I hope you don’t come back. The words turned to ash in Luana’s mouth the instant she said them. They haunted her night and day for nearly two months while she waited for Baylin’s return.
It had been a month since she heard whisper of any news on Baylin on the battlefield. Luana could not take waiting in never-ending silence. She had attempted to send word to him, but the handmaids insisted it was forbidden to allow her any contact outside of the castle, even for Prince Baylin. Her most loyal maid, Meg, informed her that Lord Cadman’s lackeys watched them to ensure she could not get word out of the castle.
Winter in Grasmere appeared to have finally passed and spring grew thick in the Kingdom. The days were mild and warm, filling the air with the sound of birds and the smell of newly bloomed flowers. Luana, though still confined to her chamber, took comfort in the sun as she stood on the large balcony.
She paced along the edge of the balcony rail, causing her shadow to dance in ripples as it reflected down on the polished stone floor. She stopped, setting her gaze to the southwest. He’s out there. Somewhere. What if he never returns? I cannot let those words be the last that pass between us. I must get word to him.
Luana hurried into the room and sat down at her small writing desk, pulling out parchment and quill.
Baylin, my love,
I have not received word for nearly a month. My thoughts betray me, and I fear the worst even when my heart hopes for your safety.
My words when we last spoke were harsh and malicious. I do not have the right to ask for your forgiveness. However, please know that I love you and would gladly give you up to the Princess, or anyone, to be able to see your face again.
Please, you must make it back safely. I would have you see your son take his first breath in this world. He will need his father.
I love you.
Luana
Tears flowed down her face while she folded the letter carefully. She reached for a small metal bowl warming over a candle and sealed the letter by steadily pouring a tiny pool of melted blue wax over the folded paper. Her heart tore but her words rang true. I would happily see him torn from my arms as long as he was safe and happy. She took a metal stamp that featured the beautiful diamond of Grasmere. Baylin’s royal crest. She pressed it firmly into the hot wax before it had time to cool. She lifted the stamp, revealing the impression it left behind. She wiped away the tears clinging to her cheek. I must get this to him; gods help me, there must be a way.
Luana, lost in thought, jumped at the sound of a knock at the chamber door. She crossed the room slowly. Her belly had begun to swell as her child grew, and she found the extra weight uncomfortable. She opened the door, discovering Queen Valasca on the other side.
“Your Grace!” Luana greeted with wide-eyed surprise. She attempted an unbalanced curtsey.
“Luana, dear,” the Queen said, reaching out to balance her. “You need not bow in your condition. Please, may I come and sit with you?”
The Queen has never been to the chambers. Luana was not sure if she should feel flattered or worried at this unexpected visit. “My Queen, of course, you honor me. Do you come with news of Bay… I mean, of His Grace, the Prince?”
Valasca smiled at her warmly, entering the room. “No, dearest, there has been no news as of late. I’m sure things are fine.”
“How fares the King, Your Grace?” Luana inquired, shutting the door behind her. She received word the King still struggled to recover from his illness, and the stress of knowing his Kingdom was at war resulted in leaving him bedridden.
“He suffers, my dear.” The Queen forced a painful smile. “The sooner this war is over, the better he will be.” She crossed the room and seated herself on the cushioned settee, motioning for Luana to join her. When the young bed wife sat down beside her, the Queen put a hand on the girl’s knee. “My dear, how are you feeling?”
“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” Luana said. “I know I would be much happier if the Prince were here.”
Valasca patted Luana’s hand. “I know, dearest. You truly do love him, don’t you?”
She blushed, unable to look at the Queen. “Of course, Your Grace, it is my duty to…”
“Luana,” the Queen interrupted. “Your thoughts and feelings are safe with me. I, too, after all, am a woman. I know what it is like to love a King of Grasmere.”
Luana looked up curiously at Valasca.
The Queen smiled. “Do you not think I remember the little girl who comforted my son when he fell from that tree so very long ago?”
Luana cocked her head to one side as she raised an eyebrow. She remembers me?
“Do not act so surprised, my dear,” the Queen said with a smirk. “How do you think Baylin was able to sneak out of the castle with it so heavily guarded?”
“You?” Luana shook her head. She furrowed her brows. “But why? Why would you let your son do such things?”
Valasca laughed warmly at Luana’s bewilderment. “Because he deserved to know what real friendship felt like. Within these walls, he is the future King of Grasmere and has always been treated as such. However, playing in the fields and forests with you gave him such joy. You loved him because he was simply your friend. He needed that to become the man he is today.”
Luana was in disbelief, she searched the Queen’s face for the answers to the questions that flowed through her mind. “Why? If you encouraged our friendship, why did you allow us to be torn apart?”
Baylin’s mother looked down at her hands. “Because, as I said, I am a woman who loves a King of Grasmere. Once Lord Cadman had gotten involved, I knew my good husband would not resist him. Though I have tried over the years to keep you in Baylin’s thoughts.”
Luana looked up at the Queen. “I… I don’t understand.”
“I have had certain confidants check in on you from time to time for me. Making sure you were cared for,” the Queen informed. “Even back then, I knew Baylin would be a man when the anniversary of the Battle of Embers took place. When he found you as a child, I held the hope he could know the joy of love through the building of a relationship, instead of the arranging of one.”
“So you… you encouraged his affections?” Luana asked, taken aback.
Valasca took the young bed wife’s hand in her own. “Baylin came to me the morning after the Harvest Celebration. I knew then he still cared for you after all this time. Love and happiness; that is all I have ever wanted for my son.” She placed her hand on Luana’s round belly. “As a mother, you will understand that all too well.”
“But I don’t understand why you could not have convinced the King to allow Baylin and me to stay friends when we were children. I have seen you stand up to Lord Cadman; the King even allowed it.” Luana knew she was pushing. She was speaking in an unguarded tone, which was not done in the castle. I must know.
“That’s the thing about family and bloodlines,” Valasca said in a sad tone. “The Keld men are loyal to their family, to the bitter end.”
Luana gazed at the empty hearth sadly. Which means Baylin will do as his father instructs. He will marry Princess Isla.
The Queen reached out and stroked Luana’s long silver-blonde hair. “It is not an easy thing, to love the future King of Grasmere. But I can tell you this, my dear. He loves you.”
“Yet tradition dictates that he is not mine to love,” Luana said as tears began to form in her eyes. She fought to keep them from flowing. “He will marry the Princess, and she may cast me out as she pleases.”
Luana realized she spoke out of turn. She felt so comfortable in the presence of Baylin’s mother that she had forgotten herself. “Your Grace, apologies, I should never…”
“It is all right, my dear.” Valasca patted Luana on the cheek. “I understand, truly I do. As women we must always make sacrifices for the men we love.”
Luana nodded softly, a tear running down the side of her cheek. “And I must do my duty.”
The Queen cupped Luana’s chin and gave her a warm, loving smile. “Baylin loves you, dearest, do not give up hope. I believe he will fight for you, even against his father and uncle.”
That little bit of hope grew in Luana’s heart. Is she saying Baylin may not marry Isla?
“Your Grace, why have been so kind to me?” Luana asked. “It is in your nature, of course, but I’m merely a bed wife. I am a commoner, not a princess, and not your future daughter.”
She gave Luana a loving smile. “I know the trials of those chosen to be a bed wife.”
“Apologies, Your Grace, but how?” Luana was confused. How could she possibly know anything about being a bed wife?
“Many years ago,” the Queen began, “my great-grandmother was Queen during an anniversary of the Battle of Embers. She had to endure what she felt was the humiliation of her husband taking a bed wife. If you can imagine, it was made worse because the King, my great-grandfather, admitted to loving his bed wife dearly.”
Luana could not contain a small gasp that escaped her lips. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief.
Valasca continued, “It so happened that the bed wife, once with child, grew very ill and almost lost the baby. My great-grandmother could not help but feel pity for the woman. So she stayed by her side and nursed her back to health.”
“Did she have the baby?” Luana asked.
“Yes,” the Queen replied. “A boy, a son for the King and an heir for Keld line.”
“And? Did your great-grandmother cast her out of the Kingdom?” Luana asked nervously.
“No.” Valasca smiled at her. “No, she did not.”
Luana’s eyes grew large in astonishment. “But you said she felt humiliated by the woman.”
“She did, at first,” Baylin’s mother replied. “When my great-grandmother nursed the bed wife back to health, they developed a mutual respect for one another. They became friends.”
Luana looked down at her hands in her lap. “I could never be friends with Princess Isla, Your Grace.”
“I would not ask you to, dearest.” Valasca softly laughed. “We are not all so blind to her true nature.”
Luana looked back up at her and smiled. It helped her to know that she was not alone in seeing the Princess for what she was. Taking her attention back to the story, she asked, “So what happened to them both?”
“Well, a few months after the bed wife had her son, my great-grandmother became with child,” the Queen explained. “When it was time to have the baby, she requested the bed wife be by her side. This, of course, as you can imagine, was unheard of. But she, like yourself, was strong willed and cared little of the rules and laws that attempted to bind her. The delivery was difficult. My great-grandmother had been in labor for a day and a night. Handmaids came and went, physicians too, but the bed wife stayed by her side.”
The Queen stared down at Luana’s stomach for a few moments.
“Your Grace?” Luana murmured. “Are you okay?”
The Queen lightly nodded her head, gathering her composure. “Oh, yes, my dear.”
“May I ask what happened, Your Grace?” Luana replied.
“Yes,” Valasca said. “After two days and two nights, she finally delivered a baby girl. The child was healthy, but the labor had taken its toll on my great-grandmother. She began fading fast. She requested that my great-grandfather be brought to her. When he arrived, with her final breaths, she made him promise to do right by the bed wife and marry her. She asked the bed wife to care for their child as her own.”
Tears welled in Luana’s eyes at the thought. As one escaped and fell down her cheek, Baylin’s mother reached up and wiped it away. “Do not cry, dearest. I am sure one day you will no longer be only his bed wife. He loves you. To him, you are already his Queen.”
“What of the bed wife and the two children, Your Grace?” Luana asked, trying to hold back more tears that threatened to fall. “How does something like that effect the line of succession?”
“Well, as you can guess, the baby girl born to my great-grandmother was my grandmother. The baby boy was treated as though he were a trueborn heir, so he was a distant uncle.” The Queen sighed. “It’s funny how these histories are so often forgotten.”
Luana had to agree with the Queen’s statement. If only the King could see that now, I would no longer be a prisoner and Isla would have no claim to Baylin.
“I fear I have tarried too long. You need your rest. I will go, my dear.” The Queen rose and began to leave the room.
Luana, remembering the letter, called out to the Queen. “Your Grace!”
Queen Valasca turned. “Yes, my dear.”
“Is there any way you can ensure my Prince receives this?” Luana presented her with the sealed letter. “I fear it will not be delivered if it is known to be from me.”
The Queen gave an amused smile. “Do not worry. I will make sure it arrives in my son’s hands.”
After Baylin’s mother left, Luana could not help but think on the words the Queen had placed in her heart. He will fight for me; for us.