The three others left the room to attend to their duties since they did not work amongst the men. Janet stayed with me in the Women’s Room and discussed what could be done with the reams of green fabric Branford had purchased. I knew I wanted to make something for him though I did not know what. I could always make him a shirt, which would be simple enough, but I wanted to make him something special.
It was Queen Sunniva’s entrance into the room that gave me the perfect idea of what to make and what I needed to learn in order to make it. I only needed to enlist her assistance. Though I was embarrassed and blushing when I asked, Sunniva seemed perfectly willing to help.
Queen Sunniva spent the better part of the first day teaching me to embroider. My first few attempts did not go well, but once I understood how to create the stitches, I used a large piece of the fabric Branford had bought for me and began to embroider the Sterling coat of arms into the corner of it. It took me hours, and there were some mistakes, but I made progress. Once I finished that one, I knew I could embroider the same symbol on the smooth, green silk.
I carefully cut the piece I needed, long and straight. I folded it three times, and sewed the edges together precisely before I began on the needlework. It was not done the first day, but as soon as I woke on the second, I began to work on it again.
I sipped some of Janet’s tea and admired how far I had progressed. The opening of the door alerted me to another presence in the room. Queen Sunniva greeted the few women in the room before coming over to me and looking over my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her nodding.
“It is lovely,” she said. “You seem to be adept at it. May I ask for what it is to be used?”
My teeth nearly sliced into my lower lip, and I could feel the heat in my face rising. I did not truly wish to say, but my queen had asked, so I was compelled to answer.
“It is for Branford,” I said softly, “for him to wear around his shoulder and under his armor. The embroidery would be close to his…um…close to his heart when he fights.”
When I glanced quickly at her eyes, fearing she would find my gesture silly and childish, I could have sworn I saw a tear there in the corner.
“A baldric for luck?” she asked softly. Her eyes were definitely shining with wetness. “That is a beautiful idea, Alexandra.”
“Thank you,”
I replied quietly.
I felt her hand against the top of my head, and she stroked my hair once.
“You are so good for him,” she said in a voice so quiet I could hardly hear her. I looked up into her smiling face. “He is…calmer—happy, even—though I believe your absence is having its effect these past two days.”
“What has he done?” I asked, almost afraid to hear her answer. Sunniva pursed her lips together.
“Nothing he hasn’t done before,” she said. I could feel my eyes go wide at her comment, but she shook her head from side to side. “Nothing too horrible.”
The queen leaned over close to me.
“He obviously feels the loss of you at his side. I think everyone in the kingdom will appreciate it nearly as much as I if you two were to grant me a grandchild soon.”
I looked back down at my embroidery as I bit down on my lip to hide my smile. Sunniva chuckled.
“Though I thought initially Branford had rushed into his wedding, I find myself wishing he had been just a few days earlier. The timing for your wedding night may have been right then.”
I surely turned a bright shade of red at such talk from my husband’s mother. Of course, there was also our deception. Even if we had wed a few days earlier, it was several days after we had married when Branford took me to his bed—in the literal sense, anyway. I was embarrassed about our deception to the queen and wanted to tell her what had happened. I feared her reaction though. I had seen her anger firsthand and did not wish it directed toward me or my husband.
“Camden has taken him hunting with his dogs today,” Sunniva said with another smile. “I believe that will brighten his mood. It usually does. I hear he has picked a new bitch for his pack.”
“Yes,” I told her. “Amarra. She seems quite a nice dog though I don’t really know much about animals.”
“Well, associating with Branford is bound to change that!” Sunniva laughed and touched my hair once more before heading over toward one of the other women and checking on the sewing she was doing. I was surprised at how open and approachable Sunniva was with the women in the kingdom—noble and servant alike. She seemed to treat them all with both respect and caring, and I watched her carefully as she spoke with each woman in the room.
I tried to imagine Queen Margaret doing the same thing and could not. She had never spoken to me directly at all but had instead spoken to Whitney when she wished to give me instruction. “Tell your handmaid to clean this up while we are out…”
No, I definitely could not see the queen of Hadebrand doing such things, but Sunniva was so naturally nurturing to everyone around her, it did not seem out of place to me at all. Instead, Queen Margaret’s behavior now looked strange in my memories.
I could only hope I would also be able to follow Queen Sunniva’s example when it came time for Branford to take the throne of Silverhelm.
*****
On the third day of my isolation from Branford, there was a formal dinner. Ramona enlisted Janet’s help to dress me, teaching her the finer art of attending to more complicated attire—employing items I had definitely helped put on others but had never worn myself. The dress was not uncomfortable to wear, but it was extravagant, and I felt uncomfortable in it. To be honest, it would not matter what I wore. I still dreaded the idea of dinners in Castle Silverhelm. Every time I entered the hall, memories of my first appearance in front of the court haunted me, and I was fairly certain others thought of it when they saw me as well. The only reason I looked forward to the feast was because I knew Branford would be there.
I had not seen him except from afar since we had returned from Sawyer.