Free The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner Page B

you wish,”
    I said quietly. “Those who disapprove should go.” Even as I spoke, I wondered at my
    boldness. What would my mother say when she heard about this? Somehow the
    thought of defying her from across the sea gave me a small thrill.
    My duenna drew herself to full height. “So be it.” She stalked out, followed
    immediately by the matrons. I turned to find that only Beatriz and Soraya remained in
    the room.
    Beatriz said, “We will not leave Your Highness on your wedding night.”
    I sighed in gratitude. “Please, help me undress.”
    I stood motionless as they replaced my finery with a linen bed gown that had
    surfaced unexpectedly in one of the coffers. Soraya went to prepare the bed. Beatriz
    draped a topaz silk over my shoulders. “I found this earlier while searching for your
    red gown,” she said, and as I sat at the dressing table, she undid my braid and began
    brushing out my hair.
    I stared unseeing into the polished glass. I had no doubt Philip would indeed
    come to me tonight and that I was about to take the final irrevocable step into
    womanhood. It wasn‟t too late to change my mind. I could issue the order now, have
    the door bolted and have Beatriz send word that the day‟s events had exhausted me
    and I must rest.
    I whispered, “Beatriz, do you think I am wed before the eyes of God?”
    Beatriz paused in her brush strokes, met my gaze in the mirror. “Your Highness
    has nothing to be ashamed of. You are wed. It‟s just as well Doña Ana and that gaggle
    of crows aren‟t here to spoil your night. I vow they‟d douse the lust of Lucifer
    himself.”
    I giggled. “You are incorrigible.”
    “I speak the truth as I see it. You are his wife, he is your husband, and that‟s the
    end of it.” She leaned closer. “And providing you and the fair archduke do what
    comes natural to married couples, you could be mother to a prince before the year is
    out.”
    I gasped, pinched her arm. Beatriz winked at me and turned to Soraya who had
    paused with a pillow in her hands. “You! What are you doing standing there with your
    ears big as a castles? Draw down those sheets. His Highness the archduke could be
    here at any moment and―”
    She went still. I too paused as I heard a bawdy song echoing in the corridor.
    Beatriz started fussing over my hair again, running her hands over its fiery curls and I
    pushed her away. “I‟m fine,” I said, but I couldn‟t look in the glass anymore, my heart
    galloping in my chest as I stood.
    A knock came at the door. Beatriz looked at me; I looked at her. Another knock
    came, louder this time. We didn‟t move. Four more bangs.
    “Blessed Virgin, open it.” I said, “Before they bring it down.”
    Philip and three of his gentlemen stepped into the room, flushed from carousing,
    chemises open to their navels. As one of them made a playful grab at Soraya, Beatriz
    lunged. I stopped her marched up to the fool, and slapped his hand away.
    “What is the meaning of this intrusion?” I said, in a tone that would have made
    Doña Ana proud. They didn‟t seem to notice I was trembling under my robe.
    The slim man who‟d accosted Soraya leered, “It is Flemish custom to see the
    newlyweds put to bed, my pretty wench, unless you‟d like us to christen it first.”
    The other roared. Had they actually forgotten whom it was they addressed? I
    looked at Philip. “My lord, your ways are not yet mine. I ask you to please send these
    lords away.”
    Philip nodded. “Of course. My lords, off with you.”
    The men moaned and tromped out. Beatriz started to move toward me when
    Philip said: “You and the girl too. I would be alone with my wife.”
    Beatriz curtsied, then took glowering Soraya by the arm and led her into the
    antechamber.
    The door shut. In the slight draft, a candle by the bed went out.
    Now that we were alone, he looked enormous, a giant with hands like platters. I
    was overwhelmed with longing for the chamber I‟d shared with my sisters, for