Crowner's Dilemma - Part Twenty Two

[ismenin]

Summershobbit's smashing pic! Hugses.

Hello! The sun has gone, and I'm sitting here with Horlicks, full of grapes that my sis (hugs) brought for me today.

So, instead of wasting valuable time waffling, my little cabbages - here's the next part. Hey ho!




Thanks to ladysunrope for beta. Hugs you, too. :D

Part 22

Dom stood by the abbess's side and listened carefully to her comments on the king's recent behaviour. The person who was the recipient of this information was the king's doting mother. Dom was not sure what the queen made of her sister's revelations, because nothing of her thoughts showed in her face as the recitation came to an end.

"I see," Queen Eleanor said, as the abbess grew silent. "It is not a new story to me. Richard is very...possessive...of those he loves."

She turned her attention to Dom, looking him over carefully with her keen eyes. "I see you were much hurt, Sir Dominic." Her voice was cool, but she seemed not to be antagonistic towards him. He answered her in the same courteous tones.

"I was, your Grace. But the timely intervention of his Grace of Canterbury saved me from further harm."

The queen gave a wry smile. "Vincent has always been, in some sort, able to handle Richard. It is a pity that in this particular case the king has a blind spot."

She glanced over at her sister who was looking at her with a questioning look upon her face.

"Elijah," the queen sighed, "is something of an...obsession with my son." Her look turned to Dom. "If you will take my advice, Mortain, you will leave this place before the king returns to it."

Dom stood straight and firm. "I am sorry to disoblige your Grace, but where Elijah stays, there will I be also." His eyes stayed fixed firmly on the queen, who answered him stare for stare. Eventually, her eyes lowered.

"I would wish to have myself such a faithful friend," she said, standing as Astin’s entrance signalled her chamber was ready. "Go you to him, Mortain. He will be needing your presence. He still looks far from well. You have good leave."

Dom bowed low and walked up the stairs with as much haste as was seemly before a queen.

***

Eleanor sighed once more. "Truda, I am no fool. I have divined the situation well, despite the particulars you omitted from it. Even I know that Diccon will not be gainsaid once he has a mind to please himself. Greater men than Mortain have been broken by his wrath. I hope I can persuade my son to leave before hell itself breaks loose here."

The abbess answered, calmly, as she curtseyed to the departing queen. "So do I, my sister. I have every hope that you will be able to accomplish it. Do you wish to eat when you have changed your garments?"

The queen nodded. "Indeed. Let it be an intimate meal - the two of us, in the solar. My court can eat here, and we may talk further - uninterrupted. I have no mind for crowds, today. This matter takes precedence over all else."

***

Dom did not know whether to be relieved or concerned, for, when he opened the chamber door it was to find that Elijah was more angered than distressed.

"...and Aunt Ella has a blind spot when it comes to her precious son. Well, John, I will not..."

He stopped as Dom came in with a finger to his lips. "The queen is ascending the stairs, Lij," he said, in low tones. Dom knew the walls and doors of Beauvallet were thick, but one never knew. He was right to be concerned. Almost immediately the queen came through the adjoining door from the chamber so recently occupied by the king, and examined her nephew, lying in the bed without acknowledging the presence of Dom and John in the room.

She had closed the door behind her, but still spoke in a quiet voice. "I will contrive to get Diccon out of here as soon as may be, Lij. You are not good for him, for you raise humours in him that are best left dormant."

She glanced at Dom then, who stood resolute beside the bed. "I have advised Sir Dominic to leave the castle, but he has refused to go. Do you see what your entreaties may do, nephew, for I am certain that he will listen to you, if not to me."

Elijah stared at his aunt, but there was nothing to be gleaned from the expression on her face. As usual, she kept her own counsel.

"Sir Dominic is his own man, your Grace. He may come and go as it pleases him," Elijah said in a voice warm with love. "It is not for me to order him."

The queen laughed, and there was real pleasure in the sound. "Mortain, you have something here, indeed, that the king's Grace has sought to obtain for many years, and has never found. I advise you to nurture it."

Dom and Elijah looked blankly at Eleanor, but she shook her head and refused to say more.

"My sister and I are eating alone in the solar. Do you take your meal in the Hall, with my retinue, messire," the queen said to John. "The solar is a far pleasanter, more intimate spot than the Great Hall. I trust my state is high enough to excuse the odd behaviour. A queen must uphold her position in life wherever she is, and must be seen to do it."

She kissed Elijah gently on the brow, and left the room.

"A remarkable woman," John said when she had gone. "Very much like her sister, I would say."

Elijah lay back on the pillows, his hands still trembling slightly. It was clear his mind was on other matters. John saw it, and bowed himself out of the room, promising to return after the meal.

"Why will you not go, my Amis?" Elijah asked, as Dom sat on the bed, and brushed a few stray hairs out of Elijah's eyes.

"Because, dear love, I do not wish to be parted from you. Beauvallet is a big place. I can find a corner to hide in when Richard returns. I do not have to come to him at his bidding, if no-one knows where I am. Besides, I do not think he will hurt me when his mother is near."

He grinned, lightening the look of concern upon Elijah's face. "My mother was one of her ladies, in younger days, and she told me the king was much in awe of his mother."

Elijah smiled back. "It is true, Dom. But both have fiery tempers. If they lose it they are bound to run counter to each others wishes, just because...because they can."

Elijah waved a hand in the direction of the adjoining door. "Go to the door, Dom, and push the bolt to. We may have more peace together that way."

Dom, shocked, followed the direction of Elijah's finger, and saw, upon the door a new, and very substantial bolt had recently been fitted there.

"No-one enters through that door - not Richard, or even Aunt Ella - unless I wish it. Not even, my lovely man - not even you." Elijah was now grinning widely, and Dom could not help himself. He bounced upon the bed, and heartily kissed him.

***

Dom reluctantly went to his own bed as darkness fell. It was wisest, he thought, to be careful of appearances, despite what the queen had appeared to glean from her sister's story and the evidence of her own eyes.

He wondered, as he disrobed, why the abbess had been so reluctant to furnish her sister with all the relevant details of their story. Why did she not tell the queen of Richard's most importunate actions towards Elijah? She had spoken of the violence shown towards Dom, after all.

He came to the decision, as he blew out his candles, that the abbess had thought it was Elijah's business to reveal details of his love for Dom, and Dom's for him - not hers. She was quite right, too, he thought. It is no-one's business, after all, but ours, and she knows full well where Richard's desires lay - in a room, further along the corridor, fast asleep.

He settled into the pillows and let sleep take him.


But Elijah was not asleep. He lay in bed, mulling over the day's doings. He heard the rattle of the latch as the queen tried to enter the room, then, moments later, a quiet knock on the other door as it opened slightly.

"Come in, aunt. I am not asleep," Elijah called softly, and the queen, wearing a gorgeous peacock blue silk embroidered dressing-robe, came in and put the candlestick she was carrying on the table beside Elijah's bed.

She sat next to the bed and smiled at her nephew. "I hoped you were not," she said, examining his face carefully in the light from the two candles burning beside her. "You have been ill, my dove - very ill, by the look of you. Diccon was a brute to have disturbed you with his antics when you have been in such poor condition."

Elijah did not deny it - the evidence was there for all to see - the loss of flesh, the dark circles beneath his eyes, the pallor.

Instead of answering her, he asked a question. "What is it you wish to know, Aunt Ella? What Aunt Truda neglected to tell you, I'll be bound."

The queen smiled at him, then poured out a small cup of the wine near her, and sipped at it.

"You always were an observant lad, Lij. I wish poor Diccon had half your attributes."

Elijah shook his head. "No, aunt. My attributes would not make a good king. I am too...soft...Dick always said. I feel for people's troubles, and am willing to stop any task I am engaged in to help them. That does not make for a good king."

The queen met his gaze firmly. "But Diccon is not a good king, Lij - not yet. He lets his prick rule him too much. Now this is plain speaking, which you might not like, but it is true. Whereas you...you, my flower, are ruled by your heart. And your heart is not inclined towards your king's love - or lust - for you, that is plain to see. It lies in...other directions."

Elijah was afraid she was going to ask him directly if he and Dom were lovers, but she did not.

"Lij, I need to get Richard out of thinking of...love...and fix his mind more firmly upon his duties. I know I am wasting my breath trying to get him to go to his wife, poor mouse.
He came back from Outremer, and the first thing he did - before speaking to Hubert Walter, his regent, before sorting out John's tangled web - was to come here, to moon over you. He has no eyes to see that you do not want him. Why did you go with him to Jerusalem, lad?"

Elijah's eyes did not waver. He answered with perfect truth. "I was escaping another violent lover. I leapt from one into another."

He saw his aunt's shocked look. "No, aunt, I do not mean that Dick was violent towards me, he was not - but he was to anyone whose glance seemed to linger upon me for longer than a moment, justified or not. And, besides, I went because I was bored."

His lips curled into the most enchanting smile, and the queen understood, once again, why her son was so enamoured of this man.

"I dare say the boredom was swiftly alleviated in Jerusalem," she said, wryly.

"It was. But yet I prefer the green fields of England, even in winter. Richard loves the heat, the sand, the fighting..."

The queen stood up. "He does, and he will be better there than sulking about, here. First we must sort out John - the silly lad - and then I shall go with Diccon to see the deserts of Outremer. You must help me to convince him that is the best plan. But no-one else must know of it - that is why I come to you in secret. There are ears everywhere, even amongst a queen's servants. Goodnight, my love," she said, kissing his brow, and brushing, as did Dom, the hair off his face. "Sleep well."

"And you, dear aunt - and...you may withdraw the bolt, and go into your room that way, if you so wish."

The queen smiled, and lifted an expressive eyebrow. "I take your point, nephew. I will knock, next time, before I enter this chamber."

"Thank you, Aunt Ella. Good night." Elijah closed his eyes, and giving up thoughts of their present dilemma, drifted off to sleep to thoughts of Dom lying safe within his arms.

***

Richard received the news of his mother's arrival at Beauvallet with less than filial pleasure. "God's teeth! Why should she come now? I wish to be left in peace to see what I can recover within my relationship with Elijah."

The king strode about Vincent's office like a caged bear. The courtier who had been sent to inform the king of the queen’s arrival, had been sent back to his mistress with the king's growls ringing in his ears.

Vincent picked up a quill from his desk, and twisted it thoughtfully between his fingers as the king raged on.

Then as his cousin paused for breath, he thrust his own weapon into Richard's heart. The king must be brought to remember his folly.

"But you must know full well, Dick, that Lij gets no peace when you are near him - do you think of that? How could he not feel discomforted when you threaten those he cares for?"

The king banged his fist on the desk, upsetting the ink-horn. Vincent sighed, and poured sand over the ink to stop it spreading. Now was not the time to call for a servant to clean it.

"You mean that pudgy-nosed nonentity, Dom Mortain, I collect. It is true that Lij seems to care more for him than he does for his king."

He poured himself out a goblet of wine, and sat opposite the archbishop, his eyes snapping fire.

Vincent met his cousin's eye with a look every bit as angry as was Richard's. "You are very wrong, your Grace. Do you forget that Elijah completely emptied his coffers to help fund your ransom from Luxembourg? Clearly you have a very short memory. His Grace of Stanford cares greatly for, and supports unstintingly, his king - it is his importunate cousin, and former lover, Dick, who disturbs his peace."

Richard had the grace to blush. He knew Vincent was right - but Elijah was an obsession he found it difficult to relinquish.

"Damn you, Vince - I do not need reminding of my failures! I must try a gentler way. It may be he will respond to that..."

The king droned on. It seemed to Vincent that Richard was blind to Elijah's distaste for his present familiarity. Dom had filled Elijah's heart, and there was no room within it for any other lover, never mind how ardent - or how high-born - he should be. However, Vincent saw that to say more would further anger the king, so he remained silent, and listened to Richard's plans for returning to Beauvallet as soon as was possible.


***

When Dom went to see Elijah later that morning, it was to find him eating some milky pudding, sweetened with honey, which Astin had prepared for him. It smelled nice, and he was glad to see Elijah eating something more solid, though he took his time in consuming the fragrant concoction.

"Richard is coming back later today, Dom," Elijah said, thinly, putting the empty bowl on the bedside table. "I would wish you not to be in plain sight when he comes."

Dom was just about to inform his love, in no uncertain terms, that he would stand by his side in any situation - even at the peril of his own life - when he saw the desperate plea in Elijah's dark-rimmed eyes. His heart melted, and all indignation fell from him. He had to protect Elijah by protecting himself.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "I have found a useful bolt-hole, Lij, if you will accord me the use of it."

Elijah's eyes brightened. "Anywhere, Dom! Where is it?"

Dom grinned. "Astin said it was your mother's room, where she engaged in balancing the castle's accounts. May I have it?"

Elijah took his hand. "Of course you may! It is a nice little chamber, and situated well away from prying eyes. No-one would go there unless they knew where it was - and I am certain Richard does not. Mother, for some reason, always made me keep its whereabouts secret, and it is hidden in a part of the castle seldom used. I daresay I have never even told Vince about it! This castle is large enough to hide any number of secret rooms."

"Well, it is hardly secret, Lij, as its door is there, in a corridor, for all to see. Astin knows where it is. It seems it is he who keeps it clean. I will go there as soon as Richard's approach is shouted from the battlements, Lij. You may have peace to tackle him."

Elijah shook his head, sadly. "There is no use tackling Dick once he has a bee in his bonnet - Vincent and Aunt Ella knows that full well. But I do know how to manage him. I shall lie here, looking mournful, and pretending to be weak. He will not importune me for too long. He will leave me to rest."

Dom thought that Elijah need not pretend to seem weak, he looked it. But as he watched his love refuse his aid, and walk alone into the garderobe, he realised he was stronger in body and spirit than he appeared. What concerned Dom was how long Elijah could keep up the pretence before the king pounced upon him - it was the only word he could think of to describe Richard's behaviour towards Elijah.

Dom hoped the queen would take her son away very soon. In fact, he would find Anselm, Orlando and the abbess, and ask them to pray that this would come to pass. He was not overly hopeful - but if God listened to anyone, he would listen to those good people.

Astin came in with a ewer of hot water, soap and towels, and Dom left Elijah to his ablutions, to find his three friends.

Unfortunately for Dom, the moment he achieved the head of the main staircase, the tucket sounded, heralding the king's approach. He walked swiftly back along the landing, bumping into the girl who was with Wenna when she died, coming out of his bed-chamber, loaded with bed linen.

Her sleeves were rolled up above her elbows, for it was a hot day, and, even though he was in haste to reach his sanctuary, his keen eye noticed that there were no marks upon her arms, which were particularly pale-skinned. There would have been some redness, he was sure, some vestige of an indication upon them of damage, if Astin's report of Wenna's injuries was not exaggerated.

Stepping quickly past her, and turning the corner into the corridor which led to the back stairs, he looked swiftly about him to see if anyone else had observed him. There was no-one about, so he reached the chamber without any difficulty. He thought that most of the castle's inhabitants had deserted that part of the building because they were interested in how the king and his mother might greet each other after the long period that they had been apart.

He sat at the desk, cursing the fact that he had not brought down from his room the parchments containing the information he had already. They were, in fact, in a pouch, under a cloak hanging in the garderobe.

Dom shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing to be done, he would have to start from where he left off. He pulled a fresh sheet of parchment out of the basket beside the desk, and reached for the quill. It was not there, neither was the ink horn. Dom realised, vexed, that Astin must have brought him the pen and ink from this chamber whilst he was at the abbey.

He got up and looked about him, wondering if there were spare supplies in any of the many cupboards and chests lining the room. He started to search.

***

Elijah composed himself upon the bed and glared at John, standing beside him. "Do you dare laugh, Barebone, and I will be exceeding angered with you."

John smiled down at his patient. "You need not fear that, Lij - or that I will have to resort to lies about your condition, for which Orlando, here, would have to shrive me. You are still far from fully recovered, and I understand completely your desire to seem worse that you are." His smile faded. "We will say what is needful, and no more. Neither of us fear the king, after all - there is a higher King to whom we give our allegiance."

"That is very true," Orlando agreed from the chair at the other side of the bed. "And you need not fear any..." Orlando blushed, scarlet, “…any attacks upon your, um, virtue. I will not leave you with him, I swear."

Elijah gave a wry smile. "Thank you, my dear friends. Before they arrive, I must ask you to speak privately with Astin - tell him Dom is in my mother's chamber, he will know where I mean. I would ask one of you to go there to bear him company, but it is not easy to find."

Elijah looked at Orlando. A blind man might find it more easily, had he known where to look, but the directions were as complicated and as long as the corridors between this room and that one, and there was no time for explanations. Elijah's chamber door was ajar, and the three men heard the thundering of feet as Richard raced up the stairs to see his cousin.

Elijah, with a last pleading look at John, closed his eyes.

***

Richard burst into the room in his usual impetuous manner, followed by Queen Eleanor and Vincent. He strode to the bed, where John was holding Elijah's wrist, and waited impatiently until the apothecary restored the hand to its position on the bedcover.

"How does he, Father? Is he much improved?" Richard glared at Orlando, occupying the seat he wished to sit in, but Orlando could not see the expression on the king's face and so remained. Richard settled for the edge of the bed, which was large enough to cause no disturbance to the man lying so still within it.

Father Barebone bowed to the king, and to the queen and archbishop standing by the bed, and laughed inwardly as Orlando calmly stayed in his seat. He seemed willing to defend his friend at the risk of incurring the king's wrath.

"He is a little improved, Beau Sire," John said, in cool, measured tones. "His pulse is more regular, and he has eaten a small mess of frumenty this morning. But he is still fighting his way back to good health. I pray your Grace will not overly disturb him."

The queen looked carefully at her nephew. Nothing of her present feelings showed upon her face. Their interview of the night before might never have happened, so bland was her expression.

She spoke, and Orlando, unaware until then of her presence, rose to offer her his seat, but she pushed him down, a firm hand on his shoulder. "Do you stay there, Father, and pray for my nephew. He is in sore need of it."

Gertruda, coming in to the chamber at that moment, moved swiftly to the bed. "He is not worse, sister?" she asked, careless of protocol.

The queen reassured her. "The good father here says he is mending, but it is a very slow process, and he must be left in peace."

Gertruda, who had come to see her nephew earlier and found him much restored, blinked once or twice at that, but she, too, was no fool. "Very true, your Grace," she nodded, remembering her court manners. "We will all take the utmost care to see he rests comfortably. There is food being laid for you all in the Hall, Astin informs me."

She glanced at Richard, then quickly at Vincent. "Do you take the king down to meat, Vincent. Elijah looks set to sleep for hours. We will call you when he wakes. Father Orlando and I will stay here, and pray for his immortal soul."

Vincent held back a grin. "Thank you, aunt. Come, your Grace, a good roast capon after your recent disposition will strengthen you. And we might find there is duck, and mutton as well."

The food swayed it. Richard cast one longing look at Elijah, and quickly left the room.

The queen waited only a moment before following her son. She was smiling. "Oh, bravo - all of you!" she gurgled, a laugh in her voice, as they bowed her out of the door.

As it closed behind her, Elijah opened a wary eye, and pulled himself up on the pillows. "Duck? A morsel off the breast might please me, if it is served with Marian's good cherry sauce," he said, brightly.

Orlando began to laugh.

***

Original fourteenth century English recipe for Frumenty: (this is possibly the earliest English you can easily read and understand for yourselves, unless you are used to it, as are LSR and myself. I append a translation, just in case - giggle. And, any experts in the middle ages restrain yourself. The time-line of this story has been altered by MOI! ;D

Note the Kentish 'eyren' for 'eggs', as mentioned earlier in this series.

Tak clene whete & braye yt wel in a mortar; seethe it til it breste in water. Nym it vp. Tak good broth & swete mylk of kyn or of almand & tempere it therwith. Nym yelkys of eyren rawe & saffroun & cast therto; salt it; lat it naught boyle after the eyren ben cast therinne. Messe it forth with venesoun or with fat motoun fresch

Take clean wheat and break (pound) it well in a mortar. Seethe it until it bursts (softens) in water. Beat it up. Take good broth and sweet cow's milk or milk of almonds, and mix together. Beat the yolks of raw eggs and saffron and mix all together. Salt it, but do not allow it to boil after the eggs are added. Serve with venison or with fresh fat mutton.
(Or as a cereal, with honey, and creamy fresh milk, as Lij ate it. :D)