate with something she deemed to be "just as important as everything else." She didn't initially tell the girl what it was that they would be doing when she summoned her to her personal quarters a few days later. Yet as soon as Katherine took note of the people in the room she had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what was going to happen. There was only one man in the room among the handful of women who had been enlisted to help, and though she had met him only briefly to be fitted for the last ceremony, she knew the tailor well.
Anne was going to create a royal wardrobe for her.
"You cannot greet the Duke of Buckingham without a proper wardrobe," she told a stunned Kate with a smile, holding out her hand to motion that the girl should enter the room as the servants closed the door behind her.
There were too many eyes in the room for her to protest, knowing that while her conversations with Anne in private were far less formal she needed to continue to act the part while others were present. And unfortunately, she was also painfully aware that she couldn't argue her way out of this one. Wearing her simple cotton dresses in the presence of the Duke would be laughable, but the boyish attire that she wore when sparring with her uncle was absolutely out of the question. She needed to appear like the lady that she really wasn't. She needed to be able to play a part in this masquerade without embarrassing the King or making a mockery of the country.
She needed to be perfect.
"Do we know when His Grace is expected to arrive?" Katherine asked lightly, lifting her skirt so that she could step up onto the little platform that had been placed in the center of the room for her.
Anne nodded her head. "He will arrive in a little more than a fortnight if the seas are calm," she said in her accented tone of voice, stepping forward to begin inspecting Katherine with her eyes. And though they were kind eyes, Katherine could already see the wheels of her mind beginning to turn. "Nothing light in colour," she decided, looking toward the tailor who was also looking the young woman over. "Salmons, pinks, anything like that."
The tailor shook his head a little. "Jewel tones," he said, offering a little bow to the Queen Mother. "Colours that will compliment those lovely eyes of hers."
"Damask to begin," Anne also decided as she folded her hands before her. "Hints of silver and gold, if they can be worked in. But she is young. I do not want her overdressed."
Again, the tailor offered her a bow.
He was a man of average height, Katherine was quick to note, with a lanky build that gave him a rather scrawny appearance. Though he clearly tried to stand upright in the presence of royalty she could see the slump in his shoulders when he bowed toward Anne, his posture quickly being sacrificed in favour of showing her the proper respect she deserved. Behind his half-moon spectacles were beady little eyes of a dark brown that seemed to squint even through the lenses that were designed to help him see better. His face seemed to bear an almost constant expression of distaste at something, his nose slightly wrinkled like a bad smell lingered at every turn. And he stood with one hand behind his back almost constantly, his long fingers bent at strange angles that gave them a more menacing look than one would expect from a tailor.
In truth, he was someone who made Katherine feel rather uncomfortable when she stood beneath his gaze, his dark eyes raking her form as he tried to decide how he should dress her body. It was unnerving to have anyone stare at her for too long when she wasn't used to being the center of attention. And that was exactly what she had been since arriving at court, though it had only gotten worse after she had been safely returned from Chateau Montblanc. Kate shuddered a little. That place now held so many bad memories that she would have liked never to think of the damned place again.
Anne broke her from her thoughts and refocused her attentions. "I have asked my niece to come to court for the visit."
"Your niece?"
"Lady Louise of Savoy," said the Queen Mother with a soft smile. "Her mother was my late husband's sister. She is a few years older than you are, but she has experience at court and will be able to help guide you if I cannot."
A nod came from the young woman on the platform, her eyes then turning toward a couple of women who approached her with yards of coloured fabric in their arms. It seemed that no time was to be wasted, Kate observed. Every other woman in that room was anxious to see which bolts of cloth would be selected for her gowns, each wanting to suggest a colour or fabric that would complement her eyes or her skin tone or something of the like. Anne was quick to dismiss the colours that she felt strongly against. Without even so much as a word from Katherine there was a growing pile on the edge of the bed that had been cast off. Orangey tones, the dusty rose that Anne had shaken her head at almost immediately, an amber colour…
After a moment, she decided it was safe to try and speak again. "She is going to think me simple," Kate said nervously, biting on her lower lip to further demonstrate her hesitance. "I have no skill for diplomacy or entertaining important guests such as the Duke. Is Lady Louise prepared to work with me on that level?"
Anne seemed to consider her question for a moment, brushing a hand aside at the yellow fabric that was held before her. "She will have to adapt, the same as you," came the final decision.
There was no room for conversation beyond that point, and Kate knew it. Though she might have been able to speak to Anne in greater detail if they were alone, there were far too many eyes and ears upon them now to risk such an intimate discussion. Perhaps later there would be time for them to speak again. But for the time being she would need to be content with what she was given, nodding to her superior and dipping a slight curtsey that wouldn't impede the work that was still being done around her.
The choices of silver brocade, dark blue silk and burgundy satin had already been placed in a chair, and were quickly joined with other fabrics of green and blue, as Anne made it clear that the colours would complement her eyes beautifully. Purple was out of the question due to her lack of royal rank, her bastard status as the only living child of the old King aside. That was something that the world would never know. They could never know the truth, for it would shake the very foundations of the country to its core and possibly set off a civil war. D'Artagnan and Anne would lose their lives if the truth were ever to be set free.
And that was something Katherine could never allow.
"You stupid girl! How could you allow this to happen?"
Her dark head snapped around as she heard the words hissed off to the side of the room, her gaze looking to find where it had come from. Soon the tailor was locked in her vision, his form even more hunched over than normal as he loomed dangerously above a much smaller figure…that of a young girl.
"I-I'm sorry!" she stammered quickly.
But the tailor would have none of it. "You nearly ruined them with your carelessness! You stupid, ignorant-"
Words stopped there. The tailor raised his hand and quickly brought it back down again, right across the face of the young girl who crumpled to the ground from the force of his blow and cried out in pain. Her hands instantly flew to the cheek that he had struck as she tried to shield herself, her body tense as if she expected another blow. And it would have come, had someone not stormed across the room in a fury and grabbed the old man by the wrist before shoving him roughly to the side and coming to stand between him and his victim.
"How dare you!"
The tailor looked at Katherine, absolutely stunned by the raging fires he could now see burning in the depths of her blue eyes. For a moment he seemed to shrink away from her, as if he were afraid of the seething anger that was now directed at him. But then he stood up again, opening his mouth to speak.
"How dare you treat her this way in my presence," Katherine hissed before he could utter a sound. "I hope you have no children of your own, Monsieur, for if this is how you treat them then you have no right to be a father."
He tried to regain his composure, though it was clear that he was embarrassed by the sudden actions taken against him, and the way that Katherine seemed willing to spring to the defense of someone she neither knew, nor had any business looking at. The girl was so far beneath them, not worth a second glance. So why, even if she lacked a title and clearly all of the manners one would associate with a person at court, was she springing to this girl's rescue like this? Why was she interfering with his right to handle the child who worked for him?
"Mademoiselle, this girl is under my employ, and she knows the penalties for dropping my fabrics."
"Penalties," Katherine scoffed at him with a roll of her eyes. "How is anyone supposed to carry so many heavy bolts of cloth like that? You have them stacked so high that the poor creature cannot see where she is going, and you seem to insist that she be able to hold them at your leisure."
"She knows-"
"She knows only what she is told, because you treat her with such distain that you clearly do not view her to be a human being. You are a disgrace to your station sir, if this is how you treat those you deem to be inferior to you for reasons that they cannot help." Katherine paused here, watching as the tailor struggled to find the words that he wanted in order to rebuke her claims. But she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Enough," she declared darkly. "You will be paid for the fabrics that will be purchased and then you are to leave. But the girl will stay with me."
The tailor blinked at her, clearly shocked by this newest declaration. "You cannot-"
"I can, and I am," Katherine confirmed.
He knew it was foolish to argue, especially with the Dowager Queen coming to stand so close to them as she inspected the situation. To make a scene in front of her would not help his prospects, and would likely result in the loss of her business from that point forward. If this girl cost him that…the tailor couldn't even begin to imagine the revenge he would seek. His entire business could be ruined by the loss of the royal family as a patron.
"I will speak to the King about this," he vowed, his rage clearly written across his face.
"If that is your wish," the girl told him, standing up to her full height though she knew that even with her above average stance she would only come to the man's shoulder. "But your protests will fall on deaf ears. His Majesty would never permit the girl to be returned to you if he knew how you mistreat her. And I suspect that this is only a small part of the abuse that she has suffered at your hands."
There was a danger that now lurked in his eyes, a boiling rage that might have made some other people flinch. And had Katherine not already faced death twice in her short life, she might very well have been one of those people. But she stood her ground, continuing to watch as the tailor's face took on a reddish hue, his nostrils flaring with each heavy breath that passed through his body. If she didn't know any better, Kate might have thought that the tailor had a mind to strike her as well. But he didn't.
Perhaps it was because he still remembered where he was. Maybe it was because he didn't think the girl to be worth the fuss. At any rate he stormed passed Kate and the quivering form that still lay on the floor behind her, forgetting to pay his respects to Anne before he left. Stunned by what had happened and unsure of what to do, the other ladies in the room turned to look toward their mistress, watching as she waved her hand toward them. The bolts of material were quickly separated, the ones to be purchased from those to be discarded, and they were taken from the room in the arms of her chamber maids.
One by one they strolled on by without looking at either Katherine or the girl that she protected. They knew that it was none of their business. They had no right to intervene despite their personal feelings, whatever they may be.
When the last of the ladies left and Katherine was alone with Anne, she finally turned her gaze to look at the Queen Mother. The expression worn by the older woman was still as regal as ever, without any sign of irritation or anger or any other emotion Kate might have thought to see after the altercation. She was unreadable, a skill she had no doubt perfected after spending so many years in the public eye, her every move scrutinized when she had first come from Austria to marry the French King.
Katherine squared her shoulders, ready for the scolding she was sure was coming her way. "Are you displeased, Your Majesty?"
But the older woman simply smiled, giving her head a bit of a shake. "I would not have become involved as you did," she confessed quietly. "It is not my place, as a Queen and as a woman."
"So you would have had me do nothing?"
Again, Anne shook her head. "You have an inordinate amount of courage for a young woman, Katherine. You see an injustice and feel compelled to do something about it. I can only assume that this comes from being raised by four musketeers."
It was her blessing. It was so clouded over that it would totally escape the notice of most other people, but Katherine had come to an understanding with Anne. She was growing accustomed to the way in which the older woman smiled on her, picking out the little hints of praise from the words that ordinarily might not have offered it. Maybe it was something to do with them both being women. Kate wasn't entirely sure, since Anne was the first woman to have really come into her life in all of her twenty years. Her life at the monastery had only offered male companionship, both in the form of the other priests and in the father and uncles who sheltered and protected her from harm. Even as a child, her only friend had been Raoul, the son of Athos. At that point in her life though, it hadn't mattered quite as much.
She was a young woman now though, well into the time that she should have been married and raising a family of her own. It was through her own pleading that this hadn't yet happened, as she had begged her father not to force her into something that would make her unhappy. And Aramis had agreed. Up until this point she had assumed that she would simply continue to live within the walls of the monastery, tending to the injured and sick who came through their doors seeking aid. It was a quiet life that lacked the adventure she had always dreamed of, but it was the only life that she knew.
Slowly exhaling, she finally turned to look at the trembling form that still lay on the floor, her head down as she whimpered softly. Her hand was still pressed to her cheek, and Kate didn't doubt that there were tears in her eyes from the blow that she had been dealt.
She knelt slowly so as not to frighten the poor child further, reaching out with her hands to help her sit up a little better. "Let me see it."
Initially she flinched when she felt the contact of another against her skin, pulling away as if she might try to flee. But the soft way in which she was touched, combined with the tender tone of voice that Kate used, was enough to have the girl slowly turn her head up to look at her rescuer for the first time. Tears stained her skin, her cheek flushed red from where the tailor had hit her.
The girl couldn't possibly have been more than nine or ten by the look of her, Katherine thought to herself as the anger began to bubble inside of her once more. She was small, with skin darker than anything Kate had seen before. It was almost like chocolate, a rich brown shade that instantly set her apart from the other two people in the room. Her eyes were just as dark, wide set and expressive enough that her fear was easily read through them. And though she wore a cap on her head, there were little wisps of black hair that protruded from the edges around her ears.
As Kate gently pried her hand away from her cheek and let her eyes inspect it, she could feel the younger girl looking at her with an almost unreadable expression. Fear? Anger? Hatred? She turned her blue orbs away from her cheek to establish eye contact with the girl and smiled softly, hoping to put her a little at ease.
"He didn't break the skin," she told the girl encouragingly. "The swelling should go down in a day or two. But it will be tender for a little while." When the girl didn't immediately respond, Kate drew her smile a little wider. "What's your name?"
"M-Mya…"
Katherine nodded. "Mya," she repeated, letting the name roll off of her tongue. "Do you want to go back to working for the tailor?"
In an instant the fear was back in her eyes tenfold as the girl shook her head firmly, her body growing tense at the very idea that she could be sent back. And that was all the confirmation that Kate needed in order to make up her mind. She reached out to gently take Mya by the hand, bringing her back to her feet and off of the carpeted floor below.
"How would you like to stay here?" Kate asked. "With me. In the palace."
The little girl gasped softly, fear being replaced by awe. "H-here?" she asked quickly. "I….I-I…." She stopped, obviously struggling for the words that she wanted. "W-what would I do?"
"You could be Katherine's personal maid," Anne told her gently, stepping forward a little so that she could properly enter their conversation. "You would bring her breakfast in the mornings and help her dress. Brush her hair and bathe. And at night you would help her prepare for bed."
"Will I stay in the stables?" Mya inquired, a glimmer of hope beginning to show in her face.
But Kate shook her head. "No, Mya. You would stay with me, inside where you would be warm and safe." And protected, she added mentally to herself. Inside she would be spared any potential dangers that come from being in the same space with other males, some of whom would not have pure intentions when seeking out a young girl's company. And from the look of her, Katherine was ready to bet that Mya had not had the same upbringing in self defense that she had.
Perhaps she would need to remedy that in time.
The younger girl seemed to mull over the offer, unsure if it was okay for her to accept something of this magnitude. She was clearly out of her element, as Katherine often felt when dealing with the daily trials of court life. But she was quick to remind herself that she wouldn't be staying for long. This wasn't her home. The monastery was home…no matter how much she wanted to remain with Philippe.
After a long moment it seemed that her decision had been made. "I don't want to go back to the tailor," she confessed meekly.
Anne clapped her hands lightly together. "Then it is decided. Mya will remain with you," came her announcement as she turned to look at Katherine with dark eyes. "And this solves the problem of finding you a ladies maid for when the Duke arrives. It would be most improper for you not to have some kind of escort. And I believe Mya will do the job splendidly."
Blue eyes turned back to the smaller girl. "We have a lot to learn over the next two weeks," Kate told her softly. "Are you ready?"
Mya nodded quite quickly. "Yes ma'am!"
Katherine laughed. "Not ma'am, sweet child. You must call me Kate. Despite how others will disagree, I am not a very important person. I have only one job here at court, and that is to make sure that things run smoothly while the Duke of Buckingham is our guest. Do you think that you will be able to help me do that?"
Again, the girl nodded quickly. And before anyone could say another word she had rushed forward to wrap her arms around Katherine's hips, burying her face against the fabric of her skirt. It caught the young woman a little off guard to have such affection shown to her like that, but she laughed in delight once the stunned look slipped away from her face. Her life had been so void of female company that she didn't really know how to react to such a sudden display of affection, but she knew that she would get used to it. If this was to be her reward for sheltering an innocent child from harm, then Katherine would accept it willingly.