Timestruck (20 page)

“Really,” Fastrada said to Lady Adalhaid,
“this girl is too stupid to be of any use to me.”

While Fastrada was glaring at Lady Adalhaid,
and the other ladies-in-waiting were huddled together as if they
feared the queen’s displeasure would be visited on them, Lady Ansa
made a quick, surreptitious gesture, pointing to a pile of green
and blue pillows. Gina looked in the direction Lady Ansa indicated
and saw a bit of carved wood sticking out from beneath the bottom
pillow. She seized it and pulled, until a flat, round, wooden fan
came loose from the pillows. The action unbalanced the pillows,
which tumbled over, spilling against one of the many tables and
upsetting a bowl of small green apples.

“What are you doing?” Fastrada screeched,
swinging her feet to the floor. “Clumsy, stupid – Out! Get
out!”

“I found your fan.” Gina made the best curtsy
she could, which, since she’d never attempted one before, wasn’t
very graceful, and handed the fan to the queen. The moment Fastrada
snatched it from her, Gina began to pick up the apples. Lady Ansa
grabbed one that had rolled across the room and tossed it to Gina,
who grinned her thanks.

Fastrada’s high-pitched complaints ceased
abruptly at a sudden movement behind Gina. Gina turned, her hands
full of apples, and found herself face to face with the king of the
Franks.

“What is wrong?” Charles asked, speaking to
Gina, not Fastrada.

“I’ve been clumsy,” Gina said, indicating the
spilled apples. “I am sorry,” she added to the queen.

“You miserable, impertinent—” Fastrada lifted
the fan she was clenching and slashed out, plainly bent upon
striking Gina across the face.

Before the wooden fan made contact with
Gina’s cheek Charles caught his wife’s wrist and took the fan from
her.

“How pretty this is,” he said, smiling at
Fastrada. “Surely, my dearest, you don’t want to break it. After
all, it was a gift from me.”

“I thought you planned to be busy all
afternoon long,” Fastrada responded, as if accusing her husband of
abandoning her. “If you will no longer allow me to sit with you
while you meet with your councilors, then I must find some way to
entertain myself.”

“It was concern for your health that led me
to suggest you keep to your rooms this afternoon,” Charles
said.

“Don’t expect me to believe such a flimsy
excuse. The queen of the Franks has every right to involve herself
with affairs of state. Indeed, that is my responsibility. I managed
your kingdom very well while you were away at war.”

“Now that I am home again, I thought to lift
some of the burden from your shoulders.”

“When I am not present, you permit your
councilors to say whatever they please to you. I can think of
several among them who ought to be tried for treason and executed –
a long, slow death that spills every drop of treacherous blood.”
Fastrada’s pale cheeks turned pink as she spoke, and she moved
closer to Charles in a sinuous, undulating way obviously intended
to catch and hold the king’s attention. Gina could see that the
ploy wasn’t entirely successful.

“I have always ruled by allowing my nobles to
express their opinions. Knowing that I have listened to them, they
are usually willing to accept the decisions I make.” Charles hadn’t
moved a single step, yet with his calm words he had distanced
himself from Fastrada, and she seemed to recognize it. Her temper
rose again.

“Did you discuss the hunchback?” she
demanded, her lips curling in disdain. “Where is that laggard,
Pepin? Why hasn’t he come to Regensburg as you requested?
Requested, not ordered! But your slightest wish should be a command
to him! How dare he not obey you at once?”

“Gently, Fastrada. Pepin is my son.”

“He is a disgrace! A bastard who shames you
by his very existence. He ought to be grateful you allow him to
continue to live. I cannot bear to look at him.”

“Then you ought to be happy he isn’t here,
instead of complaining about his absence. In fact, I received a
message this morning, sent ahead by Pepin to inform me that he and
Father Guntram expect to reach Regensburg within a day or two.”

“I suppose he is using his deformity as an
excuse to travel as slowly as possible, when the truth is, he
doesn’t want to see you. The hunchback does not love you,
Charles.”

Gina longed to exclaim that Pepin did love
his father but feared his father did not love him. She could not
help wondering whether Father Guntram had poured that particular
poison into Pepin’s ears, while Fastrada created a similar belief
in Charles’s mind. It would be a good way to turn the two against
each other, especially since they didn’t see each other very often
and thus had little chance to correct their mistaken
assumptions.

“Enough, Fastrada. I will hear no more on the
subject of Pepin. Ladies,” Charles said, turning to the other women
in the room, “if you will kindly leave us, I’d like to speak
privately with the queen.”

As the women obediently filed out, Gina noted
how informally they went. There were no bows, no curtsies, no
walking backward out of the chamber as she had seen done in movies.
Charles was a remarkably relaxed monarch, approachable and
easygoing. If only his wife were half so pleasant.

“Ansa, thank you for your help,” Gina said as
soon as they were all in an anteroom. “Without it I never would
have found that fan.”

“It’s a game Fastrada plays,” Ansa said. “She
loves to torment her ladies.”

“Would she really have hit me if Charles
hadn’t arrived?”

“Oh, yes. We’ve all been struck at least a
few times,” Ansa said.

“Charles is kind to her,” Gina murmured,
hoping for an informative response.

“Kinder than she deserves,” Ansa responded.
She nodded toward the door to Fastrada’s inner chamber. “We are
free of all duties for the next hour or two. They won’t want us
loitering about. They won’t be doing much talking in there, either.
Fastrada is determined to present Charles with a son.”

“Ansa, mind your tongue,” said Lady Adalhaid.
“An unwed girl ought not to speak of such matters.”

“I won’t be unmarried for much longer,” Ansa
said, giggling. “Then I’ll say whatever I want. Gina, will you come
with us? We’re going to stroll in the outer courtyard.”

“You mean, you intend to flaunt yourselves
before the young men,” Lady Adalhaid said, disapproval written on
her face. “I will keep Gina with me. She requires training in court
etiquette.”

“I think Gina does very well,” said Ansa with
a saucy grin. “Gina, we’ll meet again soon, I’m sure.” Ansa joined
the other ladies in their merry but hasty departure from the queen
s apartments.

“Let us walk in a more private place,” Lady
Adalhaid said. She took Gina’s arm, drawing her out of the anteroom
and along a corridor, then through an open doorway, stopping when
they reached the same secluded courtyard where Gina had earlier
observed Fastrada and Father Guntram in secret conversation. Gina
looked around expectantly, hoping to see Alcuin again, but both
courtyard and cloister were empty. The sun was lower in the sky,
and the red and yellow flowers in the little gardens glowed in the
late-afternoon light.

“How peaceful it is,” Gina said, feeling some
remark was called for but not wanting to admit she had previously
intruded on so private a place.

“I suppose so.” Lady Adalhaid shrugged as if
flowers, blue sky, and sunshine meant nothing to her. “Ansa was
correct when she said you did well in the queen’s presence.
Fastrada can be exasperating. You must remember that she is still
young. We hope she will learn to rein in her temper as she
matures.”

“ ‘We’?” said Gina. “Who is ‘we’?”

“The other courtiers, and the ladies who
attend her.”

“Hasn’t it occurred to any of you that, since
she is so young, she may outlive her husband?”

“No! Oh, no!”

Lady Adalhaid turned her back to Gina, and
Gina watched, fascinated, as the older woman’s shoulders shook as
if she was weeping, then rose and fell with several deep breaths.
Gina noticed Lady Adalhaid’s hands clenching and unclenching at her
sides, and she recalled her first impression that this woman did
not like the queen.

“What do you think Fastrada would do without
Charles to quiet her tantrums and keep her in line?” Gina
asked.

“I cannot bear to think of it,” Lady Adalhaid
whispered. “Charles is so virile, so full of boundless energy, that
I cannot imagine a time when he is no longer with us. Life was
difficult enough when he was away on the Bavarian border, fighting
those wicked, heathen Avar tribesmen and then battling against Duke
Tassilo, but we all knew he would return and then life would go on
as it has done since he was first elected king.”

“Dominick told me that you are Hiltrude’s
mother,” Gina said, walking around her companion so she could look
her full in the face.

“My poor girl.” Lady Adalhaid’s eyes filled
with tears. “Fastrada insisted that Hiltrude marry Dominick. As you
surely know, noble marriages are almost always arranged by the
parents. In this case, Charles acted as one of the fathers. He had
known Dominick since he was a boy and took an interest in him after
he was disinherited. He granted Feldbruck to Dominick after the
Bavarian war ended, so it was natural for Dominick to want

an heir, and when Fastrada put forward my
daughter as bride, Charles agreed. Since my husband is dead, the
decision on Hiltrude’s side of the family was mine to make. I
foolishly acceded to Fastrada’s demand. I have regretted it ever
since. I know my dear girl was miserably unhappy.”

“You cannot think Dominick was a cruel
husband,” Gina protested.

“I do not. But Hiltrude had taken a fancy to
another man. At first she refused to marry Dominick. But the queen
talked to her and changed her mind.”

“I’ll just bet she did,” Gina muttered.
“Fastrada sucked Hiltrude into a nasty plot to ruin Dominick.”

“You know about that?”

“Dominick told me.”

“I believe Dominick sent Hiltrude to Chelles
for her own safety,” Lady Adalhaid said. “Even Fastrada cannot
touch her as long as she remains in that secure convent. But the
thing is, Hiltrude does not have a religious vocation. She would
far rather marry and have children.”

“What about the man she loved before she was
married off to Dominick?”

“Audulf has always refused to wed. And
whenever we meet, he inquires about Hiltrude in great detail.”

“What a mess. There’s your daughter, stuck in
a convent where she doesn’t want to be, and there’s a man who cares
about her, but they can’t be together as long as the queen is
alive.”

“Hush! Never say such a thing aloud,” Lady
Adalhaid whispered urgently. She stared at the columns of the
cloister as if she expected to discover someone lurking behind one
of them, listening.

Gina wasn’t worried. She knew, from trying to
eavesdrop earlier that day, how difficult it was to hear anything
spoken in the courtyard, and she and Lady Adalhaid had been talking
very quietly.

“You haven’t told me Hiltrude’s sad story as
a way of idly passing the time,” Gina said. “What do you want of
me?”

“I thought we could work together,” Lady
Adalhaid said. “Fastrada is involved in many plots. That’s not
unusual for a queen. Women married to powerful husbands are
frequently asked to use their influence to help bring various
projects to fruition or to promote the advancement of friends and
relatives. But Fastrada’s schemes tend to be particularly vile in
nature. She cares only for herself and two or three of her male
relatives. She will do anything to advance her family.”

“Is that where Duke Tassilo’s treasure went?”
Gina asked. “To Fastrada’s relatives?”

“Only some of it. Most of the treasure she
kept for herself. The men who went to war with Charles deeply
resent that none of it was distributed to them.”

“It always comes down to money, doesn’t it?”
Gina said, recalling Dominick’s remarks on the subject.

“I care nothing for Tassilo’s treasure,” Lady
Adalhaid said. “I care only for my daughter, who is, in effect, a
prisoner, as she dare not leave Chelles. And I believe you care as
much for Dominick’s welfare as I do for Hiltrude’s.”

“So you think we should join forces in hope
of exposing Fastrada for the conniving, cold-hearted creature she
is? And then what?”

“I know several young noblewomen who would
make excellent queens. In the past, Charles has divorced two
wives.”

“Won’t the Church object to a third
divorce?”

“If Charles can be impressed with the extent
of Fastrada’s evil deeds, he will find a way to be rid of her.”

“I hope you aren’t talking about beheading,”
Gina said with a shiver. “I don’t want to be responsible for
anyone’s death. Not even hers.”

“Certainly not,” Lady Adalhaid said. “Charles
is too kindhearted ever to hurt a woman who has borne his
children.”

“That aspect of his character may prove to be
our biggest obstacle.” Gina began to laugh.

“What do you find so amusing?” demanded Lady
Adalhaid.

“Doesn’t it strike you as funny for the woman
everyone thinks is Dominick’s concubine, and the woman who was his
mother-in-law and his father s lover, to work together as you’ve
suggested?”

“It seems to me that we are natural allies,”
said Lady Adalhaid, “since we both have loved ones whom the queen
hates.”

“There is something you should know about me.
Dominick has scolded me several times because I can’t keep my mouth
shut. I’m used to speaking my opinion without weighing the
consequences. That doesn’t make me a good candidate for secret
work.”

“Perhaps your concern for Dominick will lead
you to exercise greater discretion.”

“I can try to curb my tongue.” Gina didn’t
actually agree to work with Lady Adalhaid. Nor did she mention that
she would be discussing the conversation they’d just had with
Dominick as soon as he and she were alone in private.