Crossing Over - Anna Kendall [73]
He stopped then, turning on her a look that made Cecilia shrink against the back of her chair. I would not have liked to face that black temper. Lady Margaret, usually so composed and acerbic, paled.
Lord Robert said, “And who are you to tell me when I can or cannot see the queen? ”
“She . . . she left orders. That no one is to disturb her.”
“Really.” He took a step closer to Lady Margaret. She stood her ground beside the frozen group of seated women, the hem of her green skirt trembling on the floor. Lady Margaret, trembling!
Lord Robert said, “And what is the queen doing that she does not desire to be disturbed?”
“I . . . she did not tell me, my lord.”
“And whatever it is, is Her Grace doing it alone?”
Lady Margaret conquered her trembling. She looked straight at Lord Robert and said, “Her Grace is not obligated to tell me what she does.” The unspoken half of her statement was clear: Nor tell you, either.
Lord Robert said, “The queen will see me,” and started toward the door.
I called out, “Lord Robert! She is with Lord Solek!”
Slowly he turned to face me. The ladies all stared, aghast. I said, “She told me, too, that they must not be disturbed. They are settling the future of my lord’s army. It is a . . . a delicate negotiation.”
He sneered, “And what does a fool know of negotiations?”
“Nothing, my lord. I only repeat what I was told. They are discussing the army.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Lord Robert was, supposedly, the head of the queen’s army. In three strides he was at the door and yanking on the handle. The door was barred from within.
Lord Robert’s hand flashed to his sword. But a sword is no good against heavy oak. He kicked the door and bellowed, “Caroline!”
I said in a low voice to the five women, “Get out. Quickly. She will never forgive you for witnessing this, if she knows.”
Lady Margaret, oldest and quickest-witted, said, “Yes! Come now.” She had to pull Cecilia to her feet, but the last of their green skirts disappeared through the door to the presence chamber, with Lady Margaret closing it behind them, a scant moment before the queen flung open the door on the opposite side of the room.
Her gaze swept quickly around the room, found only me, and rasped, “Go.”
I did not have to be told twice. I scampered from the room, hunched over, trying to look as much as possible like some small animal, harmless and mute. In the presence chamber, the queen’s ladies huddled against the far door, too afraid of the savages to risk the open courtyard beyond. As I approached, Lady Margaret said sharply, “Well? ”
What to say? “She . . . sent me away.”
Lady Jane said, “Was Lord Solek there?”
“Of course he was there,” Lady Sarah said. “We already knew that. Only—why didn’t Lord Robert challenge him? No, wait—Lord Solek must have already left the queen.”
“We would have seen him go,” Lady Jane argued. “Unless . . . Oh! There must be a secret passage from the queen’s bedchamber! ”
“Enough,” Lady Margaret said, and not even those two dared disobey her tone. Lady Margaret looked at me with new, reluctant respect. “You did well, fool.”
Lady Sarah said, “But did you see him? Will the savage and Lord Robert fight over her . . . later, I mean?”
I said, “Lord Solek and the queen had matters of The Queendom to discuss.”
Lady Jane snorted with delicate lewdness.
Lady Margaret said, “The fool is right. Lord Solek had to discuss the army with the queen, and that is what we will say to anyone who asks. Do you all understand that? Do you?”
One by one they agreed. Lord Solek was there on affairs of state. It was a meeting of negotiation, to which Lord Robert arrived late because he had been pursuing the retreating enemy. The three of them had discussed matters of The Queendom, such as the princess’s betrothal to Lord Solek’s son. The meeting among the three was about important affairs of The Queendom. Lady Margaret rehearsed them over and over.
But it was Cecilia who knew what really to ask. As the ladies finally dispersed, under heavy guard, to their chambers until next sent