As I entered the main hall, I heard my name. I scanned the crowd and soon saw Therese. The moment I saw her, the joy of my pending freedom vanished and memories of the dead peacocks and Sylvain’s talk of plague flooded my head. Therese, normally robust and ruddy, seemed slightly paler than the last time I had seen her and her skin, although liberally coated with pearl dusting powder, appeared grayish and her lips, painted red, were thin and drawn.
Barely able to conceal my surprise at her appearance, I went to her. “Therese.”
“Must Duir insist on so many idiots beside him at court?” She snapped open her wrist fan and flicked it furiously before her face.
I could see tiny beads of sweat dotting her brow and threatening to ruin her painted face.
“Are you well?” I asked, taking her hand and leading her away from the swelling crowds consistent of a coronation court.
“I’ve been better, to tell you truly. I came only to oversee the theatrics scheduled for the celebration tonight.”
She must have seen my pleased reaction to this news, for she smiled proudly. “Yes, my dear, I will stage the night’s theatre, but I will not tell of the true cost for this honor, or the idiocy I have endured within these walls. It is no wonder I am flushed!”
“My brother says there is illness within your house. How do your women fare?” I asked concernedly.
Therese clicked her tongue, obviously annoyed. “Ill whores are the bane of my house all the year, Virago. Sylvain is a seer as much as I am a lady!”
“He has told you of his worries?” I noticed two long, glistening peacock feathers, protruding from Therese’s mass of curls.
“So he has and so I have named him a fool. If there is a plague, it will not be coming from anyone in my house!”
“It is I who am a fool, My Lady,” I replied soothingly as a single bead of sweat inevitably dripped from her brow and was soon followed by another. I retrieved a linen handkerchief from my sleeve and offered it to her. She took it hastily and dabbed at her face.
“I am all nerves with this coronation performance!”
Sensing her alarm, I offered my hand and she allowed me to guide her to a bench between two large ivy topiaries upon which I helped her sit.
“What of your new friend, Claus?” I asked.
“Another fool!” She sneered and flicked her fan faster before her face. “I sent him to find props specifically for this night and the idiot returned robbed of the gold I’d given him when a crowd of peasant men tricked him into dressing as a woman, and used him in shocking ways. He is a perverse creature and while I enjoy perversion, I am never taken advantage by it!”
I felt my stomach twist as her words brought back memories of Cale. “There are times, Therese, when one has horrible acts forced upon them and in these times I promise to you, gold is of the least importance. Claus is lucky to have survived such a thing and will bear scars hidden from the world as long as he lives.”
“What are you saying, Virago? Claus lives and breathes, though no longer in my house. He has found himself better suited to the beastly Lord Landing, and to this, I say good riddance.”
I shook my head sadly, although glad of Claus’s escape from illness, my heart ached for Therese. “I wish you well, My Lady, and pray the illness in your house is fleeting.” I bowed low and took my leave. I thought I heard her shout to me as I walked away, but couldn’t bear to see her drawn face again. When I heard the blaring of trumpets announcing Duir’s departure and the roar of the crowds outside the palace gates, I stopped, struck with fearful clarity.
“I must warn Duir. Therese and I will go to him, and he must be made to listen.” I rushed back to where she’d stood, but she was gone.
* * * *
I struggled through the swarming streets to make my way home. When I arrived, I found Sylvain standing at the gate, his face pivoted towards the distant sounds of the coronation procession, the fox curled around his shoulders.
“Brother?”
“Yes, I’m home, Sylvain.”
“The vest?”
“A triumph,” I answered weakly as I passed him. My hand absently stroked the top of the fox’s head and to my happy surprise, it did not pull away. “Now I must bathe and dress for the celebration.”
“But are you not to see the coronation? Surely Duir has insisted upon your attendance? Even if I cannot see it, I have anticipated you describing to me the procession and eating of the street food and drinking of the good foreign ale the traveling vendors pour!”
I sighed heavily. “I forget how you enjoy these kinds of festivities. I don’t wish to attend the ceremony and he will know not whether I am there or here, Sylvain. I do not think I can face his men right now.” I’d made my way to the entrance of our home. Sylvain had left the door open and I could see a huge vase of flowers upon the sturdy kitchen table, their scent comforting and somehow sad.
“His men? Auberon, Briar, and Cale? You say their names as though you haven’t treated them as brothers all this time. Suddenly they are different? I have allowed you your silence, Virago, but now I insist you to tell me what has happened!”
“Nothing!” I shouted angrily. “If you wish the pleasures of the streets find them yourself, you are familiar and I lack the strength for anything but a bath before I must return to court.” Even as these words escaped from my mouth, I felt remorse. “Sylvain, forgive my shouting. I am in a web woven by the laws and ignorance of this place. I have always been trapped within it and it
