“Aye, and you would regret the telling,” Eustache asserted.“We have had naught but trouble since you took this bride.I would not jeopardize what meager hope remains of our emerging alive from this quest.”
Dagobert dropped his head to his hands, rubbing his temples with his thumbs.Much as he would contest the point, he feared that Eustache was right.The loss of Anjou’s assistance greatly reduced their chance of success and he suspected from Brabant’s reports that that knight brought fewer blades to the cause than he liked to admit.
’Twas all going awry, this intricately laid plan unraveling before his very eyes.The brutal murder of the goat left no doubt that his identity was suspected by someone who did not sympathize with his cause.There was too much risk in bringing another soul into the circle of conspiracy, let alone confiding in his wife, whose arrival here seemed to coincide remarkably with the start of their bad luck.
As much as he loved Alienor, would he risk his very life to confide in her the truth?
If only he could hold her close once again before he was forced to ride out to war.Even as the thought formed, Dagobert knew ’twas not to be.His very presence in the solar would prove the unicorn fable false.It would prove that he did still draw breath and he could not take the chance.Better that she remain ignorant of these dark doings and perhaps she might escape unscathed.
Such a visit might also reveal his true identity to the killer.
But it was bittersweet indeed to know that he must ride out to what would surely be his last battle, sooner than he had anticipated and without the blessing of his bride.
How he wished they could have parted with truth between them.
How he resented the burden of his legacy, thanks to his beguiling bride.
On the secondday that Alienor lay inconsolable in her chambers, Iolande came to visit.The sound of a great dog’s nails on the stone floor betrayed the older woman’s presence even before she spoke.Alienor managed to rise to her feet to greet her mother-in-law.She was weak from her refusal of food, and her eyes were swollen from her tears.She knew her hair hung in tangled disarray around her face but she could not find the strength to care.
“My lady.”She curtseyed before Iolande, well aware she was being studied.
“Tis said you do not eat,” Iolande accused.How like her to spare no time for pleasantries.
Alienor nodded in acknowledgment.“Aye.”She felt herself waver on her feet before Iolande’s fingers gripped her upper arm and steadied her.
“Endurais for cowards,” Iolande whispered in a low hiss.
Alienor’s gaze flew open in shock at the reference to the Cathar practice of elected suicide by fasting.The older woman glared down at her with determination.
“No one would be so fool as to tell you there is no evil in this world, but daring to live is the greater challenge, child,” Iolande continued.Her tone was scathing and her gaze burned with passion.“’Tis only by living that any of us can diminish the power of Rex Mundi.”
Alienor shook her head, stunned to hear such familiar words falling from Iolande’s lips.She was amazed to hear the name of the Dark God himself uttered in this place.
“Cathar,” she said softly, half a question and half not.
Iolande arched one brow, the gesture telling Alienor all she needed to know.
She recalled that Alaric had told her in her first days that she was not alone at Montsalvat.
“I took theconsolamentumvows when my husband died.”Iolande confessed to the taking of the final pledge as if it were not remarkable.
The admission, though, filled Alienor with admiration.She nodded, understanding the abrupt loss of love that would prompt a woman to take those final vows of poverty and chastity.Alienor herself had plenty of time to consider making such a vow: theconsolamentumrequired a year of preparation and she could not begin before her babe was born and weaned.
It was evident that Dagobert did not intend to return to her, given her last two lonely nights.Alienor feared for his safety, for the threat against him could not be misinterpreted after the unicorn’s death.It was too late to wish he had taken her with him into hiding, but Alienor wished for that, all the same.
“I did not pursueendura,” she corrected quietly.She glimpsed the flicker of relief in Iolande’s eyes before even that sign of emotion was suppressed.
“Indeed?”
The question hung between the women for a moment before Iolande turned and strode a few paces away.She spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.“Understand that I will not tolerate two deaths under my roof in so short a time.”
At the older woman’s gesture, Alienor sank into one of the chairs beside the brazier, feeling relief flood through her body after the effort of standing.Despite Iolande’s determination, she did not know whether she had the strength to bring this child to light.Without her spouse, the effort seemed meaningless.Alienor sighed and would have closed her eyes, but firm fingers gripped her chin and tipped her face upward, compelling her to meet a steady blue gaze.
“’Tis unseemly for you to wallow in your sorrows so,” Iolande spoke harshly, her tone so lacking in emotion that Alienor almost gasped aloud.Her only son was lost to them all, hunted if not already dead, yet Iolande showed no more emotion than she might for the passing of a stag planned to grace the board this night.
“Truly, I did not think you so cold.”Her discomfort gave her words a bite she would not usually have allowed herself but she had no chance to regret her tone.
For, to her surprise, Iolande smiled.
