The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 9

I choose to go to the castle's mistress and her half-sister's apartments in the west wing, and fortunately, far from the room occupied by my husband and me. The two shrews argue hard among long embroidery needles and colorful woolen threads.

"I heard you last night! You went to see him," the lady of Chasseney says, lamenting as an old doe wounded to death.

"Big deal, Sister! I offer happiness to your husband in gratitude for his kindness towards my son and me," Aurel's mother answers.

She stands before the castle's mistress with her hands on her hips. 

"Maybe you would prefer him to have a good time with some maid."

Neither of them noticed me. But, finally, my mother-in-law, a victim of her melancholy and her sister's shenanigans, lays down her arms.

"Do what you want! I don't care," she yells.

I pray never to become like those two.

They see me, suddenly getting along well and staring at me with hostility.

I curtsy before the two witches and exclaim, "Hello, my ladies!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with the seamstress," my mother-in-law asks suspiciously.

"Uh ... today, she's not here, and neither is Reyn."

Aurel's mother looks up to heaven in exasperation. 

"Of course not!"

"But where is he?" I ask, all innocent-looking.

"Reyn is with my son," she replies. "They're training with Templars, as they do daily, in a hamlet called Buxières."

Damn! I have the information.

I'm grateful and try a friendly approach with my mother-in-law. 

"My father knew a plant to heal the soul's pain."

She's surprised and stares at me with a sad look. 

"Your father is dead! No one can do anything for me."

"Simon was scrupulous," I insist. "He was diligent in noting all remedies he used and how he prepared them, including their dosage."

She sighs, then dismisses me without too much nastiness. 

"Go back to your apartments! The seamstress will surely come."

I curtsy again before leaving these ladies. The seamstress will show up if she feels like it. As for me, I will find a horse and go in quest of my husband.

No sooner said than done!

I returned to the room and put on hose under my gown, plus a warm cloak with a pair of leather boots Simon had bought me in Jerusalem.

***

The stable boy gazes at me with astonishment when I point to a beautiful bay mare.

And she's already saddled.

"Does this mare belong to someone?"

The boy looks even more stunned. 

"To our good lord, for sure! Everything belongs to him," he repeats with a dreamy face.

I had understood that.

"Does anyone at the castle ride this mare often?" I ask.

The boy scratches his head, and I shudder to think perhaps some lice are nesting in his red hair.