Chapter 33: Harsh Words

Lucretia Vespucci was the lone occupant of the dining room when King Joseph finally broke away to take his midday meal. As always, the girl was seated as far away from the head of the table as she could get.

“Hello,” Joseph said as he sat down across from her instead of his customary seat.

“Your Highness,” Lucretia replied. She put her spoon in her bowl and prepared to depart.

“Please, stay,” Joseph said. The girl immediately dropped back into her seat as though her legs no longer worked. Joseph sighed. “That was not a command. It was a request. If you do not wish to converse with me, you need not feel obligated.”

Lucretia looked back at her half-filled bowl and used the spoon to stir the stew around.

“I’m sorry I make you uncomfortable,” Joseph told her. “I know ... I know I was a bit unkind when we first dined together. I was wrong and you’ve been a welcome addition to the castle. In fact, I missed seeing you about while you travelled. Although you’ve rarely spoken to me, I know that others here find your company extremely pleasant.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Lucretia mumbled.

“I wish you would simply call me Joseph,” the king said. “You are the last one that insists upon calling me anything different. I believe Julia would gag if she tried to get ‘Your Highness’ to pass her lips.”

Lucretia smiled in spite of herself.

“There,” Joseph said, returning the smile. “That is the smile I’ve often seen directed at others. Tell me, did you enjoy your trip to Larchman?”

Lucretia gulped and immediately lost her smile. She simply nodded.

“Would you tell me if there is anything I can do to ease your discomfort around me?” Joseph inquired.

“There you are!” Amelia Trimble said from the doorway. Joseph knew the woman wasn’t speaking to him but he answered anyway.

“You’ve located me!” he said cheerfully. This time he got a smile and a giggle from Lucretia so he considered it a small victory – despite the glare Amelia cast in his direction.

“It is unseemly for a young woman to dine alone with a man,” Amelia said.

“No, it isn’t,” Joseph said firmly. “Whoever put that silly notion into your head should be taken by the shoulders and shaken. There was absolutely nothing unseemly happening here. If you believe there was, then you have a very warped sense of right and wrong. Lucretia is a guest at the castle. I was simply trying to get to know her and to let her know me a bit better. If you believe that improper then I’m not certain what you would view as appropriate.”

Amelia’s mouth dropped at the rebuke.

“It was my mother and your mother who put those ideas in my head,” she said angrily when she regained her balance.

“Then they were fools,” Joseph shot back. “Perhaps, if a young gentleman had gotten the chance to sit and learn about you – without having to observe some archaic sense of propriety – he could have seen past the wild tales of your youth and you wouldn’t have been sent as far away as the Trimbles could send you. My mother and your mother are both gone. A new day has dawned and I will not permit antiquated views to hold forth. We were not fornicating on the tabletop and, I believe if you were to ask Lucretia, that wasn’t even a consideration on her part.”

“There is no reason to be crass,” Amelia said.

“There most certainly is,” Joseph replied. “You seem to believe it improper if a male and a female are alone for any length of time. Why is that? What sort of behavior do you oppose if it isn’t fornication?”

“It is rumors I worry about,” Amelia stated.

“Well, as was said to me last night, ‘Rumors be damned along with the rumormongers,’” Joseph retorted. “I will tell you now, if any man starts a rumor about Lucretia, he will have me to deal with. And, I would imagine, if it were a woman that started the rumor, she would have you to deal with. I’ll have you know, I’ve discussed this matter with Morane. There is nothing in any religious text he could find to defend your ideas. By all account, Lucretia is an intelligent, thoughtful young woman. It is well within her rights to decide if she wants to spend time with a male in a public area. I am not suggesting she visit a man in his chambers – although, since she is of age, I would argue that is her right, as well. The days of mothers and fathers arranging marriages are through. I will never permit it under my reign. I have gone to great lengths to offer women rights they’ve never before had.

“I permitted them to serve on a jury. I permitted them to seek the office of magistrate. I permitted them to ascend to the heads of their house and I’ve made it possible that one day we will have a queen to reign over this land. I will be hanged if I will let anyone abridge the right of a woman to speak to whomever she chooses wherever she wishes to speak to them – and, by the gods, Amelia, that includes you!”

Lucretia very silently picked up her bowl and took it back to the kitchen while her guardian and her king stared at each other.

“Just because the old ways might not suit you doesn’t mean they were wrong,” Amelia said.

“And just because you learned something one way doesn’t mean it was right,” Joseph countered. “We are never going to agree on this. And, in your home, you are welcome to whatever rules you wish to set down. This is my home, Amelia. I set the rules here. I decide what is appropriate and what is necessary. I do not wish to belittle you but I have seen far more things in my life than you’ve seen in yours. There are some men I wouldn’t let a young woman dine with if I had a battalion of soldiers with her – and there are some young women I wouldn’t dine with for all the jewels in the world. But, I can tell you this, there is a lot more to worry about in this world than whether a woman has a chaperone while she eats in a public location with a male.”

“May I suppose that you’ve dined privately with my daughter while I was gone?” Amelia asked.

“Quite frankly, Amelia, I don’t care what you suppose,” Joseph said. “I will tell you that Julia was certainly free to decide what she wanted to do while you were away – and, to the best of my knowledge, she made the correct decision every time but one.”

“And that one?” Amelia asked in a harsh voice.

“She is an adult so you will need to ask her,” Joseph said. “But if she tells you it’s none of your business, don’t come to me. If she desired it, she could be wed now with a child on the way. You no longer have the authority to make those decisions for her. Some time ago, I made an edict placing adulthood at 16 and banning marriages without the bride’s consent. This made certain that narrow-minded people will be minimized in this country. Now, since apparently you’ve chased away my dining companion, perhaps you will vacate the doorway and let me eat in silence.”

Amelia turned to storm away but ran directly into Julia and two friends.

“He’s correct in everything he’s said, Mother,” Julia said softly. “About the choices I could have made and the ones I did make. My mistake was ignoring the king’s dire warning last night. He didn’t want us to join him in the tower but we insisted. Now we all must pay the price for it. As for what you’ve ordered, I’ve obeyed. At no time was I alone with any male. The king is very protective of our reputations because he understands full well that people your age are apt to view things in the harshest of lights. But know, I will obey your rules no longer. I have urged Victoria to do the same. Over the past weeks, I’ve learned a great deal about myself. I’ve learned things about other cultures and other religions. I am able to decide for myself what is appropriate and what isn’t. I have not forgotten what you’ve taught me. But there are men I think I can trust with my purity and I will not hesitate to visit with them even if I cannot locate a chaperone.

“Now, if you will let us pass, Liala, Octavia and I would like to dine with our friend, King Joseph.”

Amelia glared at her daughter – and at her two friends and then back at Joseph – before departing in a huff.

“What stirred up that hornet’s nest?” Julia asked when she sat down.

“I sat down to talk to Lucretia without having 30 people around us,” Joseph said with disgust. “I swear, you have thought your mother caught me with my hand up her bodice.”

He let out a heavy sigh and took in the three tired faces around him.

“After you dine, I want all three of you to rest,” he advised.

“It is no use,” Liala said, shaking her head. “Sleep has evaded me since my trip up those stairs last night.”

Joseph nodded his agreement. He had gotten to sleep only after quaffing three large tankards of ale. It hadn’t been a restful sleep but that was typical for him.

“Then, once we dine, I will fill a flask of wine for the three of you and order you to the pool for the afternoon,” he declared. “Take a bedroll, sit in the water, get drunk and then sleep beneath the sun.”

“Will we be seen from the spire?” Octavia asked.

“There are no windows facing that direction,” Joseph told them. “You can be certain Elena and I made sure that no one could find us from up there. That was generally the first place they would look for us if we disappeared.”

“Will you join us?” Julia asked.

“How I wish I could,” Joseph replied. “But, I’m afraid with everyone back at the castle, I have much work to do. I fear my wasteful days have come to a close. We have Court to prepare for, a wedding to arrange and many plans to make.”

“You will need to take some time for yourself,” Octavia pointed out.

“I believe what little time I can have for myself will come long after the sun sets,” Joseph replied sadly. “However, if I spot an opening in my schedule, I will be certain to track the three of you down. We will either head to the sparring pit or sneak away to the pool.”

“I would not mind a soak in the warm water,” Liala admitted. “Once the horses are calmed, I believe my days will be as long as Joseph’s.”

“I would recommend you take Victoria and Lucretia with you if they are so inclined,” Joseph noted. “However, I believe if you plan to swim as you did yesterday, I would leave Amelia at the castle.”

Morane stood on a hill behind the castle with a minister from the Temple of Grob, a professor from the Study of Euclid, a man that led a sect that worshipped nature but had no formal name and four other men and women that laid claim to a religious title. He purposefully moved to the background and let the others take charge.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for taking time out of your day to prepare this ground for the burial of those who perished under the previous regime,” King Joseph said. Unlike his normal daily attire, the king wore a long robe and his crown – not the one Wilhelm had fashioned from gold but the simple one of brass that his father had preferred. “As you know, we will not be able to identify the remains so all will be treated with simple courtesy and dignity rather than allowing you to prepare them for interment. I will confess that I know nothing of the sorts of rituals that each of you will perform so I will step aside and let you proceed.”

Joseph stepped backward and into line with those he would name as ministers of state in a few months. They watched as the people in front of them knelt and prayed, crossed themselves or sat with legs akimbo in thoughtful reflection. The only sounds came from the wind off the water and from the soft incantations uttered by those that consecrated the ground for burial.

The first use of horses in Azkoval wasn’t for warfare or for farming. It was to travel as far as a rider could in two days to seek out the men and women that now stood before the king. Joseph had told the messengers (exclusively Az speakers from Troyvet) that the nature of the religion wasn’t an issue. If someone wished to come forward and say a prayer over the burial site, they were welcome.

Seven had arrived – scared half to death themselves by riding on the back of an animal – in time for the ceremony. If anyone else came forward, they could offer their prayers after the bodies were in the ground.

Morane had taken time away from his horseback training to attend to organizing the ceremony. Choran and Alexander had taken the unpleasant task of compiling the names of the missing and presumed dead as fathers and mothers, widows and widowers and sons and daughters came forth to offer the name of someone who had disappeared under Wilhelm’s reign.

Joseph had counted 227 skulls taken from the rooms – some so small they could fit into his palm and others the size of fully grown adults. The names carved into the wooden crosses far outnumbered the bodies but no one would know that except for those closest to the king.

It was a deceit that Joseph could live with if it gave those around the castle peace. Similar ceremonies in farther regions were to take place the following dawn and Joseph was certain that once word spread to the outer regions of Azkoval, more monuments to the fallen would be erected.

Liala and her friends – which now included Victoria and Lucretia – had spent their days with the horses. Octavia seemed to have a deft touch with the large animals. She had yet to ride one (nor had anyone else but Liala) but the horses had calmed when she would rub their coats and talk gently to them as she cared for them.

The others had taken time to become accustomed to the animals – particularly once Yana had explained that horses bite – but had gradually begun to join Octavia in attending to the horses, skittish after a long ride cooped up in a boat with only a few stops along the way to exercise.

The castle had purchased all the excess grain from the surrounding farms – to the farmer’s delight – and erected stables near the outer wall near the newly built riding ring. Morane would attend the service the following morning and then set out with Liala and her soldiers to attend to the Serratian church in the farther parts of Azkoval. All hoped he would return by the solstice now two months away in order to perform the marriage ceremony but Joseph was prepared to do it if Morane was otherwise occupied.

Morane was hopeful. The Troyvet soldiers had told him that a horse could cover four times the distance in a day that a running man could. It would have taken him two months on foot so he believed he could arrive in three weeks, attend to the matter and return to Tyrell before the service.

Much had been accomplished in the week since Empress Yana had returned to port. The young women that lived in the castle had arranged for 10 sturdy caskets to be built and delivered to the castle under the cover of darkness.

Genrico had solicited volunteers to carry the caskets up the hill and to lower them into ground – and received so many offers that some were turned away.

Jonathan and Elena had worked to arrange their wedding – and managed to keep Elizabeth under control. It hadn’t been difficult. The young woman had been almost silent for the previous week, taking her meals in her room and visiting only with Jonathan, Elena and Alexander.

Alexander and Choran had found woodworkers to carve the names they’d been given into the large crosses that would mark the graves. The crosses had already been carried up the hill and erected in a circle around where the caskets would be placed in the ground. Ships nearing the harbor would see them on a hill behind the castle and the spot chosen overlooked the main road that led to Tyrell. Joseph hoped that the spot would always be revered for what it represented.

He had already determined that he would come to the site every year on the equinox to pay tribute to the lost souls. The coming of spring was a special day in all religions that he’d read about so it seemed fitting.