Three Crowns - Act 1, Chapter 1

1134, August 12th

The sun was setting, and the stars emerged to watch as the Artaxes family made its way to the Great Hall. Ruling the sky was the Lion, under whose gaze strong and courageous men were born, and feisty spinsters. It was an auspicious omen for Lady Pella. She knew it was so because of the pain, and soon her water would break, but stoically she stayed quiet. It would be embarrassing to give birth in the Great Hall, but better that than to do so on the road.

She glanced at her husband, Sir Leonas. There were eighteen in their company. There was the head of the family, Lord Laurentius, father of Leonas. His wife Aranka, whose grandfather was the present king’s brother. Leonas and Pella’s firstborn daughter, Argentia, was carried in the arms of the wet nurse, Hilde. The rest were Laurentius’s retainers, led by their captain, Sjurd.

Leonas returned Pella’s glance. His mouth curled, but his eyes seemed dead. It had been so long ago that the insincere smiles had begun, Pella would sometimes forget the reason and come close to breaking the habit. Then she remembered the accident five years ago, at the same time of year. She recalled the role she played, and the role she was going to play in the accidents to come. Her lips stiffened, and she turned away from her husband without a word. The familiar pains in her abdomen did not stop.

~~~

It was the sixtieth jubilee of old King Einion III of House Aurelian, but the jubilations were laced with the bitter memories of his grandson’s death. In three days the official memorial was to be held, for it was on the same day, five years ago, that Prince Bryn, son of Tunc, had been killed by outlaws in the royal forests. Today, officially, was a day of celebration.

“Long live the King!”

“Long live the King!”

“Long live the King!”

“Please! Be seated.” Einion let his raised hands fall slowly to his side, and as it did so, the nobles too fell down to their seats. “On this day, I have reigned sixty long years, and I have lived nearly eighty. There is no reason for me to wish for a long life now!” A young red-haired baron, Lord Rumen, stood up and raised his cup.

“Then might the King live beyond the years allotted to mortal men!”

“Aye!” Someone shouted. “I will drink to that!”

“No, no, no,” Einion shook his head, “I can ask no more from Heaven. Already She has taken one of my grandsons away from me, and I daren’t provoke it to take another, for then only my old sons will be left to succeed me, with no children left to succeed them.” He glanced at his son, Tunc the Elder, and beyond him his grandson, Tunc the Younger. Turning his head back, Einion caught the eye of a grey-haired man, his head bowed, significantly older in appearance than in years. He was Eldora, Einion’s youngest son. “Indeed,” Einion went on, “though you have all showered praises upon me since my coronation, sixty years ago, and though the people have enjoyed prosperity, Heaven has been unkind to me. I still weep over that incident, thirty years ago, when Ferro and Eurig were lost on the very same…” His voice broke, and tears gushed down his saggy cheeks. Tunc the Elder already had tears in his eyes, for Ferro was his dearly beloved elder brother, the former heir to the throne. “How will the kingdom prosper after I am gone?” The King wailed. “All hope lies on young Tunc’s shoulders! But, alas, he is in his prime and unmarried! He follows his uncle Eldora’s footsteps. My son, Eldora, why did you wait to so long, and then only to marry an old woman widowed already three times, without one child of her own! How will the kingdom last?”

“Grandfather!” The younger Tunc spoke. “Though I am no longer a youth, I am still fit and strong. I have neglected my duties to the kingdom in favour of childish pursuits, but I am a child no more! I am ready to father a king to succeed me!”

“Then, my grandson, it is not too late! At your brother’s memorial a bride will be selected, so that the marriage may carry his spirit’s blessing. Hear me, noblemen of the realm! In three days a future queen will be chosen!”

The Great Hall erupted with an intense murmur. Every nobleman in the Hall had a daughter or a sister to sell. But there were others, yet to arrive, who had other plans.

~~~

The birth was underway, but Laurentius had no time to stick around. He had a plan, and he was sticking to it, even if he had to improvise. He couldn’t contain his fury when Pella revealed she was about to give birth, and nearly punched her in the belly. Then he remembered it was his own grandchild in there, and perhaps it was a boy. He needed a grandson, if his family’s glory was to last. Still, he was relying on Pella’s involvement, and now he would have to make do without her.

They left Pella with Hilde, little Argentia and two guards at an isolated peasants’ hovel. It was cramped, and stank of piss, but it wasn’t too bad once the peasants and their chickens were thrown out. Pella and Hilde would have to make do for a few days. Everything would be fine. The family would have its glory, and a new son would be born to carry that glory long after Laurentius and his son Leonas were dead.

“I still feel uneasy.”

“Enough, Leonas!” Laurentius yelled. “You’re a craven fool and you won’t get anywhere without my guidance. Obey me and you will inherit my glory!”

Aranka grinned. The truth was, this was all for her sake. If it weren’t for her descent from Einion II, father of the present king, her husband’s fledgling family would still have been at the bottom rung of the nobility. Now they were climbing the hill up towards the Great Hall, looming high above, and poised to ascend to the highest position in the realm. It was Aranka’s birth right, the reason for her existence, to avenge her father Eurig’s death.

“I’m just worried for my wife and child.”
“Leonas, you need not worry,” Aranka spoke before her husband could react, in a hushed tone, “there’s nothing those peasants can do, and if they try anything you can be sure the guards will put them in their place. Everything will be okay.”

Everything was not okay, for though at that moment Leonas’s son was being born, the removed peasants were on their way to gather allies. But that was somewhere else, and Laurentius was fixated on his goal. Now the doors of the Great Hall stood open before them, the king’s men bowing as though Laurentius were already their lord. As they entered, the murmuring, already faint, hushed altogether, and the noblemen of the realm stared at the new arrivals. The King rose from his throne.

“Lord Laurentius! I had lost all hope that you would be here tonight. But, alas, the hour is late, and the feast is almost over! I would not have resented you for delaying your visit another day.”

“Your Highness, I would not dream of it!”

“And Aranka, my little niece. Come closer! It has been so long.” Aranka obligingly left her husband’s side and stood before the King, bowing her head. Einion raised her chin with the tip of his finger, and stared long into her eyes. “You never seem to age. Yet you are already a grandmother!”

“Yes, my second grandchild will be born tonight.”
“Tonight?” Einion looked to the great door, where Laurentius and Leonas still stood, flanked by their retainers. “I thought someone was missing. Leonas! Where is your wife?”

“We have left Lady Pella in the care of Hilde, the wet nurse, your Highness. I’m afraid she will not be attending the jubilee or the memorial. I apologise.”

“Think nothing of it, it is encouraging to know you are more loyal to your king than to your wife. Leonas, Laurentius, there are empty seats aplenty in this Hall. Aranka, please, sit with me.” Isolde, Einion’s concubine, made way for Aranka. “Bring wine for the new arrivals, Isolde.”

“Yes, your highness.” Einion stared longingly at her with lustful eyes as she left the table. He turned back to Aranka.

“She is one of three beautiful young mistresses I have taken since my wife died. Yet none of them has given me a son. Now, of the three sons my wife gave me, only two survive, and they have only one surviving son between them. Why has this happened to me, Aranka?”

“Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise.” Aranka said thoughtfully. “Though Ferro did not deserve to die, his death does ensure Tunc’s inheritance. Perhaps Heaven knew Tunc was the stronger of those two. And as for Eldora, he is married to someone beyond childbearing age, and would never gain the nobles’ support if he chose to contend the throne. The succession will go smoothly.”

“This time, perhaps. But I fear Tunc the Younger will turn out like Eldora, and upon his death the kingdom will be ruined. Even though he is soon to be married, there is something about him. He doesn’t desire children, nor the company of women. I taught my sons to teach their sons manly pursuits, and now my only grandson is interested in nothing other than fighting! Doesn’t he know how hard I have worked to bring peace to this land?”

Aranka leaned over to glance at the two Tuncs. They were both within earshot, but seemed to be absorbed in conversation with one another. They were drunk, and though the younger of the two was nearly forty years old, they looked like two young fools engaged in idiotic banter. “The younger Tunc may look like he is in his prime,” said Aranka, “but in truth he is a boy only just growing up. Take heart. He will mature before it is too late.”

“I hope so. I dread to think what will happen if House Aurelian is extinguished.”

By my birth right, House Artaxes will rise, thought Aranka, and my son will be king.