The Devil’s Diadem by Sara Douglass

‘There are unsafe hands at my court?’ Edmond said, giving a chuckle, then he waved us away. I dipped again, and Raife bowed, and then Raife led me across the chamber, passing Henry, who gave us a sardonic nod, toward a woman standing against a series of archways that looked as if they led into a chamber mirroring the hall below in size and scope.

‘Alianor,’ Raife said, ‘this is my wife, Maeb. I pray that you shall be careful of her amid this vast nest of vipers.’

Lady Alianor dipped in courtesy to him before switching her gaze to me.

I liked her instantly. She was some fifteen years older than me, of warm beauty and with a ready smile. She dipped — I was overcome with yet another deep sense of unreality seeing this aristocratic lady humble herself before me — and then reached out both her hands to take mine.

‘We shall be friends,’ she said, her smile so amiable I found it hard to believe it had any artifice behind it at all. And yet, as I squeezed her hands, I wondered how deeply I might trust that smile and the woman who wore it.

Chapter Five

‘Are you quite overcome yet?’ Lady Alianor said to me as we moved to one side, allowing a trio of noblemen to pass through the arch into the great hall beyond.

I gave a wan smile. ‘I dare hardly speak, lest I betray my unease.’

‘You will become used to it.’ We had our arms linked, and she patted my hand. ‘Do not fret about it. Every young girl is overcome when first she arrives here. But you … my dear, everyone was agog at the news of the earl’s marriage! The loss of Adelie and her children, especially Stephen, may the saints hold him close, was the most dreadful news, but to have Henry return to court with the news that Pengraic had wed again, and so quick —’

‘And to someone of no name and no dowry.’

She chuckled. ‘And that, too. Well, the court has been hot with rumour and conjecture ever since. What Henry did not tell us was that you were so beautiful. And the king, too, has been keeping such knowledge close … for I believe you have met prior?’

I nodded.

‘Now that I see you, and now that all of court can see you, there will be no more reason to wonder. Sweet Jesu, Maeb, you shall set all the tongues here a-wag!’

Her tone became more serious. ‘And you must learn to use that, as you must use the fact that most will think you a country naïf.’

‘I am a —’

‘As of this moment, no, you are not, Maeb. You are the Countess of Pengraic. Apart from Queen Adelaide, and apart from any of the princes’ ‘ wives, you are now one of the highest-ranked women in this land. Your husband stands among the most wealthy and powerful. You will find both flatterers and assassins fawning at your feet. Use them both, but do not allow yourself to be used by them.’

‘There is so much to learn.’

‘Aye, and that is why the earl asked me to care for you. Do not worry, Maeb. I shall not leave your side today, and shall guide you through whatever treacheries occur.’

Any fears I’d had about court mostly evaporated during the morning. Alianor proved a pleasant and reassuring companion. From the king’s privy chamber she took me out to the gallery, where we lingered to enjoy the view. In the far distance, to the east, where spread light forest, we could hear the shouts and horns of the hunting party, although we could not see them.

‘If the king returns with a good boar, he shall be happy,’ she said. ‘If my husband returns with his life intact, then I shall be happy,’ I countered.

‘Why do you fear so, Maeb?’

I told her what I’d learned from both Saint-Valery, Summersete and Henry — that Edmond feared my husband’s power.

‘All kings fear their high nobles’ power,’ Alianor said. ‘They fear their wealth, and the armies they can raise from their lands, and yet most high nobles still walk about with their heads attached to their shoulders. Henry and Summersete?’ She gave an elegant shrug. ‘They are most likely envious of your husband’s easy grasp of power. It makes them dangerous, yes, but they are unlikely to move against him.’

‘And Edmond?’

She thought, looking out over the expanse of green that ran east. ‘Edmond may well worry about Pengraic, but Pengraic has never done anything to threaten the king. Pengraic appears a man happy with what power and wealth he has, and does not covet more.’

She ended that last with a questioning lilt to her voice, and I merely raised my eyebrows slightly at her.

She gave me a little nod, as if approving, and carried on. ‘I think that, rather than fear him, Edmond is oft frustrated by Pengraic. Your husband rarely jumps to Edmond’s will like other noblemen and that irritates Edmond.’

‘Yet Raife agreed happily to the hunt today, when I think he would have rather desisted.’

‘That is such a small thing, Maeb. It is in the larger matters that Pengraic oft acts on his own behalf. Not against the king, just on his own behalf.’

I glanced back inside the privy chamber, where I could see Henry continuing his talk with the man in the white tunic.

‘Henry bothers me,’ I said, low.

‘Henry bothers many people. He will be your most dangerous opponent at court, for he hates your husband and covets his power — and his independence from Edmond. Come, let us descend to the lesser hall, and we shall parade along its length, and gather you admirers.’

We carefully traversed the narrow spiral stairs to the lower level — Alianor showing me, unasked, where the privies were on the way (she had borne seven children, she told me, and understood the needs of the woman carrying a child) — and into the lesser hall. Here we spent the next few hours, taking seats before one of the fires, sipping small beer and picking at the tray of fruits and cheeses presented for our pleasure, as one by one or two by two, the noblemen and women of the court came over to introduce themselves. I felt as if I were holding court and I would have been ill at ease, save that Alianor’s presence gave me courage and her continuous whispered commentary gave me the knowledge to deal graciously and easily with the never-ending procession.

At one point, left to our own devices for a short while, Alianor leaned close and touched my loosely braided hair. ‘Why do you wear it so, Maeb?’

‘I wore it thus one day, and Raife commented that he liked it so much that I have continued ever since. Why? Is it unbecoming for court?’

She gave a soft laugh and squeezed my arm. ‘No! I had thought it the most artful piece of politic cunning when first I saw you! Here you are, your hair dressed so simply, and yet so glorious in its richness and gleam, and, while all the men of court admire it — it is true! I have seen all their eyes slip to it sooner rather than later — all the women regard it with envious eyes. They have thickened and lengthened their braids with horsehair and ribbons and pins and beads and baubles and bells so that they drag on the floor, and yet here you sit, glorious in your natural beauty, your hair outshining all of their wily tricked braiding. Wait and see, Maeb, for the next time you return to court I swear you will see a number of these women here discard their horsehair and baubles, and try to emulate your simplicity. And when you see that, Maeb, know your power.’

We chatted a little while, watching people moving about the hall.

I asked Alianor where was the queen, for I had thought she would be at court with her husband.

‘Adelaide suffered a bad miscarriage not a month past. She is old for childbearing and the loss was ruinous to her health. She, and Edmond’s two younger sons, remain at their manor at Elesberie.’

‘Oh, I am sorry,’ I said, meaning it. I would vastly have preferred the queen to be here.

Then I thought I would surprise Alianor with a very different question.

‘Which of these women present,’ I said, ‘have been my husband’s mistresses?’

Alianor looked shocked and I think it was genuine. ‘My sweet lord, Maeb, you are not such the country naïf after all! Well, as to your question, that woman standing there in the red kirtle, and the lady in the far corner, with the blue ribbons through her braids.’

I felt the stab of a terrible jealousy, almost physically hurtful, and I wished I had not asked the question. Both women had talked to me in the past hours — and they had shared Raife’s bed? I felt sick.