“You should have told me about this,” her mother insisted, her face rigid. “I thought he only…hit you once in a while. I thought it was discipline.” A tear slid down the queen’s face. “But Katarina said he broke your ribs.” Her mother’s eyes stared hard at her, as if trying to determine if it was true. Serena dropped her gaze, unwilling to answer. “Whywould you hide this from me? I could have done something to help you.”
“And what would you have done?” Serena demanded. “You’re ill. If you tried to fight him, he would have taken his anger out on you. I’m strong,” she whispered. “You’re not.”
“I know it, but surely—”
“Don’t try to stop me from leaving,” Serena warned. “I…I need this time to decide what to do, Mother.”
The queen’s shoulders lowered in defeat. “You’ll be married this summer,” she reminded her. “And after that happens, your husband will keep you safe.”
Serena didn’t believe it, though she nodded to her mother as if she did. Clara reached out and took her hand. She hid her dismay at how fragile her mother’s knuckles were, how pale the skin.
“Take the next fortnight at our estate in Oberalstadt, if you need some time to recover. If your father returns and asks where you are, I’ll tell him I sent you to visit my relatives.” Her mother tried to smile. “And when you return, I’ll do what I can to protect you from his temper.” Her gaze shifted over to the wardrobe that contained her day dresses. “Perhaps I’ll be strong enough to speak to him myself.”
Serena doubted if her mother could do anything, but she demurred. “I love you,liebe Mutter.”
The queen reached up and touched her cheek. “I’m sorry for being so weak. If I had more strength…” Her voice trailed off with unspoken words.
Serena leaned in. “You’ll be fine.”And so will I.She kissed her mother’s cheek and squeezed her hands, praying that she would see her again one day.
After she left, she passed the tall windows that lined the east wing. As a young girl, she’d sometimes raced her sister down the hall, while sunlight spilled through the large panes of glass. Now, she walked at a more dignified pace, as befitted a princess.
Raindrops spattered down the windows, but even the wretched weather couldn’t destroy the bottled up hope inside of her. Freedom lay just within her grasp.
She returned to her chamber, waiting for her father and Anna to depart for Sardinia. Anna would be presented to the widowed king as a possible candidate for his new wife.
When Serena glanced in her looking glass, she saw the redness surrounding her throat. Without asking for permission, her lady-in-waiting Katarina brought out a lace fichu and drew it around Serena’s neck to cover the skin. “Does it hurt, Your Highness?”
“I’ll be fine.” But when Serena stared at herself in the looking glass, her face was pale, her green eyes rimmed with red. Despite all of her careful plans, she couldn’t repress her shiver. Her father might have killed her this afternoon.
She touched the back of her head, and the barest pressure sent a wave of pain within the skin. Katarina dampened a cloth and sponged at her hair to remove the traces of blood. Though her lady was gentle, Serena closed her eyes at the pain.
Soon you’ll be gone from here. And he’ll never hurt you again.She clung to the thought, taking comfort from it.
“The coach is waiting in the forest,” Katarina whispered beneath her breath. Before she could say another word, there was a knock at the door. When Serena nodded for Katarina to answer it, her lady-in-waiting announced, “Your Highness, Princess Anna is here to bid you farewell.”
Anna entered with three of her ladies trailing behind, and Serena went to embrace her. Her sister wore a rose taffeta traveling gown with seven flounces and a silk bonnet with a matching rose ribbon. A dark woolen cloak was tied around her shoulders. She held her gloved hands together, worry creasing her smile.
“I’ll miss you,” Serena told Anna. It was true. Despite her desperate need to escape, she would think of her mother and sister often. Perhaps one day she could send for Anna, or make arrangements to come and visit her after her sister was married. But the tangled sadness in her heart wouldn’t soften. She was afraid of never seeing them again, and it hurt to imagine the loneliness.
Anna appeared worried. “I know that…a royal marriage is expected of me. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. What do I know of the king of Sardinia?”
“You’ll be fine. And the weather will be much warmer.” She braved a smile, but Anna didn’t answer it.
“I still don’t understand why you’d want to leave for a holiday alone.” A worried expression pulled at her sister’s mouth. “With only a few servants?” Anna pressed her hands together. “How can you manage? You need at least seven ladies, simply to get dressed in the morning. A staff of fifty would be a more appropriate number.”
Serena only smiled. “I want a quiet holiday, not an army surrounding me.” Besides, she’d sent word for the caretaker to assemble a household of servants within the hunting lodge. It was far easier to make an escape with six servants, rather than fifty.
Anna would have none of it. In a whisper, she added, “You shouldn’t defy our father. What you’re planning will only make him angrier.”
Her sister reached out and touched the fichu at Serena’s throat. The knowing look in her eyes made her wonder if Anna suspected the punishments she’d endured. Had someone told her?
“The king will never know I’m gone.” Serena stepped back, adjusting the fichu to hide her reddened skin. “I’ll be fine.”
“You can’t go off on your own,” Anna insisted. “Someone might try to kidnap you or worse.”
“It’s only meant to be a short holiday. By the time you return from Sardinia, I’ll already be home. No one need ever know of it.” The falsehood rolled easily off her tongue, and she pretended as if it wouldn’t matter at all. She could only pray they wouldn’t find her.
“But why would you go to Hamburg?” Her sister looked as if she’d suggested living in a beggar’s cottage. “We haven’t gone there in years. And there’s nothing at all to do. Except…catch fish.” Anna wrinkled her nose with disgust.
