Katherine followed her into the Presence Chamber. When they were alone, Elizabeth said, “I am not surprised, Katherine, not anymore, to see you here. I should have known that you would come.” Her gaze glittered.
Katherine said nothing. Trying to marshal her thoughts into some form of coherent argument. But her mind was scattered. Did the queen know of her marriage to Liam? Had he told anyone? She must proceed with caution.
“So you have followed your lover to court. Do you wish to make a plea for the traitor?” Elizabeth asked, her fists on her hips.
Katherine was relieved. Liam had not told anyone of their marriage. “Yes. I wish to plead his case, your Majesty.”
Elizabeth’s stare was cold. “You are just like your shameless mother.”
Katherine flinched. The queen was frozen with disapproval—indeed, she seemed furious. Katherine swallowed, frightened. She had not expected this. The last time she had seen Elizabeth, the queen had been kind and friendly.
Now the queen was flushed, and she shook her finger at Katherine. She did not give Katherine a chance to speak. “I also should have known the moment I laid eyes upon you that you would be a temptress exactly like your mother was!”
Katherine gasped. “I am no temptress,” she whispered, stunned by the queen’s vicious attack.
Elizabeth laughed. “Do not deny it now! You led O’Neill a merry chase, did you not, before your betrothalto John Hawke? You incited his manly appetites! You drove him to abduction, and in all likelihood, you drove him to conspiracy as well.”
Katherine cried out, shocked.
But the queen was not about to stop. “Your mother was a slut!” she shouted. “She took your father to her bed when her own husband lay dying! You are exactly like her! Giving yourself to a pirate lover despite the fact that you are wed and bound to anhonorableman.”
“No,” Katherine said. She almost defended herself by telling the queen that her marriage to Hawke had never been consummated, and that Liam was her husband now. She restrained herself. One did not argue with one’s sovereign—and Liam was only her husband in name now, not in any other way—never again in any other way.
“No?” Her expression livid, Elizabeth struck Katherine across the face, hard. “Get down on your knees!”
Katherine reeled but did not fall. She held her cheek, felt the seeping of blood from where the queen’s rings had gouged her. Tears filled her eyes, not of pain, but of fear—and of helpless fury.
“Get down,” the queen said again.
Katherine inhaled, trembling, no longer clutching her cheek. Having no choice in the matter, nor daring to disobey, she dropped to both knees.
The queen began to pace. “I blame you for it all,” she stated. “You seduced my pirate, just as you tried to seduce Leicester and Ormond.”
Katherine bit down hard to remain silent. How unfair, how cruel, Elizabeth was.
Elizabeth paused in front of her, staring down at the top of her bent head. “Ormond was set against you when you first came to court. But you worked your wiles upon him and now he has some small feeling for you! And Robin! When you walk into a room, Robin looks at you like he will jump on you as fast as any stallion upon a mare! Have you let him bed you?”
Katherine’s breathing was shallow and fast. She tried to speak and failed, shook her head no.
The queen towered over her, shaking uncontrollably. “If you dare to sleep with him, I will have your head.”
“No,” Katherine croaked.
“I will not allow sluts in my court.”
Although on her knees, Katherine squared her shoulders. “Your Majesty, I did not seduce my own brother, nor did I seduce Dudley.”
“For your sake, that had better be the truth.” Elizabeth stared coldly at her. “No, I cannot blame Liam or any man for trying to gain what you so freely give. You are the culprit here, the one who must be sent away.”
Her heart shrinking, Katherine whispered, unthinkingly, “I loved Liam.”
“Oh?”
Katherine met the queen’s furious gaze. Her pulse raced. How could she have said such a thing after Liam’s betrayal? Yet how could she not, when it was her only defense against the queen’s slanderous attack? When it was the truth?
The queen spit, “And what is it about him that you loved? His sweet flattery—or the size of his manhood?”
Katherine started, flaming.
