Iolande’s glare suggested that was a slim possibility.Of course, it could not have been so simple as that.
The entire party was silent, as if awaiting Alienor’s explanation.
“I have little taste for venison after the day’s ride,” she said.
Iolande sniffed with what could have been either relief or disapproval.Alienor watched the other woman carefully, uncertain of her thoughts.The resolve in the older woman’s eyes when she turned to Alienor made Alienor’s heart sink to her toes.
“I would assure you, my daughter,that we have a fine cook and I would not wish to insult his abilities,” Iolande said, a thread of steel underlying her words.
“I truly meant no insult,” Alienor responded, “but the day has been long and I have little taste for food.”
“Understandable, indeed,” Iolande replied.“But you must eat something, my child.Come, the meat is good.”
“Venison, my lady?”the servant at her elbow encouraged once more, pushing a steaming bowl of stew toward Alienor’s trencher, and she could not bear the smell of the roasted meat.She tried to hide her revulsion but in averting her gaze, she met the hostile speculation in the gaze of the knight seated to her left.
Eustache was his name and by his expression, Alienor suspected he would see her slaughtered by his own blade, before the entire company, if her religious beliefs were confirmed.She would be in this household on the morrow, alone with her new relations and the politics of their hearth.Alienor meant to survive, regardless of the price.
She glanced down at the chunks of meat in the stew, bracing herself for what she must do.
“I thank you for your thoughtfulness,” she said to the servant.She helped herself to three small morsels of meat, the dark gravy slipping over her fingertips.
“If I may suggest, my lady...”That knight gestured politely to a large and particularly succulent piece of meat, the open challenge in his narrowed eyes leaving Alienor no other option.
“You are indeed too kind, sir,” she managed to reply.She took the piece of meat and granted the servant a polite smile, indicating that she wished no more.Then she turned to confront the four pieces of meat reposing on her crust of bread as if they were the hounds of hell themselves.
“The meat is very fine,” the knight prompted, his eyes knowing, and Alienor hated him in that moment with every fiber of her being.
She had never denied her faith, but she knew she must do it now to ensure her safety in this household, a household allied with the king who had decreed that to be Cathar was to die.Alienor stared at the meat and wished she could rely upon herself to swallow it without making a spectacle.
The entire company, that knight included, watched her, as if they shared her concern.
Alienor chose a small piece and put it into her mouth, willing herself to chew in a normal manner.It was impossible to ignore the older knight’s and Iolande’s watchful scrutiny.When she swallowed without incident, she was so relieved that she granted the knight a cheerful smile.
“’Tis indeed wondrously well prepared,” she agreed, taking another piece.She was pleased to see some measure of surprise settle in his expression.Her stomach rolled threateningly and she knew that she could not eat a third piece of meat so easily, but the knight seemed reassured by her consumption of the stew so far.
Evidently thinking himself unobserved, Eustache flicked a meaningful glance across the room and Alienor followed the gesture.She was confused when Dagobert’s goatherd, leaning against the far wall, nodded in acknowledgment or perhaps understanding.Alienor wondered why the knight would seek to communicate with the servant.She glanced at the knight from beneath her lashes, only to find him consuming his meal as if nothing untoward had happened.
Did she see meaning where there was none?
In that moment, there was a gentle nudge against her knee.A peek beneath the table revealed the large dog who had accompanied Iolande in the courtyard, or one much like him, his tail thumping against the floor when Alienor rubbed his nose.He licked the gravy from her fingertips with enthusiasm and Alienor knew how she would make the remainder of her meat disappear.
Chapter 2
The candles were burning low when the women escorted Alienor to the nuptial chamber, their giggles and whispers doing little to ease her trepidation of what the night would bring.Somehow she had managed to hold her chin high throughout the meal.To her relief, no one seemed to have noticed the great dog sitting on her feet, much less his consumption of her dinner.The goat tethered at her side apparently had no taste for the meat.It had preferred to nibble at the flowers arranged upon the board.How strange that she and her new spouse had any taste in common!
Although the meal seemed endless, it was also too soon that she found herself on the marriage bed.She sat on the rich green cloth covering the wide bed, hands clenched in her lap.The bed curtains were drawn back and tied to the bedposts and the chamber was lit with many lanterns.The women fussed over her sheer nightgown, a garment that Alienor and her kindly neighbor had sewn in anticipation of a man’s pleasure—but there would be no man, no bridegroom and no pleasure.The women remarked on the luster of her hair as her braids were unbound and her long tresses brushed out, but Alienor was deaf to their comments and blind to the splendor of the room around her.Her heart fluttering in fear of what lay ahead.
There was a light tap and the goatherd himself opened the door.Of course, he led the shaggy white unicorn into the chamber.His quick glance to the bed reminded Alienor what had passed between them earlier and she bit her tongue to keep from commenting that night had not as yet transformed the beast into a man.One of the women scolded him outright for entering the chamber unannounced, and Alienor dropped her gaze.She was keenly aware of how little her garment concealed and imagined that she could feel the warmth of that finger beneath her chin once more.
She blinked back her tears as the entire party departed, refusing to meet the gaze of any one of them, nodding dumbly in response to their encouraging words.
The door closed with finality, leaving her alone with her husband.
The goat appeared to be no more interested in a consummation than Alienor, which was a relief.She watched the beast, her trepidation fading as it chewed its cud with complacency.Apparently, she was unattractive now that she had discarded the red velvet kirtle it had found so alluring.That notion made Alienor smile.The fire crackled in the grate, the light of the dancing flames glinting off the rings dangling from the cord around the creature’s neck, the golden circles half obscured in the thick hair.
It was tranquil in the chamber, and blessedly quiet.She heard revels from the hall below but it was a relief to no longer need to perform.Alienor felt the fullness of her exhaustion as the moments passed.She rose to turn the lock in the door, then returned to the bed, tired beyond all else.She stretched out full length on her stomach on the massive bed and yawned.Then she propped her chin in her hands and watched her husband.
Perhaps an annulment would be hers on the morrow.And what then?
