Page 59 of Heart of Snow
The kaiser shook his head, and Queen Mary set her hand on his face, caressing his bearded cheek with her thumb.
“Will you ride with us?” The kaiser’s voice was deep and stronger than I expected from one so frail.
“Gladly.” Mary ordered her horse.
While we waited, I glanced at Egmont, hoping to cast him a smile, but his stern features were intently pointed in another direction. Following his gaze, I found the prince still staring unabashedly at me. He gave me a quick wink, then shifted hisattention to the queen before I had the chance to put him off with my disapproving glare.
I let out a huff of irritation.
Queen Mary mounted her horse and took her place beside her brother. “My ladies will return to their coaches and join in the train behind us.”
My irritation bled into disappointment, which left a hollow feeling in my gut. How would I ever see Samuel now?
The ladies moved in one body, catching me up in their flow so that I could only make a last desperate scan of the train of men before I was pushed into the dark depths of the coach.
***
The damp of the day hovered in the palace like my disappointment, and I couldn’t escape either, no matter how I shifted in my place on the bench. Down the row, Anna quietly groaned and pressed her hands over her belly. “If we ate such feasts every day, I might be sick,” she whispered over the performance of the queen’s musicians.
“Then temper yourself next time,” Helena whispered back, smoothing her skirts and painting a pleasant smile over her lips.
Anna straightened. “Prince Felipe is more handsome than I could have hoped.”
“You have no reason to hope for anything when it comes to the prince,” Dorthea whispered over the lutes closing out their madrigal. “He’s a Habsburg. They marry for advantage, and I doubt he’ll be wanting your little duchy.”
I followed the ladies’ gazes to the prince. He sat in a gold chair at the other side of the room, ignoring the conversation of his Dutch attendant and staring directly at me with that same rakish grin.
An awkward shyness came over me that I’d not had since my days in Wildungen.
Anna sniffed. “You’re right, Dorthea. He isn’t worth troubling myself over. I hear he’s nearly betrothed to Queen Mary of England anyway.” Anna cast me a sideways glance, no doubt intending to upset me had I set my cap on the prince, but I paid her no heed. My sights were on a different target.
Egmont leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest while he watched the prince watching me. The muscle in Egmont’s jaw tightened, and I bent my head to conceal a smile, relishing his jealousy. I’d succeeded in winning at least a small bit of his admiration. Now to encourage it...
The courtiers applauded at the close of the madrigal, and I excused myself from the ladies, sweeping up my skirts and sitting at the empty chess table with my back to the prince. When Egmont met my eye, I used my foot to push out the chair opposite me. His scowl lifted, and he shrugged away from the wall, making his way over to sit at my table.
“You are right,” I said when he took his seat. “You are persistent.”
He cast me a small smile that disappeared when he glanced behind me. I turned to find the prince watching us.
“And what of it?” I said, moving my chess piece.
He harrumphed and moved a piece in return. We progressed in silence, with Egmont more reserved than usual as we played.
“Are you fatigued after your long ride in the rain?” I asked.
“So it would seem. I find myself out of sorts this evening.” He moved his rook, then placed his fist beside the chessboard.
I gently covered his hand with mine. “Then I hope you’ll let me buoy your spirits.” I rubbed my thumb over his fingers until he uncurled his fist, opening his hand enough to let me caress his palm. But when footsteps sounded behind me, he wrenched his hand away to conceal it beneath the table.
A smear of bright scarlet moved in my periphery, and Prince Felipe of Spain stepped into view. Beside him, his shortattendant gave us a low bow. “Pardon the interruption, but the prince expressed a wish to play against the lady.”
“Oh, I don’t think—” I began, but the attendant hushed me with wide eyes, as if anticipating my refusal and warning me against it.
I turned to Egmont, my eyes pleading with him to stay, but his countenance was already an apology. He rose from his chair, giving the prince a curt bow before leaving.
The prince took Egmont’s place, leaning back in the chair with casual ease as he moved his knight. “What is the name of this woman I am so fortunate to play against?”
My Latin was not as strong as my French. I studied the board, looking for my next move while I interpreted what he’d said. “Comitissa Margaretha de Waldeck.”
