Chapter 227: He Has Humiliated France
"Now you sound like Lady Bella," Livia snapped.
"Livia, you need to listen to me. What His Majesty has done today will not simply upset a few courtiers," she continued. "He has humiliated France, shocked the Church. The storm coming towards you will be greater than anything you have faced before. It will shake the court, the kingdom, and you with it."
"And there is only so much I can do to protect you," she said. "I have kept people away by making them believe I possess knowledge dangerous enough to destroy them. At some point," Tabitha continued, "They will discover I have less proof than they fear. Once that happens, I will no longer be able to frighten them away from you."
"What are you talking about?"
"First, stop lying to yourself about the king. Second..." Tabitha began.
Then she stopped. Her shoulders rose with a heavy breath, certainty abandoned her.
"What is it, Tabitha?" Livia asked.
"Nothing," Tabitha said at last. "It is nothing yet."
"Tabitha."
"I mean it. There is no use troubling you."
"Tabitha!"
The maid closed her eyes briefly. "Very well," she muttered. "The Queen Mother believes I hold something over her. Knowledge she fears might become public."
"And that is why she tolerates you?"
"She has merely postponed murdering me."
"And do you hold something over her?"
"Not anymore," Tabitha admitted. "I lost it. I sent it to the late king before he died. After that night, it vanished. But I believe someone in this court still possesses it."
"Then you have been bluffing the Queen Mother with something you no longer hold? That is madness."
"It has worked."
"So far."
Tabitha’s mouth tightened. "Exactly." She crossed the chamber and stopped before Livia. "You stood up to me within a day of meeting me. You challenged me, and knocked me down several pegs. You can stand against the Queen Mother. What I do not know is whether you can stand against an entire kingdom."
"I know what the king intends," Tabitha continued. "He means to make you his queen. Whether you consent or not may not matter to him. The king has placed both of you in the line of fire without fully understanding what he has done...Stop lying to yourself as quickly as you can. Decide what you feel. Otherwise, the current will carry you away."
Livia swallowed. "Tabitha... I am barely ten and eight years old. Is that not too much for me to bear?"
"Your whole life has prepared you for this, to be unbreakable. Besides, you have me. You have Stephen, foolish as he can be. And you possess the greatest power in England. The king’s heart. You simply do not understand what it can command yet."
Livia sank onto the bed, suddenly exhausted. The mattress yielded beneath her.
"Do you know what hurts the most, Tabitha?"
"What is it, my lady?"
Livia’s gaze dropped to her hands. "It is that Henry knew...He knew how trapped I was. He knew I wanted nothing more than to escape a life where other people decided what became of me. Yet he became another man fastening chains around my wrists."
"And now," Tabitha said, "he may place the keys to an entire kingdom in those same hands."
Livia rose once more. "I do not believe Henry would defy the Church, the council, and half the realm for me...He may recover his senses."
"His Majesty has never shown any particular enthusiasm for sense where you are concerned."
Livia wanted him to release her, yet some secret part of her wanted him to fight everyone for her. "I do not know what I want," she admitted.
"Then discover it quickly." Tabitha touched her arm. "I believe we shall soon see precisely how far the king is willing to go."
Livia looked dejected. She sighed and glanced away.
"I shall see what further news I can gather," Tabitha added.
Livia nodded. Tabitha left the chamber. Her thoughts spun until she could scarcely separate them. Tabitha saw crowns, influence, protection.
It was not as simple. A crown might grant her power, but it could not return what had been stolen. Henry took her will away from her, should becoming his queen make up for it?
*****
"Lionel, it is time you stopped sulking and accepted my decision," Henry snapped as they entered his privy chamber.
Stephen followed close behind and immediately began stripping away the splendour of the aborted wedding. He removed the king’s crown, unclasped the heavy mantle from his shoulders, and set aside the ceremonial sword.
Henry paced towards the hearth. "I have made my decision...There is no turning back now. I will not spend the rest of my reign apologising for refusing a life I did not want," He continued. "France will rage. Geoffrey will age ten years before supper but they will all survive."
Lionel remained near the door, one hand resting against the parchment hidden inside his doublet.
The failed wedding was not the only matter troubling him. During the ceremony, while every eye had been fixed upon the altar, Lionel had read the message delivered by the keeper of the gaol.
’Livia’s life is in danger.’
Jane had offered no explanation. Only a warning and the implication that whatever threatened Livia had already begun moving.
Lionel had folded the parchment, intending to investigate once the wedding was completed. Then Henry had refused his vows and Lionel had found himself wondering whether the timing carried some meaning. He was not usually a man who searched for divine messages in disasters. If God wished to speak clearly, Lionel believed He possessed the vocabulary. Yet the king had stopped the wedding at the very moment Lionel had been deciding whether Livia’s removal might save the Crown.
Perhaps it was coincidence. Perhaps it was a warning.
Henry turned towards him. "Have you heard a word I have said?"
"Yes, Sire."
"Then look less like a man attending my funeral."
Lionel had spent months viewing Livia as a danger—to Henry, Richard. Now someone else appeared prepared to remove that danger for him.
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