“Henry?” I call out through the empty room.
“Back here, Catherine.”
My shoes echo against the stone floor as I make my way through, coming to a narrow hallway lined with guards as I enter the king’s Privy Chamber. This is the inner sanctum. The room where I was brought to Henry when we played cards and he told me we were to be married.
It seems different than it did that night—somehow grayer, despite the fading sun. The guards close the door behind me, and I find Henry sitting in his high-back chair, his mouth tilted with quiet satisfaction.
“Hello, my love. What a tedious day it has been without you.” He reaches his arm out, beckoning me over to the chair facing him. I do as he wishes, and he squeezes my hand as I sit down to join him.
“I was told you wanted to see me.”
“I always want to see you,” he says teasingly, “but I sent for you now because I just concluded the plans for my upcoming travels with the archbishop.”
I go still as unease ricochets inside me. “What travels are you talking about?” Solo travels? Group travels? I can’t leave the palace when I’m meant to see Matthias in three days. Do royal astrologers go on road trips?
“Unfortunately,” Henry says, “you will have to remain here. I have urgent business to attend to in Buckinghamshire that should take around a month.”
A month?!
“Oh, no.” My voice is shaking in unexpressed excitement. I keep my gaze downcast. Henry leans forward to brush a comforting hand across my knuckles.
“You must know that I would never leave you so soon after we were married if it wasn’t necessary. This hurts me as much as it hurts you.”
I grip the chair with my free hand. If I don’t hold on, I might float away on a cloud of bliss. I look up at Henry like I very well might die from missing him. “I’ll do my best to manage the pain.”
“My brave girl.” He gives my hand another comforting squeeze before reaching for a decorative wooden box on the table between us. He hands it to me with a knowing smile, and when I open the lid, I’m met with the most elaborate diamond necklace I have ever seen. It’sprecious stone after precious stone and has to weigh at least four pounds. That’s the weight of a prize-winning summer squash.
“I promise you,” Henry goes on to say, “when I return, we will go on progress just as we intended. The people of England want nothing more than to honor their perfect new queen. And I want nothing more than to spend every waking moment with you.”
I place the jewel box in my lap, taking a pained breath for Henry’s sake.
“I just don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye...”
His face fills with tenderness as I look down, brushing away a fake tear.
Chapter Ten
“Bye! Goodbye!”
I’m on my tiptoes with Theo in my arms, waving Henry off as his royal retinue departs for Buckinghamshire. The morning sun is beating down on me, and my forest green headpiece greedily absorbs the heat, making my scalp sweat. I should be doing a better job of looking heartbroken, but there’s an undeniable lightness in my chest as I watch Henry’s carriage move farther and farther away from the palace.
Lady Rochford is standing beside me as it seems like a hundred mounted horses ride out behind Henry’s carriage, with another hundred in the front.
“Where are we off to, then?” she asks me. “More embroidery, I presume?”
The sounds of Henry’s Thanksgiving Day parade begin to quell as most of his entourage has left the yard, and a sense of freedom washes over me as I turn to Lady Rochford. “Yes, I would like to embroider, but I just have something I need to do first. Alone.”
A dignified eyebrow lifts in question as I pass Theo over into her not-cuddly arms. “What could you possibly need to do on your own?”
“Matthias! Please, open up!” I’ve been pounding on his door for almost a minute when the alleged astrologer finally swings it open. His hair is more askew than usual, and his eyes are noticeably bloodshot. “Are you drunk?” I ask.
“I’m always a little drunk.” He leans his shoulder against the door, fumbling a step when it opens wider.
I sniff the air between us. “You smell like a music festival.”
“Well, you’re two days early. I was going to bathe before I saw you.”
I scrunch my eyes. “Why don’t I believe you?”
