The War of Queens

Chapter 48

Adrianne

 Another battle had gone by just a week earlier. Every time, she feared for her son equally. No matter how often he came back unscathed, it still did not calm her nerves the next time. He had grown to the challenge of being a King in a war, but she wondered every hour of every day if he had grown enough.

 “Remind me again, how long has this gone on?” she muttered against Ambrose’s chest one night. They were lying in bed, his arm holding her close as she curled against him.

 “The war?”

 She nodded.

 “Since the beginning of 1516, if I remember correctly,” he said.

 “End of 1515,” she corrected, remembering how the roses had been withering when she first heard of the posters that declared the war. “Almost two years now.”

 Adrianne sat up, unable to lie still. His hand followed, caressing her back lightly. “What is the matter?” he asked.

 “I should’ve let Mary stay in Tibera,” she said.

 “Lady Mary belongs here,” he said. She turned around to look at him, frowning. “She is more Turell than Lamarck, anyone can see that.”

 She sighed. “Turell or Lamarck, the capital is not safe. Any place close to the throne is not safe.”

 He pulled on her arm so that she lay down again, then turned on his side so that he could face her. “Don’t worry now,” he whispered. “You need to sleep.”

 “I can’t sleep.”

 “You can rest,” he insisted, pulling her closer to him.

 The next morning, she woke early and unrested. She dressed and read for a while, interrupted by periods of pacing around tirelessly, until a servant knocked on the door.

 "Lady Mary is returning,” he declared.

 She met her children on the plateau in front of the main entrance. Raynor stood at the front, as King, with Sybil by his side, awaiting the chariot. Sybil leaned over to whisper something to Raynor. Adrianne could not be sure, but she thought it sounded like, “She should be here by now.”

 Finally, after what seemed an eternity of silent waiting, the gates opened and the chariot entered. It had barely stopped until the doors swung open and Mary rushed out, not awaiting the help of the servants.

 “Brother!” she called at once. “We saw the troops, right out there! They were lining up to march on the city!”

 There was the sound of gasps coming in unison, from members of court as well as the commoners who had united to bid the princess welcome. Mary ignored them and continued, in a rushed, breathless voice.

 “I saw Elizabeth, too. She was riding a white horse. We were only lucky they did not notice us, though…”

 Her voice was drowned out by the sound of war horns. They cut through the autumn air, loud and booming and full of dread. In the next moment, the sound was repeated, this time from the other side of the castle. Yet another horn was sounded, this one from a third direction.

 “They’ve spread and surrounded us,” Mary explained.

 Raynor walked back up the plateau to Raymond. “Would you call together the guards to protect the women?”

 “Where should I put them?” Raymond asked.

 “I imagine one of the towers would be safest.”

 Raymond nodded and stepped aside, beginning to lead the ladies in the direction of the tower. Adrianne stood a moment longer, waiting while Raynor said his goodbye to Sybil.

 “We don’t have enough food to survive a siege,” Sybil said while they walked along with the rest of the ladies. “They’ve surrounded us. Apparently, they’re now setting fire to the fields. Even if they weren’t most of the farmers are locked in here.”

 “We can still win,” Adrianne said. “We still outnumber them.”

 “I’m sure you are right, Your Majesty,” Sybil said.

 If only I had so much faith in myself, Adrianne thought as they reached the end of the stairs. She watched from a window in the tower as the army assembled and rode out. It seemed only days ago that she had watched a different army ride out into a different battle.

 Raynor rode a large, grey destrier, and in that moment, she was more proud of him than she ever had been of Christian. Even if he lost today, she would still be proud that he was her son.