Alix went to him and kissed her parent's brow. "Tomorrow I will prepare a chamber for you, Papa. You will no longer have to sleep in the hall."

"There is still time," he said softly to her.

Alix shook her head. "Remember what Mama always said? You must make the best of a bad situation no matter how you may feel. While I may scorn Hayle Watteson in my heart and mind, I will always treat him respectfully in public. From his behavior today, I suspect I will see him but infrequently."

Her father reached out, and in his hand there was a small pouch. "If you are determined to go through with this travesty, mignon, then you will need extra strength of both body and mind for your ordeal. Put a pinch from the contents of this bag into a cup of wine tonight and drink it. Then take a pinch of it in wine or cider each morning. I will give you more when you need it." He put the pouch in her hand, grasping her wrist and saying, "Promise me you will take it, Alix. Promise me!"

"If you believe it will help me, Papa, then yes, I will take it tonight, and each morning as you have prescribed." She bent and kissed his cheek. "Bon soir, Papa."

"Bon soir, mignon," Alexander Givet replied. "God keep you safe this night."

Alix left him, and without even a word to Sir Udolf, departed the hall, going upstairs to the chamber she was to share with her husband. Bab was waiting for her. "Fetch me a small goblet of wine," Alix told the serving woman.

Bab did as she was bid, setting the goblet on the table next to the bed. Then she helped Alix disrobe. "He'll want you naked," Bab informed Alix, who now stood in her chemise washing her face and hands.

"Then I will be naked," Alix responded. She felt numb, and she was cold. Perhaps the wine would help to warm her. "Be careful with my gown," she warned Bab. "It is my one good one." And while the servant folded the violet silk with meticulous care, Alix took a pinch from the contents of the little pouch, put it in her wine, and drank it down. She must remember to ask her father what it was. She didn't want Bab to see the pouch, and so she tucked it discreetly beneath the bed's mattress until she was alone and could find another hiding spot. "Has my husband returned yet?" she asked Bab, knowing the serving woman would be aware of Hayle's whereabouts.

"Not yet," Bab replied sourly. "Get into bed and sleep. He'll awaken you when he comes. I hope for your sake there is blood on the sheet come morning. He won't like it if you aren't a virgin."

Alix climbed into the bed. "Good night, Bab" was all she answered. Then she watched as the servant snuffed all the candles but the one she carried, and departed the chamber. The room was cold, Alix noted, but then, of course, since Hayle would want total darkness there was no fire to keep her warm. The bed smelled fresh with lavender. The pillows were plump behind her. She drew up the coverlet and closed her eyes, but she could not sleep. As she lay there alone and in the dark Alix considered what was to come. She knew what to expect. Her husband would stuff his manhood into her female sheath and expel his seed. With good luck he would get her with child quickly, and she would be quickly quit of him. He would futter her to get the son to please his father. There was nothing more to it. She wished he would come and get it over with, for she was tired and wanted to sleep. Would he remain with her? Would he do it more than once? At court she had overheard two women in the queen's apartment speaking of one of their husbands. He had fucked her, the first told the second, three times in a night, and the two women had giggled like girls. How many times did it take a man to get a woman with child? Alix wondered. That was not a part of her knowledge.

Finally the door to the chamber opened, and she saw him in the light from the hallway torch, hesitating a moment before coming in. "Do not speak," he told her as he shut the door behind him.

Alix remained silent, as bidden. The bed sagged as he sat upon its edge. She heard his boots hit the floor as he removed them.

He pulled back the coverlet, saying as he did so, "Spread your legs open wide, whore," and when she had, he climbed atop her. "Now put your arms above your head," he further instructed her. "You will make no move to impede my actions." Reaching out, he squeezed one of her breasts, pinching the nipple hard. "At least your skin is soft," he noted as he ran his hands over her body, "and you smell of flowers."

Alix felt him adjusting his position. She felt his bare buttocks against her thighs as he leaned forward, his fingers and hand seeking. And then she felt it as he found the opening to her woman's sheath. As he leaned forward, she realized he was wearing his tunic robe and had just hiked it up so his male parts would be free. Alix felt she should be doing something, but she didn't know what. He thrust into her, and it hurt. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he kept pushing himself into her. But then he thrust hard, and Alix could not prevent the scream that tore from her throat as a sharp pain engulfed her. She began to weep.

"You didn't lie to me, whore. You were a virgin," he said as he began to piston her in earnest, grunting with each stroke of his cock until she felt him stiffen above her and groan with the sound of pleasure attained. Then, climbing off of her, he said, "I'll be back in the early morning to fuck you again. And I'll keep fucking you each day until you ripen with my child. Then we can be quit of each other." He sat on the edge of the bed once more, pulling on his boots, and then left her.

Alix began to cry in earnest. He had not kissed her, or been kind at all. He had behaved like a stallion brought to stud. Surely this was not the way all men and women behaved with one another? She remembered her mother's face once when she had come from the bedchamber that she shared with her father. It had been soft and dreamy. Alix remembered saying to her mother that she looked particularly beautiful at that moment and Blanche responding that when a woman was well loved she glowed.

"You will understand one day, ma petite" her mother had told her, smiling.

And had the queen not said that a woman could feel passion even if she did not love a man? But all Alix had felt was pain and degradation. She suspected it was all she would ever know from Hayle Watteson. Alix pulled the coverlet back over her cold body. He was a cruel and stupid creature. She was going to pray to the Blessed Virgin that he got her with child quickly, for the thought of having to bear his cruel attentions night after night was too terrible to even contemplate. Alix instinctively knew that her husband would never treat her any other way than he had treated her tonight. Hayle hated her for being what his beloved Maida couldn't be. And he would continue to punish her for it.

He came again just before the dawn, when Alix could see just the faintest sliver of light beginning to creep along the edges of the shutters, but the room was still in darkness. He woke her roughly, shaking her hard. "Take the position you were taught earlier," he ordered her. "Legs spread, arms about your head. Do not speak, and this time make no noise at all, whore. I know you could not prevent your earlier scream, and I forgive you for it. But I will have no sound from you." He penetrated her once again without further ado, riding her until the inevitable conclusion. Then he left her, telling her, "I will be back tomorrow night."

When she was certain he was gone, Alix crept from her bed and went to the small hearth. There in a little round container was a live coal. She put it into the midst of the wood kindling and blew upon it until a small flame leaped up to catch at the wood. Soon the fire was blazing merrily and the chill was leaving the chamber. Alix placed the earthenware pitcher of water into the edge of the hearth to warm. Then she climbed back into her bed to sleep for a short while more.

Bab awoke her at dawn, opening the shutters to allow the light of day into the room. Alix took the now-hot water from the fireplace and bathed herself thoroughly.

"Well, he did his duty by you, I see," Bab said, yanking the sheet from the bed. "The old lord will be pleased, mistress."

"Yes," Alix said. "He will be pleased, I'm certain." She pulled on a clean camise, and then her nut-brown jersey gown. After pulling on a pair of woolen socks, she put her feet into her sollerets. Then, sitting on the edge of the bed, she took up her hairbrush and brushed her hair out, plaiting it into a single thick braid and tying off the end of it with a bit of white ribbon.

"I'll be in the hall seeing to the meal and the royal departure," Alix said to her servant, and then she left the chamber. She found her father up and in the company of Sir Udolf. Alix greeted them pleasantly, avoiding their questioning looks, and then sought out the steward. "Donald," she said, "have you told the cook to prepare food for the royal party's trip today? And send to the stables to make certain their horses are ready and that the creatures' feet are healthy. It will not do for them to be caught on this side of the border by the Yorkists."

"The cook has been advised, and I'll go to the stables myself, mistress," he told her. The steward was no kin of Maida's and was loyal to Sir Udolf.

"And will you see that a chamber with a hearth is prepared for my father today? He cannot continue to sleep in the hall," Alix continued.

"I will, mistress," the steward replied with a small bow.

"Thank you," Alix said.

The queen came into the hall prepared for travel. Her little son was with her. He ran to Alix and put his arms about her waist. She embraced him, tousling his hair and smiling down at him. "So, my lord Edward, you are leaving us," Alix said to him. "You are going into Scotland today."