he closed his eyes.
Kateryn could feel the tension in his muscles. She knew what worked when her husband was in this kind of mood, and this was a winner every time. 'What happened at the meeting?' she asked. 'Did it not go as you hoped?'
'It doesn’t matter,' Frederick replied. 'I want to try to forget it for tonight.'
'Tell me.'
Frederick remained silent, his eyes firmly shut as Kateryn continued to rub. A satisfied smile widened on his face.
'Don't ignore me, Frederick,' Kateryn said. 'Tell me...or I'll hurt you.'
Frederick laughed, his eyes still closed. 'You would, too. I know it.'
'Then, tell me all about it. If you can't tell your own wife, who can you tell?'
Frederick opened his eyes and smiled up at her. 'Well, since you ask,' he said, 'it seems that their Lordships are more interested in building up our forces in New Brunswick than working hard to stop a war in the first place.' He gestured with his hands in frustration. 'They want me to put on a show of strength as a warning to Ysabel, but my father always taught me that force begets force. I just know it's the wrong thing to do right now.'
He stared across at the fire as the remnants of a burning log popped and spat its sparks out onto the stone hearth. 'But, I told them that as long as we are talking with the Queen, then there’s still hope.' Frederick stopped, as Kateryn continued her massage. 'Despite my words, some of the Governors don’t seem to believe that I can stop a war.'
'But do you?'
Frederick looked thoughtful for a moment. 'I hope I can,' he said, after a while, still staring into the flames. 'I will certainly do everything in my power.'
'Then that is all that matters,' Kateryn said, continuing to rub hard. 'Whatever happens after that will unfold in its own time just as God has fated. None of us has the gift of foresight, Frederick. As long as we do what we believe in our hearts to be right, then that is the best that any of us can ever hope to do.'
Frederick looked up at her. 'You know, you scare me with your pearls of wisdom sometimes. I often wonder who it is that really commands this Empire.'
'I don’t know why,' Kateryn said, 'you already know the answer to that.' She leaned over the back of the chair and kissed him on the top of his head.
'I also know when you’re building up to ask me something.' Frederick smiled up at her. 'You cannot fool me, woman.'
Kateryn bent down and put her arm around his neck. 'Am I really that obvious?'
'You are to me.'
'Oh, it’s nothing really,' she said, and pushed him gently away. She walked around the chair and across to the sofa, sitting herself on the edge.
Frederick followed her with his eyes, his mouth agape. 'Well, what is it? You can’t just leave me wondering.'
Kateryn couldn't decide the best way to broach the subject with Frederick. He might not take too kindly to the question, but experience told her that the direct approach was usually be the best way to deal with him. 'Courtenay spoke with me,' she said.
'I see.'
'It was a week or so ago, in one of those meetings you made me have with him.' Kateryn lifted her leg and clasped her hands around her knee, leaning her weight back on the sofa. Her foot left the floor, and she rocked back and forth, slowly.
'And what did he say?'
'He wondered if I could speak to you about giving him some additional responsibilities.'
'Oh, did he now?'
Mild annoyance was evident in Frederick’s voice. Kateryn had guessed that he wouldn't be happy. Frederick always appreciated openness and the nature of Courtenay's approach meant that it was most likely he would consider this an attempt by the man to go behind his back.
'I just think he enjoyed having some discretion to deal with matters while you were away, that is all.' Kateryn watched Frederick for any further reaction. She did not expect him to get angry with her, as such, and certainly he had never done so previously in their marriage, but she wondered whether such an impertinent question might push him to his limits.
Frederick frowned again and stood, walking over to the window. He leaned against the frame of the casement, peering through the panes of glass.
The worst of the thunderstorm had blown itself out some time earlier but even so, from where she sat, Kateryn could still hear the rain beating against the glass. Frederick was watching the droplets of water run down the outside of the window and it was some time before he responded to her.
'And did My Lord Courtenay say what sort of responsibility it was that he had in mind?' Frederick asked.
'Not really.' Kateryn shook her head. Her husband was clearly not pleased, and she nervously bit her bottom lip. This was the time to lighten the conversation, she thought. 'That’s detail,' she said. 'You know I always leave detail to you. You are so much better at it than me.'
Frederick looked around at her and laughed. 'You are such a liar,' he said. 'You are a bigger schemer than anyone else I know.' He turned back to the window and continued to watch the rain. 'Very well, I'll talk to him about it. Tomorrow.'
'Good. I told him I would ask, and now I have, so I'll say no more on the matter.' Kateryn stood and skipped over to Frederick, grabbing him around the waist.
A natural pause developed between them until she said, 'You know, I was so proud of you today.' She rested her head on his back. 'I thought you were fabulous with that little girl in the square. All the people were talking about it afterwards.'
Frederick turned around, wrapping his arms round her. 'Rosalee,' he said.
'Pardon me?'
'That's her name. Rosalee.'
Kateryn smiled up at him. 'Oh,' she said.
'She was sweet, though,' Frederick added. 'Little ones like her need people in authority to look up to. That moment will stay with her for the rest of her life, probably. It also won't do my reputation any harm, I suppose. Where would we be if the people hated me? That wouldn't be good, would it?'
'I don't think you have anything to worry about. Everyone loves you.'
Frederick frowned. 'You wouldn't say that if you had been at the meeting this evening.'
'So you say,' Kateryn replied, 'but I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Not really.' Frederick was silent as she looked up into his face. It was obvious to her that he had been deeply troubled by the reactions of his Governors, and she would have to take his mind off things. 'I’ve always thought that you would make a wonderful father,' she said.
'Hmm.' Frederick frowned. 'Where, may I ask, are you going with this?'
Kateryn smirked. He really could read her very well. She couldn't have chosen a better husband for herself, even if she had searched the whole Empire. 'Haven’t you ever wanted an heir?' she asked.
'Of course,' Frederick smiled back, 'one day. When the time is right.'
'But when is the right time?'
Frederick shrugged his shoulders, a smile crossing his face.
'We would make the perfect Imperial family,' Kateryn said. 'Everyone would talk about us. They would probably write about everything we did.'
'Everything?'
'Well maybe not quite everything. Most of it, though,' Kateryn said, laughing. 'We would be famous.'
Frederick chuckled. 'But, we are famous.'
'I suppose so,' Kateryn said. 'But what would you say if we had a daughter?'
Frederick looked alarmed. 'Heaven help me! My life would be hell! Two women in my life to hound me. It would surely be the death of me, and I'll wager she would be her mother's daughter alright and would turn out to be as much trouble to me as she is.'
'Don't say that,' Kateryn replied, frowning. 'And anyway, I’m being serious,' she added, resting her head on Frederick’s chest. 'What if our first child turns out to be a girl?'
'Well,' he said, 'then if that were to happen, I'm sure the Empire would one day have an Empress to be proud of.'
'Honestly? Wouldn't it bother you?'
'Why should it?' Frederick said, shaking his head. 'The Commonwealth has a Queen, doesn't it? T
hat never stopped it from being a great nation.' He paused, and said, laughing, 'And God knows the Queen is harder to negotiate with then most of the men I know.'
Kateryn pushed herself away from Frederick and took both of his hands in hers. She looked into his eyes, smiling. 'You do know what the people are saying, don't you?'
'No. What are the people saying?'
'They are saying that the whole Empire thinks that it's about time we gave it an Imperial family.'
Frederick pulled her close. 'Oh, I see. The whole Empire thinks it, does it? And of course, I don't suppose that this has anything to do with what Her Imperial Highness, the Empress, thinks?'
Kateryn smirked, but said nothing.
'So, go on, then. Tell me. What it is, exactly, that Her Imperial Highness, the Empress, thinks?'
Kateryn stood on her tip-toes and kissed Frederick's lips. 'Actually,' she said, 'I've asked her. Apparently, Her Imperial Highness, the Empress, thinks that the best time to give the Empire an Imperial family is right now.'
Frederick smiled. 'Does she, now?' he said. 'Then who am I, a mere man of flesh and blood, to deny the wishes of an Empress?'
Kateryn looked into his eyes, and bit her bottom lip. She stepped away from him, taking him by the hand and pulling him towards their bedchamber.
10
A high fire had burned all through the evening in the cooking pit of the Palace kitchen and the coals were low, now only embers after an extended session of food preparation. Granite pillars framed the hearth, and a black-iron spit rested across tripod legs spanning the gap between them. The last remains of a pig carcass still turned slowly over the coals, the fat having long since melted away after adding to the blaze. The last job of the night for the cook would be to remove it, saving any of the meat that remained for use over the coming days.
Agatha Lovell leaned against one of the pillars staring into the red glow. She loved standing here, the feeling of the warmth from the coals seeping deep into her bones. It was one of her guilty pleasures. Of all the places in the Palace, this had to be her favourite spot.
The last two remaining scullery maids on duty busied themselves at the deep sinks, scrubbing the pots, dishes and cutlery, remnants of the evenings feasting. The tepid water would have long since cooled, but the girls had nearly finished and the greasiest items had been cleaned first, taking advantage of the then freshly boiled contents of the huge copper pots in the far corner.
Agatha's evening was nearly done and she was already looking forward to leaving the Palace and returning home to see her mother. Mother Lovell was always interested in the goings on and would allow Agatha to chatter away for hours, keeping her abreast of the latest news of the staff at the ''Big House'' as she liked to call it, even going so far as to making an attempt to guess the colour of the Empress's dress during the evening.
At the far end of the kitchen an open door led into the pantry. Sounds of banging and bumping were coming from deep inside and a woman's voice muttered words that Agatha couldn't quite hear. She peered over at the two girls as they washed up; they were whispering to each other, and giggling. Although she couldn't make out what they were talking about she knew it was about her. For some reason she did not understand the two girls had taken a keen dislike to her. Agatha had long ago decided to ignore them, though. Perhaps, one day they would grow up, she thought.
The rounded face and plump body of Mary Wadham, the Head Cook, came through the pantry door.
'I knew it,' she said. 'There'll have to be a list made up in the morning.'
Mary directed the comments at no-one in particular, but all three girls looked around as she spoke.
'There's such a lot of things we're short of,' she added, 'I can see us having to send a cart to the market this time. The Governors certainly know how to clear out the Emperor's larder, and that's the truth of the matter.'
A towel lay on the table, next to the plates and Mary picked it up, wiping her hands before tossing it back onto