The Traitor's Daughter

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“Did you know that the king hasn't slept with the queen in weeks?” A Lady Westfeld whispered to Elizabeth. The two sat in a window seat in the queen's presence chamber, while the rest of the ladies in the room made a point to fuss over the queen or do things that they knew Her Majesty would approve of. Many of them sat around the queen's throne on little stools, needlework in their delicate hands, their brows furrowed in concentration.

Elizabeth's eyes flicked to the queen's face, who was focusing on the bible in her lap instead of listening to her and Lady Westfeld's conversation.

“Surely you're kidding?” Elizabeth asked, feigning surprise. Of course she had already heard this. The rumor – or rather the piece of truth – had already been circulating around the court since Elizabeth had first arrived at court the day before. Although the queen had given the king two healthy daughters, she had failed to give him any living sons, which of course was necessary in order to have a successful lineage.

Lady Westfeld shook her head. “I'm very serious, sadly,” She whispered, trying to make it so nobody else could hear their conversation.

“How sad,” Elizabeth responded, although she truly didn't mean it. She wasn't exactly engrossed in the conversation, seeing as the boning in her corset was hurting her sides, and the pins that held her hood in place on her head were giving her a headache, but Lady Westfeld didn't seem to notice.

“I hear that His Majesty's family had been cursed by a witch many centuries ago, which would explain why he can't have sons.”

Elizabeth frowned, seeing multiple flaws in the story. “That would make sense if His Majesty was secretly a woman, as well as his father, and his grandfather.”

“Hmm...” Lady Westfeld reached up and fiddled with the large sapphire that hung around her neck and bit down on her bottom lip before her expression suddenly brightened. “Perhaps His Majesty is secretly a woman and the queen secretly a man!”

Elizabeth smirked at the woman's stupidity, but pretended to go along with the idea.

“That would certainly be something, Jane!”

Suddenly, the woman's face grew serious, although a playful sparkle still hung about in her eyes.

“Well, you do know what they call the queen behind her back?”

This was something that Elizabeth truly didn't know. She shook her head and motioned with her slender hand for Jane to continue speaking.

“His Majesty the Queen,” Jane Westfeld said with a laugh. “Take a gander at those manly hands of hers!” Both hers and Elizabeth's eyes looked across the room at the queen who was still seated on her throne, her rather large hands flipping through the pages of her bible.

Elizabeth laughed aloud, which caused Lady Westfeld to do the same, which in turn caused the rest of the room to look towards the two women, who weren't being very polite. The queen's dull eyes shot up from the bible and small smile graced her face as she took in the sight of the two laughing women across from her.

“Pray tell us, Lady Ashbury, what is so amusing?”

Elizabeth immediately ceased laughing, seeing as the queen had singled her out. And she certainly couldn't tell the queen that they were laughing at her. She bowed her head and immediately sat up straighter, while ignoring the panicked look Lady Westfeld was giving Elizabeth. She was doing a poor job of playing casual.

“Lady Westfeld was telling me of the dream she had the other night, Your Majesty,” Elizabeth murmured as she raised her head to gaze upon the queen. “She dreamt that she had turned into a very fat man with a beard that grew down to her toes. She couldn't walk through doorways without getting stuck in them, and the image of Lady Westfeld large, with a beard, and stuck in doors amused me. I apologize for disturbing your reading.”