Taking a deep breath for courage, she headed into the room.
Juliandra kept her eyes on the hearth as her destination, the big and flaming pit in the center of the room. She would sing from there and, hopefully, everyone would hear her, for although her voice was very angelic, it was not very loud. As sheneared the pit, she noticed a soldier sitting at the end of the table that had a lute in his hand.
She paused next to him.
“May I borrow your instrument?” she asked. “I did not bring my own. I will take very good care of it, I promise.”
The soldier was so busy staring at her beauty that he was dumbfounded by her question. It took him to a moment to realize what she had asked, and he quickly handed over his instrument, which was surprisingly well made. Juliandra took it with thanks and continue the last few steps to the fire.
Unfortunately, as she came to a halt, she happened to look at the room and realized just how many men were there.Saesnegmen. Her fear surged but she fought it, quickly focusing on the instrument in her hands. She had to force herself to pretend that she was in her bedchamber at home, playing only for herself. She wasn’t entirely sure that she could pretend, however, considering the buzz of conversation in the hall.
She was surrounded by curious and enemy eyes.
In truth, it was impossible to pretend that she was alone, but as she began to tune the instrument, she glanced up to the eastern wall of the hall and noticed a beautiful tapestry hanging there, covering some lancet windows to keep out the night’s chill.
The tapestry depicted a woman with long blonde hair astride a white horse, riding through a grove of what looked like apple trees. There were various people around, colorfully dressed, and at the far end of the tapestry was a man in armor, his arms outstretched to her. It was a romantic piece of artwork and as she finished tuning the lute, she found herself focusing on the tapestry. It was much easier to focus on the romantic scene and sing to it than sing to a roomful of English soldiers.
The music began.
Juliandra was quite adept at playing musical instruments, and the soldier’s lute was no exception. She had skilled fingers and she took her attention from the tapestry for a few moments, watching her fingers as she played the unfamiliar instrument to ensure her fingers hit the right place on the strings. The moment the music began, the room grew still as the soldiers waited for the entertainment to come.
Juliandra continued to play the lute for a few moments as she struggled to summon the rest of her courage. When she felt strong enough, she lifted her head, looked at the tapestry, and began to sing.
“In the beauty of thespring,
He came to sing,
Upon a white horse herode.
His crest was strong,
His features bold,
And his hair of fine and spungold.
His hair of fine and spungold.”
She felt rather relieved to have gotten the first part of the song out of the way without giving in to her fear and picked up the second verse with more confidence.
“In the beauty of thespring,
What pleasure he didbring,
Speaking of a loveforetold.
You see, said he, love is like thespring,
Beauty that never growsold.
’Tis beauty that never growsold.”
The only sound in that great hall was of her skillful lute playing. Juliandra dropped her eyes from the tapestry, seeing a host of enthralled faces.
Her bravery surged.
“In the beauty of thespring,
He gave me aring,
