Timestruck (16 page)

As soon as they were unpacked the two young
women retired to the small bathhouse at the rear of the building,
where both of them washed away the grime and the aches of their
week-long trip. Gina was back in her room, clad only in her shift
while she dried her hair, when Ella hurried in.

“Dominick is in the bathhouse now,” Ella
said. “He wanted me to give you plenty of notice. You are to dress
in your best gown and paint your face. We are going to the
palace.”

“What, now? The afternoon is almost gone. I
thought we’d wait until tomorrow,” Gina cried, seeing her plans for
a leisurely dinner and evening with Dominick evaporate.

“Dominick said you’d understand why he wants
to talk to as many people as possible tonight,” Ella said. “I’m to
attend you. Isn’t it exciting?”

“Thrilling,” Gina responded dryly. “I suppose
it can’t be avoided. Go and dress yourself, Ella. I can see to my
own clothes.”

“Are you sure?” Ella looked uncertain.

“Yes. Your hair is longer than mine. It will
take you some time to dry and braid it. Come back when you’re
finished and tell me if I look all right.”

What Gina really wanted was some time alone
to brace herself to meet one of the most famous kings in all of
history. She wished she knew more about Charlemagne, so she could
talk intelligently to him. Then she decided he most likely wouldn’t
pay any attention to her. He’d be too busy with Dominick and the
other courtiers.

Gina had brought to Regensburg the hairbrush,
makeup bag, and mirror that were in her purse when it landed beside
Dominick’s bed a few seconds after she arrived in the eighth
century. Small as the mirror was, she was glad to have it, for in
this time and place mirrors were a scarce commodity. The few she
had seen at Feldbruck were made of polished metal that barely
reflected at all. Using her mirror, Gina applied powder, eyeliner,
mascara, and lipstick.

From the supply of newly altered clothing
Hedwiga had packed for her, she chose a dress of deep burgundy silk
with gold embroidery at the neck and sleeve edges, because it
looked to her like the kind of gown a lady would wear to meet a
king.

After pulling it over her head and tying the
gold sash, she brushed her hair carefully, making it curl as much
as possible. Once her preparations were completed, there was
nothing left for her to do but grow more nervous with each
minute.

Dominick and Ella appeared at her door at the
same time, and Gina learned to her dismay that she was expected to
remount a horse and ride to the palace.

“Can’t I walk?” she asked. “Riding will ruin
this lovely dress.”

“The streets are too muddy for walking,”
Dominick said. “But I can take you up with me, and Harulf can do
the same for Ella. You can sit sideways and thus spare your gowns
from wrinkling.”

“I would like to ride with Harulf,” Ella said
at once. Gowned in bright blue wool, with her blond hair in twin
braids tied with blue ribbons, she was looking exceptionally
pretty, her cheeks rosy with excitement.

“I wish I could feel as cheerful,” Gina said,
watching Ella hurry ahead of her to meet Harulf. “Dominick, I
assume you are going to insist on speaking alone with Charles,
which means you’ll be leaving me to fend for myself.”

“I wouldn’t dream of deserting you,” Dominick
said. “Nor can I request a private interview with Charles until I
have unquestionable proof of the plot that’s being formed and names
I can supply when Charles asks for them.”

“In other words, we are off to the palace to
seek the very proof you need.”

“Exactly. Pay attention to everything you
hear or see while we are there.”

As if Dominick had known what Gina was
planning to wear, he was clad in a red wool tunic and matching
woolen trousers just a shade or two lighter than her gown. His
trousers were cross-gartered with strips of gilded leather, and he
wore slip-on shoes instead of boots. His only other decorations
were the gold chain and pendant of a count and a gilded leather
belt with his plain, serviceable eating knife in its sheath at one
side. Swords, he informed Gina, were not usually worn at court
unless war preparations were under way. With his sword or without
it, he was the most imposing specimen of manhood Gina had ever
seen, and just standing next to him made her shiver with
pleasure.

While she was lost in appreciation of his
masculine splendor, he caught her by the waist and tossed her
lightly into the saddle. Then, before she could begin to worry
whether she was going slide right off without a leg on either side
of the horse, he mounted and put an arm around her waist, holding
her securely.

It was a remarkable sensation to be sitting
so close between his thighs, and it quickly became obvious to her
that Dominick wasn’t indifferent to the position, either. Startled
by his immediate physical reaction, she looked directly at him and
found his eyes filled with laughter, though his face was perfectly
solemn.

“I’d kiss you,” he said, “but it would be
most improper to do it in public and would likely smear your face
paint.”

“Do that, and I’ll bite you,” she retorted.
She was rewarded by his hearty laugh.

Between Dominick’s teasing and her own
yearning, by the time they reached the palace gate Gina was ready
to turn around and gallop at full speed back to his house.

“Feeling better?” he asked as he lifted her
down from the horse.

“You teased me on purpose, to make me forget
about being nervous,” she accused him.

“Did it work?” he asked with a straight face.
“Answer later, and punish me then if you want. When we are alone
I’ll let you do whatever you like to me. For now, remember that you
are a noblewoman. Take my arm. Just put your hand on my wrist.
Harulf, Ella, stay with us,” he ordered over his shoulder.

This time his teasing wasn’t enough to calm
her nerves. Though intensely aware of Dominick at her side, Gina
still couldn’t forget where she was and what she and Dominick were
trying to do. With her knees shaking and her heart beating
double-time, she entered the great hall of the palace to meet
Charlemagne.

Knowing he’d had four wives and several
concubines, Gina expected the king of the Franks to look like a
movie version of the similarly licentious Henry VIII, all beefy and
bloated and missing a few teeth. She wasn’t prepared for the tall,
handsome man who stood in front of the throne set at one end of the
long hall. Charles was simply dressed in a blue woolen tunic and
trousers, with no jewelry and no crown. His hair was silver-blond,
cut just below his ears, and he was clean-shaven except for a
droopy Frankish mustache similar to the facial hair worn by many
other men in the room.

Dominick had told her that Charles was past
forty, and middle-aged spread was catching up with his midriff,
though no one could have called him fat. In his mature features
Gina could detect an older, slightly fleshier version of Pepin s
more delicate face.

What impressed her most was the personal
warmth that Charles radiated and the way his smile made her feel he
was her friend when Dominick brought her forward to present her.
This was no cold and distant royal personage; Charlemagne was a
hearty, plain-spoken man who stooped to pick up the little girl who
suddenly ran to him and threw her arms around his leg.

“My daughter, Theudrada,” Charles said, and
kissed the child. “Pretty ‘Drada, yes, Papa loves you. Have you
children, Lady Gina?”

“No, sir, I’m not married,” Gina responded.
She was a bit surprised to notice at least a dozen other children
standing about or playing near the throne. Most of them resembled
Charles, so she assumed they were his.

“Perhaps your situation will change soon,”
Charles said, and he winked at Dominick. “I’m glad to see you back
at court, my boy. We’ve missed you, haven’t we, Fastrada, my
dearest?”

Charles turned to the woman who sat in an
ornately carved chair next to his throne. The infamous queen of the
Franks appeared to be in her early twenties, and she was incredibly
beautiful, with dainty facial bones. Her long hair, which she wore
loose beneath a gold circlet, was a lovely honey shade, and her
complexion was perfect, if a bit too pale for vital health. Her
eyes were sapphire blue under the delicate arches of her neatly
plucked brows.

Only on a careful second look did Gina see
the lines of discontent near Fastrada’s pretty mouth and the cold
expression in her eyes when she regarded Dominick. A whiff of heavy
jasmine perfume drifted to Gina’s nose as the queen moved
restlessly.

“I am glad to find you well, my lady,”
Dominick said politely to Fastrada. “I note that you are more
beautiful than ever.”

“I am surprised to see you here at all,”
Fastrada retorted. She leaned back in her chair, sticking out her
lower lip and looking for all the world like a sullen, sulky
teenager. Transferring her attention from Dominick to Gina, she
asked, “Is this your latest concubine?”

“Lady Gina is my guest at Regensburg,”
Dominick responded mildly.

“Indeed?” Fastrada’s elegant eyebrows rose.
Her voice took on a mocking tone. “I do believe I recall that
dress. A friend of mine wore it the last time she was at court. A
certain Lady Hiltrude. Really, Dominick, can’t you afford to have a
new dress made when you reward a woman for joining you in bed? Or,
better yet, give her a piece of jewelry?”

“You are mistaken, my lady. I am no man’s
concubine.” Gina spoke up loudly, too offended to tolerate the
queen’s rudeness another moment. Words tumbled from her lips in an
angry rush, offering an explanation that was far from accurate. “In
fact, Count Dominick has been extremely kind to me. I was set upon
by robbers, and all my

belongings were stolen. That’s why I have no
jewelry to wear and why I was forced to come here to court in
borrowed clothes. It’s also why my hair is so short. The robbers
left me by the roadside wearing only my shift, and I caught a chill
that quickly developed into severe chest congestion. Of course, the
only thing to do was cut off my long hair to preserve what little
strength I had left, and then pray I’d recover. I’m very grateful
for the good care that Count Dominick and his housekeeper gave me.
Together they saved my life.”

“Gina,” Dominick cautioned her when she
paused to catch her breath, “you have said enough. Your praise is
embarrassing me.”

“Yes, Gina,” said Fastrada, her lips curving
into a nasty smile. “You have said more than enough to tell us that
Dominick has been remarkably lax about seeing to the safety of the
roads in his county and, no doubt, in apprehending and punishing
the robbers who apparently flourish around Feldbruck. Such neglect
of the land entrusted to him by his king is a serious matter and
ought to be looked into promptly.”

The threat in Fastrada’s voice was
unmistakable. Too late Gina recalled Dominick saying that the queen
had once tried to ruin him. Now, in her eagerness to stop the
unpleasant woman from continuing her public rudeness toward
Dominick, Gina had provided her with ammunition to use against
him.

“There are no more robbers left in the
vicinity of Feldbruck,” Dominick said to Fastrada. “They’ve all
been caught and hanged.”

“Really?” Fastrada shifted in her chair,
thrusting out her shapely bosom until her nipples were outlined
against the fine silk of her gown. “I wish I’d been there to see
it. I am passionately fond of witnessing justice done.”

I just bet you are
, Gina thought.
I’ve got your number, Queenie. You get off on hurting people.
But what’s a nice guy like Charles doing with a wife like
you
?

“Fastrada, my sweet love,” Charles said, “I
thought you’d be glad to welcome Dominick back to court.”

“Whatever made you think that?” Fastrada
exclaimed. “He broke my dear friend’s heart, then sent her off to a
convent to repine. Who knows what misery your precious Dominick
inflicted on poor Hiltrude while she lived at Feldbruck, or what
disgusting demands he made of her?” Fastrada squirmed in her seat,
the motion sending another cloud of perfume in Gina s
direction.

“Hiltrude was Dominick’s wife,” Charles
reminded her. “It was her duty to submit to his wishes.”

“As you well know, my lady,” Dominick said
with quiet dignity, “it was Hiltrude who left me, claiming she
could not bear to live any longer with a bastard. Since ours was an
arranged marriage, and we’d not had time enough to grow fond of
each other, I do not believe her heart was affected in any
way.”

For Dominick’s sake, Gina hoped Fastrada did
not detect the dangerous note in his low voice. Charles had
noticed. He was staring at Dominick with a puzzled expression, and
his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.

“Charles.” Fastrada leaned forward and
reached toward her husband, wrapping her arms around his thigh the
same way Theudrada had done. But Theudrada was a child, no more
than three years old. Fastrada was a woman grown, and a queen.
Surely she knew better than to touch a man so intimately while in
public. Her slender arms were like pale snakes about Charles’s
thigh, and her face was pressed against him. When Charles smiled
indulgently and tried to move away, Fastrada stroked one hand
across his crotch.

Gina smothered a shocked gasp. All around her
Charles’s nobles were either staring at the paneled walls or gazing
at their own feet. The crowded hall fell silent as everyone there
pretended not to see what Fastrada was doing.

“I don’t feel well,” Fastrada whined. “Oh,
Charles, help me to bed.”

“I’ll call a servant.” Charles gestured to
the elderly woman who was looking after the children. He gave
Theudrada into her care and bent to untangle Fastrada’s arms from
around his leg.