The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 11

To my great surprise, I'm being summoned to the queen's house a little before the beginning of Lent. And with some apprehension, I go to Acre's northern part. The royal family lives there, in a vast castle. During the king's captivity, Margaret gave birth to a son. She's pregnant again and has chosen to remain in the Holy Land with her husband. So she had to resign herself to letting Beatrice go, and her two sisters-in-law too.

I don't know what she wants from me! We've never been close, so it's unlikely she sees me as a possible lady-in-waiting.

In the presence of the queen, I'm more intimidated than I would like to admit. The trials she has been through left ugly marks on Margaret's pretty face. It ages her a lot as if a part of her youth fled with the misfortunes and never returned.

"You're gorgeous, my dear! As always," she says in a dry, even grumpy voice.

Then she looks down on me, reminding me I'm still the Snakes' bastard in her eyes.

"I heard that you survived captivity among the Mohammedans and escaped on a Pisan boat. Aren't these people's rates exorbitant, my dear?"

It sounds bad, so better to be frank.

"I have no idea, Your Majesty!"

"Of course, you haven't! Just as you and your husband can't imagine the huge ransom paid for your freedom."

My God!

She knows everything.

Margaret gazes with satisfaction at the pallor in my face.

"Charles of Anjou became very rich by marrying my little sister," she admits. "I worked so that Beatrice joined the French court and offered Provence to the Capetians. One of my father's former comrades in arms didn't want this marriage, but I didn't listen to him. Today, Marseille, Arles, and Avignon are on fire. Barral of Baux, an illustrious Provençal lord, has taken the lead of the insurgents against the troops of Charles and his brother Alphonse. He will have to submit or die."

The Capetians! This ferocious dynasty has reigned without sharing over France for several centuries, not hesitating to spill the blood of those who rebel against her power. And their influence in the Occident has become unavoidable.

"Beatrice is totally under the control of her husband, blindly obeying him. She turns against our mother who opposes Charles's violence!" the queen roars in a fit of anger.

Why expose dark family matters before me?

Then she suggests in a mocking tone, "Charles isn't the type to spend his gold without getting a nice compensation!"

I blush at the insult.

"I' m married, Your Majesty! And my husband faithfully serves his sovereign."

She interrupts me with a weary movement, her brown eyes on me.

"I'm sure you had the prudence not to inform him of what my brother-in-law may have done to you! Our young knights are hot-blooded, and Reyn of Chasseney isn't very accommodating when it comes to you! I heard about a duel in Egypt!"

What is she trying to do?

Does she want my husband's head to fall off, and mine too?

"My dear, you look like a condemned woman," she notes with a light laugh. "Don't fear! I'll be as quiet as a grave, and you'll keep your little secrets."

So she only plans to scare me? If she weren't the queen, I would yell at her what I think!

But she didn't finish, alas.

"Don't expect Charles to be careless when it comes to his desires! You and your husband are very fortunate that he's busy in Provence," she specifies with contempt.

Well, I hate the queen of France!

Her last words were those of an ugly viper. Didn't she call me "a lovely thorn in the side of her loathsome brother-in-law"?

I hurried towards the exit, pushing Hersende on my way.

"Mistress Hersende! What a pleasure to see you again!"

She answers with an embarrassed grin that doesn't discourage me.

"I looked for you in vain at the St. John Knights' Hospital."

"I don't leave the queen anymore because the childbirth is soon," she replies.

"Do you know Aurel wants to join the Temple order?"

Maybe she has already gotten the news.

"I don't care about him!" she confesses. "Anyway, the court moves to Caesarea, the ancient capital of Palestine."

I'm not jumping for joy at the idea!

Reyn will have to follow the king when I committed myself to work at the St. John Knights' Hospital for a whole year. Johannes recovered well from his captivity and immediately entered their service.

We now form a team with Gabriel of Edessa, where I'm respected as a physician.

And I don't despair because Caesarea is only a few miles from Acre.

Hersende slipped away coldly. We were once so close, before the army's disaster, before Azalia's loss. But there's not much left of our friendship as if her love affair with Aurel had taken away all her joy of living.

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