King Sebastian's Court - Chapter 2

Lady Gwendolyn


Lady Gwendolyn was constantly being pursued by the nobleman or that, it was the combination of her charm and her wealth that won her such attentions. Most men cared most for the latter, but pretended that it was the former that had lured them in the first place.

  Gwendolyn was the oldest of three sisters, and as such, it would be her husband who would inherit her father’s titles and lands, which made her one of the most eligible ladies of the aristocracy. She was by no means the prettiest, which is why she had developed her sense of humour, charm and wit and these three alone would have made her the ideal partner. But it was the money, the land associated with her name that made her such a constant appeal for the men of the court.

  Her mother was an invalid, which occupied most of her father’s time, since he was a man of sensitive nerves and spent most of his day by his wife’s side. This left hardly any time for the arrangement of marriages for his three daughters, and was, consequently, the reason that Gwendolyn had remained single for so long. All three sisters took advantage of his extreme capacity for anxiety in different ways. The youngest daughter, Miranda, gallivanted around the countryside with as many men as she could get her hands on; the middle daughter, Auriel, enjoyed the solace of being a cloistered scholar and Gwendolyn enjoyed her single life.

  She devoted much of her time to her friends and cousins, whom she loved dearly. At present, she was occupied in a game of hide-and-seek with the younger members of her extended family, and was allowing them extra time before she came seeking.

  “Here I come!” she called and started off on a preliminary round of the gardens. She was enjoying the peace of it when she was interrupted by a cacophony of noise coming from the courtyard. she heard angry voices that she knew belonged to her cousins, Atticus and Dorian, and another was unmistakably one of her suitors, Sir Christopher, a baronet.

  She sighed heavily and made her way to the courtyard. The scene was one of chaos. Atticus was being restrained by his brother, Dorian and a stranger, while the same was being done to Christopher. There was a crowd around them that was screaming remarks of both disdain and of encouragement towards and for either side.

  Enraged, she stomped over to the crowd and pushed her way through until she was standing between Atticus and Christopher. It took a moment for the two of them to recognise her and after a moment the noise had dulled down to silence. All were waiting tentatively for Gwendolyn to speak.

  “Will everyone please leave?” she commanded the crowd of men around her. They paused, but after a few more glares from Gwendolyn, moved away sullenly grumbling incoherently to themselves.

  “What do you think you are doing? Behaving like madmen!” Gwendolyn chastised
them mercilessly, her voice quiet enough that only they could hear. “Brawling like
hot-blooded boys in the middle of the court!”

  “Gwen…” Atticus murmured.

  “Atticus, go get yourself cleaned up,” Gwendolyn dismissed him. Seeing the grin
on Christopher’s face, she told him to do the same with even more force. He
complied, and along with his cronies, left the courtyard with his shoulders slumped,
dragging his feet beneath him like a child. Gwendolyn liked him even less than she
had before.

  Atticus left too, his squire following him meekly. Gwendolyn noted the tension in
his form and wondered how her usually level-headed cousin had lost his temper to
such a degree. With a sigh, she turned to Dorian and the stranger.

  “What happened?”

  Dorian shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. James and I,” he indicated his companion
and he and Gwendolyn bowed politely to each other, “were coming out of the
stables when we found Atticus and Christopher in the middle of an argument. It soon escalated to such a degree that they each drew their swords. We thought it was best to interfere before blood was spilt.”

  “What were they arguing about?”

  “You, Gwen, that much I was able to discern.”

  Gwendolyn shook her head sadly. “I’ll have a word with Atticus when he calms
down.”

  “That’s probably for the best, you won’t get any sense out of him now.”

  Gwendolyn turned to James, who had been standing rather awkwardly throughout
the conversation. “I’m sorry we had to meet under such conditions.”

  “As am I, my Lady,” he replied, bowing to her.

  Gwendolyn took the moment to observe him; he had tousled dark hair and
composed grey eyes. His face was chiselled and soft in all the proper places and it
was obvious from his form and stance that he was a skilled fighter. His habit
betrayed his position as a knight, and Gwendolyn could tell that he was a good
man simply from a one glance at his face. She liked him already and hoped that
they could develop a friendship.

  “Excuse me, but I’m in the middle of a game of hide-and-seek with my younger
cousins,” Gwendolyn withdrew from their company and hurried off in the direction of
the gardens.



Leopold missed the commotion in the courtyard, he was out on a ride. Riding was
cathartic, it provided him with the all-too-important solace that life requires, and he
dreaded the day when he would be too crippled to carry on this daily ritual. He
realised that he had been riding for longer then he had planned and saw that the sun was already high in the sky. The day was turning out better then he had anticipated, and with a grin, he turned his horse, Curio, back the way he had come and nudged him into a hard gallop.

  After what seemed like too short a time, the palace came into view as he turned a corner in his path. He sighed and pulled Curio into a slow canter, patting his neck. Curio snorted and tossed his head restlessly; he was trained warhorse, but he had been bred as a racer and as such he craved both the freedom of the run and the ordered chaos of a fight.

  When the pair reached the castle gates, Leopold pulled Curio back into a walk and finally a halt. He dismounted and led his horse over to the stables, where he found his squire flirting with one of the ladies’ maids. When Jared, his squire, saw his master, he jumped in surprise and hurried over, his face bright red with embarrassment.

  “My Lord.”

  “Jared,” Leopold was grinning amusedly.

  “I’ll take Curio, my Lord,” Jared reached for the horse’s bridle.

  “Have I missed midday meal?”

  “It just started, my Lord.”

  “Than I’ll just wait until tea.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  Leopold left Jared with Curio and went stepped into the cool shade of the palace.



As Leopold passed the Great Hall, Baroness Cecilly Dulani caught a glimpse of
him through the open doors. Leopold noticed her eyes on him and grinned

unreservedly at her, she did the same. After he was out of sight, Cecilly sat for a
moment, carefully picking at her food. When Leopold came back into sight and
made his way back out into the courtyard, she impulsively decided to do the same.
She passed a squire with one of her young maids and she smiled at their
carelessness, their youth.

  Her eyes fell upon Leopold and she noted that he was moving in the direction of
the gardens. She cut through the stables and managed to make it onto one of the
garden paths just as Leopold was turning onto it. “Good afternoon, my Lord,”
Cecilly approached Leopold nonchalantly. “May I walk with you?”

  “Of course, my Lady,” he nodded his acquiescence.

  He didn’t offer her his arm, and Cecilly respected him a bit more for it. She
preferred to walk by herself, with her chin high and hands held behind her back.
Nobles were constantly attempting to suffocate their ladies with chivalry, it bothered
Cecilly more than it placated her.

  She glanced sideways at Leopold, admiring his handsome face. Up until that
point, she had only seen him from a distance, and she recognised that he was an
imposing figure; he was tall and broad-shouldered, his muscles carefully defined
after years of war. Yet, Cecilly felt completely at ease beside him, and though
those who did not know Leopold might have thought that this was just arrogance, or
bravery. In truth, being with Leopold gave one more a sense of security and ease
then discomfort, for there was something innately reliable and unassuming about
him that caused people to gravitate towards him.

  Cecilly also noted the scattered scars across his face and his unshaven chin. His
appearance made Cecilly even more at ease around him, for she felt that the clean-
shaven men tended to be younger, inexperienced and insecure, feeling the need to
prove their worth at every possible oppurtunity. Leopold emanated all the essential qualities in a man, and it was obvious that he didn’t feel the need to prove them. Leopold wasn’t that kind of man. Cecilly was sure that he was, as she had suspected, just the type of friend she needed in a place such as the royal court.

  “We haven’t been introduced properly, but I’m Baroness Cecilly Dulani,” she said to him. “And you are Duke Leopold Larneaux?”

  “I am.”

  “Tell me, my Lord, why did you miss midday meal?”

  He grinned, it was of a slightly crooked nature that made Cecilly mimic the
action. “I was out on a ride and lost track of time. I saw you in there a moment ago,
why did you decide to leave so early?”

  “Should I tell you the truth?” Leopold raised a brow, but nodded. “I was getting
tired of the arduous task of flattering the egos of some of the younger men of the
court,” she whispered conspiratorially.

  Leopold broke out into laughter, and it was as deep and melodious as she had
expected it to be.

  “You are an honest woman, my lady.”

  “Call me, Cecilly.”

  “Only if you will agree to call me Leopold,” his eyes fell upon hers. “I grow tired of
courtly ritual, which I suspect, you do too.”

  “You’ve guessed correctly, Leopold,” she said his name rather slyly.

  “You know Cecilly,” her name sounded natural on his tongue, and Cecilly could
tell that his intentions were similar to his. “Some of the younger men that you find
so insufferable, have claimed me as their confidante, and you are a constant topic
between us.”

  “And we have only just met!”

  “Ah, but the topic is usually brought up and maintained by the others, seeing as I
had not had the opportunity of speaking with you. Though, I suspect, many of these
man haven’t either.”

  “You’d be surprised at how quickly I make friends, Leopold.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt it,” he glanced sideways at her.

  Cecilly decided to change the subject, she was self-absorbed, but she didn’t feel
like speaking of herself. For the first time since she had met her husband, she was
truly interested in getting to know another man and was eager to illuminate his
character as much as possible. “I thought I saw your squire flirting with one of my
maids?”

  “Yes, I hope you don’t mind but, I’m rather proud of the boy. He’s incredibly shy
and I was beginning to worry about him, but it appears that your maid has drawn him out of his shell,” Leopold suggested.

  “I’m pleased that my maids are performing valiant deeds!”

  “Valiant indeed, it takes much skill to learn such arts as you and your maids
seem to possess. The art of carefully balancing friendliness with reserve to make
one’s companion completely at ease.”

  “I have observed in you that same talent, except yours seems much more
natural, less forced; unlike mine. You seem to have seen through me quite quickly,
I must admit that I feel somewhat perturbed,” Cecilly spoke in a frivolous way, for
anyone else it might have been a jest, but Leopold knew that she was speaking the
truth.

  “Trust me, Cecilly, I am still attempting to sketch your character as much as you
are me,” Leopold reassured her.

  “Then I’m pleased that I have eluded you, thus far.”

  Leopold was just beginning to wonder if she was perpetually this flirtatious and
unreserved, or if it truly just an act; so that people would not see whatever it was
that she was attempting to hide. He knew that he had time to decipher this
mysterious Baroness, and he also knew that he had never faltered in his
judgement.