Chapter 8: Recognition Dawns

Elena Westmont sat down at her dressing table and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She barely recognized the woman looking back at her, so stark was the change in her appearance over the previous year.

A year earlier, she had worn homespun dresses that itched and abraded her skin. Now she wore a gray dress of fine silk and a pair of the most comfortable shoes she had ever felt.

Her blonde hair hung past her shoulders and shone in the sunlight through the castle window where it had been a greasy and lank brown – by necessity – while she lived in the Burbridge manor. She couldn’t afford to have anyone recognize her so she adopted the dress of the many servants who worked for the Burbridges. Alexander and Jonathan had treated her kindly while they protected her but she still had to maintain the ruse. King Wilhelm was said to have spies in every part of the land.

Life in Tyrell had settled down dramatically since the capture of the five fugitives and their incarceration in the dungeons. Several times she had considered ordering their executions and presenting it as a fait accompli to Joseph upon his return but she had always stilled her hand.

She had grown to enjoy her role as steward to the kingdom. She no longer had to settle petty squabbles from the laborers or listen to the same grievances from the gentry week in and week out. The chamberlain had put a stop to the landholders making a play for Elena’s favor and the magistrate system she had put into place had slowed the commoners’ treks to her door.

She still held open hearings on issues too complex or too important for the magistrates but she didn’t mind those. Her decision was final, even if one side usually left the chamber grumbling under his breath.

In fact, Elena decided that she dreaded the thought of returning to anonymity when the king returned. She would be the wife of the heir to a relatively insignificant holding instead of the most powerful person in the country.

She wished she had considered the consequences of falling in love with Jonathan Burbridge. Now she wasn’t certain she would be happy as his wife when it compared with the chance to be queen. Joseph had given her almost carte blanche to run the country in his stead. Only in the matter of the treasury did Joseph insist she defer to the chamberlain. She could make decisions regarding trade and alliances. She could decide the very life or death of any person in the realm. She was certain Joseph would continue allowing her unfettered power if she were queen.

Still, she had come to see Joseph as almost a brother during her stay at the capital with him as she prepared for his mission. Her child might one day have the same freedom that she had come to enjoy but she understood that hers would end when Joseph – and Jonathan – returned. The wife of a minor noble had no power. Her dominion was the household staff – and only that portion of the staff her husband permitted her to shepherd.

Elena asked herself if she could go back to that life after she had tasted this one. With a sigh, she arose from her chair and headed to her office where she would begin a review of Azkoval’s incoming funds.

She had barely opened the ledger when a discreet knock at the door drew her attention. Choran stood there and awaited her permission to enter. She beckoned him with a wave and the man came forth.

“Lady Elena, is it possible for us to speak privately?” he asked in almost a whisper.

As with every day, Elena was never alone with a male. She had a lady in waiting with her at all times and most of the time she had a contingent of her bodyguards close to her.

“That is inappropriate, Choran,” Elena replied in the same low voice. Whispered conversations between the pair weren’t unusual. They had discussed many items of such great importance that no one could be permitted to overhear them.

Choran didn’t reply. Instead he pulled a piece of parchment, brown with age, from his vest and slid it toward her. Elena used a letter opener to lift the flap because she could see the paper was about the crumble to dust. Her eyes widened when she recognized what it was.

“Where did you get this?” she asked in a voice much too loud for the room.

“That is what I would like to speak to you about,” Choran said, again in a whisper. “I do not think it would serve anyone for this to become public knowledge and it most certainly will become public if anyone hears of it.”

Elena’s bodyguards had moved forward when she had made her exclamation but she waved them back.

“I would like everyone to leave the room,” she said. She attempted to keep her voice even but she was unsuccessful. Even those paying little attention suddenly knew something of great urgency had arisen. Many assumed the king had met a great defeat and was killed or captured.

“Milady?” her attendant asked.

“Please wait just outside the closed door,” Elena said. “You may rest assured that no impropriety will occur. I have something I need to discuss privately with the chamberlain.”

“Has the king been harmed?” her lead bodyguard asked. He was one of Joseph’s original mercenaries and he had great loyalty to the man.

“The king is just fine,” Elena said, offering a smile. “A messenger arrived last night with news. I would expect King Joseph has already put an end to Lord Wellington and is on his way back to us even as we speak.”

The man offered a relieved nod and gestured for his men to leave the chamber. The attendant gave her mistress a long look before joining them in the hallway – where the topic of conversation revolved around what explosive revelation the chamberlain had delivered.

Inside the office, Choran took a seat opposite Elena and waited as she read the parchment. He noticed that she was handling it with greatest of care.

“How did you come by this?” she asked again.

“The castle was in disarray after The Fall,” Choran explained. “Many of the household servants did what they could to secure King Welton’s papers and personal belongings before the usurper could destroy them. After King Joseph arrived, the servants have begun to bring these items back to their rightful owner. The gold or jewels were added to the treasury at the King’s insistence but the other items were stored until they could be sorted.

“I hired several people to handle this task, as you know, and almost everything is inventoried for King Joseph’s inspection upon his return.”

“And this was among the items?” Elena wondered.

“Thankfully, it was not,” Choran said. “Otherwise word would be all over the capital by now. The daughter of Queen Melina’s lead attendant brought this to me this morning. She was just a girl when her mother died at the queen’s side that day. King Wilhelm sold the girl into indentured servitude and her period of slavery has just concluded. The very first thing she did was to return to Azkoval so she could present a packet of letters to the king.”

“Slavery?” Elena asked, appalled at the concept. “Wilhelm sold people into slavery?”

“He sold many of the castle’s children into slavery,” Choran admitted. “Some were sold to sailors looking for crew or cabin boys. Others were sold as household servants to people where the institution was practiced. The woman, her name is Vandra, was only six years old when she was sold to a family in Belan. She said they treated her kindly but they still made certain she knew she was a slave. They did permit her to keep the small bundle of documents that she carried out of the castle with her. She cannot read or write so they felt it was of no matter if she kept the scraps of parchment.”

“So she doesn’t know what this is?” Elena asked.

“Her mother told her that they were Azkoval’s most important papers,” Choran answered. “I have reviewed them all and except for this one they are outdated and serve no purpose.”

Elena looked back down at the parchment on her desk. The writing was faded but clearly readable.

“Contract of Marriage,” she read aloud. “I, Norton Westmont, freeman and landholder, enter into a betrothal agreement for my daughter, Elena, to Prince Joseph DuBront, son of King Welton DuBront of Azkoval.”

She read the rest of the single-page document silently, seeing what her father had promised as dowry and smiling. Every item listed was now gone, stolen and sold by the family who had taken over the Westmont lands.

Three signatures rested at the bottom. She recognized her father’s writing and felt a tear come to her eye. It had been 12 years since she had seen the man’s fine penmanship. King Welton’s signature was crisp and clear. The final signature caused her to shake her head. Joseph’s penmanship had not improved in the decade since he had put quill to parchment. It was still unruly and practically unreadable. But she knew it was his because his signature looked identical to the one that rested on hundreds of documents in her office. For a reason she didn’t understand, Alexander Burbridge had signed as a witness to the document.

“Were you aware of this?” Choran asked.

Elena gave a brief nod. There was no used to lie to the man. It would serve no purpose once Joseph returned.

“Do you think the king remembers signing this?” Choran continued.

Again, Elena only nodded.

“This makes things quite awkward, Lady Elena,” Choran told her. “By rights, this contract is still a valid document. Neither your father nor Joseph’s can cancel it. What am I to do?”

“You are to do nothing,” Elena replied. “Joseph knew this document was created and so did I. The only others who know of it for certain are Lord Burbridge and his son. Joseph assumed it had been destroyed like so many other things from that time. Alexander – Lord Burbridge – told me that almost every book from the castle was burned along with King Welton’s family.”

“You both knew of this and he still agreed to permit your alliance with Jonathan Burbridge,” Choran said. He might have meant it as a question but it came out as a statement.

“When my father told me that I was pledged to Joseph, I was happy with the news,” Elena explained. “He and I had been great friends since we were babies. I was only eight years old when my father agreed to this. Joseph was but nine years old. His time in Denaya changed many things, Choran. One of the things that changed was his desire to see this contract fulfilled.”

“And what of your desire?” Choran asked in a gentle voice. “You would be queen!”

“I owe a great deal to Jonathan and his father,” Elena told him. “I had long ago contented myself that I would Jonathan’s mistress once he wed. When Joseph returned my first thought – and Jonathan’s first thought – was that I could be his wife. That is what King Joseph decided should be done.”

“And yet you are not wed,” Choran stated.

“With battle looming, Jonathan suggested that we wait,” Elena continued. “He did not want me to become a widow only shortly after we married and he knew that was possible. It is a long trek to Wellington and no one knew what the king would find there.”

“And what are your feelings now that you see what being a queen could be like?” Choran asked. He was an observant man and he had seen Elena grow into the role of steward. She would be an able assistant to King Joseph as he reigned.

Elena was silent. The time she spent with Joseph as he introduced her to the duties of administrating a country (as little as he knew of them) had reminded her of the times they had shared as children.

He was far more serious now but he still had the patience and protectiveness that she had enjoyed when she was a girl. He had always been a fearless child and she had followed in his wake as if swept along by a whirlwind. She had recalled all the mischief they had created together.

She also remembered the crushing heartbreak of learning first of her parents’ murders and then of the deaths of Welton, Melina and Joseph. Alexander and Jonathan Burbridge had rescued her from certain death and treated her with respect and kindness. She loved them both: Alexander as a surrogate father and Jonathan as something more.

Joseph was more like a brother to her. He had mentored her and teased her as he always had but he hadn’t shown any romantic leanings. He had also developed a friendship with Jonathan. Still, the prospect of being queen was enticing – perhaps more enticing to her than living the remainder of her life as Lady Burbridge.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

Joseph entered the manor house unseen through a kitchen window and opened the front door. The rest of his party – Jonathan and Alexander Burbridge, Genrico Larchman, Osid ben Surkta and 10 men representing 10 separate landholders (those not replaced by Joseph in the upheaval after reclaiming the crown) – entered. The manor was silent as a tomb during the middle of the night.

There had been no guards on patrol and no sentries posted. It was hard to believe that Lord Wellington was preparing to fight a battle for his land. He wondered how much Julia and Victoria had to do with the emptiness. Julia had told him it would be daybreak before the cooks came down to the kitchen. That would approach shortly, Joseph knew. He gestured to the men to take seats around the lord’s elegant dining room table – placed exactly where Julia said it would be.