Page 44 of The Bear's Heart
Four days after the arrival of the messenger came the realization that she hadn’t given up on Drustans at all. Not having seen her all day, even at breakfast, my suspicions were aroused, and I went searching for her. I made my way to her bedchamber in the late afternoon, as a thin drizzle fell from a cloudy sky.
A closed door faced me, which surprised me since she was a girl who never shut any door she went through. I reached to knock, and paused, a warning going off inside my head. Instead, I put my hand on the door and pushed it open.
The closed shutters had rendered the room dark, so after the comparative brightness of the day outside, I couldn’t see much for a moment. Then I saw them, just as they saw me…in the bed. Essylt gave a shriek of horror, and snatched the bedcovers up to cover her nakedness, as Drustans, equally naked, leapt to his feet and reached for his sword on the wooden chest beside her bed.
By his physical state, which was rapidly subsiding due to the shock he’d had, it looked like my arrival might have been just in time to prevent something pretty momentous from happening.
“Gwen!” Essylt’s eyes widened with fear.
“My lady the Queen.” Drustans snatched up his undershirt from the floor and held it in front of his nakedness. With his red-brown curls and long lean body, Drustans possessed a beauty reminiscent of Michelangelo’s David. I could see why any teenage girl, princess or not, would easily fall for his charms, as a fair few at Din Cadan already had over the winter.
For a moment, words deserted me. Then common sense took over.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” I asked, putting as much disapproval into my voice as possible. “Put your clothes on right now, both of you. And you, Drustans, get back to the stable courtyard and don’t come out again. I’ll decide what punishment you’ll receive later.”
Drustans pulled on his shirt as fast as he could, followed by his braccae and tunic. If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have run out of Essylt’s bedchamber looking like he’d just tumbled out of her bed, which, of course, he had.
“Fasten your belt, straighten your clothes, put on your boots, and take a moment to calm yourself. We don’t want anyone else realizing what you’ve been doing.” He did as he was told, breath slowing, and after a minute or two, I let him go.
The door closed behind him, and I turned back to Essylt, who was still sitting up in bed with the covers drawn up over her breasts. “You foolish little girl,” I said, but the hopelessness of her situation prevented me from staying cross with her for long. She was only doing what countless teenage girls have always done, especially in my old world.
She burst into tears, ever the retreat of a child surprised in misconduct and scolded.
I went and sat on the bed next to her and amended my reprimanding tone to one of commiseration. “Come on, put your clothes on and we can have a talk about this. We’ll get your bed straightened and no one need ever know what nearly happened here. You were lucky I arrived when I did.”
She hung her head.
Uh-oh. I waited a moment but she didn’t look up, nor did she make a move to grab her clothes.
A sigh escaped me. “This wasn’t the first time, was it?”
She shook her head.
So much for being in time to prevent something ill-advised from happening.
“Oh, Essylt.” I felt suddenly drained. “There’s nothing you can do about this. You have to marry his father. You can never marry Drustans.” Apart from any other reason, there was the fact that in all the stories that was what happened. It looked as though it might be unavoidable.
Tears fell onto the bedclothes. She gave a little nod. “I know. I asked my father and he was awful.” Her words came out in a frightened gabble. “He said of course I had to marry my betrothed, and I should be glad to marry a king, not a stripling boy. I didn’t tell him who it was. He asked me, but I refused to say and that made him angry.” She shivered. “I was afraid he’d do something awful to Drustans, so I kept silent. And then he said that because I’d asked him to break off the betrothal, and wouldn’t tell him the name of the boy I was mooning over, he was going to send me south to Cornubia so I could be married right away. He’s sending me under escort with my brother, Anwas, and a party of warriors in three days’ time.” She gave a little sob. “What am I going to do? It’s Drustans I love, not his father.”
“So you thought you’d force the matter by sleeping with the son?”
She nodded, looking up at me out of red-rimmed eyes.
I shook my head in exasperation. “That won’t help you. All it will do is make everyone more determined to see you married off. Drustans could be executed for this. You’re his father’s property even before the wedding. The betrothal is binding.” I’d gently probed Merlin’s knowledge of betrothals a few days ago, wondering if it would be possible to influence Arthur in her favor. Merlin had been clear about the consequences to someone who infringed the strict rules of betrothal. An engagement was as good as marriage, so sleeping with someone else was adultery, even before the wedding. And the penalty for adultery was death. For a woman and her lover, that was. No such law for an unfaithful husband, who could take his pleasure wherever he fancied.
She wiped her eyes on the bedclothes and sniffed loudly. “But we love each other.”
I thought about my love for Arthur and how hard it had been to choose him above Nathan and my old world. The pain in my heart had been immense. Even though this was adolescent love, it didn’t mean Essylt’s pain was any less. From what I remembered of teenage love, she’d be convinced Drustans was the one and only boy for her.
“If you’ve had sex with Drustans, then it could already be too late,” I said, with the aim of frightening her into good behavior. “You might already be pregnant. You need to marry March as quickly as possible, so if you are, you can pass it off as his child. If you wait too long, you won’t be able to.” I paused, not wanting to frighten her too much, but the truth was what she needed to hear. “If March suspects you of infidelity he can have you executed, and the baby as well.” I paused. “And Drustans, of course. After he’s been castrated, that is.”
The tears fell fast and thick. I patted her hand. “Come on, let’s get you dressed and make the bed. You’ll need to splash some cold water on your face. But then you can come back to my chambers with me, and we’ll think of a plan.”
*
Whatever I’d saidto her, there wasn’t really much of a plan we could make. Arthur didn’t arrive back before Essylt was due to leave with her brother for Cornubia, and the only thing I could think to do was to keep Drustans away from her, lest he gave her away with his moonstruck face. I took Merlin into my confidence, which shocked him immeasurably.
“She’s done what?” he almost shouted, necessitating my hand over his mouth and an audible, “Ssshh!” from me.
