Disconnected details, like pieces of a puzzle, were coming together in my mind. I remembered how Don Julián would take food from Margarida and not from me. How relaxed he was around her. How only the previous day he had asked her for more pain pills when he thought I wasn’t listening.
My back against the pillows, I closed my eyes. But how could I go to sleep hearing their muffled laughter coming through the door, their whisperings loud enough to grasp a word here and there, but not to understand a complete sentence?
Getting up once more, I walked to the window. Dark clouds heavy with rain were covering the sky, and the ramparts were only a shapeless shadow. Suddenly a lightning bolt cleaved the darkness, and as the rolling sound of thunder died in the distance, Don Julián’s voice echoed in my mind: “I really believed I loved Princess Rosa when I proposed to her, because I had never been in love before.” Was he trying to say that now he understood he had never loved Rosa because he was really in love with my sister Margarida?
As I considered the consequences of this possibility, my heart sank. If Don Julián were to ask for Margarida’s hand in marriage, there would be no peace. I was certain Father would never agree to marry his daughter to the man who, he believed, only wanted his kingdom.
Don Julián’s closeness to Margarida hurt me in another way too: It made me feel lonely in the immense castle that was my home, but where I felt like an invisible guest. It was true I had voluntarily agreed to stay in hiding so that Don Julián could return to his kingdom and stop the war. But after all my troubles, Don Julián was still my enemy, and now he was taking away from me the only sister I cared for.
Pressing my forehead against the glass, I looked outside. The storm was in full force, and angry gusts of wind were sending blankets of rain against the castle. Even through the closed window, I could feel the water running down my face.
“Andrea, Andrea! Wake up!” A voice was calling. In my dream, my sister Margarida was bending over me, shaking my shoulders.
“Margarida, what are you doing here?” I asked her, for in my dream it was still night.
“Mother wants to talk to you.”
The storm had moved away, and through the window, Athos the golden moon was visible again in the dark sky. I shivered. It was cold in the room, and my nightgown of fine silk and lace wasn’t helping. Pressing my hands against the windowsill, I tried to get up, but my legs were numb, and I would have fallen if Margarida hadn’t held me by the arms. “Are you all right?”
No, I wasn’t all right. I wasn’t dreaming either. I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just cold.”
“Take this.” Margarida took off her cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Let’s go now,Andrea. Mother is waiting.”
I thanked Margarida with a nod, and still shivering under the heavy woolen mantle, I followed her through the low door into the room that was Don Julián’s. But when I crossed the threshold and in the golden light of Athos streaming through the window saw his bed empty against the wall, the old fear awakened in me. Don Julián had escaped. A sense of impending doom grew like a wave at sea and then broke and drew away, its energy spent, leaving me shaking. All I could feel was relief.
“Come in, Princess Andrea. We don’t have much time.”
By the table across the room, beyond the stream of light of the golden moon, I saw Mother, a mere shadow in the flickering flames of the candles. Although her eyes were turned toward me, her fingers were busy arranging small packages in a leather bag. Next to her and facing me, a soldier was sitting. But something was wrong. The soldier was sitting in the presence of the queen, and when our eyes met, he didn’t avert his as soldiers are supposed to, but returned my stare with the arrogance of someone used to being obeyed.
I gasped and, caught by surprise, did nothing to conceal my hate. For a moment Don Julián stared at me, his eyes bright with fever, shadows dancing on his face. Then brusquely, he turned his head. It was the first time he had ever averted his eyes from mine. I followed his gaze and my smile disappeared. The door to the corridor had silently opened, and the shape of a man materialized from its shadows.
“Tío Ramiro,” I yelped, rushing to him, “Why are you back so soon? Has Father refused to meet with Don Julián?”
Mother moved toward me. “Princess Andrea, would you please calm down and listen? I’m afraid our plans have changed.”
21
Upriver
“Don Andrés has agreed to talk to Don Julián,” Mother explained. “But he has set the meeting for three days’ time. If Don Julián is to attend, he must leave immediately. You, Princess, with Don Ramiro’s help, will take him across the river to his kingdom as planned. The problem is that Don Alfonso will not be at the other shore to welcome him.”
“Has he refused to collaborate?”
“No, Andrea.” Tío Ramiro, who had been paying his respects to Don Julián, got up and moved toward us. “I came back as soon as I learned of the new date to make sure Don Julián could be at the meeting on time. I didn’t have time to cross the river and meet with Don Alfonso. So he doesn’t know Don Julián is with us, nor that he’s the one who has called the meeting.”
Mother nodded. “If we want our plan to succeed, Princess, we must find another way to alert Don Alfonso of Don Julián’s coming so he can arrange his safe transport to the rendezvous place. Don Julián is in no condition to walk to Don Alfonso’s camp.”
“I will do it, Mother. I will get to Don Alfonso and give him the message.”
Mother smiled, her eyes bright with pride, and my heart filled with joy at her approval. But before she could answer, the voice of the king, harsh like the roll of thunder, echoed against the stone walls. “I appreciate your offer, Princess, but I cannot accept it. I am certain my brother has no warm feelings for you at present, and your life will be forfeited as soon as you enter my kingdom.”
Mother looked back. “And why, my lord, would that be?” she asked, her voice a mere whisper over the rush of her skirts.
“Your Majesty, from my brother’s point of view, Princess Andrea betrayed us on the bridge. I am certain his orders will be to kill her on sight.”
Now that was a stupid assumption if I ever heard one. “And why in all the kingdom would he think that?”
Don Julián stared at me, his dark fierce eyes ablaze with cold fire. “Because your behavior at the bridge, Princess, is suspicious to say the least. As soon as you discovered the bridge, your men attacked, and in the confusion that followed, you disappeared.”
“If that is what you think, Sire, fine. You can walk all the way to the bridge for all I care.”
Mother stepped in front of me. “That is enough, Princess!”
I recoiled against the wall, angry tears welling in my eyes at Mother’s words, while Mother, switching without pause from her imperious maternal tone to her official manners, faced Don Julián. “I apologize for Princess Andrea’s manners,Your Majesty. But I’m afraid you must accept her company even longer than I thought. I understand your concern about Andrea as Don Alfonso could well have drawn the wrong conclusion, and I agree she should not go alone to meet your brother. So I believe the only solution is that Princess Andrea and Don Ramiro remain with you until you reach your brother.”
“With all due respect, Your Ladyship, I disagree. Princess Andrea must not come.”
But Mother’s mind was made up. “I’m sorry, Sire, but that is not negotiable.” Before Don Julián could argue, she was back at my side. “Now, Princess, you must tell us the best way to leave the castle and get to the river without alerting the guard.”
I shrugged. “And why should I know that?”