Chapter 83 The Cost of Honor
The east wing of the palace.
Patricia was a twenty-year-old woman, with a delicate figure and refined features. When she walked through the corridors, both the guards and the servants looked at her with thoughts of love and other less romantic things. That night, she was accompanied by two tall knights who were carrying wooden chests and followed her as if she were their lady. The guards and pages continued to look at her, but with more caution due to the presence of the knights. There were only a few knights from Colinas Gemelas in the royal castle, but they were all tall, strong, and well-armed. There had been some skirmishes in the corridors over the past two days, and nobody wanted to fight these men.
She stopped in front of the door of Heinrich. The two guards bowed their heads in respect. Marisela had taught each of the women in her service the same look: the look she reserved for anyone born into a social position inferior to her own. For many men, that disrespectful look from a beautiful woman caused more pain than the blade of a sword.
Patricia: These chests are for the men. They are special gifts for them. Take them inside carefully and tell them that Lady Marisela wishes to express her gratitude to the Duchess. Tell them exactly this.
Guard: Do you want to go in and talk to them yourself?
Patricia smiled and fluttered her eyelashes: Me, a woman without a husband, entering a room alone with two men? What kind of gossip would you tell your friends or your whores after your shift? I am sure two fine, strong royal guards can deliver my message and save my reputation.
As with her withering look, her smile held power with men. She turned to leave, and the knights placed the boxes on the floor with a precise movement. She began to walk down the corridor with an air of grandeur and elegance. The guards felt both insulted and captivated. A moment later, they remembered that they were supposed to deliver the boxes.
Inside the rooms of Heinrich.
Wulfhelm: Gifts from your ladylove?
Heinrich: I know not. Help me, Duke nephew.
The two men chuckled and opened the chests. Inside each one was a helmet, a suit of armor, and the attire of a knight of Colinas Gemelass. Wulfhelm lifted the steel and black leather helmet with a green and white tassles flowing down from the top.
The young duke: Those are the clothes and colors of her knights. Why would she send them to us?
The newly appointed guardian of the young man took out a parchment. He broke the seal and read it quickly. He sighed and looked at his kin.
Heinrich spoke slowly: She is offering us a way to leave the royal castle secretly. She wants us to dress as her knights and escort a carriage to her castle, taking a wounded page back to his family.
Wulfhelm: Will she stay here?
Heinrich: The parchment does not specify. But I think she wants to take refuge in her castle and wait for our fleet. With the knights on board the ships and the son of Reinhardt to follow, we will have a powerful force. This same force can serve the queen you have chosen. If they see you, it will make their hearts braver.
Wulfhelm: What should I do?
Heinrich looked into the eyes of his nephew: It is your decision, my duke. My steel and my blood are at your service.
The rooms of Marisela, later in the night.
The three Sisters of the Shadow carefully lifted the body of Francisco and placed it on a wheeled cart that was used to transport the sick and the dead. They covered him with a thick blanket and rolled the cart down the corridors toward a large door at the end of the east wing of the castle. They were accompanied by two knights who gently tapped the ground with the shafts of their spears every time they put down their left foot. It was a tradition to do this for a knight who had fallen in battle and was about to die. Every man who carried a weapon understood that it was a great show of respect towards a page. The Sisters of the Shadow received expressions of respect from the guards and servants. Their faces remained hidden as they performed their duties for the dying.
The young man was carefully carried through the door with the help of the knights and some servants of the Lady of Colinas Gemelas. He was loaded into the personal carriage of the lady, and the three women dressed in black got in and sat down to attend to him.
The carriage was surrounded by six knights on horseback, dressed in sea-green garments with white embellishments, like the foam of the waves. Their mounts were adorned in a matching theme. They traveled slowly along the main road that connected the royal castle with the ancient castle located on the peninsula to the southeast. Black curtains covered the open sides of the elaborate vehicle. Everyone who saw it thought it was the funeral carriage of a nobleman. They all moved to the side of the road so that the procession could pass without stopping.
The family of Francisco was in a prayer room dedicated to the god of the greenwood. His mother held his newborn brother, Leopoldo against her chest. His father and other relatives bowed before the Sisters of the Shadow. They placed the child on a comfortable bed in front of a wooden altar carved with images of galloping Unicorns. Candles of hope were lit and prayers were offered to various goddesses and gods.
Francisco, who was called Paco by his friends, was at home with his family, dying. He had lived with honor and courage. He received his wounds defending people from those who sought power and control through oppression. Pride and sadness mingled in the hearts of those who surrounded this young man.