Free Captives by Emily Murdoch

typical way of doing this, but never before has a queen been crowned in this way. It is totally new.”
    “New?” William looked confused. “But there have been other queens before – Emma was Edward’s lady and companion.”
    “But that,” Ealdred smiled, “is precisely my point. They were always called companions, and were never queens such as our great Matilda.”
    “I do not understand the difference,” Matilda spoke up. “Why change what has gone before? Surely if the English are to love me, we should keep to their old ways.”
    Fitz’s mouth opened, but before he could say anything, his brother chimed in.
    “But you are a different queen, my lady. You are to rule Normandy when our King is here, and rule England when he returns across the sea. You are the mother of a new dynasty of rulers. There must be a distinction between you and those who have gone before you.”
    Matilda still did not seem convinced. “What say you, Fitz?”
    Fitz swallowed. He knew that Matilda was more intelligent than almost any other woman he had ever met, and that if you had suggested to most men but three years ago that a mere woman could have so much power over a nation, they would have laughed. None were laughing now.
    “My lady Queen,” Fitz said slowly, “a coronation is a sacred moment. It is a vow that you take to honour and protect the people. But if you are going to be a different queen than the queens that this land has seen, it makes sense that the moments that make you a queen are different in their turn. I see no harm in adding to the ceremony.”
    “Exactly,” William said. “Exactly how I would have said it. Thank you Fitz. We do not have to alter the old, but simply extend it. Ealdred, can I leave this to you?”
    Ealdred nodded. “I will also create the laudes regiae .”
    The unfamiliar words grated on Fitz’s ears, and he could not help but ask. “The what, my lord Archbishop?”
    Ealdred looked at Fitz properly for the first time, and smiled. “The laudes regiae . It is a song that is sung at every coronation – a prayer in song. Every monarch has their own created for them, although it follows a similar pattern each time. I would be honoured,” he directed this last part at his King, “to create one for our marvellous Queen.”
    William did not reply, but turned to look at Matilda.
    Fitz’s eyes were beginning to sting with tiredness, and he fought the urge to rub them. He must stay awake – it was an incredible mark of respect that he had even been included in these discussions. He would see them out to the end.
    “The only things that I think need to be addressed,” Osbern was saying, “are the regalia that our lady will be presented with.”
    “Regalia?” Ealdred said sharply.
    Osbern nodded. “If we are to distinguish our lady Queen from all others who have gone before her, if she is to lead in our lord King William’s stead when he is gone from us, if she is to make decisions that are just and true… it is vital that she be seen to be just as endowed with gifts as our King.”
    “Just as endowed?” William said gruffly. “Would you that I handed over the kingdom to her?”
    But Matilda laughed. “I think Osbern speaks truth, my love. Without an orb and a sceptre, I am just another companion. With them, I am Queen.”
    William sat in silence for a while as he considered. Fitz had to hold his breath from yawning aloud.
    “So be it,” he said finally with a wry smile. “I see that you are to claim everything that I am, Matilda.”
    “Just as you promised me on the day of our wedding,” she reminded him with an answering smile.
    Osbern opened his mouth nervously. “My lord King?”
    William raised an eyebrow in answer.
    Swallowing, Osbern continued. “May I make another suggestion?” Without waiting for a reply, he spoke more. “Every king of this island has been presented with a coronation ring. It is a visible reminder of their power and responsibility, both of the monarch