The Dead Queen

3 - Women of the Night

Peter insisted on not allowing anyone to trim his beard and hair for his wedding. He never did it. His mother used to say he looked like a Stone Age man, but he never bothered with it. On the contrary, he liked to maintain an appearance of brutality. So, he sent his chamberlain out of his room.

The biggest problem wasn't the hair or the beard: it were the scratches on his face. He pretended to ignore the fact, mocked the situation, but Peter was worried. It wasn't the first time that this had happened, but it should not be so before his wedding. Not before his father.

There were already enough arguments in the Royal Palace between him and Afonso IV, who has never approved his way of life. 

But Peter had promised that, after getting married, he would be a man more devoted to the family and the kingdom. He already married by proxy, but nothing has changed. Afonso IV's hope was now built on Constance's arrival.

Unfortunately, Peter organized one of his late night banquets for friends the day before, and he drank so much that ended up in a tavern. There, in front of many, he fought for a prostitute with another man, people held him, and both were wounded and shouting at each other. 

Peter's fists still hurt. But they made him proud. Too bad that the great celebration of the wedding now could disrupt the wedding itself.

And as Afonso IV had spies all over Lisbon, including among Peter's group of friends, the King was already furious in the morning. He was always the first to wake up, always fulfilling the duties of the office. 

It was the kingdom that mattered most, the legacy he would leave to Portugal and Algarve, to the world. He would honor his family name, the powerful Burgundy House.

While the king's successor, the one who unfortunately was Peter, always lived around the trade, the streets and squares, mingled with people, usually drunk. There were always late night banquets, wine and taverns, prostitutes or adulterous women, fights and conflicts, tarnishing the reputation of the kingdom and his ancestors with shame.

In the dawn when he returned, Peter found his father standing at the door of his room. It was a frightening image, as Afonso IV was a gigantic, strong man with a beard and well-cut hair. He wore many tunics and coats of arms, which made him look solemn. There were also those hard, red eyes that never looked away. There was no one who wasn't intimidated. 

It was up to Queen Beatrice and the Duchess of Burgundy, a close friend of the family and a relative of the King, to detain Afonso IV so that there would be no more serious arguments. Peter's face was damaged enough for the royal ceremony.

While the chief of the guard sought the details of what happened to Peter the night before, Afonso IV ordered a meeting with his chancellor and some of the council's nobles. It was time for Peter to straighten up, the marriage was about to be consummate.

And this time, the son would experience the consequences. There were two days to go before the ceremony that would help to define the future of the kingdoms of Portugal, Algarve and Castile.

The chief of the guard had brought names, professions, reputations and everything that concerned the characters who acted on Peter's fateful night. About the reputation of that tavern, it was already known it was terrible, frequented by "women of the night". 

Afonso made the chancellor write a hard royal order. But when it came to Afonso IV's condemnation of all kinds of adultery - having fought with his own father and brothers, precisely for that reason - the order seemed consistent to the group.

Pero Coelho, an intimate adviser, declined to comment. He was a short, strong man, bald, with a flattened nose, almost always with a drawn face. 

Father Uria, the inquisitor and chancellor, was in full agreement: it was his idea. He was a tall, skinny man, blond, dressed always in dark clothes, in his almost 70s. Uria was the King's confessor, and he shared his most intimate secrets, just as Alfonso IV knew the sins of the inquisitor. They kept a macabre pact that should die with them.

The next day, the King's advisor and Peter's former tutor, Diogo Pacheco, knocked on his door. Peter was still sleeping. Although older, Diogo was a handsome nobleman, almost as much as the prince. They were both tall, handsome and muscular, and enjoyed hunting and drinking wine together. 

They also liked to share the conquests, so he asked if the prostitute was worth the fight. Peter gave details about the women that night, while both were laughing.

But as a friend and confidant of Peter, Diogo preferred that he heard the bad news through him, so that he wouldn't react in anger and be harmed even more. The Prince and the King had very different personalities, but they shared something in common: a violent impulsiveness. But Diogo needed to tell him the truth anyway.