The Autumn Throne (49 page)

Silence filled
the room after her last word rang out. She stood before him, wrists still bared.

‘Now,’ she said, her voice trembling, but with the force of anger, not tears, ‘bring me my son. Let me see him.’

Heinrich had recoiled at her impassioned outburst, but rallied now with a look of icy disdain. ‘Madam, indeed you may see him, but first I would have you walk with me and speak a moment in private.’

Alienor set her jaw. ‘As you wish, sire.’

Heinrich escorted her from the hall and into the frozen January air. His men followed at a discreet distance, near enough to be summoned but removed from hearing. Heinrich strolled along until they came to a well, and here he paused, his breath rising in thin white vapour. He looked over the edge of the housing into the glinting darkness below.

‘I suppose you are wondering where Richard is,’ he said pleasantly. ‘For all you know he could be at the bottom of this well.’

‘You have brought me here to play pointless games.’ Alienor was contemptuous. ‘You know full well that if he is dead, then no ransom will be paid.’

He raised a blond eyebrow. ‘I could maim him if I so chose. I could crush his sword hand and leave you the rest. That would not renege on our deal, would it?’

Alienor maintained a neutral façade although she was terrified of what this vile, vindictive man might do.

‘Or I could pull all of his teeth and leave him without the wherewithal to chew meat at the table, yet I would still be due the ransom.’ He shot her a glance. ‘Or you, madam,’ he added softly. ‘You might fall down this well and who would know the difference? Who knows, perhaps you might even meet Richard down there. I could still have the treasure and your hostages into the bargain could I not?’ He glanced at the men gathered behind him. One of them half drew his sword to show her the gleam of the blade.

Alienor was determined not to be intimidated. Henry had
done this to her often and she had faced him out and survived – but she had been younger then. Just now she felt every single one of her seventy years. And she was frightened.

‘You don’t know what I can do, do you?’ He gave her a long look, then turned and walked away from the well, continuing to a nearby doorway. ‘You wanted to see your son? Let me oblige.’ He gestured another guard to unlock a heavy wooden door that opened on to a staircase.

As Alienor followed Heinrich up the twisting stairs she was thoroughly prepared to see Richard clad in rags, fettered to the wall and rats running about; however, beyond another barred and guarded door was a well-appointed chamber with a good fire blazing in the hearth and hangings decorating the wall. Richard stood facing the door and had clearly heard their approach, for he was tense and ready, with fists clenched. To Alienor’s utter relief he looked well, if thin and fine-drawn, and his surroundings, while not luxurious, were adequate. She gasped his name, but she could not run to him because Heinrich’s soldiers barred her way.

Heinrich turned to Richard. ‘You have a visitor you must be eager to see,’ he said, ‘but first, by your oath, if you would see the light of day, put your hand on the table.’

Richard did so and Heinrich drew his dagger and poised it above Richard’s wrist.

‘No!’ Alienor cried. ‘By all that is holy, I beg you!’

Heinrich shot her a threatening look. Richard was impassive, although his jaw was rigid.

Heinrich slowly withdrew the dagger, although it remained ready in his hand. ‘If anything should happen before we come to an agreement over the ransom, then my threat shall be carried out. Do not think to cheat me or engage in subterfuge and schemes for I will know and you will pay the forfeit.’ He signalled, and the soldiers stood aside. ‘You may visit with your son, madam, and I will send someone to fetch you in a little while.’ He departed, leaving two guards at the door.

Alienor
stumbled across the room and threw her arms around Richard, crying his name, stroking his hair and touching his face, needing to make contact with his physical presence to make sure he was real and not a figment of her imagination.

‘Mama, it is all right,’ Richard soothed. ‘He enjoys posturing, that is all. Whatever he threatens and however he blusters, the eyes of all Christendom are upon him, and he very much desires to have his ransom and be rid of me.’

‘And yet nothing happens!’ she said with bitter frustration. ‘I have entreated the Pope and he does nothing! And now we are trapped here.’

Richard gave her a gentle shake. ‘I have the measure of the man. He enjoys toying with people and this is amusement and power to him. He is drawing out the last moments of his relish. It’s not worth a turd.’

Pulling back, she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. ‘I thought I was never going to see you again,’ she said in a watery voice. ‘I thought at times you were dead.’

‘It would take more than Heinrich has to kill me.’ He drew her to a bench by the hearth. ‘I do not deny I have been through darkness and my host has not always been considerate even while he houses me in comfort. All he has had to feed on is what I show to him, and I have been very careful. He does not know me even now.’

Alienor took her son’s hand as he sat down beside her and gripped his warm, strong fingers in hers, clinging to his life and vitality. ‘After what I suffered at your father’s hands for so long the last thing I would wish is for any of my sons to be a prisoner.’

‘I understand what you suffered at Salisbury and Winchester more clearly now, Mama, that is for certain,’ Richard replied wryly.

‘I wrote to the Pope but I might as well not have bothered. Celestine is as ancient as the tomb and fears to draw the sword of Peter on the Emperor.’

‘I
would not have expected it either. But truly you are a miracle worker, Mama, to have raised the ransom.’

She gave the first genuine smile of their meeting. ‘I would have moved heaven and earth to reach you. You know that.’ Her hands were still trembling. Richard seemed remarkably composed but she wondered at what lay beneath. ‘It still might not be enough.’

‘Because of John you mean?’

She gave him a keen look. ‘You know about that?’

He looked disgusted. ‘Oh yes, Heinrich showed me yesterday at dinner and had every intention of making my response his own meal, but I gave him slim pickings.’

Her stomach clenched with grief and anger. ‘I cannot believe John would do this to you. And for what? Very little can come of this. Philippe of France would do anything to drive a wedge between the two of you and he has worked on John so successfully that he has duped him into this.’ She looked down at her hands. ‘If I think anything else, then it becomes unbearable, and I am so tired.’

Richard clasped her arm in a comforting gesture. ‘We will cross that bridge when we come to it, Mama – what to do about John.’ His lip curled with contempt. ‘He cannot stand against me, and neither can Philippe. I will set all to rights as soon as I am released. Heinrich likes to play games, but he is not God. From where is John going to get the money he has promised? By spinning straw into gold?’

‘But how long before Heinrich makes up his mind?’

‘It must be soon. Leopold of Austria will be demanding his share of the payment and he will not wait and the eyes of Christendom are on Heinrich in judgement. Besides, he needs the money and cannot have it until I am released.’

‘He will want more concessions though.’

‘Undoubtedly,’ Richard agreed. ‘If he had his way, we would leave here as naked as the day we came into the world.’

‘Or not at all.’

Richard shook his head. ‘There are too many eyes on
him now. If he were going to kill me, he would have done so in the early days – that was when I was most at risk. I am wary of him, Mama, but I do not fear him – and God sees all.’

There was a brief silence, and Richard bowed his head.

‘I did not see Jerusalem,’ he confessed, his voice pitched low. ‘We came within eight miles and with a clear view in the distance, but I covered my eyes rather than look upon that which I could not rescue. If I had had the men and if my allies had not all proved to be traitors and deserters, we would have succeeded.’ His face contorted. ‘Perhaps this imprisonment is my punishment for failing God.’

‘No!’ Alienor was emphatic. ‘Never think that. You have not failed God. Your captors are the evil-doers who stand accused of that. When they come before the throne of God they will be punished. You will wear your crown again and be cleansed of this disgrace that is truly the disgrace of others.’

Richard rubbed his palms over his face. ‘The first thing I shall do when I am free is to hold a crown wearing in England and go on progress to show that I am still alive. You shall ride beside me, Mama, and wear your crown also.’

Alienor flushed with pleasure even while realising there was a glaring omission in his plans. ‘What of Berenguela?’

His face became impassive. ‘You are the one who has dealt with the matter of my ransom. You are the one who is here now to pay it and see me released. The accolade should be yours for all you have accomplished and endured. Berenguela will have her moment.’

This was not the moment to ask about their relationship. Clearly their time in the Holy Land had not resulted in a child before they parted and that was disappointing.

‘You must send to her as soon as matters are settled.’

Richard set his jaw. ‘Yes, Mama, I intend to.’

The flat reply, the tight expression told her not to pursue the matter, nor was she given the chance because an escort
arrived to return her to her entourage, although thankfully this time Heinrich was not with them. She embraced Richard once more, inhaling the scent of him. ‘I will see you again very soon,’ she promised. ‘Whatever it takes to gain your freedom, I will do it, and not count the cost.’

Three weeks later Alienor came to Mainz with Richard and her household for the final consultation and to hear the result of Heinrich’s leisurely deliberations over the ransom payment. Another three weeks in which England and Normandy could have fallen into the abyss for all anyone knew and there was nothing they could do except trust to the men she had left at the helm.

Heinrich faced Alienor and Richard across a broad trestle table spread with a white cloth. He looked like a cat that had just wiped cream off its whiskers and his lips were curved in a condescending smile. Pale February light leaked into the chamber; the sun was shining but as yet there was little warmth in its rays. Alienor’s hands tingled as they absorbed the heat from the hearth and she could see William Longchamp trying to ease his swollen, arthritic limbs. The ride from Speyer to Mainz had been hard on many.

Wine was poured and everyone prepared to do battle. Alienor adjusted her sleeves, folded her hands on the table, and looked at Heinrich. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘are we here to make my son’s release official, or are you going to keep us waiting another month?’

Heinrich continued to smile and looked around at his lords. ‘I sincerely hope, madam, that by the end of today all will have been resolved. I am having horses and baggage prepared even now in anticipation.’

‘That is excellent news, sire. Then may we conclude this swiftly. Let us to business.’

‘Indeed, madam, but first there is one small matter.’ He gestured to a cleric who gave him a length of parchment with the seals dangling. Alienor stiffened as she recognised it
as the letter from John and Philippe of France. ‘The fact that I have had this offer made to me reveals the store that certain people set upon detaining the King of England as my guest for a while longer. Therefore it behoves you to have me as an ally.’

Richard narrowed his eyes. ‘Naturally,’ he said with flat sarcasm. ‘I could think of nothing more terrible than having you for an enemy.’

‘Quite so,’ Heinrich said smoothly.

‘How much?’ Alienor demanded.

Heinrich looked pained. ‘To foster lasting relations between the King of England and myself, I desire to make your son my vassal for that country together with a tribute payment of five thousand marks a year. I believe that seems fair.’

Alienor remained very still, although inside she was furious and dismayed. Richard flushed crimson and the veins stood out on the side of his neck as though he were choking.

William Longchamp spoke up. ‘My lord, those are harsh terms. And they are on top of the demands you have already made upon us and which we have agreed to in good faith.’

‘Circumstances change,’ Heinrich said. ‘What is true today may not be true tomorrow or next week. I desire these new concessions as proof of your good faith and to ensure we will continue as allies. The King of France has offered me much for my support.’

‘Which he will never pay as well you know,’ retorted Walter of Coutances.

‘The fact that he is willing to offer it, along with King Richard’s brother, means you need to keep my goodwill – which you shall have for this one last thing.’

Alienor drew a deep breath and laid her hands flat on the table. The marks of age mottled her skin like spots on withered autumn leaves, but the gold rings of authority shone brightly on her fingers. ‘Pray allow us a moment to consult and consider, sire.’

Heinrich
made a gracious gesture. ‘As you wish,’ he said, and left the room with his courtiers.

Richard exhaled hard. ‘He desires me to kneel to him as his vassal!’ He glared at Alienor and the two bishops. ‘I have had all I can stomach of his weasel words, dishonour and untruth, and I refuse to swallow any more.’

Alienor reached over to touch his arm. ‘Everyone has, but we have come so far that we cannot stumble here.’

‘He may be bluffing for the pure enjoyment of seeing us dangle,’ Coutances said, ‘but do we take the risk of finding out?’

Richard’s mouth twisted as if he had just taken a mouthful of vinegar. ‘I will not be bound to this man. It would defile me.’

Alienor’s touch became a grip. ‘You do not need to be, my son, but in order to ride away from him you must do whatever is necessary. You know this in your heart. You said as much to me on our first meeting at Speyer.’

Richard swallowed convulsively.

‘No one else need know about it. The only ones to hear are your kin or else staunch allies and they will agree to be bound to silence. Even if Heinrich demands this, once you are away from here, those imperatives will fade. How much is your pride worth? I have gone through hell to have you restored to me; do not set all my striving at naught.’ She fixed him with pleading eyes. ‘What good is having the heart of a lion if you cannot roar?’