A/N: To answer potato's review, no, Baron and Louise fell in love before splitting the necklace. I always hated how the love potion was supposed to take away Tristan's and Isolde's accountability. They fell in love because they are humans that didn't realize how deep their feelings were growing until it was too late.
Impure Hands Part Two
Queen Louise of Yrael slowly fanned herself while staring at one of the many tapestries adorning her most private chambers. She had told her ladies in waiting that she was resting and wished to be left alone, but her heart was anything but calm as she did her best to wait patiently.
After far too long in her opinion, two of her personal soldiers opened what appeared to be a wardrobe in order to drag a woman out with them; a bag over her head and her clothes declaring her a servant.
The queen nodded her head slightly, making one of the two soldiers tear the bag off the terrified woman's head.
Her mouth was tied with a secure gag, but her eyes widened in both shock and recognition as they took in the young woman lounging over a throne-like dais to ease her back from the burden of her pregnant belly.
"I do apologize for the rudeness of my summons," Louise informed the woman sadly, since she wasn't one to enjoy inflicting pain on others. "But I'm sure you know why his majesty will find every way to block me from speaking to your master and mistress now that they've returned home."
The poor woman was trembling, but she nodded her agreement.
The queen flicked her fan in a way that the soldiers knew meant untying the servant woman from her binds and gag. Then she lazily held up her other hand and jostled it enough for the coins within to make their familiar music. "I hope this will be sufficient for an apology, and you know I don't want anything that will harm those you serve."
The woman's eyes were glued to the bag, but she was able to tear her attention off it to perform a clumsy curtsy to her monarch. "Would you like news of the Baron, your majesty?"
"Very much so," Louise confirmed, trying to keep the longing out of her tone.
Perhaps feeling abashed at the sight of the young queen, the servant woman began looking down at the apron that she was wringing between her hands. "Now, this is hearsay, but from what I know, the Baron is content with his decrease in rank. He treats the people under him well and is the first to answer when the king has need of a strong hand."
Despite herself, Louise couldn't stop smiling. Being a baron would be child's play compared to the responsibilities Humbert had grown up with. "Did you happen to see him at any point?"
"At the tourney at Summer's Solstice, my queen." Then against her wishes, a slightly vicious grin slid across the servant's lips. "I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that none could stand against him. There was some speculation as to why his wife was not present, but I'm afraid there is no evidence supporting one theory over another."
Although it pained her to be reminded that her beloved had wed another, this was the main reason for the interview. "What can you tell me of the Baroness?"
The servant gave her a nervous smile. "There wasn't really much said about her before the engagement other than she is the queen's favorite cousin and lady in waiting, though the king released her from that service to focus on her marriage to the Baron. I did hear a rumor that the first request Queen Yuki made after being chosen was for King Lune to insist on choosing Lady Haru's husband himself. Her father, the Marquis Yoshioka, is desperate for power and prestige, so it went without saying that he would not have been concerned if his daughter was happy with any match he made using their royal connection."
Here, the servant woman laughed sadly. "I imagine the queen is wishing she had taken that decision for herself at this point. I don't think I need to go into detail about how their marriage is at a standstill."
"Most certainly not," Louise sighed in wistfulness. "Do you know anything else about her? What she looks like, perhaps?"
The servant woman nodded a little dubiously. "I believe I saw her at last year's tourney. At least, it's fair to assume she was the lady sitting closest to Queen Yuki in the royal box, and that was the one lady in waiting that wasn't there this year. She has long dark hair and large dark eyes, I was a bit far to see if either were brown or black. She seems fair enough, and I think she has a wit. There was a point during the tourney that I saw her lean closer to the queen and whisper something that made both the king and queen laugh, but it was a kind laugh, if that makes sense. There's a way the body moves with different forms of laughter. She seemed startled that the king heard her as well, but not worried."
Louise laid back a little and resumed fanning herself against the summer heat. "So King Lune was familiar enough with Lady Haru before arranging the marriage."
"That is correct, your majesty. She was in the lineup of noblewomen presented for him to choose his bride, and I heard more than once that she would have likely been his second choice if not for her cousin."
"Did you ever hear anything close to her being resentful for being second to her cousin?" Louise asked softly, staring at the ceiling while the fan continued to move in her hand.
The servant thought hard. "I don't think so, your majesty. From everything I heard, the two are more like sisters than cousins. I can tell you for certain that the queen wasn't the same after the Baron's wedding and the baroness moved to his castle. It was much harder for anyone to get a genuine smile out of the queen, especially if the Baron is in the room. She spent the entire tourney glaring at him like she wouldn't have minded trying to unhorse him herself."
Although it was a violent wish against her beloved, the statement still eased her heart a bit. Regardless of whether Queen Yuki's anger was over Humbert's treatment of her cousin or being denied Lady Haru herself, it was clear that the baroness was treasured.
Then the servant took in a deep breath for courage before speaking again. "You could even say that it's a good thing that I don't know much about her, your majesty. Gossip follows scandal, cruelty or even unusual behavior. The most peculiar behavior the Baroness has done is refusing to go to the Baron without being sent for. It's commonly believed she's trying to make him take the first step, but he hasn't taken it yet."
Queen Louise smiled with pleasure. 'That's probably the only thing that will work.' She used her fan to wave forward one of the guards to hand him the bag of coins, which he then gave to the servant woman. "My gratitude for the information. If you agree to stay quiet, they won't need the gag to return you to the count."
The other soldier almost apologetically handed the servant the bag while she was still tucking the coins into a concealed pocket in her skirt. The woman gave one more curtsy to the queen before slipping the bag over her own head and allowing the two men to escort her out with a lot more care than they had brought her in with.
The young queen heaved a long, sad sigh after they were gone. 'Soft-spoken but witty. Clever enough not to press things, and patient enough to try waiting him out. She even keeps herself from any harmful scandals.' "Don't take your good fortune for granted, my love," she whispered painfully, one hand lowering to her belly as the child within tried to rearrange the same rib it had been pushing against for a week. With practiced ease, she used a thumb to slide the rib back where it belonged. "If we can't be together, at least you were matched with someone I can approve of."
ooOoo
A week after the count returned from serving as ambassador to Alon, the King of Yrael stormed into the royal chambers so forcefully that his young wife couldn't help wondering how the thick door remained in one piece.
The young crown prince wailed at the loud noise, but the king nearly managed to drown the boy out with his booming voice.
"She's done it! She's finally had enough!" the old king laughed, oblivious as usual to the fact that he'd done nothing but disrupt the routine his wife was trying to set with their child.
Knowing from experience that pointing it out or scolding him would be fruitless, Louise nodded for her son's nursemaid to take the crown prince back to his nursery. "Who's had enough?" she asked without much interest.
"The virgin baroness! She's left Humbert!" the king laughed before casually collapsing onto a couch close to her high back chair.
"She's what?!" Louise demanded in shock, trying to stand up, but just couldn't without help thanks to how far along she was with her second pregnancy.
"She's left him! Her father tried to set up a rescue romance to force Humbert to come after her, but she apparently didn't know! I just received word from Alon; it's the biggest scandal since their throne sat empty!"
"Details, your majesty," she reminded him, since she still felt strange using his name. "Did she leave out of outrage?"
"No, she just never came back," he corrected with a wide smile of pure satisfaction. "She escaped the ruffians kidnapping her somehow, but it had been over two weeks when the messenger left for here. A highborn lady wouldn't have trouble convincing anyone of her ranking, and Humbert hasn't found a body, which means she's still alive!"
Louise chewed on a thumbnail worriedly. "But as a highborn, she wouldn't know how to survive like a peasant."
"She must have figured out something to stay away for two weeks!" The king sighed happily as he sank into an undignified but comfortable slouch before reaching over and rubbing her pregnant belly. "Not that it matters. I trained Humbert myself; he'll bring her back soon enough, even if it's just her corpse. It's just too glorious; he spends the first year of marriage ignoring his own wife, and now he has to chase her and possibly win her back just to keep his new home when she would clearly rather be a peasant than with him! It's nothing less than what he deserves!"
Although Louise didn't want to agree on that last part, she couldn't help it on a silent level.
That fool. Demonstrating his love for her so loudly that she could hear him in another country, but at the cost of an innocent girl. She would be lying if she tried to deny being pleased that Humbert still considered her his lady, but that didn't mean she wished any harm on Haru.
Her hand desperately wanted to reach for the emerald brooch that rested against her heart, but she forced herself to grip the chair instead since her husband's hand was still on her belly and she still didn't like so much as holding hands with him. She hadn't been lying when she told the king that the brooch was an heirloom from her mother, but she definitely glossed over that it had once been a necklace, and that the chain to it was around his nephew's neck.
Like a dog collar. In a very real sense, she had leashed Humbert to herself when she'd come up with the idea to split the necklace with him in a way that wouldn't raise suspicions as a quasi-ceremony to promise that they would always be in each other's thoughts if not in each other's arms.
But not like this. If Humbert hadn't chosen to swear fealty to King Lune, perhaps taking a wife wouldn't have been necessary. But it had been. Humbert would have been foolish to think that he was going to get any permanent home without a personal tie to the kingdom.
Poor Haru. Even if she had known what her king was signing her up for before the wedding, Louise knew better than anyone how little her opinion would have mattered once a king had made up his mind. She sighed, thinking back to that distant day when Humbert genuinely thought that if they publicly declared their love to his uncle and the entire court, the king would have dissolved the engagement and allowed the lovebirds to wed, since it would have still satisfied the political bonds between Olpan and Yrael.
"Now, now. My pretty wife shouldn't wear a frown like that," he smirked, raising his hand from her belly to her face to try prodding her mouth into a smile. "This is exactly what Humbert needs, see? It doesn't matter how little he cares for her; he will have no choice but to mind his own marriage after such a scandal if he doesn't want to be disgraced in the eyes of the other kingdoms as well. This will all be over soon; nothing can outrun Humbert once he's made up his mind. Except you, of course," he smirked smugly.
Louise couldn't help feeling guilty that no matter what he said, or how little she cared for it. Nothing could change the fact that she was the reason all of this had happened.
Since her husband was now gripping her hand in a way she knew meant he had no plans of letting go for a while, Louise closed her eyes to send silent prayers instead as she simultaneously made plans to place her brooch where she would not think to wear it again.
'Please keep Lady Haru safe. Forgive me for this, but if it's possible, keep her out of Humbert's reach until he casts off my chain. Please. Let some good come from this.'