The Bloody Birds of Britain

Chapter 7

Lord Edward was installed in the finest apartments Hortense had ever seen. The walls were wallpapered a pale cloud blue, with gilded golden clouds and suns. Beneath her feet were white carpets embodied with the royals coat of arms. His bedroom was larger then her mortal home, with more windows as well illuminating the room with the early morning sun. 

Philipa, the Queen, had made her a lady-in-waiting prior to meeting Edward. Hortense felt honoured by the sudden and unexpected rush of affection towards her, by such an esteemed person. She was the only lady-in-waiting asked to meet the boy, but that was probably because the rest had already met him. It was a rite of passage she supposed.

Edward's apartments were located in the middle of the Royal apartments built by Henry II centuries before. It was a long walk from Hortense's honest room to the decadent room of young Edward. The Queen was tired by the time they reached the room, Hortense was not surprised as it involved many stairs and long corridors.

Philipa sat on a chair inside the room and called for the boy's nurse.

The nurse was comely with a head of dark hair, which had been neatly tied back under a green hood. She was slender but had large hips, which gave Hortense the impression she'd borne many children. So was therefore cape able of looking after the heir apparent.

Behind the nurse was a small boy dressed in a dark purple. Hortense thought he was almost the miniature of his father. His hair was blond like his fathers reaching his chin, but was curly instead of straight. The curls created an aura of innocence, that hung around him like a beam of light. The boys features matched his fathers, his nose and jawline were chiseled to perfection despite a layer of puppy fat. He would be tall like his father no doubt and make a great King to boot.

She curtsied to the little Earl, who confidently approached her and bowed back, despite being just over two years old. Much to her surprise he took her hand and gave it a slobbery kiss. Hortense felt something surge inside her, a rush of love she supposed. were her dormant maternal instincts raising their head? Or was it something else. What sort of love, if it was love, surged beneath her surface? She had after all never been in love. She loved Valentin with her whole being but she wasn't in love with him. Hortense considered asking the Queen but the young Lord had suddenly bit her hand.

"That's what vampires do!" He chortled in his unrefined speech, "bite!"

"Now Edward that is very rude of you," Philipa said coming towards them, her golden dress draping across the floor after her. "You must apologise."

"Say sorry," the nurse said in a surprisingly squeeky voice.

"Sorry," the boy chimed hanging his head, causing a bubble of emotion to explode inside Hortense, another rush of love. What was going on?

Hortense knelt down and lifted the boys face up to hers, just as his father did less then a day before. She stared deep into the boys striking large blue eyes and smiled. "Apology accepted my Lord. I wonder if you'd like to see something secret?" She emphasised the word by wiping her tongue over her teeth. The boy nodded eagerly.

She covered her mouth. What she was about to do looked scary, but she had no intention of scaring the boy only to educate him. Hortense was curious to know how much the boy knew about vampires, so she endeavored to show him her fangs.

Removing her hand the boy gave out a gasp, but he did not hide behind his nurse's dresses. He stood dead still, staring in awe at her teeth. Edward held out a hand to touch them. Unfortunately that was when the nurse realized what was happening, she gave out a loud scream and fainted.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Isabella asked lifting the woman's head onto her lap. She caught sight of Hortense's teeth and raised her eyebrows. "I think he needs a new nanny."

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Hortense spent another hour with the child until she was shooed away by the nanny. The Queen had left shortly after the Nanny regained consciousness, to check upon her ladies. Some were devilish young creatures who were over-friendly with men of the court. Philipa, Hortense found talked about her ladies like a mother of her children - exaggerating their gifts and ignoring their failings. She was intrigued to meet her fellow 'ladies' what the Queen kept referring them to as.

However the castle was large and she'd never been good with directions, so soon enough she was just walking aimlessly around, in the hopes of finding a friendly face. By happy coincidence she stumbled into an official advises meeting, filled with unfriendly but known faces. The King was surrounded by a mixture of men, young and old, fat and slim. All arguing about war, that's all that men ever talked about she found. No matter where she went it was always war this and war that, as if the well being of starving peasants wasn't as important. The men stopped and stared at her, rather embarrasingly she stood rooted to the spot, her mouth slightly ajar staring back.

"I'm sorry my lady can we help you?" Asked a middle aged man with a fair head of red hair, placing his papers on the table. Hortense remained silent, it had not even been a week and already she was struggling without Valentin. How depressing she thought, struggling to uproot from the spot.

"My lady," came a schmoozing voice from behind the King's chair. The owner stood up, revealing himself as Charles. He looked more then pleased to see her. That would explain the lack of guards on the door she thought. "I'm sorry your majesty but I promised our guest a tour," he patted the King on the shoulder on passing. "I know you will not object," Charles said, not even looking back to see if he was granted leave. He just put his hand on Hortense's back and pushed her from the room, closing the door behind him.

"You never promised such a thing," she teased poking him in his muscled chest.

"You have saved me from the dragon," he smiled offering her his arm, which she took eagerly.

"Surely the King will need some form of protection while your gone?" She said, raising her eyebrows at his unthoughtful behaviour. "I mean if you want the King to be vulnerable, then by all means lets go for this tour..." She said unsmiling.

"And what would you say if I wanted him to be vulnerable?"

"I'd say you were mad,... You are his bodyguard after all-"

"Do you know how many Kings I have guarded Hortense?" He said, as a sad look slowly stretched across his handsome face.

"No, tell me," she begged, patting his large arm affectionately.

"Twenty four," he sighed. "Edward is my twenty fifth."

"Then you must know a lot about running a country," she said in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Yes I do as it so happens," he muttered with a small smile. "But none of them listen. I'm forced to watch them make the mistakes over and over again... -To watch them fight unnecessary wars to build up their egos! They are a foolish race-"

"-Who?"

"Kings," he laughed, but Hortense noticed sadness still remained in his tone. She stared at him with sad eyes, she could not imagine what it was like to be forced to do something. Vampires, in her mind, were always free spirits. Able to leave whenever they wanted and to anywhere, as long as they weren't sleeping of course. "Here's me going on about my silly life-"

"Not silly Charles," she whispered as he looked down on her, his eyes narrowed in a knowing manner. She bit her lip as he lent in. Her first real consented kiss. She closed her eyes, anticipation bubbling inside her like a boiling pan. It was frantic and overflowing just as...

She opened her eyes to find Charles gone.