Upon A Time

Chapter Seventeen Part One

The sun was setting as they arrived just outside the gates to the palace.

Thomas and Charlotte paused at the center of the bustling marketplace, and he was forced, for now, to put aside his hurt and turn his attention to the matter at hand: getting them both in and out of the castle alive.

“Never did I think my life would depend upon the quality of forged documents,” Thomas whispered in her ear, as Charlotte reached into a bag on the side of Beau’s saddle and pulled out two sealed scrolls.

“Neither did I. Yet hopefully, Julien’s direction in the creation of these will be enough to get us in.”

“Then we only have to keep up the charade long enough…”

“Shhh, Thomas, someone may hear!” She handed him his scroll, and then carefully offered the sword in her possession.

“It grieves me to see you unarmed in this situation,” he said, reluctantly sheathing it and wrapping it in a blanket before placing it in a bag on his own horse’s saddle.

“No lady in waiting would be so armed, and besides, that was in case we were confronted by robbers in the forest on the way.” She reached out and took his hand, only briefly. “I’m going to be all right. We both are. We just have to believe our own story.”

“Better not delay then,” he replied, gently kissing her hand and lingering there before releasing it at last. “Because the longer we sit here, the less I believe in anything.”

“Onward,” she said. She moved Beau back into action and spurred him on, directly toward the guard station at the gates.

“Papers, please,” a small, round man requested, and Charlotte waited for Thomas to speak.

“I am called Michel, and this is my sister, Isabel. We are relations of the Queen, cousins, twice removed, and welcome members of her Court. We have been traveling for days in order to reach this place.”

The man analyzed their papers closely.

“Your purpose here?”

“My sister’s purpose is to serve as Lady in Waiting to the new queen. My purpose is to see she is safely installed in that position and then return home.”

“You travel without guard?” the man asked, suspicious. Charlotte fought the urge to bite her lip, a nervous gesture that surely would tip the odds against them.

Thomas leaned in closer to the man, nearly recoiling at his horrid breath. “After what happened to the King, it was thought a guard detail would draw more attention than two peasants riding through the woods, and making haste in their travels, would. This is why we appear as we do. We are traveling in disguise.”

“Your papers seem authentic,” the man said. Still, he hesitated. “Since Duke Frederick has taken over, everything has changed. Everything must now be directly approved by him.”

“Even admittance of invited guests of the Queen to the palace? For heaven’s sake, man, are you serious?” Thomas became righteously indignant. “If you doubt we have been so summoned, then I invite you to give our papers to the Queen’s personal guard and then to Her Highness, so she herself may approve our entry.”

“Take this as well,” Charlotte spoke up suddenly, sickened at the risk she was taking as she clutched another scroll in her hands. “It is a private message for the Queen from my mother; her cousin, Eleanor.” If that scroll fell into the wrong hands, their mission would end before it began.

“Very well,” the man said at last. “The Duke is currently not to be disturbed, and given the risk of upset to the Queen on top of all she has already suffered…” He nodded and waved over one of his underlings. “Take this inside and give it directly to Lady Agnes. See what word she brings back.”