The Mindwalk Pavilion

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The arrival of Fernando Lucius de Moncloa during a heavy snowfall was muted, with some of the usual ceremony foregone in favour of mulled wine, and huge fires, which the frozen entourage huddled around gratefully.

Lucius himself was greeted in the Queen's Public Chambers, which were easier to keep warm than the Great Hall.

"Proconsul Lucius, it is a pleasure to see you again, though the circumstances are sorrowful. Please accept my deepest condolences on the death of your wife and child."

Lucius bowed,

"It is good to see you again too Sir Cecil, and I thank you for your kind thoughts. It is a cruel world that robs a country of its Queen, and a husband of his wife. Though of course you now have a new Queen."

Lucius spoke to Cecil, but his eyes were upon Boudica.

"Indeed Proconsul, for no country can be long without a leader. May I present to you Her Majesty Queen Boudica III of Albion."

Lucius bowed as was polite, and Boudica curtseyed in response.

"Your Majesty."

"Welcome Proconsul. You honour us with your presence."

As they mouthed the formal pleasantries, Boudica and Lucius examined one another. This was not their first meeting, but on previous occasions Boudica had been merely the step-sister of the Queen. Though her beauty had been obvious to the Proconsul, he had been very careful not to give her any more attention than was appropriate in deference to his wife's feelings.

Now he was able to observe her completely uninhibited, Lucius was considerably pleased with what he saw.

"Queen Boudica, I have brought you some presents. I hope that you will like them."

He summoned over some of his retinue .

"I well remembered that you are fond of books. I can only hope that your duties now you are Queen will allow you time to read these."

These were: a fine copy of 'De rerum natura' by the poet and philosopher Lucretius; 'The Six Enneads', written by the Platonist, Plotinus and compiled by his student Porphry; and a beautifully bound copy of 'The Organon', Aristotle's six books on Logic.

Boudica studied each one carefully, she was surprised that the Proconsul had remembered her well enough to choose so well. She thanked him with such honest pleasure that Lucius was left in no doubt he'd chosen well. Yet he was not done yet.

He passed Boudica a round wooded case, decorated with inlaid woods showing the constellations. Inside, resting in a felt lined cavity was a highly polishes astrolabe. Boudica took it out and saw that it had been decorated with precious stones.

"I had it adjusted so that it would give you accurate measurements from here in Chester."

"Its beautiful Proconsul."

"Queen Boudica, I should be honoured if you would address me as Lucius. We have after all been family." His look was direct, and Boudica found her face growing warm under his gaze.

Bayezid was watching all this from his vantage point nearby. He knew such an exchange of gifts was not unusual between monarchs, and the Proconsul was a monarch in all but name. Despite this Bayezid found himself jealous of the attention that Boudica gave the man.

"Thank you Proconsul Lucius, this is a wonderful present." Boudica couldn't quite bring herself to call him Lucius.

Feigning not to notice that she had ignored his offer, Lucius had his last gift brought forwards. It was an emerald necklace set in white gold.

"May I?" He asked, taking the necklace from its case, and without waiting for an answer the Proconsul placed the jewellery around her neck, and fastened it carefully. As he did so his finger brushed the nape of her neck lightly, and Boudica nearly gasped at the intimacy of the contact. As Lucius had hoped, the glittering emeralds complimented the Queen's eyes perfectly.

"It is a beautiful piece is it not Queen Boudica?"

"It is, thank you P... Lucius."

"Yet its beauty is but a pale shade of your own."

Boudica blushed. The Proconsul was old enough to be her father, and yet he was flirting with her. He'd been Mary's husband, and she should be outraged, but, she was horrified to realise, she was actually flattered."

Bayezid glowered.

"You must have presents in return Proconsul."

Boudica turned to Bridget, who taking he cue went and fetched a ring case, which she presented to Lucius. He thanked her. Opening the case he saw that the ring was decorated with a finely realised Tauroctony. The fine detail was exquisitely worked.

"I asked one of our smiths to craft it for you."

It was Lucius' turn to be surprised, both that she had had something made for him, and that so intricate a piece had been made in such a short time.

While he was appreciating the ring, a discrete signal from Boudica had brought forth a second, and much larger gift. It was a sculpture, carved from Iona Marble of Mithras bursting as he was born from a stone. The stone was predominantly white with greenish veining and mottling, and highly polished. As with the ring, Lucius was impressed with the detail that had been skilfully realised. The choice of gift could not be faulted, and the Proconsul wondered who had made such choices. William Cecil was a natural candidate.

"I chose them myself." said Boudica.

Lucius stared, momentarily off guard. Was she reading his mind?

Boudica continued,

"I love to give presents, especially I like to give things I know the receiver will like, it's something I've enjoyed since I was little."

Lucius smiled at the young woman, realising that her comment had been a coincidence. Regaining his composure he turned the ring around in his hands, looking at it from different angles.

"I had thought to give you a ring," he said, "But I decided against it this time. I shall hope to do so on our next meeting."

From the corner of his eye the Proconsul saw that his meaning had been registered by Cecil. He also noticed a handsome dark skinned man looking very unhappy, and made a mental note to find out who he was.

Pawl Llewellyn came forwards with another of Bourdica's gifts. A set of well balanced swords, and matching daggers. These were decorated, but clearly made for use rather than decoration. The pommels bore the circled cross of the Sun.

The proconsul accepted them from Pawl, noticing the slight tensions in the younger man's jawline and stance. The Llewellyns were friendly with Eleanor, but Lucius did not think that they had any liking for him as she did. He knew that Pawl had wanted to be king, and thought it a blessing that he wasn't. The Proconsul had no idea how the Celts chose their monarch, but he was glad Boudica had been selected. Having seen her again, he knew that he wanted her, and not just for the benefits it could bring for Mithraism.

NOTE - HAVE BOUDICA ASK DRAKE TO TAKE DAFYDD AT THE TIME HE LEAVES COURT FOLLOWING HELPING MOVE SELIM.

With the exchange of presents completed, the formal part of the introductions was over. There was a banquet prepared, and when guests had eaten, there was to be music and dancing.

Boudica clearly loved to dance, and as Queen she had no shortage of partners. Both Lucius and Bayezid were competing for her, but she also danced with Pawl, and William Cecil, and even the courteous Madog Llewellyn took a turn.

Proconsul Lucius had now learned who Bayezid was. It somewhat soured his evening to find there was another suitor present, but he was careful not to make Boudica aware of this. Instead he complimented her on how light she was on her feet.

Boudica was rather enjoying the attention, which surprised her.


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The following day Lucius visited the grave of his wife and child, laying flowers for them. He had loved her in his way, and missed her. But he was a pragmatic man. He wished her well in the afterlife, and went to continue his life amongst the living.

He was not surprised when Cecil requested an audience, and received him in the office he had established whilst married to Mary.

"I wasn't sure if I would still have an office here, since I'm no longer married to the Queen."

"Proconsul, it would have been unpardonably rude to have changed things so soon after you became a widower."

Which meant that things could change in the future, but not if Lucius had his way.

"That was a very friendly welcome last night Cecil, the Queen has excellent taste when it comes to selecting presents."

"Indeed she does Proconsul, but one might say the same about you. Her Majesty was very pleased with the gifts that you brought for her."

"A Queen deserves the best a man can give her."

Cecil found it hard to believe that the Proconsul was not choosing his words very carefully to convey a message. Which of course was what brought him to this meeting.

"Agreed Proconsul, and it was clear that you had put a lot of thought and effort into your choices."

Lucius nodded, acknowledging the compliment.

"What brings you to my door today Sir Cecil? It must be something important, since you requested an audience."

"It is a matter of some delicacy Proconsul."

Lucius decided to cut to the chase.

"Does it concern the Queen's possible betrothal?"

Cecil winced very slightly, but Lucius noticed nevertheless.

"It does Proconsul. As you may imagine a Queen will always attract suitors, and a Queen as young, attractive and accomplished as Boudica might even attract a Proconsul?"

The unspoken question hung there a moment.

"Sir Cecil, I am sure your network of spies told you that I rode to Rome after the death of Mary. That was to consult with Pater Archinto, and to seek his permission to marry my erstwhile sister-in-law. You may consider my doing so in poor taste, given that I had only just received word of Mary's death, and I would grant you that. But you are I believe a man who truly understands politics."

Cecil gave the slightest of nods to this, and was listening intently.

"To be honest with you Sir Cecil, I do wish to marry Boudica. My motivations are not entirely political, though that of course has to play its part. As you intimated a moment ago, she is beautiful, learned and talented, she would make me a fine wife, and I believe, I would make Boudica an excellent husband.

True, I am older than her, and reasonably I would expect her to outlive me by many years, but I am not yet a decrepit. I have maturity to temper her youth, to help her to grow and blossom. Of course the distance between our Courts means that she would not feel stifled, she could enjoy her freedoms here, and share her duties with me."

Cecil relaxed a little, for he had been leaning forwards in his chair following the Proconsul's words closely.

"I believe you are asking me to recommend a marriage to yourself to Her Majesty Proconsul?

"You would admit that my marriage to Mary, though not without its detractors, has led to a period of peace and stability between your country and Rome? This is a way to perpetuate that stability. Yes I am hoping that you will recommend me Sir Cecil. You are a pragmatic man yourself I feel, you must see the advantages."

"I would have to discuss this with Council first Proconsul. As you no doubt remember, I was the one who spoke to Council when you wished to propose to Mary."

"I remember."

"However, the age gap is much wider between you and Boudica, than it was between Mary and yourself. That might reasonably be an argument against. Boudica's own wishes will have to be taken into consideration."

"Of course, but I do not think she found me disagreeable last night."

"Then there is the matter of other suitors."

"You mean that Ottoman? Bayezid?"

"Her Majesty seems to like him, though she has given no indication that she wishes to take him as a husband."

"So I have competition. You know what I can offer Sir Cecil. Please go and discuss this with your Council, I shall continue to engage Boudica's interest."

"Just so Proconsul, I shall do as you request.""

"Thank you Sir Cecil."



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