The Peasant's Wise Daughter

THE PEASANT’S WISE DAUGHTER An Ellora's Cave Publication, November 2003 Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Ltd. PO Box 787 Hudson, OH 44236-0787 ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-671-2 Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned): Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML THE PEASANT’S WISE DAUGHTER © 2003 CASSIE WALDER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously. Edited by MARTHA PUNCHES Cover art by CHRISTINE CLAVEL.

THE PEASANT’S WISE DAUGHTER

By Cassie Walder

Cassie Walder

Chapter One Once upon a time, not in my time, nor in your time, but in a time long ago, in a stone cottage at the edge of a forest there lived a peasant named Johann and his only daughter Elzebeth. The sun had been up for two hours on this Thursday in late May, yet she had been working long before that. There was always work to do around the cottage and with the animals, especially during the last two months since the fire had taken the stables. She'd been doing both her own and her father's work, in addition to nursing her father back to health after his life threatening burns. She poured the bucketful of water into the larger cask that she had placed in the wooden wheelbarrow as she heard the sound of a horse fast approaching on the road. She kept working until she heard the horse stop just outside the cottage gate. "Fairest one," the rider called to her from the back of his horse, "can you spare some water for a thirsty horse?" Elzebeth immediately recognized the rider as Prince Wilhelm, although she had seen him close up in person only twice. The prince's image was stamped on the coin of the realm. She had fifty gold marks—a fortune by most people's standards—remaining as part of her dowry. She had periodically taken the coins out of her secret hiding place beneath the loose stone in the floor near her bed just to look at his profile on the front of each gold coin. That likeness did him little justice. In person, he was devastatingly handsome. He was tall and muscular in only the way that a man trained as a warrior can be muscular. He was broad of shoulder, narrow of waist, strong of arm, and shapely of calf. His hair was thick 4

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and black as midnight on a starless night. He wore his hair in a queue pulled away from his face and bound by a leather strap. His beard and mustache were full and neatly trimmed. He had an intelligent face with piercing blue eyes and a full, sensual, mouth. If men were like stallions, this man's stud book would have been full for the rest of his life with women lined up for servicing. That thought made her smile. "I always have drink for the thirsty—whether man or beast—your highness," she answered his question about water. She wheeled over the cask of water that she had just drawn. The prince dismounted and tied the reins to the hitching post. He reached for the cask of water. Their eyes met as their hands brushed. "It wasn't that long ago," she said as she rushed awkwardly into speech while withdrawing her hand from his, "that this trough was always full and waiting for the horses of people who came to see my father. But since the stable fire…" her voice trailed off. He could see in her eyes a growing awareness of him as a man. As her nipples became hard and pronounced under the linen of her chemise and homespun bodice, he became aroused. He couldn't remember the last time that he had wanted a woman this fiercely, this fast. If she kept looking at him that way, he wouldn't be responsible for his actions. He mentally argued with himself that she was just another of his subjects. If he wanted her, he was certainly within his rights in taking her. Yet under the floppy straw hat she wore, her hip length hair was streaming down her back in the style of a maiden. He had known his share of women—maybe more than his share—both in his own court and in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor. However, he had been neither a seducer of innocents nor any married woman's first dalliance.

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Needing to diffuse the situation, he lifted the cask of water from the wheelbarrow and poured it into the empty horse trough.

One horse would not drink nearly that much water, she thought with a heavy sigh as he emptied the cask into the trough and slopped some of the water over the side in the process. It had taken her fifteen minutes hard work to fill that cask. Now he wasted some of her effort. She wanted to scream at him for being so careless. But it was only water. There was plenty of it in the well.

He heard the sigh, but did not understand the cause. "Have you a draught of ale for your prince who is as thirsty as is his horse?" She forced a smiled. "The keg of ale is empty. I haven't yet had the time to return the keg to the brewmeister and to get another. As drink goes, my lord, I have the honey mead I brew myself. If you would not have that, there is buttermilk from today's churning. Then there is clear cool water from the well. Or I can brew for you a refreshing tisane. Which would you prefer?" "Mead will do, fair one. Have you a name?" "Of course, my liege, most people have names. The Church does require it and names make identifying people so much simpler than pointing and calling out 'Hey, you, the handsome man with the sword. Yeah, you in the fine leather tunic, leggings, and boots, I'm talking to you'," she teased as she stepped back from him a pace. She had to put distance between them before she did something stupid, like throw herself into his arms. The prince looked at her as if he couldn't believe that anyone would dare tease him. Then he smiled. "I would consider it an honor if you would remind me of your name, fair one." "I am called Beth by my friends, Elzebeth by those who wish to be formal, and a variety of less pleasant names by my enemies." 6

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"Beth," he said, testing the name on his tongue.

"Surely, a woman as

beautiful as you would have no enemies." She blushed boldly and chuckled. "Think you that I am angelic, perhaps?" "There could surely be no prettier angel in all of heaven than the one I see standing before me right now!" he replied with a broad smile. "And there is no smoother tongued devil on the face of the earth than you, my liege. I shall go tap the keg of mead for your drink. By your leave?" He smiled and nodded. "I shall refill this cask of water for you while my horse has his fill of the cool water." She smiled, this time, genuinely. "You needn't do that." "Of course, I do. I emptied it. I will refill it. It shan't be the first time that I've drawn water from a well. Now, run along, woman! I have a powerful thirst." She curtsied and returned to the house. Inside the cottage, she roused her father from where he had fallen asleep in his chair. He had been sleeping entirely too much in the last eight weeks since the stables had burned. It was something of a miracle that her father had survived his serious injuries. That he hadn't succumbed to infection as the burns had healed was owed to her grandmother's silver ointment recipe. That ointment had been terribly expensive to prepare. It had been well worth every Thaler of the cost, however. His scars were still terrible and he had little strength, but he was alive. That was much more than anyone had expected. "Father, Father, wake up! Prince Wilhelm is at the well. Go, speak to him about getting his aid in rebuilding the stables." Her father looked at her. "What?" "Father, go, I beg you. Speak to the prince. Ask him for the rest of the money to rebuild. Make it a loan, if you will. Promise him free stabling or stud service, if

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you have to. But get the rest of the money we need, Father, to re-establish the stables, since you won't take the rest of my dowry money for the project." Her father went outside. She busied herself with drawing a large stein of mead as well as with cutting into the loaf of dark bread that she had baked only yesterday. If he thirsted, the prince was likely hungry as well. Two slices of bread each spread thickly with some of the morning's churning of butter and a slice of her honey-cured ham was hardly in line with the delicacies offered in the castle. Still, it was all she had to offer him as the morning's milk was already in the process of being made into one of the cheeses she planned to sell this coming fall at the fair. When she reemerged from the house with the drink and the plate of food, she heard her father thanking the prince for his generosity. Then her father excused himself and returned to the cottage. "My father still tires quite easily, my liege. Yet he is much improved." "No one truly expected that Johann would survive the burns. I am so happy that expectation has proven to be unduly pessimistic. His weariness will pass in time as his strength improves, I am sure." "Yes. It will. All he needs is to be back to work full time caring for the horses." "There has never been a horseman like him. I am glad to be able to help him re-establish himself," Prince Wilhelm said. "He is strong." "To have a daughter such as you, he would have to be strong. Such traits are bred, not formed." "I thought perhaps you would be hungry as well as thirsty, my liege," Beth said quietly, changing the subject, as she removed the napkin covering the food on the wooden serving plate.

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"I am hungry. Thank you," he said as he took the plate and stein from her. "Come sit with me beneath that tree and keep me company while I eat and drink." "Your Highness should not sit upon the ground," she said quietly. "Come with me." She guided him over to her private retreat. It was nothing more than a small field-stone summer house set in a small clearing among the tall pine trees of the forest. There were two wooden steps leading up to the eight foot by eight-foot structure. The floor was wide pine planking and the roof was shakes. Trellised roses covered three sides of the structure. A grape arbor nearby blocked the view of the little shelter from the cottage. The forest and the roses blocked view of it from the road. There was a bench big enough for two built into one side of the well-kept structure. Bunches of herbs, most of which he didn't recognize, hung from the rafters to dry. She explained, feeling nervous, as she sat down beside him. "My father built this place for my mother before I was born. She planted the roses. I've kept it up. This has become my workroom for most of the year, except for the winter." "I can see why. It's delightful. The flowers are so lovely. They smell so fine." "They have thorns, my liege. Most lovely things have the ability to hurt, sometimes very badly," she warned. He looked at her for a long moment. "Yes. Most beautiful things do have the ability to hurt," he agreed. "Are you warning me away from you?" "Perhaps, my liege, I am merely warning myself where you are concerned." "Are you frightened of me?" "There is always an edge of fear when dealing with power, my liege. You are a powerful man in more than just the office you hold. You are strong. I do not believe you would ever purposefully hurt any one weaker than yourself. You are a man, more of a man than any I have ever met." 9

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"Are you always so plainspoken?" "Yes. I fear that I am. I have little patience for subterfuge." "I live in an environment ripe with it. The intrigues of court life are quite wearying." "Then perhaps you need to surround yourself with people who simply don't practice intrigues as readily as they draw breath." He didn't answer her. Instead, he drank deeply of the fermented honey brew and ate hungrily of the bread and ham. "That ham is excellent!" "It is my mother's curing process. God rest her soul. I cure the finest ham I've ever tasted, even if I do say so myself. I sell most of the hams and bacon and sausages from my pigs at the fair each October, keeping back only what father and I will eat each year." "There could be a place for you in the castle, supervising the larder, if you would like to enter my service." "Thank you, no. I am honored by the offer. I have enough work to do here, keeping house for my father, helping him, and doing my own work. I haven't the time or the energy to take on other work. " "Beth," he said, "your mead is as fine as you are beautiful." She blushed boldly. "Is that praise for me, or disdain for my mead?" Prince Wilhelm laughed. It was a sound that seemed to get little use. The rustiness of his laughter tore at her heart. If there was any man who should be light-hearted, it was he. He was young, strong, handsome, and rich. And yet he was a man for whom laughter was an obviously infrequent event. "You have both wit and beauty, Beth. You brew fine mead, bake good bread, and cure delicious ham. I can see that your kitchen garden is well tended. Your flock of chickens seems to be thriving. You have a fine cow and a healthy looking

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calf. Your pigs seem to be fattening up nicely. Your clothes seem well made. You have nursed your father and clearly saved his life when everyone else thought that he was as good as dead." She shrugged. "A woman does what she has to do. I've been taking care of Father for almost eight years now, since my mother died." "You were young when you acquired that responsibility." "I was thirteen, my liege, an age at which many young women marry and gain the responsibility of running a house, along with that of pleasing a husband and raising children. All the responsibility I took on at Mother's passing was to run the house and help with the horses, as well as to take over Mother's practice of the healing arts." "I shall find you a husband from among my liegemen. Your father is in agreement with this plan. Any of my single fief holders would be delighted in and could provide well for you. You could wear the fine gowns of a lady instead of your homespun skirts and bodices. Your sons could be men of property. Your daughters could become wives of barons. I owe your father that much, and more. Yes, I shall make a match for you." "I am conscious of the great favor that you would be doing for me in arranging for such a marriage. However, I must decline, my prince." "Why would you do that?" She was quiet for a long moment, then she looked away from him and spoke lowly, painfully, reluctantly, "For me to marry one man when my heart belongs elsewhere would be unthinkable." "To whom does your heart belong?" he asked, placing his hand on her chin and gently urging her to turn her face to him. She blushed boldly. "Do not ask, I beg of you." "Is it a shameful love, Beth?"

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"Not shameful. Never shameful. It is simply impossible. He is of much higher rank than I and can look as high as he would care to look when he is of a mind to take a bride. There's not any reason on earth why he should look favorably at me, or look at me at all for that matter. Having his love is nothing more than a dream. Yet it is a dream I am unwilling to abandon." "Dreams are terribly small consolations, Beth." "They are consolations I can hold onto while I help my father. I wish to thank you, my prince, for the aid you have given my father. The new stables will go up shortly." "Even if you have to build the stables with your own hands?" he asked. She smiled at him and sighed. "I fully expect to have to hire a crew of men. I have spoken to the master of the mason's guild about my idea of a stable less susceptible to fire. He is willing to send me three journeymen and five apprentices to do the work. I have spoken with the master of the stone quarry. I have given to him a deposit of ten marks against the amount of stone the mason's guild's master had told me would be required for the new stables." "Ten marks is a good deal of money. How did you come by it?" the prince asked in surprise. "People came to my mother, and grandmother before her, for potions, lotions, tinctures, elixirs, tonics, poultices, salves, ointments, and other medicines. Now, they come to me. I have some degree of skill with herbs and healing." "You are the local herbalist?" "I am." "That would explain much of what I see drying up in the rafters, then. I have heard your praises sung by many in my court." "I have treated many people in the area," she dismissed.

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"Judging from how you pulled Johann through these burns, I do not doubt your skill in the healing arts. Still, ten marks is more money than most country folk will see at any one time in their entire lives, maybe in their entire lives." "I had once thought to use that money as part of my dowry. But this seemed a better use for it now, as I doubt I shall ever marry." "Part of your dowry. You have more?" She looked at him carefully. Part of her wanted to tell him that this was none of his business. Yet, she wanted him to know that she wasn't a poor woman. "I own several mares, ten colts, eight yearlings, eighteen two and three year olds, and two studs that I have booked for breeding through next year. My horses give me a regular income. I own twenty-three pigs, as well as two fine cows and their calves. I have a small flock of chickens I keep for eggs and meat. I keep a small flock of geese. I also sell herbal medicines at the fair in the fall, along with my cheeses, hams, bacons, and sausages. Between these, and my work as a midwife and herbalist, I earn a very good living for myself. I have a purse filled with gold marks left to my dower, aside from the animals and my stock of herbs." "That is a small fortune for a woman of your class—of any class, for that matter—to take into a marriage, between the animals, the gold, and the good will and custom that you have built up. Why haven't you married before now? Surely, the local men are not blind!" "No one knows of the size of my dowry. It is the business of no one. Besides, I shall likely continue to live as an old maid with my father." He looked at her carefully. "And when your father is gone?" She sighed. "I won't be the first old maid in the world." "Why have you told me this?" "I don't want you to think that I am incapable of supporting myself." "When you have so much to offer a man, remaining single is almost a sin."

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She shrugged. Then she smiled and teased him, "I was unaware you had found time to study theology, my liege." He chuckled. "I have a very fine chaplain at court. He is quite adept at letting me know when my behavior is out of line." "And are you out of line often, my prince?" she teased. "Father Maximilian says that I am." She said quietly, "I have heard rumors about life at court." "Don't believe everything that you hear." She chuckled. "Of course not, my liege. If I believed everything that I heard, I should be surprised that you have the strength to ride out of the castle." "Am I rumored to be a weakling?" he demanded fiercely. "No, my liege, the rumors say that you spend most of your days and all your nights bedding comely ladies of your court. Another rumor says that those highborn ladies draw lots to see who among their numbers shares your bed on any given night." He looked at her for the longest moment. "I hadn't heard that rumor." "Most people do not hear rumors that involve themselves, my liege." "I am hardly a saint. There have been women in my life." "So I understand." "But the ladies of my court do not draw lots to see who sleeps with me on any given night." He was uncertain why he was disabusing her of that notion except that he didn't want her to think that badly of him or of the ladies of his court. "And I am not so dissolute that I abandon my duties to my people to spend the majority of my time in wenching." "I never said that you were. Did I not say I disbelieved most of the rumors that came my way?"

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"Beth, beautiful Beth, one or both of us should be running as far and as fast as possible away from this summer house. It is dangerous for us to be together like this, secluded as we are. I am gravely tempted by you." "I don't run from things that scare me, my liege. I wouldn't give my fears that much control over me." He smiled at her. "That, I can believe. I've never known Johann to run from anything. And we all know him to take his duty so seriously that he was willing to run into a burning building to fulfill his obligations. He is a good man. I would say that you are definitely your father's daughter." Then he changed the subject. "You actually spent your dowry money on a deposit for a stable you didn't know you could get built?" "I must get it built, even if it means spending every bit of gold that I have and selling off much of what I own, and collecting the money people owe me for the medicines I have given them on credit. My father needs the stables. Whatever it takes to get the stables rebuilt, I'll have them rebuilt for him." "Even if you had to build the stables yourself?" "Even if I had to let the masons begin, observe them, then complete the job myself," she said quietly. "But I doubt it would come to that. Father doesn't want me to spend any more of my money on his business. That's why he asked you for a loan. He'd rather do this without my aid. He is a proud man. Yet, if it came to it, I would spend every coin I have to give my father his stables back." "You are an unusual female, Elzebeth." She smiled. "At least, I'm never boring." He laughed. This time, the sound was a bit freer. "No. I think that 'boring' is the last word that any man would ever attribute to you. 'Lovely', 'enchanting', and 'alluring' are all better terms."

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She sighed. "I think not. I'll settle for not being boring, thanks anyway." Then she smiled. "That laugh sounded much less rusty," she told him. "You deserve to laugh, often and long, my prince." "You make me feel like laughing." "I am glad of that. You need to laugh more frequently. It is good for your health." "How is laughter good for health?" "I have observed, my liege, that people who are more joyful have fewer health problems and live longer lives than those who laugh less often. Just like God, people are little trinities of body, mind, and spirit. All three must be healthy for a person to be totally healthy. When a man is of gloomy spirit, it affects the way that his mind works and the way that his body feels. Cheering the spirit impacts on everything else." He was silent for a moment, thinking that one over. "You may have a point, Beth." "I should like to see you live long and happily. Above everything, I wish you joy and a long, healthy, life, my prince," she told him softly. "Elzebeth, please forgive me. I have to know," he said. "I have to know." She looked at him and found that she had forgotten how to breathe. When he gently pulled her to him and into his lap, she did not resist. She wanted to know just as badly as he did. His lips when they closed over hers were gentle and coaxing. When his lips captured hers, she simply enjoyed the taste and feel of him. Her hands framed his face. Beneath her palms, she could feel the bushiness of his beard. She enjoyed the textures of his mouth—the feel of his tongue against hers, the firmness, the softness. He tasted of mead, ham and mint, along with the more tempting taste that was peculiarly Wilhelm.

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It was a gentle kiss, neither demanding nor possessive, but seeking. She was aware of the depth of his desire for her. She was innocent, but not stupid. She knew the meaning of the hard ridge of his cock pressing through the layers of his clothing and hers, against the side of her leg. He desired her. The feeling was mutual. As the kiss ended, she pulled away to look at him. She wanted to remember this forever. She had waited all her life for this moment of being in his arms. Wilhelm leaned towards her. It seemed only right to her that she meet him halfway. He kissed her, again and again, slowly and gently. His kisses were as intoxicating as Geneva liquor. Of all the things that he had ever wanted, he couldn't remember ever wanting anything more than he wanted to touch her. She was both strong and delicate. He'd never known a woman quite like her. His hands ached to touch her, even though he knew that touching would never be enough. He untied and loosened her bodice-lacing before he pushed her chemise from her shoulders, revealing her breasts to his gaze. She was as lovely as he had imagined her. Her breasts were small and plump, firm and feminine. He wasn't strong enough to deny himself anything where this woman was concerned. Wilhelm lowered his head and brushed his lips against the hardness of her right nipple. Elzebeth sucked in a breath. A low groan escaped her when he drew his tongue across her hard nipple. Wilhelm raised his head to look at her. Then, satisfied with what he saw of need on her face, he lowered his head again. He took her right nipple into his mouth and began to suck strongly on it. She clutched at Wilhelm's shoulders and shifted her hips restlessly. He was making her want him more than she had thought it possible that she could want 17

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any man. Desire swept through her. She felt her breasts become heavy. She felt herself become wet in anticipation of taking him within her. Women had spoken to her of the overwhelming desire they had felt for a man, desire that had robbed them of control. Until this moment, she had believed that their comments had only been a rationalization they had made to themselves and others when they had found themselves with child. Now, she knew the fire of which they had spoken. She feared that when it burned itself out, there would be nothing left of her. Yet, even knowing how hopeless this was, she couldn't bring herself to pull herself out of his arms. She wanted him as she had never known she could want. Wilhelm held her tightly, rose to his feet and then lowered both of them to the floor of the summer house. Then he shifted his body so that he was atop her, looking down. She looked up at him. There was need on his face, more need than she had ever seen on the face of any man, but there was also tenderness mixed with that need. Words of love hovered on her lips. Before they could spill out, his lips closed over hers once more, this time as fiercely demanding as the previous kisses were gentle. He was a man as intent on mating as any man had ever been. Elzebeth reached down and stroked the hard ridge of his penis through his leather leggings. The thin leather did little to disguise Wilhelm's state of arousal. God, how she wanted him. She knew that it was wrong. This was all wrong. But, she wanted him until the wanting was pain. Even though she knew there was no future, could be no future for them, she wanted this one single moment out of time. Her hand cupping and stroking him, even through the leather, was pushing him beyond all control. He pushed himself to his knees and unlaced the front of his leggings. He peeled the soft leather from his waist and hips.

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Elzebeth's breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. She had nursed enough sick men that the male anatomy was no mystery to her. But she had never seen any man so beautiful, so male, so exciting as the one who knelt before her. As badly as he wanted to make this last, to enjoy every moment, need was riding him hard. He pulled her skirt and chemise up over her hips and settled in between her legs. He wanted her as he had never wanted another woman. He heard her shocked gasp as he began to thrust his cock within her and felt the resistance of her virginity. He had suspected her to be a virgin, but now he knew for certain. Not wanting to hurt her, wanting to give her as much pleasure as she was giving him, he mentally coached himself to be gentle. Slowly, with shallow strokes that were stretching his control to the outer limits, he let her become accustomed to him. He almost asked her if he was hurting her, but he didn't want to know. It would be pointless. There was no stopping now. All he could do was try not to take more than he gave her in return. Finally, he was fully sheathed within her. Then he rolled over and brought her on top of him, keeping his cock fully within her. "Take what you want from me, beautiful Beth. Ride me as you will. I am yours, just as you are mine. Our pleasures belong to one another." She looked at him and smiled. "Teach me how to please you." "Discover what pleases you. That will please me." She began rotating her hips, swaying against him. He reached down with one hand and started fingering her clitoris as she was moving against him. The other hand teased her breasts. It was only a few turbulent moments later that he felt her begin to climax. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out as the waves of release shook her.

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Beth was only dimly aware of the dark, sexy words of encouragement and praise he whispered to her. As her vision dimmed, she closed her eyes and slumped down against him. Not letting her come gently down from that sensual high, he rolled them over, coming to be atop her. Her muscles clinched and released around him rewarding him in the contractions of her climax. When she came back to herself, she could still feel his hard cock within her, throbbing as her body finished contracting around him. He'd been with many women. None had ever been as openly giving, as honest in passion, as she was. Few had ever been half as physically responsive to him. He feathered kisses across her face. When she had calmed down, he buried his face in her throat as he drove himself hard and fast into her. Three strokes later, she felt his body stiffen. The warm pulsing of his semen shot into her as he moaned her name. Wilhelm rolled them over onto their sides, facing one another. He feathered light kisses over her face and then held her for the longest time. She was content to remain within his arms. "You must come to live with me at the castle," he told her as he held her. "You must. I do not wish to live without you by my side. I need you beside me. I need you in my life, in my bed, at my table." "You cannot marry me, my prince. Such a marriage is improbable, impractical, and completely beyond my grasp. Your marriage should be Muntele, a matter of state, a treaty between you and the prince of a neighboring principality in order to increase the power of both states by combining them under a single house. Still, I can think of nothing I would like better than to be your wife."

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He nodded as he stroked her face. "Yes. When I marry again it shall quite probably be Muntele, as you describe. That is the type of marriage I had with Anna, an alliance of lands and wealth but not a joining of hearts. However, I did not speak to you of marriage, fair Beth. Do not misunderstand me. Come. Live with me. Be my beloved bound concubine and the chatelaine of my Castle. I shall settle lands and titles upon our children. I promise you that they, and you, will be provided for always." His highborn wife, the Princess Anna, had died in childbirth less than a year after their marriage feast. Their son had been stillborn after a prolonged labor and a breech birth. Elzebeth had not been summoned to the castle to attend Princess Anna in childbirth, as Anna's royal father had sent his own physician to care for his daughter during her pregnancy. There were times that Elzebeth was absolutely certain men should not practice any of the healing arts. Wilhelm had shown little inclination to remarry during the five years since Anna's death. The realm needed an heir. The rumors were that the Emperor himself was trying to arrange for Wilhelm to marry, just for the sake of assuring the continuance of the royal line. The idea of Wilhelm, her Wilhelm, marrying anyone, bedding anyone, else filled her with a sick sadness and a rage she recognized as jealousy. "Titles," she replied quietly, putting aside those emotions for a moment. "Yes. Our children would be known as the bastard Barons." "Beth, you have yourself just spelled out the reasons I cannot marry you. Muntele marriage is a matter of property and inheritance. It is a matter of duty, not of desire, of diplomacy, not of love. On the other hand, a man of my rank's only chance at love lies in his taking of a concubine. Come. Live with me. Love me for myself, not for my crown, not for my wealth, not for my title, but for myself. Share my days and my nights. The pleasure we have just shared will only get better as we grow to know each other's bodies better."

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"No. I cannot live with you in concubinage. It would break my father's heart for his grandsons to be bastards." "I need you, Beth. And you need me. Deny it, I dare you." "You know I cannot deny the fire between us. I have many faults but dishonesty is not among them," she dismissed. Keeping her voice under control even though the idea of him even touching another woman was enough to make Beth want to both emasculate him and scratch out the woman's eyes was one of the most difficult things she had ever done. "You haven't the experience to know that what just passed between us is rare and precious," he told her gently. "But you have," she countered. "Yes, I have more experience in these matters than you do." "That can be remedied." "If I ever hear of you taking another man as lover, I will not be responsible for my actions," he told her in a profoundly jealous voice. "You belong to me. You gave yourself to me, and I intend to keep you." "Now, you know how I feel about you and all your women." He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "I cannot imagine life without you in it. Please come live with me and be my life." "If sex is simply all you need from me, I will not come. You could get sex from so many other women." He pulled away from her and began to re-lace his leggings. The blood on his penis only reinforced the knowledge in his mind of how seriously he had impacted her life during the last few moments. She refused to be his bound concubine, but now she could honorably be no other man's bride. Any other man would expect her to come to him as a virgin. She could come to him, or she

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could live her life alone. She deserved better than to be alone. She had too much to offer for her to be alone. He could not begin to imagine his wanting any other woman. He'd fallen in love with her. That thought brought him up short. When had she become this important to him? He wanted her with him. Bound Concubinage was a perfectly honorable state for a woman of her class. She couldn't be serious about wanting marriage, could she? "It is only your innocence that makes you describe what just happened between us as simple sex. It was so much more than that, Elzebeth. So much more." She sighed as she looked up at him. "I know it was." "You will let me know if there is a child resulting from our coupling," Prince Wilhelm said quietly. "I would see him raised as a gentleman." She smiled sadly and sighed as she rose to her feet and straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair. "Elzebeth, did you hear me?" "Yes, I heard you. Yes, I believe you would care for any child of yours whether legitimate or not. You are an honorable man. However, I'm sad to say it is the wrong time under the moon for a babe to be planted in my womb. My monthly flux is always with the full of the moon. That will be tomorrow. God speed thee on thy way, Will, my dearest. God keep thee safe." "I want you with me, Beth. I could withhold the money for the stables, unless you come to live with me," he offered quietly. Beth shook her head silently. "No. You couldn't do that. You, above all, are an honorable man. You have promised this to my father. It is independent of our desire for one another. You couldn't bring yourself to act so dishonorably."

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He looked at her for the longest time without speaking. "There are people who have known me all my life who do not understand me as well as you do, Beth." She kissed him lightly on the lips. "God be with thee, Wilhelm. Fare thee well." He smiled at her and touched her face. "The offer stands. Anytime you wish to come to me, I will welcome you with open arms." "Offer me something more than concubinage, my prince," she begged of him. "I haven't anything more to offer you, Beth," Wilhelm said quietly, reluctantly. "I wish that I did." "Haven't you? I believe that you have. Think about it. You will find a way. I'm not asking for Muntele. I know that is beyond what you can offer me as I come to you with so little in terms of property and wealth. However, I don't want our children to be taunted as whore's sons and bastards, Wilhelm. I don't want them to grow to hate us. I don't want to be sneered at and thought to be little better than a whore when I walk through the streets. I don't want men to leer at me speculatively and make suggestive comments to me as though my body were for sale to the highest bidder. You know as well as I do that is the treatment concubines receive. It is beyond my understanding how you can profess to care for me while you would put me in that position." He sighed. "I see your point. There has to be a way for us to be together. I want you with me. You see a way, Beth. Tell me." "Friedehele." He was quiet for a moment. "You would settle for a second class marriage? Knowing that I could send you away at any time and that you would have no claim upon my purse?" "It would be better than being a concubine, Will. I'd be your legal wife and our children would be legitimate. You'd still be free to contract a Muntele, if you 24

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so desired. We both know that you may find it politically necessary to make such an alliance. However, it is the best we can do, given the difference in our status. I should be the happiest woman in your realm if I were your wife. Think about it." He looked at her for a long moment, then walked away without another word to her. By the time that she had gathered the plate, napkin, and stein, and had walked part of the way back to the cottage, he was on his horse. She heard him bid her father goodbye. Then she watched him ride away from her without even looking back once.

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Chapter Two She went to the well. Wilhelm hadn't completely refilled the cask with water. She drew the final bucket of water. The laundry still needed to be done. When she was preparing to light the fire in the fire ring to put the water on to boil, her father was sitting outside with the roll of velum holding the sketches for the new stables before him. He looked up and smiled at her. "Beth, my child, I need to go see the master of the mason's guild and the master of the quarry. The stables should be up within a month, if the stone is available." "The stone should be available. I gave the quarry master a deposit for him to begin cutting the stone." "How much of a deposit?" "Ten marks." "Beth!" "It's done, Father." He nodded. "So it is. Let's go make arrangements for the work." She hadn't seen that degree of animation in her father's face since before the fire. "Go on, then, Father. The laundry still needs to be done." "Leave it. We won't die if the sheets on the beds are less than fresh for one more day. We can go into town in the gig. We'll visit the brewmeister and get a fresh keg of ale. Then you can visit the draper." "What do I need to see the draper for?" "Fine cloth, my dear. You should have new clothes. I will be able to provide a proper dowry for you once the stables are running properly again. Prince 26

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Wilhelm made me realize that it is past time for you to think of marriage. I've been greedy keeping you with me this long. The prince talked of finding you a match from among his men. We can't have them thinking you poor, can we? You must show to advantage. You are a beautiful woman and you should have beautiful things." She shook her head and sighed. She didn't want to disappoint her father. "Very well, Father dear. We shall go into town and conduct business. Give me time to wash and change into something more presentable." After she removed her clothes, she washed briefly in cold water from the basin and pitcher in her curtained-off bednook. She cringed when she washed blood and semen from between her legs. How in the world could she have been so blindly female to make love, to fall in love, with Wilhelm? There was no future with him. No future, just a memory. She supposed that was better than nothing. She mentally advised herself to hang onto the memory, because that would be all she would ever have of him. Somehow, she hadn't expected that realization would hurt this badly. She put on her best clothes and brushed her hair. Then she put her hair into pigtails and braided each pigtail. She wrapped the braids into a coronet on her head. It was a more practical solution to her hair, she decided. Besides, she felt like a hypocrite wearing her hair down when she was no longer a virgin. Then she covered her hair with a veil. Only loose women went about in public with their heads uncovered. As she thought it would, her period began the next day. All day long, she wanted to cry for the child that never would be. Yet she had held her tears until she was alone in bed that night and her father was soundly asleep. She told herself that she wasn't crying over wanting Wilhelm, over missing him. But she knew that was a lie. Her heart was breaking over him.

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During the next few long, lonely nights, she dreamed of Wilhelm.

She

dreamed of living in the castle, sharing his bed, of presiding with him over dinners, of sitting beside him at Mass, of watching him touch her belly when she was great with child and of having that child kick Wilhelm's hand, of seeing the wonder and love on his face as he held their son. Then she dreamed of the day she knew would come, must come, when he announced to her that the daughter of another ruling house would be arriving to be his bride, therefore, she must leave him. She had awoken shaking, heartbroken by the loss of that which she had loved more than life. Yet she reminded herself that they were only dreams. Dreams and memories were all she had of him. Of course, she was surprised that she was able to dream at all given how exhausted she was each night when she finally was able to drag herself off to bed. Beth and her father had dug out the trench for the foundation of the new stables that week. By the time that Friday morning had rolled around, she was more than glad to see the job almost completed. They had dug each day during the week in addition to their other normal chores. At evening she sat and sewed on the fine clothing that her father had wanted her to have. The fine clothing project seemed a total waste of time and money to her. She wouldn't marry anyone, now. Her body now belonged to Wilhelm, just as her heart always had. She kept thinking of his offer to share his life with her, even in the small capacity he offered her. Perhaps, she argued with herself, sharing his life as his concubine would be better than nothing. Yet, she couldn't convince herself of that. The rational part of her mind told her that she had to accept that they were simply not meant to be together. Still, her heart kept dreaming of the improbable, that he would offer her any form of marriage.

*****

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On Friday about noon, she pulled a shovel full of dirt out of the trench they were digging and saw something unusual as she hit the shovel on the ground to dump the dirt. She stopped for a moment then reached for the object. She brushed the dirt from a small, thick-walled, gold bowl. "What did you find, Daughter?" "Let me clean it up and I'll tell you." He followed her over to where she was trying to wash the bowl. "It's gold," she said. "Who in the world would make a gold mortar? How impractical! No one could use this for anything. Gold's just too soft to hold up to grinding." "Are you sure it isn't brass, daughter?" "It's gold, Father. I am certain. Nothing else has the feel or weight of gold. Feel for yourself." He nodded as he held the container. "Do you suppose that the pestle is here as well?" "All we can do is to sieve the soil to try to find it." They spent the rest of that day and most of the next going through the soil they had dug up using her flour screens, looking for the pestle. But they didn't find the companion tool to the mortar. Sunday morning, after returning home from Mass, Johann turned to his daughter. "We should take this to Prince Wilhelm and present it to him as a gift in gratitude for his loan of the remainder of the money to build the stables." "No, Father, we haven't found the pestle. Wilhelm will want both mortar and pestle, if he is given either part." Yet Johann did not listen to his daughter. He saddled up his horse on Sunday afternoon and he rode to the Castle.

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Prince Wilhelm welcomed Beth's father warmly and asked him to sit with him. "Why have you come, Johann?" "My daughter found this while we were digging the foundation for the new stables on Friday. We would be delighted if you would accept this as a gift." Johann handed the gold mortar to his prince. The small gold bowl was wrapped in linen. Wilhelm unwrapped it. "This is extraordinary. You say you found it while digging?" "My daughter dug it up." "Did you not find the pestle to go with this?" "We found only the mortar, my prince." "I would very much like to have the pestle as well," Wilhelm said. "My prince, we would be happy to give it to you if we had it. My daughter told me that you would want both pieces, if I gave you the mortar." Wilhelm smiled. "She did, did she?" he mused. "Your daughter seems a remarkably wise woman." Johann nodded in agreement. "She is wiser than her father, obviously." "I should like to speak with her in the matter of this gold mortar. Until she comes, you shall be my guest." Then Wilhelm clapped his hands and two of his guards escorted Johann from the great hall. He was taken to a small windowless room and the door was locked and barred behind him. "Ah! But if I had only listened to my daughter!" he moaned. Wilhelm then sent a group of ten armed and mounted guards to fetch Beth. She was seated outside the cottage to do her darning because the light was better outside than in the cottage. When the group rode up to the cottage, Beth knew there was trouble. But she kept working at her darning. 30

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"Are you Elzebeth, Johann's daughter?" one of the prince's guards demanded. "I am." "Prince Wilhelm summons you to court. You will come with us, now." "Very well," she said putting her darning back in her work-basket as she rose from the bench. "Would you be so kind as hitch the black gelding with the white blaze and socks to the gig, while I change into suitable clothing for appearing at court." The soldier nodded. "Yes. I'll hitch the horse for you. Do not dawdle." "I shan't be any longer than it takes you to catch and hitch the horse. His name is Starlight. He knows it and will come when called." Beth put on her new gown. The fine white linen was soft against her skin. Then she put on the pale green surcoat—lacing it at the waist to accentuate her figure. Next came the braided leather belt which went around her waist then hung low on her hips and from which she hung her keys as a sign of rank as the keeper of her father's house. She took down her hair, brushed it, and then braided it into two braids, one on each side of her head. Then she wound each braid into a coil at each side of her head. She covered her hair with an open work crocheted cap. Then she pinned a fine lawn veil to the cap. Kid gloves covered her work marked hands. If she were going to face Wilhelm in his territory, she would appear to every advantage. Wilhelm would want the pestle. She removed the purse containing the rest of her stash of gold coins from beneath the loose stone. The chances were that she would need to bargain with him. At least, this way, she'd have something to bargain with. She tied the strings of the purse to her belt. She wished that she had a real mirror to check her appearance. She had to settle for an imperfect reflection in the bottom of a copper kettle.

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The soldiers were just finishing hitching the gig. She double-checked the hitching before she climbed up onto the seat of the two-wheeled vehicle. She probably should have simply had them saddle Thunder, the gelding she normally rode, but she didn't think that she could ride while wearing this gown. The skirt was just too narrow to be able to ride astride without hiking the gown up to her knees. It would be slower going to the castle this way, but it would be more dignified to arrive at court on the gig, than on horseback. There was no conversation on the way to the castle. Upon arriving at the castle, she was escorted to the antechamber of the great hall. The porter announced her, "Your Highness, my lords and ladies, Elzebeth Johann's daughter." She drew a deep breath, held her head high and walked into the great hall. The room was filled with chattering people. Wilhelm was seated on his throne on a dais at the far end of the room. She met his eyes. The attraction between them remained as it had been. Elzebeth could see that much in his eyes even though desire warred with duty there. She was tempted to run across the room and throw herself into his arms. However, she forced herself to walk slowly in a dignified manner. She had been summoned to answer to the Prince, not to her lover. As she walked across the room, the chattering stopped. She felt the eyes of all upon her back. Beth came to stop five feet from the dais, dropped a deep curtsey, and then knelt on the rushes covering the stone floor. When she spoke, her voice was clear and strong, "My lord prince, I have come at your summons. What is it that you require of me?" "Tell us what you know of this object, Elzebeth," Wilhelm demanded as he took the gold mortar into his hand. "It appears, my liege, to be the gold mortar I discovered while helping my father dig the foundation for the new stables." 32

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"You were digging?" Wilhelm asked. "I was." "Many of my courtiers would find that impossible to believe," Wilhelm replied. She removed her gloves. "Then let them look at my hands, my lord prince, and see the marks of work upon them. They are honest marks and I am not ashamed of them. I do not shy away from doing the work that needs to be done." Wilhelm smiled. "No. I do not believe that you do. Even though it is Sunday, you have probably done more work than most of the people in this room do in a week. Tell me what you have done today." "Milked the cows, separated the cream, made butter, started the rest of the milk into process to become cheese. I removed a wheel of cheese from the cheese press and sealed it with warm beeswax, wrapped it in cloth, then I put it in the root cellar to age. Then I cut the curds on a batch of cheese I began earlier in the week, drained the whey from the curds, and put the curds into the cheese press. I mixed a mash with the whey to feed to the pigs, then gave grain and water to the horses, fed the chickens and the cow. Collected the eggs. Went to Mass. Came home. Then I cooked a simple meal for both my father and myself. I tidied the cottage. Then I made the day's eggs into noodles and laid them out to dry. When that was done, I took up my work-basket and began to work on the darning that needed to be done. That's where I was when your men came for me. I changed clothing while they were kind enough to hitch a horse to my gig. That has been about all I've done today. Now, answer a question for me." "Certainly." "Where is my father?" "I have him in custody." "Custody? You mean that you have him under arrest?"

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Wilhelm nodded once from his throne, his eyes not leaving her face. He didn't like the sudden pallor of her face. She was afraid. The only question in his mind was whether she was afraid because she had something to hide. How did she really come by the mortar? "Under arrest? Why? He has done nothing evil!" she protested. "He is goodness itself. There isn't a kinder, more honest man in all the land! He has never harmed anyone, in any way. Why would you have him under arrest?" "This gold mortar matches the description of one that was stolen from the Emperor's store room twenty-three years ago," Wilhelm continued. "I know nothing about that. We found the mortar buried in the earth, my prince, on Friday." "You found it on Friday? Why did it take you this long to bring it to me?" She sighed heavily. When she spoke, her tone was one of a mixture of strained patience and gentle rebuke that she would have used with a particularly stupid child. "I knew that you would want the pestle as well as the mortar. We spent the rest of the day on Friday as well as all day on Saturday sieving the soil we had dug up, looking for the pestle. We did not find the pestle. Perhaps, if your highness were to dispatch a gang of men to dig up the whole field there might be a slim chance of finding the pestle. Yet, that amount of work is quite beyond the ability of both one old man—whose strength has not yet come fully back after having been seriously burned—and one woman. We have done the best we could my prince. I suspect the amount of pay necessary for a crew to determine whether or not the pestle is buried anywhere near the place the mortar was found would be worth more than the value of the pestle." "Are you rebuking me, Elzebeth?" Wilhelm demanded in the voice she was coming to know as his "I am your liege" voice.

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"It is not my place as one of your subjects to rebuke you, my lord prince. Even the Lord God waits until after a man is dead to judge him," she replied with a smile. Wilhelm, although he tried, couldn't contain his laughter. The members of the court also laughed. "You should laugh more often, my liege," she observed, her voice tender, when the room became quiet once more. "It suits you well." "The Emperor will want his property returned," Wilhelm warned quietly. "Then send it back to him. I should be glad to take it to the court of the Emperor in order to restore it to him, if your highness would provide me with a suitable escort to assure my safety during the journey." "That will not be necessary, Elzebeth, as the Emperor is due to pay us a visit in three month's time. His mortar will be returned to him then. He would be most pleased if that gift also included the head of the thief." "My father has never been anywhere near the Emperor's court!" she said firmly, not quite able to keep the panic out of her tone. "And I not was even born at the time of the disappearance of the Emperor's property! We found the mortar, buried in the earth on Friday. Go out to where we will be building the new stables and look at the footings we have dug for the foundation. It is a happenstance that we came across this gold object. Are you so eager to please the Emperor that you would orchestrate a miscarriage of justice on this large of a scale, that you would take the life of an innocent man? I would not have believed it of you, my prince. I cannot believe it of you. I will not believe it of you. You have a larger regard for justice than to act so unjustly." "You sound as though you are trying to convince yourself of that," Wilhelm observed. She sighed raggedly and blinked back the tears she felt forming in her eyes. This couldn't be happening. It was all so unjust. Was she trying to convince 35

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herself of his honor? No, she decided, she knew him to be a good and honorable man. If this gold mortar had belonged to the Emperor, then of course he had to investigate the finding. Even if it didn't belong to the Emperor, the finding of an object of his value would necessitate an inquiry. With that understanding, she brought herself under back control. "My liege, I beg you to consider this one fact. My father has already passed through what amounts to a trial by fire over the last two months. If his soul had been marked with the darkness of evil on the scale of what you believe to be a grand theft, do you for one moment believe that he could have survived the burns?" The royal chancellor spoke up, "She argues well, my prince. Trial by fire, like trial by water, is an accepted method of determining guilt. A woman who falls into a deep river and floats is summarily executed for the practice of witchcraft. So this man who has suffered great burns and who has survived must be summarily acquitted of the charge of theft.

As a legal argument, what she

proposes holds substantial merit." She looked at Wilhelm for a long moment as she thought hard and fast. "Therefore my prince, since you know the law as well as his grace your chancellor does, you must have possessed some alternate purpose in summoning me and in detaining my poor father. You are not given to pointless cruelty." Wilhelm tried hard, and failed, to suppress his grin. "Such winsome backhanded compliments. You say you have no idea where the pestle is?" She untied the bag of gold coins from her girdle. She held the bag in her hand, feeling the weight of the gold and wondering if it would be enough. "I do not have the pestle. I do not know where the pestle is. No one that I know has had anything to do with this mortar except to find and then to present it to you. I do however have sufficient gold in this purse that your goldsmith should be able to fashion a pestle of sufficient size and weight to match this mortar. As you must now have the pestle, I offer you this bag of coin." 36

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"How much gold is in that bag?" Wilhelm asked. "Fifty marks, my liege." There was a murmur run through the court. Elzebeth did not break eye contact with Wilhelm. "How came you by that much money?" "It is the coin of my dowry, my liege." "Why would you give up money from your dowry?" he demanded. "What does an old maid like myself need with a dowry? I will quite likely never marry. My father's life and freedom are worth far more than money. Money can always be replaced. If the amount of gold in this purse is not enough, then I shall also give to you my mare Moonshine. She is worth at least fifteen marks as she is in foal to the winner of last year's fall fair prize race. The foal will be swift, my liege. You will not be put at a disadvantage if you take her in trade towards the amount of gold necessary to fashion a replacement pestle." "I want neither your coin nor your horse, Elzebeth." "Very well. What do you want, my liege? If I have it, or can obtain it, you may have it as ransom for my father. Just tell me what you want." "Do you consider yourself to be a wise and thoughtful person, Elzebeth?" he asked, his tone gentle. She tilted her head sideways as she looked at him, thoughtfully. What was he after? "A woman has to be particularly careful, my lord prince, not to assess herself as a wit in light of the chance that she may be only half correct in that assessment." Several courtiers behind her laughed. Elzebeth did not turn to identify them. Wilhelm chuckled as well. "Will you take the challenge of a riddle?" "A riddle, my lord prince? At what stakes?" she asked carefully. "What do you want more than anything else in the entire world, Elzebeth?" 37

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"My father's freedom," she answered without a hesitation. "Aside from your father's freedom, what do you desire? If you could have anything else in the world that you wanted, what would that thing be?" Wilhelm asked pointedly. "Anything, my liege?" "Anything. No matter how improbable, impractical, or beyond your grasp you might consider it, Elzebeth. What is the one thing that you would want more than you would want any other thing? What would make you the happiest woman in my realm?" She heard the echo of her own earlier words to him as they had been in the summerhouse together. Surely, he couldn't mean to have her publicly ask for his hand in marriage as the prize for solving the riddle. Could he? There was only one way to know. She would simply have to ask. Yet, she needed to clarify this before stepping so completely beyond acceptable behavior. "My lord prince, are you completely certain that you mean to put yourself at hazard to this degree over the simple matter of a riddle?" she asked carefully. "I could ask for something that people might find truly scandalous." "If it is within my power, at all, to give it to you, you shall have whatever you ask for your prize if you can solve the riddle no matter how scandalous it is." With hope that she wasn't making an utter fool of herself, she said, "Let me understand you, my liege. I understand that I may, by your leave, ask for anything as a prize for solving this riddle of yours?" "Not anything. I wish for you to ask for that one object, event, or circumstance which would make you the most happy, Elzebeth. More than a mere wish, I command you to name this as your prize." "Know that it is only by your command, my prince, I ask this."

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"Ask, Elzebeth," he said when she hesitated. "Simply ask, and you shall have it." "I should like to be your beloved wife and the mother of your many fine sons and daughters. That would make me the happiest woman in your realm, if not the world." There was a shocked gasp from many of the courtiers. Then there was silence in the great hall as everyone waited for the response of the prince. Wilhelm gave a great bark of satisfied laughter. "Very well, Elzebeth, Johann's Daughter, if you can solve this riddle, you will come freely to my court and I shall take you as my lady wife in Friedehele marriage. I cannot promise you the children. Those are in God's gift. But I do doubt that we shall have any lack of trying for them." Elzebeth's face grew warm. She knew that she had to be blushing quite boldly. "My son," a man who could only be Wilhelm's chaplain, Father Maximilian, spoke up and walked towards him. "It is not seemly to make marriage the prize for a riddle." "Do not lecture me, Priest, on deportment," Wilhelm answered sharply. "I shall do as I wish. Elzebeth made the prize stakes, not I. Talk to her. She is as bold as she is wise and beautiful." She was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "It matters not, good Father, what the prize stakes are," she told the priest. "He must consider the riddle to be well neigh impossible to solve if he is willing to offer to be such an open-handed selection of prize for success." "The riddle is quite difficult," Wilhelm allowed.

"Many would find it

impossible." She looked at him and nodded. "I should imagine. Therefore there has to be a substantial penalty for not solving it. The stakes for this riddle are quite likely a 39

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two-sided coin. You have had me name the prize for the face of the coin. What is the penalty that lies along the tail of this most tempting coin? What do you really want from me, Wilhelm?" Wilhelm smiled at her. "If you cannot solve the riddle, you will come of your own free will to my court and live here as my bound concubine and chatelaine," Wilhelm stated. "I will provide well in terms of land, titles, and money for any children of our union. This is my solemn promise to you, Elzebeth. And that promise will be yours in writing at the time you enter into concubinage." "Seems that Your Highness will possess me, either way, should I accept the challenge of the riddle," she answered dryly. Wilhelm smiled and chuckled. "Seems that way, does it not? But recall you yourself set the stakes for the victory prize. I did not impose the prize stakes upon you." "And if I decline to accept the challenge of the riddle?" "We needn't discuss that," he said quietly. "You shall not decline to undertake the riddle. It would be out of keeping for your personality for you to do so." She looked at him for a long moment. "On the contrary, we do need to discuss this. I must know the conditions surrounding this entire challenge. What are the consequences if I decline the riddle?" "My armorer shall construct a chastity belt for you, Elzebeth. I shall have the only key. If I may not have you, then no other man ever shall. You shall remain my guest until the device is completed. Then you may go home. I will inspect the belt at random intervals, to make certain that it remains in place." Elzebeth heard the murmur of the court behind her. None of them clearly liked this. "And if it doesn't remain in place?" she challenged. "Locks, my prince, can be picked, metal filed through, hinges broken." 40

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"If it's tampered with, then you'll go to a convent. I'd pay the nuns quite well to keep you under lock and key," he said firmly, leaving her no doubt of how serious he was about having her to himself. She sighed heavily. "I see. And I have no choice in this matter, at all?" "I have not sought to command your obedience in this." "You would not be so foolish as to try. You can command the body, my liege, but you cannot compel my heart. Am I to be allowed the luxury of hearing the riddle before I decide whether to undertake it or not, my liege?" "No. You must decide without hearing it." She sighed heavily. "We both know that you have given me no real choice in the matter," she said with resignation in her voice. "But, that was the point of the exercise, was it not?" "You will undertake the riddle?" "Yes. I will take the challenge of the riddle. But then again, you knew I would rise to the challenge or you would not have orchestrated this peculiarly public folly. There are conditions to my taking the challenge, however." "I did not doubt it," Prince Wilhelm said wearily. "What do you want, Elzebeth? Money, property, jewels, land, titles?" "Careful, my liege, you are perilously close to insulting me beyond all redemption," she warned, her voice frosty. "There are particularly ugly names for women who trade men sexual satisfaction for money or other gain. I have never been, nor will I ever be, one of their number." "Most women care quite a lot for wealth," he dismissed with a shrug. "I am not most women, my liege. You do both of us a disservice by thinking so. My father and I have lived quite well to this date on the product of the labors of our hands. I have no need, or desire, for vast material wealth or titles of honor."

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"Very well. If you do not wish for wealth or rank, what are your conditions for accepting the challenge of the riddle?" "The first is that my father must go free immediately." "If I set him free, what would be my guarantee that you would attempt the riddle?" "I have given you my word that I shall. That should be enough of a guarantee. If it is not, if you cannot trust me this far that I will honor my promises, then we have no business walking further along this road we have begun to take. Any more intimate relationship between us would be a disaster if you can not bring yourself to trust me to honor my word to you." "You are speaking to me in an offended tone, Elzebeth," he warned. "Yes, my prince, I am. I am gravely offended by this entire circumstance. Let us speak plainly together." "By all means." "You have taken my father as hostage and have sent no fewer than ten menat-arms to compel my attendance at court. You have clearly demonstrated both your power and my powerlessness, as that difference needed demonstration. Applying further coercion would be a mistake you would live to regret." Wilhelm's nostril's flared and his eyes narrowed into slits. He was clearly angry. "Are you threatening me?" Wilhelm demanded, sitting forward on his throne. "No, my liege. To this point, the threats—both stated and implied—have been entirely on your part. I am simply reminding you that my cooperation is mine to give or to withhold. That is the one factor in this entire situation that is beyond your control. By coercion, you could possess my body. Everyone in this room knows that. You are stronger than I am. Not a person in this room, except perhaps your chaplain, would make any effort to caution you away from such an enterprise. 42

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“I am warning you, my liege,” she continued, “you would never possess the fullness of the woman before you if I am forced to share your bed. You are a man well practiced in the arts of love, if even a tithe of the rumors which circulate about you are true. You might be able to wring a woman's response from my unwilling body as we lie together within the darkness of your heavily curtained bed. I have been told by many of my patients that passion is a harsh and strange master taking women into areas they had not previously believed themselves capable of venturing. Yet by coercion, you shall never be able to command my heart. “Sex, you can get from any number of women. A true mingling of souls, whatever the legal relationship is called between us, would be a treasure you would profoundly regret losing," she replied, as she blinked back the tears she felt begin to well up. It wouldn't do to let him know how much this was disturbing her. Above everything else, she needed to project calm. "Very well. There is no coercion. I agree to your condition. Your father goes free, immediately." "There is one more condition. My father will be alone when I am gone from the cottage. He will need to hire a woman to cook and care for him in my absence. It is likely that he will need to hire two women to do my work. Most women aren't willing to work as steadily as I do and most do not have my range of skills. You will give my father a sum of five marks for every year or part of a year I am with you. The first five marks you will give him today, before he leaves. " "You negotiate a hard bargain, fair one," Wilhelm observed. "You ask a hard thing of me, my prince," she countered. "If that riddle is truly beyond solving, you ask me to put marriage forever behind me, to have my children be bastards, even though you desperately need a legitimate heir. If the riddle is solvable, the marriage you offer gives me no guarantee of permanence

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or of property. Our children would only be your heirs if you fail to have children within a Muntele marriage with a woman of property and rank. It is a secondclass marriage. Either way—concubinage or Friedehele—you are always free to send me away at any time should I displease you. This is a hard situation." "There is nothing wrong with a Friedehele marriage, Beth. Even the Emperor himself gave his daughters in Friedehele marriage to their husbands. Think of it as protection for yourself if you are unhappy in the marriage. Your property remains yours and if I prove to be an insufficient spouse, you are always free to leave me, as well." "The Emperor's daughters are completely different situations, my prince. The Emperor lent his daughters to their husbands so that his daughters' dowries would not pass from his control into the families of their husbands. He was trying to make sure that his daughters were loved for themselves and not for their wealth," Beth explained. "That is vastly different from our situation, my liege." "Not so different. You are a woman of substantial enough wealth. Relatively few women can come to their husbands with a dowry like yours. You own fortyeight fine horses, twenty-three pigs, twenty chickens, two cows, two calves, a gig, and many other things. You earn more than a hundred marks a year in your practice of the healing arts and midwifery. There is not a year for the last eight that you have left the fall-fair with less than two hundred marks in your purse from the sale of your cheeses, hams, bacon, and sausages. Each of the last five years you've had a minimum of another two hundred marks from the sale of horses. What have you done with these moneys you have earned, Elzebeth?" "You have been doing some investigating, my liege," she observed, not wanting to answer him. "I've always done my best to hide the value of my dower, so not to be a target for men looking for a small fortune instead of love." "I don't want your fortune, Elzebeth."

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"I have no wish for access to your purse, either, Wilhelm." "What have you done with all the moneys you have earned?" he asked again. "Does it really matter?" "I've only been able to find out about some of your substantial charitable works." "A woman's charity should remain between her, the people she aids, and God, my liege. It is none of anyone else's business, thus should not be a matter for public display," Beth said firmly. "I beg of you not to make public anything that you know of my charitable works." Father Maximilian, Wilhelm's chaplain, spoke up, "She is quite correct, my prince. God rewards in heaven the charitable works done in secret, but the charity men do for public praise already has its' reward on earth." "You will undertake the riddle?" Wilhelm demanded of Elzebeth, changing the subject. "I have said I would, under my conditions. At least, if I win, I will have some degree of protection for our future children," she said quietly. "You know that I must undertake the solution of the riddle, for their sake alone." Wilhelm looked at the pain on her face and regretted inflicting this on her. But this seemed the best way to accomplish this. "Beth, fair one," he said tenderly. "My father is to be released, immediately, Will. This is part of the deal," she countered firmly. He nodded. "Of course." He turned looked at his chief guard, "See to it." "Yes, my liege," the man answered. "He leaves here with the money, and with an armed guard to see him safely home," she said quietly, but firmly. "Of course."

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She glanced over to the chancellor. He smiled at her. The chancellor said, "I think, my liege, that you have chosen well. She has a good head on her shoulders, is strong of body, mind, and will. She shall not be easily tossed about by court intrigue. Your father would have approved of such a woman." "Johann the Horseman," the porter announced. Her father walked over to where Elzebeth knelt. He knelt down as well. He took his daughter's hand in his. She looked at him and smiled. But there was little joy in her eyes. "Johann, your daughter has convinced me that you had nothing to do with the theft of this mortar from the Emperor's treasure room," Wilhelm said. "She is a loyal and passionate advocate. Your life is spared. An armed guard will escort you to the stonemasons' and the quarry with the money you need to rebuild the stables. This money is a freely given gift from me to you, Johann. You have my profoundest apology for any distress I caused you in detaining you during the investigation of the origins of this gold mortar." Beth looked at Wilhelm in disbelief. If she lived to be a thousand, she knew that she would never understand the man. "Your highness is entirely too kind," Johann replied quietly, not quite sure of the situation. "Your daughter will return home shortly," Wilhelm said. "She will likely be home before you, yourself, arrive there." "Elzebeth?" her father asked carefully. "His highness and I were just discussing my future matrimonial plans, Father," she said quietly. Johann smiled broadly. "Has he made a match for you, then, Daughter?"

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"Perhaps. We are still discussing it," Elzebeth replied carefully. "Go home now Father. No questions, I pray thee." Johann heard the false calm in her voice and he didn't like it. He turned to the prince and asked in a tone of quiet parental outrage, "What have you done to my daughter?" "Father, please, just go home. His highness and I have a wager on a riddle. If I win, he will marry me." Her father looked at her for a long moment. "And if you lose, Daughter?" "I remain here for as long as he wants me to remain, as his bound concubine," she answered quietly. Her father squeezed her hand tightly. "Beth, I trust you. I've never known you to fail at any mind game. Do not fail now." "He thinks it's virtually impossible to solve," Elzebeth said flatly. "Then again," her father said with a chuckle in his voice, "he doesn't know you that well, does he?" Elzebeth answered her father's chuckle with a genuine laugh of her own. Suddenly, things didn't look so bad. Her father had confidence in her. Just knowing that gave her more confidence in herself. Then she looked at Wilhelm. Instead of seeing him as the prince, she saw him only as the man she loved. "The time has come, Wilhelm, for you to reveal the riddle you feel is so impossible." "I will marry you, Elzebeth, if you can come to me here tomorrow no later than noonday, not clothed but not naked, not riding but not walking, not on the road but not off the road." The courtiers present gasped and then laughed nervously as though they were certain that what he asked was impossible. What he asked were all

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seemingly mutually exclusive things. There was no way, on the surface, to meet these conditions. Elzebeth thought about the riddle for a moment, then smiled and laughed boldly. “This is the sum of your riddle, my prince? Not on the road but not off the road, not riding but not walking, not clothed but not naked? And by noon tomorrow?" Wilhelm looked at her carefully and nodded. "That is the riddle, Elzebeth." "Very well. By your leave, my liege, I have preparations to make to meet your challenge," Elzebeth replied with a large smile. "I shall see you no later than noon tomorrow, here. I will have your word that there will be no underhanded dealings such as may prevent an honest fulfilling of the conditions." "Such as?" Wilhelm demanded. "A terribly convenient roadblock between my father's house and this castle. A porter with instructions not to admit me until after noon. Your being elsewhere when I come. An attack on the cottage with assailants who prevent my coming. The list goes on and on, my liege, shall I continue?" "No. I think not. You insult my honor." "Then the score of that game is even between us for you have insulted my honor severely this day," she replied strongly. Then she brought herself back under control. "I should leave, now, before much harsher public words are traded between us. People regret many things said in the heat of a moment. And I fear that we will long be dealing with the exchanges of this day as it is." "You will have guards so that you will come to no harm, Elzebeth. The guards will give you what assistance you may require." "I shall ride with my father. By your leave?" "Godspeed thee until thy safe return, Elzebeth my lovely one."

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She rose to her feet and backed away from him until she was half way across the room, then she turned to walk away. "Beth?" Wilhelm called after her. She turned and looked at him. "Yes, Will?" "Until tomorrow," he said with a smile. "I shall win. You should be prepared." "We shall see," Wilhelm said with a smile. "Indeed we shall, Wilhelm. Indeed, we shall."

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Chapter Three She walked away without another word to anyone. The chancellor brought out a bag of gold and silver coins as they were preparing to leave the castle. He was accompanied by his lady, Bertha. Elzebeth had attended Bertha at the birth of her youngest child who was now a strapping boy of eight. It had been the first birth that Elzebeth had served as midwife after her mother's death. "This is the money for your father's housekeeping expenses and for the price of having the stables rebuilt," the chancellor told her. She took the bag of money from the chancellor and poured it out into the chancellor's hands and counted the Thalers, half Mark, and Mark coins. It was all there, including the ten marks to replace that she had already given the quarry master. She put the coin back into the bag and handed the bag to her father. Then she looked at the chancellor and his lady.

"This situation is so

unworthy of him. He could have simply asked my father for my hand in marriage. He didn't need to go to these extremes." The chancellor's shook his head negatively. "I believe that he did have to go to these extremes. He maneuvered you into a public declaration of your desire to be his wife. Men of rank and wealth are frequently desperate creatures when they love a woman, needing to know that they are wanted for themselves instead of what they can give a woman. You have given him that public acknowledgment that you care more for him than his wealth and power." Bertha, the chancellor's lady, continued, "I cannot tell you how happy I am for both of you. I've seen him with other women. You touch his heart in a way

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that no one else ever has, or ever will. I wish you all the luck tomorrow. He needs you, Elzebeth. And he has the good sense to know it." "I can only hope that is the case, my lady." "Just love him, Elzebeth," Bertha continued. "Love is the one thing he's never had in any real abundance. He doesn't trust many people. Life has taught him hard lessons about trust. But he has a good heart, under all the layers of protective calluses that have formed over it. Give him a chance. He'll be a good husband to you, Elzebeth. You will never have doubt of his faithfulness. He will be a good father." "You've known him longer than I have," she dismissed. "How does a woman reach a man like that?" "The same way the one deals with a wounded bear. Very carefully," Bertha advised. "I'll keep it in mind, my lady." "You will win tomorrow?" the chancellor asked. "Or I'll die trying," she told the chancellor seriously. He smiled at her. "You are exactly what he needs. I wish you luck." "Luck is the face God wears when He wishes to remain anonymous," she answered quietly as she climbed aboard the gig. Her father had tied his horse to the back of the gig and had taken his seat beside her. "God has precious little to do with this situation. Good day, Chancellor, my lady Bertha."

They drove in relative silence. On the way home, they stopped at the homes of the masters of the stonemason's guild and the quarry. Her father paid both men half their bill for the work to be done. The rest would be paid at the completion of their work. He was given written receipts for both sums.

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After that, she drove the gig down to the river. A fisherman was sitting along shore, mending his net. "Good fisherman!" Elzebeth called out to him. "My lady!" he answered as he rose and walked over to her. "I need the use of your net for one day. What do you usually make for a day's work?" "On a good day, gracious lady, I earn half a Thaler." Based on what she normally paid for fish, she thought he was probably doubling or tripling what he really earned fishing. But she needed the net. It was big enough for what she had in mind. "Would you sell your net for a mark, good fisherman?" Elzebeth offered. He looked at her as though she were crazy. "Yes, gracious lady, a mark would replace my net and provide my living for the time that I am without a net." "Give the net to one of my men," she instructed as she handed the fisherman the gold coin. "Thank you, gracious lady." "No. Thank you, good fisherman." Elzebeth drove on towards home. "Does the net take care of the not riding and not walking provision? Are you to be carried?" her father asked. "I do not wish to discuss it right now, Father." "When we get home, Daughter." "When we get back to the cottage, we will talk. There are too many ears, now." Her father nodded.

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"You are usually a better trader than that. The fisherman took advantage of you." "On the contrary, I would have gleefully given him fifty marks for that net. Nothing less than my future happiness lies in the balance, Father. That is worth a small fortune." The guards, after making sure that the cottage was safe, took up their positions outside guarding the cottage. Elzebeth wasn't really sure if they were here for her safety or to make sure that she didn't run away. Either way, it really didn't matter. Elzebeth excused herself and went into her bednook to change clothes. She came back into the main room of the cottage wearing her work clothes, instead of her court finery. "I shouldn't have taken that mortar to him," her father said. "You were right." "Oh, Father, it doesn't matter now. We need to make plans, for I shall not be here with you after tomorrow—one way or another." "Tell me how you plan to solve his riddle. It seems impossible on the first hearing." "No, it's almost too simple, which means I'm quite likely overlooking something." Then she explained her plan to him. He sat back and nodded. "That is an elegant solution. I see nothing that you have overlooked." "It's the only thing I can see working," she admitted. "I had thought about wearing my galosche on my feet to protect my toes. But he would probably declare those wooden shoes to be clothing and say that I lost the bet. " Her father nodded. "Better to give him no room to quibble. Send two of the men ahead and have them clear the road. We can wrap your feet in a sheep fleece

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to protect them. If we bind that with strips of leather, then there can be no question that you would have been able to walk." "I'd thought about using leather or a fleece." "I never thought I would see the day I would be happy about your marrying so high above your station, Beth," her father said. "There will be problems." "Life is a collection of problems, Father," she said quietly. He nodded. "Now, you sound like your mother. Shall we have supper soon?" She smiled at her father. "Of course, my dear. What would you like to eat?" "I will cook," he offered. "Can you cook, Father?" He laughed. "If I have to. When you were a little girl, you used to love cabbage and apples. Why don't I fix that with some sausage for supper?" "Shall we be nice enough to invite the guards in for supper?" "No," he said quietly. "Not today. I want my time alone with my daughter tonight." She blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, Father. I didn't plan this." "I know. But you would marry someday. I knew that. At least this way, you will never worry about starving or about affording shoes for your children." "No, I doubt that will be among my worries, Father… It takes an hour to cook the cabbage and apples. I'll go get the dried apples from the root cellar. Why don't you go harvest a small cabbage and a couple of small onions from the garden? By the time that we have everything ready to go into the pot, we'll be able to cook in the coals." While supper was cooking, she folded the fishing net in thirds. Very quickly, she basted the top edges together so that the three thicknesses would not come apart during the journey. The width of the final section was tall enough to cover

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her from under her arms to her ankles and it was long enough to wrap around her several times.

***** Morning came all too soon after a restless night. After she milked the cows and gathered the eggs, she churned the butter and started a new batch of cheese. After that, she mixed the mash for the pigs and fed the rest of the animals. She went to the summerhouse and filled a large basket with hundreds of rose blossoms. There were still many more there. She would need most of what remained for the rose hips she added to winter tonics. "There are fifty-five cheeses aging in the root cellar," she told her father as he ate the breakfast of boiled eggs, sausages and bread and butter she had made for him. Her stomach was entirely too nervous for her to eat. "Those cheeses sell at market for seven Thalers for each wheel. There was barely enough milk this morning to start one wheel of cheese. It won't be long now until the cows both stop giving milk entirely this year." "Would you not rather take your cheeses? They do eat cheese at the castle." "I might send for them. I'm going to have to take charge of the kitchens there. Wilhelm's initial offer last week was for me to come to manage his larder. I always thought I would marry for love, never for my ham, cheese, and bread." Her father laughed. "He wants more than your cooking, my girl," Johann said quietly. "I know," she said quietly. "Your mother, bless her memory, was supposed to have the talk with you about marriage." "She did. You needn't worry about that."

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Her father looked relieved. "Good. You go prepare yourself for this challenge. I will have two of the men ride ahead and clear the road of anything that could cause you trouble. And I'll put a plow horse into harness." "Thank you, Father." "I love you, Elzebeth. No matter what happens with the bet, I do love you. You will always be my beloved daughter." After her father left the cottage, she undressed and wrapped the fishing net around and around herself until the threads of the net overlapped enough so that she was not naked. She basted it together at the top. Then she ran a length of rope around the top of her bust to secure the fishing net and another rope around her waist. It was as secure as she could make it. She only hoped it would be secure enough. She stripped the stems of the roses of their thorns and wove the stems through the net on her front until she looked as though she were clothed in red roses. For extra measure of cover for her backside, she took down her hair and brushed it out. This would have to do. She was not clothed, but she was not naked. With waxed thread, she tied together the last of the roses to form a circlet of roses. She placed that on her head. "Elzebeth, are you ready?" her father called out as he came into the cottage. "I don't know. Am I covered?" Her father looked at her carefully from all angles. "Yes. You are fine. Let me put the layers of the fleeces on your feet now." "Yes, Father." "Just answer me one question, Beth. Do you love him?" "Yes. I'm not sure I like him at the moment. But I do love him."

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He looked at her for a long moment. "It would bode better for domestic harmony, if that situation was reversed." "I know. I'm frightened, Father." "Good. Anyone going into marriage without a little fear is foolish. You've seldom been foolish." "This entire situation is foolish." "Men in love sometimes do foolish things. As do women. Do you think that I have not listened to you cry in the night and have known the reason has been that your heart was breaking over the prince? I am not so old that I cannot remember what it is like to be young and have juices that flow in torrents. I do not judge you daughter for your tryst with the prince in the summerhouse. Your mother and I spent quite a bit of time out there, ourselves. I know how seductive the place can be when one is out there with a beloved." Elzebeth fought a blush. "You should remarry, Father. With my being out of the cottage, now, you should be able to convince Kathryn, Ernst's widow, to accept your suit." Her father smiled. "Let us handle one marriage feast at a time. Have you bundled your fine clothes?" "Of course. I've put my work clothes in there as well. I will send for my herbs and books, Father. If you could pack them up for me, I would appreciate it." "Do you really think that he will allow you to continue to practice healing?" "It is the duty of the lady of the castle to see to the health and well being of the people." Her father kissed her on the forehead. "Come, daughter, let me bind your feet. It would be best to use three fleeces, just to protect you." Johann carried his daughter out of the cottage and to the plow horse. He put her feet down in the rightmost rut of the road, as that rut would turn directly

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into the road leading up to the drawbridge of the castle. Then he wrapped a triple length of leather strapping around her connecting that to the harness of the plow horse. Elzebeth wrapped the leather straps around her arms for stability and held on. Then, her father took the reins of the horse and commanded it, "Gie!" She was neither clothed nor naked, being without formal garments and wrapped in the fishing net and roses. She was being dragged along by the plow horse so she was neither walking nor riding. And since she was traveling only in the wheel rut of the road, she was neither properly on the road nor could she be said to be off the road. Judging by the angle of the sun in the sky, and the speed at which they were moving, she would be there long before noonday. The only question remaining to her was whether the wedding feast would be today or at a later date. Properly, they should have a betrothal ceremony and then the marriage feast forty days from now. Yet, she didn't think that Wilhelm would observe that formality.

***** "Your Highness," the captain of the guard announced as he came into the great hall, "there is a crowd of hundreds of people approaching the castle. They are still five miles out. It is being led by the members of the guard you sent with Johann the Horseman and his daughter yesterday. Behind the guard, comes Elzebeth and Johann. The rest of the crowd follows them, singing, my liege." "What are they singing?" "Wedding feast songs, those that groomsmen usually sing to the bride and groom.” "How comes she?" "My prince, you will not believe this. I believe that she has devised a way to win the riddle." 58

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"Tell me about it." So the guard did tell him what had been reported about Elzebeth's coming. Wilhelm laughed boldly and clapped his hands in delight. "Life with her is going to be anything except boring." "My prince?" the bewildered guard answered. "I suppose that someone had better tell the kitchen that it is a wedding feast they are preparing for this evening. Go tell them," Wilhelm said, unable to keep the smile off his face. "You aren't angry?" the chancellor observed more than asked as the guard left the hall. "Of course not. I constructed that riddle so that if she really thought about it she could solve it," Wilhelm dismissed. "Most women couldn't solve it," the chancellor said quietly. "Most men couldn't." "As she is prone to tell me, she isn't most women."

Wilhelm met them within the walls of the castle but outside of the keep. "Well, Elzebeth, Johann's Daughter, it seems that you have solved the riddle." "Aye, my liege, I have. Will Your Highness now pay up the prize?" He sank down to his knees before her and unbound her feet. "Why didn't you wear galosches? They would have protected your feet so much better than these fleeces." "That would have been wearing clothing," she answered him as he unbound her feet. "The chancellor has prepared the marriage contracts. I have had clothing laid out for you in the solar. Would you care to change before we deal with this?" "I would. Thank you. But I have brought my own clothing." 59

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"Do as you will, Elzebeth." "I shall be down in a few moments."

Two of the ladies of the court whom Elzebeth had treated, Lady Maria and Lady Agatha, accompanied her up to the solar. They were chatty. Beth was only half listening to them. "Beth," Agatha said firmly, "you aren't attending." "No. I wasn't, my lady. My mind is elsewhere," Beth agreed as she looked around. The room hadn't changed much since the last time she was up here attending Wilhelm's mother during that kind lady's last illness. The solar was a long room. The entire court slept in this one room. Each bed was heavily curtained for privacy and winter warmth. Wilhelm's bed was at the end of the room and was higher than all the rest, requiring one to climb several steps to enter. "We know where your mind is," Maria said with a giggle. "If I were to be sharing his bed this night and for the rest of our lives, I'd be daydreaming as well." "It will be good to have you here," Agatha told her. "Thank you. He's waiting. So if you could give me a hand with this net. I'll want to fashion rose clay from the petals and make beads from it for a keepsake of this day."

In the end, she compromised about what she wore for the rest of the day. She wore her own gown, surcoat, and slippers, but wore both the gold chain girdle and the fine embroidered net veil that had belonged to his mother. She placed the crown of roses over the veil as a floral circlet. Lady Maria took several of the

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roses and formed them with a green ribbon into a bouquet for her and several smaller bouquets for her ladies. When she came back down the stairs into the great hall, Wilhelm, her father, and the chancellor were seated at a table looking at a document. Wilhelm rose and walked over to her. He took both of her hands into his and brushed a kiss on her forehead. "You look beautiful." She found herself blushing. "I want to be beautiful for you. Now, let us deal with matters of writings so that we may get on with other things." Wilhelm gave a great bark of laughter. "Indeed," he agreed as he escorted her over to the table. Contrary to custom, he sat beside her on the long bench at the side of the table. "My chancellor has drawn up this agreement. You need to make your mark upon it." "After I have read it, I will sign," she said firmly. "You can read Latin?" the chancellor asked in surprise. "Well enough for my uses. Dioscorides' De Materia Medica is in Latin. I own two books—De Materia Medica and a Psalter. Both of those belonged to my mother and to her mother before her. God being merciful, I shall pass them on to a daughter of mine who shows interest and ability in the healing arts," Beth answered lowly. "May I read the documents, please?" "Of course," the chancellor said as he pushed the sheet of vellum towards her. She took a few minutes to read it and sat back thoughtfully. "Wilhelm, you needn't have provided for my living expenses. I can earn my own way." "A husband usually keeps his wife," Wilhelm said firmly. "It is one of a husband's duties." "And I do not need a title."

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"Nonsense, you shall be known as the Lady Elzebeth or in courtesy as the Princess Wilhelm. It is the minimum courtesy that you are owed as my wife. It is more of a reflection on my honor than a title of your own. As this is Friedehele, you cannot be properly referred to as 'Her Serene Highness'. But, you cannot be less than Lady Elzebeth if my dignity is to be maintained." "If this is the way that you want it, I won't argue." "That has to be a first," he teased her. "And probably a last," she answered. "Very well, I need a pen and ink." She took up the offered goose quill and dipped it in the murky ink. With precise strokes, she signed her name. Then Wilhelm took the pen from her and in less precise strokes signed his name. The chancellor and two other ranking members of the court signed the document as witnesses. "We are now legally wed," Wilhelm said. "The only thing missing is the public celebration and the bedding." "There are enough people outside that we could have the public witnessing of the marriage, right now," Elzebeth replied. "Unless you wish to wait for the forty days of betrothal?" Wilhelm looked at her as though she were mad. "Do you?" "We've already caused so many tongues to wag, what are a few more irregularities?" He laughed boldly. "You make me laugh." "Oh, no! My role at court is that of jester," she teased. "Wife," Wilhelm corrected. "Let's give the people what they want," Elzebeth said. Wilhelm smiled at her. "Why not? The sooner they get what they want, the sooner I get what I want." 62

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Elzebeth felt her face grow warm. She knew that she was blushing. Wilhelm took his wife's right hand in his. "I've sent word to His Grace the bishop. They await our coming to the Cathedral." "Then we should go."

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Chapter Four They formed up a slow procession into the town. Wilhelm and Elzebeth rode in an open carriage. Her father and most of the members of court rode horseback behind them. The crowd that had accompanied her to the castle followed them into town. As the carriage pulled up in front of the Cathedral, the bishop came out of the door, arrayed in his finest vestments, with his miter on his head, and carrying his crosier. Several younger priests, deacons, and acolytes stood with the bishop. Two of the acolytes held thuribles from which clouds of sweet incense smoked. Elzebeth and Wilhelm walked up the stairs to where the bishop stood. "My lord prince?" the bishop addressed Wilhelm. "Landesbishop," Wilhelm answered with a smile. "This is my wife, the Lady Elzebeth." "Your Lady Elzebeth and I already know one another," the bishop said with a smile. "How are you, my lady?" "Well, your grace. I trust that you remain well?" "I am," the bishop answered. "The vat of tonic that you sent to me has been a godsend, my child." "I shall start you a fresh batch in the next week. Keep that vat topped off with red wine. In three weeks, when you get the new batch, discard everything in the current vinegar vat, and return that vat to me. I'll boil it out and have another batch ready for you in another three months' time. Three months is about as long as the herbs remain effective."

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"I would appreciate that, my lady. I feel so much better with a daily dose of this tonic," the bishop said with a smile. Then he turned to Wilhelm. "All the documents are in order?" The chancellor handed the bishop the marriage contract. The bishop read it quickly. He nodded. "Yes. Everything is in order. There will be no coronation, I take it?" "No, your grace," Wilhelm replied. "Then, we'll wait on this until the rest of the crowd assembles in the street."

A few moments later, the bishop addressed them in a voice loud enough to be heard by the crowd. "Wilhelm and Elzebeth, you have agreed this day to be man and wife together in the sight of both God and man and you have made the legal agreements. Wilhelm, before God and these people, I ask you if it is your will to accept Elzebeth as your wife?" "It is my will," Wilhelm answered. "Elzebeth, before God and these people, is it your will that you accept Wilhelm as your husband?" "It is my will," she answered. The bishop joined their right hands together. Then he wrapped their hands three times with his stole. Then he made the sign of the cross over them as he spoke a blessing over them. "Since the both of you have now publicly consented to the marriage between you, may God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless your home with peace, your marriage bed with joy, and your lives with the gift of children. Amen." One of the priests walked around the bridal couple and the bishop, three times, swinging a thurible and sending up clouds of incense around them.

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Then the bishop unwound his stole from around the hands of Wilhelm and Elzebeth. He turned to the crowd and presented Prince and Princess Wilhelm. Then Wilhelm kissed his bride. A deafening, but cheerful, roar arose from the hundreds of people who were in the streets. The wedding party and the crowd then proceeded into the Cathedral. An acolyte carrying a processional crucifix led the way. A boy swinging a thurible followed him. Then the deacons, the corps of priests, the bridal couple, and the bishop followed. This group was followed by another boy with a thurible. Then the members of the court and the crowd entered the Cathedral. The bishop said Mass in celebration of the royal marriage. After Mass, Wilhelm and Elzebeth followed the bishop and his entourage from the Cathedral. The courtiers urged Wilhelm and Elzebeth to their carriage. They were driven slowly back to the castle. Her father and the courtiers, along with much of the crowd followed them at some distance.

"That leaves only the wedding feast and the bedding," Wilhelm said quietly. "Are you happy about this, husband?" His reply was to pull her into his lap and kiss her. He pulled her gown up to her knees and placed his hand upon her knee. Then he inched his hand up further until his fingers were stroking her pubic hair. One finger found and began to tease her clitoris. Elzebeth drew a sharp breath and threw her head back. "Husband!" "Wife?" he said before he kissed her once more, leaving his hand beneath her gown and continuing to tease and arouse her. "This is not the place. Anyone could see us," she said quietly in his ear.

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Wilhelm laughed. "Let them. I do not care if everyone knows that I am enchanted by my bride." Then he kissed her again. As before the kiss was gentle, coaxing, playful. As he lifted his head, she smiled at him. "Will," she said quietly on a sigh as she snuggled up against him. "You asked me if I was happy about this. Now, wife, what do you think?" "I think we shall do quite well together, my lord husband."

When they returned to the castle, the great hall was set up for the wedding feast. The meal stretched on for hours, with speeches and songs between the many courses. Elzebeth ate and drank very little. Everyone attributed that to bridal jitters. In the bailey, the people had been served from great kegs of ale. Most of the crowd left after having drunk to the health of the bridal couple. The poorest of the poor stayed behind to beg the scraps from the wedding feast. In the hall, when the last of the toasts had been drunk and the last of the courses had been cleared away, the tables were all broken down and moved out of the way. The musicians began playing music for dancing. Wilhelm led her out on to the floor. She knew very few dances. Fortunately, he chose to lead her out in one that she did know so she was spared the indignity of looking ungraceful at her own marriage feast. About another hour passed before it was necessary to light the torches. "You've had a long day," Wilhelm said lowly to her. "Are you ready to go up?" She nodded. He smiled at her. He caught the eye of the chancellor who motioned for the musicians to end the music.

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"My lords, ladies, and honored guests," Wilhelm addressed them. "I bid you continue with your merry making. My bride and I shall now retire."

A crowd of courtiers followed them up the stairs into the solar. The crowd sang a bawdy song.

On one side of the massive bed, the ladies undressed Beth.

Then they took down her hair and brushed it out. On the other side, the men undressed Wilhelm. Beth climbed into bed and covered herself with the sheet. Wilhelm's groomsmen pulled back the curtains on their side of the bed and let Wilhelm climb in. The chancellor asked, "My prince, Lady Elzebeth, do either of you find any displeasing feature about the other?" Wilhelm looked at Elzebeth. Elzebeth looked at Wilhelm. "I find nothing displeasing in my bride," Wilhelm said. "My lady Elzebeth, find you anything displeasing in your husband?" the chancellor demanded. Looking at Wilhelm, in the light of the lamps, she felt her face grow warm. The ladies stood on one side of the bed and the men on the other. The curtains were pulled back on each side so that everyone could see everyone else. "I find nothing displeasing in my husband." The crowd sang another bawdy song. Then the bed curtains were closed, leaving the newlyweds together in the darkness. The group left the solar singing a bawdy song about the pleasures of the marriage bed. "Do you think they're actually gone?" she whispered to him. He listened for a moment and heard the music once more begin downstairs. "They've resumed merrymaking downstairs."

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"Hello, Husband." "Hello, Wife," he answered as he pulled her into his arms. "You looked so beautiful today." "I wanted to be beautiful for you." Wilhelm kissed her. Within a moment, it was unclear who was kissing whom. They were devouring one another. Neither of them could get enough of each other's mouth. Then his mouth left hers and he began to trail his lips across the side of her face, down her throat, into the valley between her breasts, then he stopped to kiss and suckle each of her nipples. He lay back on the crisp, lavender scented sheet and pulled her to him. He didn't have to ask. She kissed him then moved her lips down his throat, down his chest, until she was able to kiss and suckle each of his nipples. She heard him gasp his pleasure. Her lips continued downward until she kissed his navel. Then she turned her attentions even lower. She kissed his penis and scrotum, then planted a kiss on the inside of his thighs. Then she moved back to his groin. Beth took the tip of his penis into her mouth and ran her tongue around the glans. He moaned. She lifted her head. "Don't stop," he begged. She laughed then took his cock into her mouth again. Slowly, teasingly, she moved her head up and down along the hard length of him. "Beth!" She lifted her head and moved up to lie beside him. "Did you like that?" "No more than you will like this," he told her as he began a sensual assault on her body.

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He kissed her, then kissed her throat, her breasts, her belly, just as he had before. Then he began to explore her pussy with his lips and tongue. He found her clitoris and began to tease it with his tongue. The change in her breathing told him that she was enjoying this. He wanted it to be good for her. She was a responsive woman. The memory of how responsive she had been before had him at the edge of his control. All he wanted to do was to bury himself in her, to shove his cock up into her and fuck her fast and hard. But this was their wedding night and it was a time for play and exploration. The problem was this exploration was killing him. He didn't know how much more he could stand. "Sweet Beth, I thought I could stand a bit more love play. But, I need you too much right now." "Just come to me, Will." He didn't need a second invitation. He positioned himself between her legs. "Wrap your legs around me!" She complied with his order. He knew that he should be gentle with her. But he couldn't be. Once he was inside her, he went wild. Yet, he realized with satisfaction that she was just as wild for him as he was for her. She reached her climax. Just as she had before when they were together in the summerhouse, she felt the edges of her consciousness blur as she blacked out at the height of her pleasure. When she came back to herself, he was beside her, holding her tightly. "Yes, we shall serve each other well, my lady wife." She wanted to tell him that she loved him. But she didn't dare. There had been no words of love from him. She wasn't about to make herself that vulnerable. She knew that it would break her heart if she confessed her love for

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him only to have an uncomfortable silence, or worse, follow. Her love for him was something he would learn after he confessed those feelings for her. He reached down between the mattresses and the bed frame. She heard him remove a cork from a bottle. The bottom sheet between them became wet. Then he corked the bottle and put it back in the hiding place. "Will?" "No man ever had a sweeter virgin, Beth," he told her quietly. She wanted to cry. He was being protective of what people thought of her. That had to mean that he loved her at least a little. With time, he might grow to love her as she loved him. As morning broke, Elzebeth looked at her husband. She couldn't believe the night that they had just spent. There had been little sleep; catnaps here and there throughout the night between lovemaking sessions, each one hotter than the one before. Yet, the day had broken and there was work to be done. She stopped cold in her thoughts. What work did she have to do? There were no cows to milk, no eggs to gather. There was no breakfast to get onto the table. There were no horses to feed. No milk to separate. No cheeses to start. Wilhelm was looking at her. "What?" he asked lowly. "That's what I am wondering. What am I to do with myself all day, now?" "You'll find enough to do. There needs a good deal of work done here to prepare for the Emperor's visit. You will need to sew yourself new clothes. The cloth is in the storeroom. I've frequently thought that the great hall needs tapestries to cut the winter breezes. You could spend years with your ladies making those. You need to assess the state of our domesticity and bring things up to your standards. I doubt that you will be bored." "I did notice that your stillroom was woefully inadequate."

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"See. You will find much to keep you busy. You need to look over the financial records of running the castle. You are now my steward. Everything that I have here is yours to manage." She looked at him. "I need to have time as well to practice my profession." "Of course, caring for the people is one of the duties of the lady of the castle. I wouldn't attempt to take you away from that work." "Daylight is wasting." "Don't go yet," he told her. "We still have time." "Do we?" He laughed quietly. "Everyone else is still asleep. I want you again. How is it that I can't get enough of you?" "I'm not going anywhere." "Aren't you? I thought that I was going to take you to heaven and go right along with you, my dearest wife." "Careful about those promises, husband," she teased him. "You think that they are empty promises?" "Why don't you prove to me that they're not?" "Gladly, wife." Then he took her in his arms and kissed her gently, persuasively as though she needed persuading to remain in his arms. There was nowhere else in the world that she wanted to be.

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Chapter Five Two rough wooden carts were stopped near the castle. Each cart as loaded down with firewood for sale. One cart had been pulled by a pair of oxen. The other was horse drawn. A horse that had been pulling one of the carts had been unhitched and the horse lay on the ground in the process of foaling. Elzebeth saw this as she came back from being called out to deliver a baby. It had been twins and not an easy delivery. She had been gone for almost thirty hours. She was bone tired. Of course, she was more tired these days. She and Wilhelm had been married for almost three months. She hadn't told him yet that she was with child. Her cycle was only two weeks overdue. A cycle could be late. Hers never had been. But, she knew only too well that many things, apart from pregnancy, could cause a woman's cycles to be irregular. The facts that she was more tired, that her breasts were sore, and that she felt nauseous upon waking in the morning, all encouraged her to think that she was with child. There would be no way of truly confirming the pregnancy until she felt life stir within her. The Emperor's entourage was supposed to arrive any day now. She had just about gotten the larder sufficiently stocked to feed the group that would be descending on them. When she rode back into the castle with the retinue of guards that Wilhelm always insisted that she take with her at all times, she saw that the Emperor had arrived. His tents were set up in the bailey. She gave her horse over to the hostler. Then she went into the keep through the kitchen. "Oh, my lady," the housekeeper said in relief. "Has the miller a new child, then?" 73

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"Twins, Edna. A son and a daughter. They are to be called George and Mary." "And Gertrude?" "She is well—tired, but well. I see that the Emperor's entourage has arrived. When did they get here?" "Yesterday, about three hours after you left here." "Is my lord husband here?" "No, my lady, he and the Emperor are out touring the area." "Then I shall go take a nap. Send a girl to wake me in an hour." "My lady, I know that I am out of line, but you need to take better care of yourself, especially now." Elzebeth smiled at Edna, the housekeeper. "I am going to take a nap now. One hour, Edna, please." As Beth walked through the great hall, a young girl shouted at her, "You, serving wench! Come here, stupid bitch!" Beth kept walking, unaware that it was herself being addressed. The girl rose from her seat and came over to grab Beth's arm. "I am talking to you, you stupid serving bitch! When Wilhelm gets rid of that country bumpkin of a wife and I am princess here, the first thing I will do is to get rid of all the insolent servants, beginning with you." Beth drew herself up and looked down at the girl who was richly arrayed in gold brocade. "We have not met as I have been out about my duties. I am the Lady Elzebeth, Princess Wilhelm," she said coldly. "I am unaccustomed to people in my own hall addressing me with this level of disrespect. You may call me a country bumpkin, if you will. But I, unlike some other people, know enough not to count my chicks before the eggs hatch." The girl dropped her hand as though Beth was now too hot to handle.

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"You can't be Elzebeth. You're well spoken to be a peasant." She looked at the girl in dismay. Then she forced a smile. "I am simply too weary to deal with whatever you need at the moment. When I have had a chance to rest, then I will be happy to address whatever you believe you need. Until then, my ladies shall see to you. Yet I advise you that if my servants are insolent to you, you have likely provoked that reaction. I've never had anything less than excellent service from any of them." Without another word, she walked wearily up the stairs to the solar and went to bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was two hours later when Edna, the housekeeper, awoke her. "Time to dress for dinner, my lady." Edna helped her into one of Wilhelm's mother's fine gowns of green silk shot through with gold threads, a gold brocade surcoat, gold girdle, the family tiara with a finely woven gold thread veil. "You look elegant, my lady. I can't tell you how worried the staff is about this niece of the Emperor. She has made no bones about the fact that she will be mistress here in your place." Elzebeth sighed. "I wish that I could tell you that there was no chance of that. However, I understand only too well how tempting my lord husband must be finding the prospect of establishing family ties with the Emperor." Edna nodded. "There is little justice in the world, my lady." "All we can do is to wait and see, Edna. Our liege will do as he wishes. Yet unless I hear otherwise, I remain the lady here. The staff will continue to answer to me and to me alone. I remain chatelaine here until or unless our lord prince relieves me of that duty. There is no sense in borrowing trouble, Edna." Edna smiled. "Very well, my lady." She walked down the stairs into the great hall. Wilhelm looked up and smiled at her. She returned the smile and crossed the hall to stand beside him.

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Wilhelm was a big man, but the man who stood beside him made Wilhelm look small. This had to be Charles, the Holy Roman Emperor. Elzebeth gave a deep curtsey. "Your Imperial Majesty," Wilhelm said deferentially, "may I present my bride, the Lady Elzebeth." "Princess Wilhelm," the Emperor said smoothly as he kissed her hand, "you are every bit as beautiful as I have heard that you were." "Thank you, your Imperial Majesty. Pray, accept my apology for my absence yesterday when you arrived." "Your husband tells me that you were out caring for his people." "One woman in particular, but yes." "Is she well?" "She has been safely delivered of twins, a boy and a girl. It was a long and difficult labor, but mother and children are safe and healthy." Charles smiled. "This is excellent." "Ernst the Miller has sent an offering to the monastery asking the brothers to sing both Te Deum and Non Nobis in celebration." "Seems an appropriate action," Charles replied. The young girl who had laid hands on Elzebeth earlier in the day walked over. "Uncle?" Charles smiled at the girl. "Princess Wilhelm, this is my niece the Lady Rosamund." "Rosamund," Elzebeth acknowledged. "I tell you, Uncle, I am so embarrassed. Lady Elzebeth came through the hall a few hours ago and I mistook her for a serving woman." "As the role of the lady of a castle is to serve the people," Elzebeth replied quietly, "one may suppose that you were correct enough in that assessment." 76

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Wilhelm smiled at his wife and took her hand in his. "We were so surprised when we heard that Wilhelm had married," Rosamund said pointedly. "You see, I was brought here to be his bride." Elzebeth chuckled, not letting that bother her. She had heard that the Emperor had wanted Wilhelm to wed. What Charles thought that Wilhelm would find attractive in this young woman was beyond her comprehension. Oh, the child was pretty enough. And she supposed that the girl had wealth in terms of gold, lands, and men. But the sweetness the girl was demonstrating to the men was at decided odds with the way that the girl treated those whom she deemed her inferiors. "That would have been quite a surprise for my lord husband," she said as she squeezed Wilhelm's hand. Rosamund continued, "It is amazing how well you managed to transform yourself from country wench to grand lady in such a short time." "Wench, I never have been," Elzebeth answered gently. "However, fine feathers do not change the nature of the bird. I am no more and no less than the woman I have always been." "No. Clothing does not change anything. However, I've always found it better for one to remain in the class to which one was born. There are fewer adjustments that way." "You are entitled to your opinions, of course," Elzebeth answered. "I am surprised that you continue to practice healing given the number of charges of witchcraft that have been made against local women healers throughout the Empire." "The Lord God made every green plant for our use. It says so in the first part of the Bible. To use a good and perfect gift of God for the purpose He intended it, to the aid of His people, is nothing beside a simple work of Christian mercy."

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"How would an ignorant peasant know what is written in the Bible?" Rosamund replied sharply. "An ignorant person wouldn't," Elzebeth countered with a smile. "You aren't afraid of being denounced as a witch?" the Emperor's niece demanded. "I would only be afraid if it were true that I delved into the dark arts. It is not true, therefore I have no fear of such an accusation being made against me, or if made, proven before an open and impartial court. Nothing false can be easily proven before an impartial court. I have enough people whom I can call to testify as to my being a good daughter of the Church, including his grace the bishop, that I have no fear of being thought otherwise." "You really believe that truth is an absolute defense against charges brought against a person by a superior?" Rosamund asked cynically. "Truth generally prevails," Elzebeth replied. The young girl rolled her eyes. "Naïve, aren't you?" "You are entirely too young to have that cynical an attitude. I don't even want to know what in your life has made you believe that you need to surround yourself with that hard shell. But I fear for you and pity you," Elzebeth said in a gentle tone. "Pity!" Rosamund answered with heat in her voice and fire in her eyes. "How dare you pity me?" "Pity comes easily to my heart when I see a young woman who is so cynical, angry, and bitter. But come along, Rosamund, let me introduce you to some younger men. I see that my husband's godson has just come into the hall. You will like him. He's just the type to fall into raptures about the green of your lovely eyes," Elzebeth offered, her tone gentle. "He'll adore you." A few moments later, Elzebeth returned to her husband's side.

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The captain of the castle guards came and whispered in Wilhelm's ear. Wilhelm excused himself and went to the antechamber. "What is the dispute?" Wilhelm demanded of the two peasants who stood before him. "My lord prince," the first peasant said, "my horse was delivered today of a foal while I had her out working. When the foal got to his feet, he wandered off and stood beside the cart of this other man. I want my foal back. And he won't give it to me." "My animal, my liege, gave birth to the foal," the other man replied. "It is my property." "The Emperor is here. Dinner is about to be served. Let the foal remain where it is." "But my liege," the first man cried. "My liege, have mercy." "You have my decision," Wilhelm said firmly.

Wilhelm returned to the great hall. Great platters of food were brought into the hall. He took his place at table. The Emperor sat on Elzebeth's left. Wilhelm was on her right, and Rosamund was on Wilhelm's right. Beth found herself jealous of the attention Wilhelm was paying to young Rosamund. Yet she concentrated on conversation with the Emperor.

Elzebeth was fading fast after dinner. The court was enjoying the dancing. But it was all she could do was to stand along the edges of the hall and to make conversation with the Emperor. "Pray, excuse me, your Highness. I am quite weary." Charles smiled at her. "Of course. Does Wilhelm know that you are sleeping for two?" 79

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She smiled at him. "His natal day is next week. I was going to gift him with the news then." "I shan't tell," Charles said in a conspiratorial tone. "Shan't tell what, Uncle?" Rosamund asked as she walked up to them. Elzebeth could tell that the girl had drunk far too much ale. The younger woman was unsteady on her feet and her words were slightly slurred. "None of your business, Niece. I saw you talking with that upstanding young man, the Prince's godson. Shall I make you a match with him?" "I think not, Uncle. I've made up my mind which man I want," Rosamund said firmly, looking at Elzebeth and not at her uncle. "I want Wilhelm." Charles nodded negatively. "No. He's already married. You can't have him." "It's Friedehele, Uncle. He could send her away at any time. Or he could contract a Muntele at the same time. You know that. I am far better for him socially than this peasant whore he is currently bedding." Her uncle looked at Rosamund. "You will apologize to the Princess Wilhelm, immediately!" "No, Uncle, I will not." "My lady Elzebeth, I do apologize for my drunken niece." "For your sake, my Emperor, I will forgive her." Rosamund was not at all happy with that. The music in the hall died off as the dance set ended. She glared at Elzebeth. Then she looked at her uncle. "You know, she's both a thief and a whore," the girl charged loudly enough to be heard throughout the hall. "Slander, niece, will put you in great trouble, drunk or not," Charles warned. "It's not slander. She was called to this very court to answer for the theft of a gold mortar from your store-house. Ask Wilhelm about it. He arrested her father 80

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on those charges, and she sweet-talked him out of it. As for her whoring ways, there was no blood on the sheets of their bridal bed." Charles shook his head negatively. "My gold mortar and pestle were recovered fifteen years ago. As for the state of the sheets on their bridal bed, there are many reasons why a young, strong, healthy woman would not bleed. Only one of those involves a lack of chastity. Either way, the lack of blood on their bridal sheets, if there was a lack of blood, is no concern of yours, Niece." Lady Agatha spoke up. "Your Majesty, I would not have you think evil of my lord's lady. There was no lack of blood on the bridal sheets. Shall I go get them to prove it?" "That won't be necessary," Charles said. "We've dealt with the two basic charges my niece has brought against Princess Wilhelm, and seen them false. Have you anything else to say, Lady Rosamund?" Rosamund glared at Elzebeth. "She took my place, Uncle. She took it by means of witchcraft. It had to be witchcraft. Wilhelm would have never abrogated our marriage contract without being under an evil spell." One of the knights of the Emperor's retinue said lowly to his neighbor, "Or unless he were blessed by Heaven beyond all measure." Those quiet words echoed in the silence of the room. Rosamund glared at the Knight in question, but then continued arguing, "She has been plotting this for a very long time. She is directly responsible for the death of the first Princess Wilhelm." Elzebeth looked at the younger woman in blatant disbelief. She shook her head in dismay. "What?!" The Emperor's niece continued, "She has a reputation as never losing a mother or a child in her role of midwife. Yet she did not come when the first Princess Wilhelm was in labor. Everyone knew that the child was breach. Yet, Elzebeth did not come." 81

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"My aid was not sought when Princess Anna was in labor!" Elzebeth replied sharply. "She was attended by a physician and was not willing to be attended by me. I cannot go where I am not asked." Rosamund put her hands on her hips. "A high born lady and the heir of your liege lord both died because you did not put your pride aside and come to her aid. You are responsible for those deaths. You could have saved them. You can run all over the realm aiding peasant women, but you couldn't ride five leagues to save the life of your princess." Elzebeth rolled her eyes. "My aid was neither sought nor welcomed." "Could you have saved Anna's life?" Rosamund demanded. "Could you have delivered the child alive? Have you ever been in a similar circumstance and delivered a child alive?" With a heavy sigh, Wilhelm's lady said, "What difference does it make now?" "Could you have saved them?" Rosamund demanded fiercely. "I don't know. I wasn't here. All I know is what I've been told of the circumstances of the delivery." "And given what you have been told, do you believe that you could have brought them both safely through?" the girl demanded. "God's timing of when to call people to their eternal rest is God's. The decision of who lives and who dies is not mine to make," Elzebeth said quietly. "Don't you think it is rather suspicious that you, who have never lost a mother or a child, stood by and let your Princess die, and that now you have her place at court?" Rosamund countered. "It would only be suspicious to people who were digging for any shred of gossip and innuendo they could use for purpose of defamation of character. You've just spent ten minutes belaboring a point that I admit, namely I wasn't here for Wilhelm's first wife's labor as I wasn't called to attend her. You've

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painted my absence as part of a wicked plot, instead of the Princess's own choice. Her decision was to be attended by a male physician instead of by a midwife. I think it was a wrong decision. But, it was her choice." "You cannot deny that you now have her place at court and in her bed." "Heaven help anyone against whom you would attempt to make a case with real evidence since you have trumped up this one innocent circumstance into a capital crime," Elzebeth said firmly. Rosamund looked at Elzebeth. "There is nothing trumped up here. It is plain and obvious that you are completely unworthy of the place of honor that you hold as Wilhelm's wife. Since you are unworthy of the position, you had to achieve it by foul means." "Her worthiness as my wife is for me to decide," Wilhelm said firmly. Elzebeth looked at her husband. "Was there a signed agreement between you and this lady's guardian, husband?" Wilhelm smiled at his wife. "No, my dear, there was no such agreement." "There was an informal agreement between him and my uncle," Rosamund stated. "Otherwise, I would not have made this journey." Charles sighed. "There was preliminary correspondence only. There was nothing settled. The most Wilhelm agreed to was to meet you with the goal of discussing the possibility of marriage. Several princes had made that agreement, and to date none of them would have you after meeting you, Niece. That should tell both of us something important. You will enter the Abbey of the Sisters of Our Lady. Perhaps two or three years spent in fasting, prayer, and work among the poor would be beneficial for you." The girl started crying and ran from the hall, out to the Emperor's encampment. "Are you really sending her to the convent?" Elzebeth asked.

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"I doubt the Sisters would take her," Charles said on a sigh. "Her mother has spoiled her dreadfully. I didn't know how dreadfully until this journey when I have had to be in her company for prolonged periods of time. I don't know what I shall have to do with her." Elzebeth yawned. "Your Majesty, if I may be excused?" "Go rest, my lady," Charles allowed gently. "I shall go to bed now, Husband." "I shall be up later."

Elzebeth woke up when Wilhelm joined her in bed a couple of hours later. "Husband?" "Wife, will you let your man make love to you?" "Have I ever refused you?" "Never. You are so giving that it makes me want to keep you here all day, all night, every day." "We couldn't do that. We both have obligations. There is always work to do." "Yes. There is," he agreed. "But, let's think about more pleasant things, like how well your body fits mine." "Yes," she said as she reached down and wrapped her hand around his penis. "You do fit well. I fit around you like a well-made glove." Wilhelm laughed quietly. "You make me happy." "Then I'm a success." "Have I told you how proud I am of you? You manage the household well. My meals are better since you've taken over the management of the kitchens. The hall is cleaner, has a better scent to it." "It's the aromatics I mix in with the rushes. When they are walked on, they release their oils and their scents. And it may be the wine that I spice and 84

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simmer. The scent is lovely. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the dogs out of the hall and kenneled out of doors." He laughed quietly. "I'm happier in general than I've been in a very long time." "That's my intention." He was quiet for a moment. Then he asked hesitantly, "Are you happy?" "Yes." "I can make you happier," he offered quietly. "Words are cheap, Husband." He pulled her closer to him and held her tightly. "I'm sorry about Rosamund's behavior towards you." "Would you have married her, Will?" He was quiet for a long moment. "Perhaps. To be the nephew of the Emperor is nothing to lightly dismiss. But do I believe that she would have never made me even a tithe as happy as I am with you. And I should have made her miserable as I would not have danced attention on her eighteen hours a day. Besides, most of my servants would have quit my service rather than to have put up with her." "That much is true, my lord husband." "You were saying something about us fitting together well?" "I believe that I need more experience before I can make that comment with any real confidence in my voice." "Truly?" he drawled quietly. "Then, my lady, let me add to your wealth of experiences." "No. Let me add to yours," she offered as she climbed atop him and straddled his cock, sheathing him within her.

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He rolled her over and began thrusting hard and deep within her. It was all over before she could really begin to fully enjoy their lovemaking. For the first time in their marriage, she failed to have an orgasm. There was a desperation in how he came to her that was different tonight. He rolled off her and held her. Less than a minute later, he was snoring softly in the way that he always snored. She lay back on her pillow and listened to the rhythmic sound of his breathing. The next thing that she knew it was a bit after midnight, and he was gone from their bed. Before moving too far, she placed a few drops of a black horehound tincture on her tongue. It helped keep the nausea under control. Then she dressed hurriedly and went to look for him. He was in the stillroom looking at her herbs and equipment by the light of a single candle. Rosamund hid in the corner behind a cask of wine. The Emperor's niece had come into this room seeking to remove Elzebeth from the court by poisoning her. She had deadly nightshade berries in her bag. One of the servants had let it be known that the Princess Wilhelm regularly took a particular strongly flavored tisane in the mornings. A few of these berries, powdered and put into that tisane would take Elzebeth out of Wilhelm's life, for good. "You know what all these things do?" he asked Elzebeth. "Of course." "It's amazing how much knowledge you store in that beautiful head of yours." "You ought to be back in bed, Will. There is time yet before the sun rises." "The Emperor shall be leaving us within the week." "Aye, Husband. Do you wish for his niece to remain behind?"

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Will looked at her for a long moment. "What need I with more money or lands? I have all that I could ever use." "But do you have all that you want, my lord husband?" Wilhelm sighed. "Does anyone ever have all they might want?" Elzebeth nodded. "It will be a long day, Will. Shall I fix some breakfast for you?" "No. Thank you." "Very well. You are here looking things. Is there something I can do for you? Are you in pain?" "No, Beth. I am fine." "I cannot help you if you will not talk to me about what bothers you. Are you having regrets about marrying me?" Wilhelm looked at her and sighed. "No. I have no regrets. I am restless tonight. My conscience bothers me." "How so?" "I made a judgment in haste yesterday, without looking at the situation fully. Two peasants came to me. One said his horse had given birth to a foal and that the animal had gotten to its feet and wandered off. The other claimed that his animal had given birth to the foal. I told them that the foal should remain where it was." "There are many who would find that sound legal judgment. Possession, my lord husband, is nine-tenths of the law." Wilhelm shook his head negatively. "Upon further reflection, I believe that these men were those who I had seen beside the road just outside the castle. If this memory is correct, I brought about a terrible miscarriage of justice. The man who wanted his foal back was the only of the two men whose carts were being pulled by horses. The other man used oxen to pull his cart."

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"A man might as well fish on dry land as to get a foal from an ox, my lord husband." Wilhelm's face contorted into disgust, "You think I do not know this, Wife? I need to find the peasants and resolve this matter. I was simply too involved with entertaining the Emperor to take the time to see to my own people." "You are human, my lord husband. Every human soul makes mistakes." "I need to resolve this without becoming a laughingstock. How can the people trust the judgment of their prince if he can't tell the difference between an ox and a horse?" "Did you see the animals or just listen to the arguments?" "I didn't see the animals, and I barely listened to the arguments." "Do you know the peasants involved?" "No. I do not." "They would have had to give their names before they a stated their cases." "Someone should recall them," Wilhelm said. "But, no one does. They didn't follow the normal procedures for a hearing. They had the right to bring their dispute before the court and I failed to give them justice." "These were the men with carts of firewood beside the road near the castle yesterday afternoon?" "Yes." "The man with the horses is Rolf, son of Ulrick. The other, the man with the oxen, is Baldwin, son of Aldolf. Rolf lives with his wife and six month old son in a small thatched cottage about a league south of the mill just along the road. Baldwin lives about a half-hour's hard ride due west of the Cathedral in little more than a hovel. Baldwin is as dishonest as a summer day is long, but he is a plausible enough scoundrel." Wilhelm laughed. "Wife, you are a wonder!"

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"Things will be resolved. The fact that you are troubled by your mistake in judgment is a good thing, husband. I've always known that you are a good man." "Would that I were," he said quietly. "Come back to bed, husband. I have some special oil for massage which should help relax you and let you get more sleep." When they were gone from the room, Rosamund removed herself from behind the cask. Why poison her? She had just been given the perfect revenge on both of them. All she had to do was find this peasant, Rolf, son of Ulrick. This would be perfect revenge on Elzebeth, for no man would have a woman who publicly embarrassed him so. And on him, for if she couldn't have him at least she would make him as miserable as he had made her by tearing them apart. Yes, it was a perfect thing. Now, what were those directions—about a league south of the mill along the road? It would be a simple enough thing to send a messenger to fetch the man and to give him special instructions about how to appear at court. She could hardly contain her laughter. This was going to be so perfect. So completely perfect.

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Chapter Six Elzebeth was in the stillroom, late that afternoon. She had just finished compounding stinging nettle ointment.

One of the servants had developed

eczema. This would ease the itching and allow her to heal. "My lady, you must come," Lady Maria said from the doorway. "Please, my lady, you must see this." Elzebeth followed her to the great hall. Standing in the hall with a fishing net was Rolf. He was pretending to fish and to empty his net. "What are you doing, Rolf son of Ulrick?" Wilhelm demanded. "Fishing, my prince." "Are you mad, Rolf?" Wilhelm demanded. "No, my prince, I am quite sane. It is easier for me to fish in your court as it was for Baldwin's oxen to give birth to my foal yesterday. Yet, you allowed Baldwin to take my foal. Therefore anything must be possible. I believe that I shall catch enough fish here to sell in the market to buy back my foal." Wilhelm looked over at his wife. His eyes promised retribution. "I have already sent two men to Baldwin's hovel to retrieve your foal and to bring Baldwin here." "He sold it last night to Wulf of the River Forge," Rolf replied. "I saw him do so. I told Wulf that he had bought stolen property and let him examine my mare for proof that my mare had just given birth. But Wulf insisted that it was his foal. He's feeding it from a bucket of cow's milk. Cow's milk is good for calves, but not so good for foals. My mare misses her foal."

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"Then I shall buy it back from Wulf and to return the animal to you," Wilhelm said. "I shall seize enough of Baldwin's goods to pay for the foal and his fine for lying to this court. Will that satisfy you?" "Yes, my liege." "This little demonstration, it wasn't your idea. Whose was it?" Wilhelm demanded. "No, my prince, it was entirely my idea," Rolf replied uneasily. "Was it?" Wilhelm demanded. "It was." "I know differently, Rolf. Don't lie to this court," Wilhelm replied. "People who lie to me receive whippings." Rolf began to tremble. "My prince, I do not lie. This was my idea." "Was it?" Wilhelm demanded. "It was." "Very well, Rolf. You are dismissed. If you will wait in the bailey, I will have a rider go to Wulf's place to retrieve your foal." "Thank you, my prince." "Chancellor, is that the last matter we need to hear today?" Wilhelm asked. "Yes, my prince." "My lady wife, will you walk with me?" Wilhelm demanded more than entreated. "Of course, husband." They walked almost a mile from the castle before he said a word. They reached a small roadside shrine beside which had been erected a stone bench upon which pilgrims could sit to rest. He sat down. She began to sit. "I did not invite you to sit, my lady wife."

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"Very well," she answered as she stood. "What is on your mind, my princely husband?" "Think you that it was quite coincidental that Rolf came to court with a fishing net and virtually quoted your comments to me about catching fish and oxen giving birth to foals?" Wilhelm said, anger in his voice. "I had nothing to do with that, Wilhelm." "Did you not?" "I did not. I would not cause you embarrassment of that kind, especially before the Emperor." He was silent for a long moment. "Very well, Elzebeth. If that is what you have to tell me, shall we walk back? Dinner should be served soon." "I cannot believe you thought that I would cause you public embarrassment," she replied lowly as they headed back for the castle. "It was an unusual turn of a phrase, wife." "I understand how you would be unhappy with this situation. But, I didn't have anything to do with it." Rosamund met them as they came into the keep. "Prince Wilhelm, may I have a private word with you?" Elzebeth looked at her husband and walked away without a word. Dinner that night was a strained affair. Tension sat on Wilhelm's shoulders, tension and anger. Rosamund was all too animated, almost gloating. The court picked up on this and no one in the room was other than tense, waiting for something, not knowing what was coming. After dinner, Wilhelm had Rolf called back into the hall. "Rolf, son of Ulrick, you told this court earlier that the idea for the fishing demonstration was entirely your own. Is that correct?" 92

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"Yes, my liege." "Summon Matthais." A young page entered the room. "I am Matthais, my liege." "You rode to Rolf's cottage this morning?" Wilhelm demanded. "Aye my liege." "On whose command?" "On command of Princess Wilhelm." There were gasps around the room. "And what was your message you were to deliver to Rolf?" Wilhelm demanded. "I told him to appear at court if he wanted his foal returned to him." "Was that all you told him?" "No. I conveyed the following message, 'It would be as easy to fish on dry land as it would have been for the oxen to give birth to a foal'," Matthais said. "What say you, Wife?" "Matthais, who gave you the instructions to do make the ride?" Elzebeth demanded. Matthais sighed. "She was a lady of the court. I do not know which one. She was heavily veiled." "Then why did you say it was on my command?" Elzebeth asked. "That's what I was told, my lady." "What time was this?" "Dawn, my lady." Elzebeth looked at her husband. "At midnight, I awoke and found you gone from our bed. I found you in my stillroom. We spoke at length. Then we returned to bed, together. You know where I was all the time between midnight

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and dawn, as we were sleeping in each other's arms much of that time. I couldn't have given the instructions to anyone." "Nonetheless, he was given instructions in your own words," Wilhelm stated. "Husband, I would not and did not do this thing." Wilhelm looked at her. "I wish that I could believe you." "If you cannot believe me when I tell you the truth, then why am I here?" she replied hotly. Angrily, he said, "Thou shalt no longer be here. I will not have thee any longer for wife. Thy time in my bed is done. Go thee back to whence thou camest to thy peasant's cottage. Besides thy personal belongings, thou might take with thee what thou hast found dearest and most precious." Elzebeth blinked back her tears. "Very well, my liege and dear husband, if you command this, I shall do it. We shall have one last drink together. I was saving back a special wine for your use. I will go draw it for you now, my liege." She forced herself to hold herself upright and to maintain her dignity. Wilhelm no longer wanted her. She knew that it could happen. Yet, she didn't really believe that it would. She had only one chance left at happiness. It could be dangerous, but she intended to take it. Returning to the hall, she carried one large gold goblet filled with wine. "Don't drink that, Wilhelm," Rosamund called out, "can't you see that she intends to poison you? If she cannot have you, she intends that no one else does either." Elzebeth turned to the Emperor's niece. "I have often found that people attribute their own motives to others," she said angrily. Then she brought herself back under control, "I would no more poison him than I would lie to him." "That's no reassurance, since he's discarding you for your lies!" Rosamund answered.

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Elzebeth took a large drink of the wine in the cup. "See? It is good." She crossed the room to Wilhelm. "This is for you, my dear lord and prince." Wilhelm drank deeply from the cup, draining it. "Beth?" he said quietly. "Excuse me, my prince, I have work to do. Might I have the use of a carriage to move me back to my father's house?" "Of course." She walked away, forcing herself to project calm until she reached the solar. Then, and only then, did she allow herself to give into the despair that she felt. Her tears flowed freely down her face as quickly changed from her finery into her chemise and homespun bodice and skirt. She removed her soft lady's shoes and put on her galosche. She packed in the knapsack, only the clothes that she had brought with her. And she packed the necklace she had fashioned from the rose clay she had made from her wedding roses. "Elzebeth?" Lady Bertha asked carefully. Elzebeth turned to look and saw that all the ladies of the court were there. "We've talked. None of us sent that messenger." "I know. This is Rosamund's mischief," Elzebeth said wearily. "And you are letting her get by with this?" Lady Maria demanded. "I have one chance left. I intend to take it. Please back me up when you see it happening. He did tell me that I might take with me what I held dearest and most precious." Bertha smiled. "I see." Agatha looked at them. "What do you hold dearest and best?" Then she smiled. "You aren't?" "Just support me when the time comes?" Elzebeth asked. "Of course," her ladies assured her, all smiling.

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Bertha sighed. "You must not appear downstairs with your face looking so ravaged by tears." "Of course, I must," Elzebeth replied. "There is no other way." She walked down the stairs and through the great hall without saying a word to anyone. Wilhelm and the Emperor were having a heated discussion but Elzebeth headed for the stillroom. "Agatha, pack up all these things and have them sent to me. Leave only three kegs of ale, the butt of mumsey, and the red wine. These were here when I came." Wilhelm stood at the still room door. "Are you ready?" he said on a yawn. "Nearly, my liege, nearly." Elzebeth came over to the door and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him as tears fell from her eyes. When the kiss ended, Wilhelm raised his hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. Then he blinked back tears of his own. "Beth? Do you want to go?" "You have ordered it, my liege. I have no choice. I am a loyal servant of the crown." She noticed that his eyes were looking quite heavy. "Come, my liege. We will sit and talk for a moment before I leave." He followed her out of the stillroom and into the great hall and there they sat for a few moments until Wilhelm was soundly asleep. "She's murdered him!" Rosamund cried out. "He merely sleeps," Elzebeth replied. The Emperor laughed. "Now what, Princess Wilhelm?" "He said, I wish you all to note, that I might take with me that which I hold dearest and most precious. He is the only thing at court that I hold precious and dear. Therefore I will take him with me," Elzebeth replied. 96

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"Isn't anyone going to stop her from abducting the Prince?" Rosamund demanded. Young Matthais stepped forward. "You are the one who sent me to Rolf. You gave me the instructions. I recognize your voice." The Emperor looked at his niece. Then he questioned Matthais, "You are certain of this, young page?" "I am certain, your Majesty. She told me that the instructions came from Princess Wilhelm. But they didn't, did they?" "No," Elzebeth said quietly. "They didn't. I have one chance to save my marriage. As desperate as it is, I am taking it." The Emperor smiled at her. "I'll carry him to the carriage for you and ride with you to your father's house. I'll send a messenger to ride ahead to prepare your father." "You can't seriously take her side, Uncle." The Emperor picked up his niece and sat down, bringing her over his knees, and he spanked her soundly, even though she screamed and cried at the indignity and pain. "If you weren't my niece, I'd have you flogged for a stunt like this. Wilhelm might yet. If he decides this is appropriate, I will not stay his hand." Then Charles looked at Wilhelm's captain of the guard. "Put her in irons and put her in gaol. When all this is over, Wilhelm can mete out justice for her. Until then, she will have time to ponder the error of her ways. She can do so fasting and with only water to drink." Then he came over and picked up Wilhelm, cradled him in his arms and took him out to the carriage that awaited. "I thank you, your Majesty for this aid." "As I brought the trouble upon you, this is the least I can do. Should this not work out, my lady, I shall settle lands and titles on your child and you shall have

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an income for life, I promise you this. You do not deserve to be harmed by my niece." "It must work, your Majesty. If it doesn't, I shall die of a broken heart."

The Emperor carried Wilhelm into the cottage and laid him on Elzebeth's little bed in the nook. "I shall await hearing the results. How long will he sleep?" "Probably until evening tomorrow, maybe into tomorrow night."

When Wilhelm did awaken the next evening, he looked about without any recognition of where he was. There was a mouthwatering scent of roast meat. The bed was comfortable. But he did not know where he was. He called for his servants. But no one came. Elzebeth pulled back the curtain and smiled at him. "Are you ready for dinner?" "Why am I here, Beth?" "My dear lord and prince, you told me to bring away with me from the castle that one thing dearest and most precious in my sight. I have nothing dearer or more precious than yourself, so I have brought you with me. I love you." Wilhelm's eyes filled with tears. "Beautiful Beth, I didn't mean it when I sent you away. I do not want to live without you in the castle or anywhere else. I love you more than I thought it possible to love anyone. Will you be my wife again?" "You should know that I disobeyed you, my liege. You told me that I might take the one thing dearest and most precious to me. I brought two with me; you and our unborn child." Wilhelm rose from the bed. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her still flat belly. "Are you sure?" "Reasonably. Now, come and eat my love."

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After dinner, they returned to the castle. Outriders with oil lamps went before them, illuminating the way. The chancellor had drawn up a new marriage contract. Too many people had witnessed his sending her away for them to resume their marriage without a fresh document. Wilhelm read the document, then scrubbed one word from the vellum and replaced it with another. He handed to the Emperor who read it, smiled and handed it back to him. He had replaced the word Friedehele with Muntele. Elzebeth saw this as she read it. "Are you certain?" she asked Wilhelm. "I cannot stand the thought that you should ever leave me," he said quietly. "Or that I should ever be able to send you away from me." She signed the document and watched as Wilhelm signed it. The members of the court gathered around, Wilhelm introduced them to his wife, Her Serene Highness, the Princess Elzebeth. Then Rosamund was brought before the court in irons. "What shall you do with this one, your Highnesses?" the chancellor asked. Elzebeth put her hand on Wilhelm's arm. "Mercy, Husband. Mercy." Wilhelm looked at the Emperor. "Your Majesty, I believe that your idea of placing her with the nuns for a time of prayer and penitence would be suitable." "Are you certain?" the Emperor asked in relief. "My wife urges me to be merciful. I am so inclined. Remove the irons. She is remanded into the custody of her uncle for a punishment of his choosing." Elzebeth yawned. Wilhelm smiled at her. "Tired, my love?" "Yes." "Then, we shall go up to bed. Please, everyone, do not feel bound to retire," Wilhelm said pointedly. "I shall serve as my lady's maid, and she as my valet." 99

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One of the knights began one of the bawdy songs that were often sung at weddings. Everyone joined in. Everyone except the Emperor and his niece who were no longer in the Hall. Reaching the solar, Wilhelm found himself all thumbs with the lacings of her bodice. He took his dagger and cut the lacings of her bodice and the skirt waistband. They left their clothes in an untidy heap on the floor beside the bed, each of them being far too needy to be concerned with neatness. In fact, they didn't even make it into bed, immediately. He pushed her up against the wall and held her tight. "Hold on and wrap your legs around me." She complied and that was the last thing that either of them said for several long moments. He thrust the whole hard length of his cock deeply within her. He brushed light kisses all over her face and throat. Then he carried her over to the bed. He lowered her down so that she was laying down horizontally to the footboard of the bed, with her legs still wrapped around him. He remained standing. He reached down and began lightly rubbing her clitoris. When she sat up and reached for him, he laughed and gently pushed her backwards again. Only after the spasms of her release began did he begin thrusting hard into her. Soon, he joined her in release.

***** Lady Bertha came up carrying a lamp for light in order to check on them. She picked up the clothing on the floor. Seeing the state of the laces, she laughed

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softly. She remembered another time with another couple when laces were sliced because the need to feel skin against skin had been so strong. She went over to the bed and peeked beneath the curtains. Both her prince and his princess were soundly asleep, limbs entwined. Elzebeth wore the expression of a woman well and truly loved. Wilhelm's face bore a peaceful expression. She dropped the bed curtain and left the solar as she said a quick prayer that the couple who were sleeping would be as happy together for as long as she and her dear husband had been. It was a prayer that was answered as Elzebeth and Wilhelm lived happily ever after. THE END

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About the author: Cassie welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.

Also by CASSIE WALDER: A Gift of Frankincense (Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh anthology) Dream Job Dream Lover

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