The Last Queen (45 page)

brooding.

“Burgos! But it‟s nowhere near Toledo! We are going backward. Burgos lies in the

north.”

He turned back to me. “don Manuel wanted to order the move to Segovia, to

siege the city if need be and take the Alcázar there by force. But word has come that

Segovia has become a pesthole and your husband refuses to go farther into Castile

until he‟s assured there is no risk.”

Segovia. I went cold. “If Philip is willing to back-track north, it must be a real

threat.” I met the admiral‟s somber stare. “My lady Beatriz de Talavera hasn‟t sent me

word. Dear God, what if she‟s taken ill?”

“If she‟s in Segovia,” he replied, “the Alcázar is the safest place to be. The

marquise is a tough old woman: she‟ll bar the gates and let nothing in or out.”I have

other news. The constable has agreed to receive you in Burgos. He prepares his own

house for you.”

“The constable? But I saw him last in La Coruña . I thought he was with my

father.”

“He did not go with him to Naples. He and Cisneros have been in contact; he‟s

been spying on your husband all this time.” The admiral stepped to me. “Your

Highness, the constable has retainers in Burgos. It is his city and he is in your father‟s camp. He may not be the most moral man I know, but he‟ll not condone any harm

done to you under his roof.”

I looked into his eyes. “What about you?” I whispered.

“I must go to Naples.” He lifted his voice against my immediate protest. “I must

tell your father in person of everything that has transpired. Without a definite verdict

from the Cortes, your husband could still prevail. He had Don Manuel, Villena, and

the other nobles at his side. Not even the constable and I can gather enough retrains

to counter those who support him. We need your father‟s help. If he will agree to

come with his men from Aragón, then we could have a force to be reckoned with.”

My father. I had sought to put him out of my mind. As long as he had my son

safe, I told myself, it was all I could expect of him. And still the thought of him

roused new hope.

“I could stay here,” I sad. “You said there‟s been no plague in the city. Maybe it

won‟t come at all. Better here than hundreds of kilometers away in Burgos.”

“Your Highness, I beg you. You are with child. You cannot risk the contagion. If

you should die, God forbid, then your husband will indeed win everything. He will

invoke your son Charles‟s right to the succession and Castile will fall into Habsburg

hands forever. You must go to Burgos Your appearance before the Cortes has won

you time. Your husband heeds Don Manuel‟s advice and Don Manuel knows they

don‟t dare move against you now. I would not send you with them if I did not think

you‟d be safe.”

“Safe?” I gave him a small smile. “I think I don‟t know the meaning of the word

anymore.” I felt Philip‟s hand as he grasped my wrist in the gypsy woman‟s hut; saw

again the decapitated head rolling at my feet. My gaze fled for a moment to the loose

floorboard before I pulled myself to attention. I had forestalled Philip‟s investment as

king by the Cortes; with a bit of luck and some tenacity, I could stave him off

indefinitely until my father arrived.

I was not powerless anymore.

“Surprise is the one asset we have,” the admiral went on. “While your husband

flees the plague, I‟ll reach Naples. His Majesty loves you and Castile. He will not let

the Flemish destroy everything he and your mother built. He only left because he had

no other choice. But I promise you, we‟ll return with an army large enough to rout

your husband once and for all.”

He stepped closer still. I smelled the faint masculine tang of his body under his

black brocade, sensed his taut strength. I looked up into his eyes. All of a sudden,

desire surged in me, overwhelming in its intensity. He must have felt it, as well. He

must have known that in that moment I longed for him to take me as a man takes a

woman, to feel, if only one last time, the release of being in the arms of someone I

could trust.

He started to lean to me, murmuring, “Your Highness, I―” He drew back, raised

his hand tentatively. He touched my cheek. “I dare not,” he whispered.

I understood. Taking that calloused, long hand in mine I lifted it to my lips.

“May God be with you,” I said. “This time it is I who shall wait for you.”

――――――――――――

IN THE MUTED HEAT OF THE EVENING, WE DEPARTED VALLADOLID. It would

take almost a week to reach Burgos, and by the third grueling afternoon, the Flemish

were suffering the agonies of purgatory. Unaccustomed to late July in Castile, clad in

their suffocating velvets and brocade, they dropped fainting from their stallions or

rushed in to the bushes to relieve dysenteric bowels. Philip commanded than anyone

who was ill must be left behind; I realized then that whatever his ultimate intent, he

was truly terrified of the plague.

Palpable foreboding added to the tension and gloom. In the lingering dusk,

strange lights scattered across the violet horizon where night never truly fell, causing

the Spaniards to cross themselves and mutter of bad omens. They drew apart from

the Flemish, emphasizing their growing antipathy to my husband‟s minion.

I rode among a regiment of guards and the only servant I had― an elderly

laundress named Doña Josefa who‟d been part of my retinue in Valladolid. Vigorous

of body and spirit, she was stone-death and regarded as inconsequential; she rode a

donkey beside me, mending my worn gowns by night, tending the fire, and serving

my meals.

It was as though I were another of the hundreds of retainers and soldiers, no one

paying me more mind that those left wallowing their own excrement. Though I had

no doubt Philip would strike at me again, for now we were at an impasse, pursued by

a more implacable foe.

We reached Burgos under a damp twilight. The high walls loomed out of a thick

mist that blanketed this part of northern Castile often in this evening, after days of

intense heat. I could barely see my hands in front of my face as the sentries at the gate checked everyone in our train for any signs of fever or telltale buboes. Several more of

the dysenteric Flemish were kept from entering the city and they lifted wailing protest

as Philip turned from them to enter the fog-swathed castle on the hill. As if by tacit

agreement that it would go better for all concerned if my husband and I did not share

the same roof, I was taken to the Casa de Cardón, a small palace adorned with the

corded knots of the constable‟s clan― an irony that did not escape my notice.

Here, my half-sister Joanna, the constable‟s wife, awaited me.

My every bone ached from the hard ground on which I‟d slept for past days and

the long hours of being jostles about in the saddle. I was looking forward to a hot

mean, a bath, and a real bed. Instead, I had to contend with Joanna in her best sateen,

bejeweled and coiffed to the hilt as if she were expecting a parade.

“My dear,” she exclaimed, “Your belly is tremendous!”

I grimaced. It was true. I felt enormous in my fourth month, having lost flesh

everywhere but my abdomen. She, on the other hand, remained slim as a ferret. I‟d

never liked her, and not because she was my father‟s bastard. Even in childhood, she

demonstrated a decided affinity for seeking her own advantage. She apprenticed in the

service of a noblewoman and wed the constable, a strategic alliance that removed her

from my immediate life. I felt only distain and faint amazement that we shared the

same blood. She had made no effort whatsoever even to feign care for me, much less

seek out my service when I needed help, and I tartly informed her she need only show

Doña Josepha where to fetch my food and see that my linens were changed every few

days and my chamber cleansed.

“”But Your Highness will need attendants,” she said. “You‟ve only this old

matron, and―”

I cut her short. “”Were it not for this old matron, I might have starved to death.

As for attendants, I‟ve learned to do without. Now, if you would kindly sow me to my

rooms?”

With a rigid curtsy, she took me upstairs. I took some comfort in the fact that my

status must be on the rise, given her concern over my lack for servants. Or perhaps

she was preoccupied with how it might look to the outside world now that I dwelled

under her care, never mind that I‟d spent most of my time since my return to Spain in

some form of captivity.

I found the rooms a blessed refuge, with a fire in the hearth, braziers throughout,

and a fresh nightdress and robe laid out on the bed for me. Dropping my soiled cloak

to the floor, I started to move to a chair when I heard something rustle by the large

poster bed in the corner.

I whirled about. “Who― who is there?”

A figure stepped from the shadows. “
Princesa,
” said a familiar voice, “don‟t you

recognize me? Not even the devil himself could have stopped me from coming to

you.”

With a cry of joyous relief, I ran into Beatriz‟s embrace.

――――――――――――――――――――――――

TWENTY-NINE

rom my chamber I gazed toward the castle‟s bulwark perched above the city, its

battlements punctuated b y the great cathedral spire. Torches flared on its

F gates; as I looked at their oily light, I reflected on the three weeks that passed

since our arrival in Burgos, during which Philip had made no attempt to see me or

receive any of the Burgos officials with me at his side.

But I was glad of the respite. I was overjoyed to have Beatriz with me again,

having learned that none other than the admiral had gotten word to her of Philip‟s

intent to retreat to Burgos. My devoted lady escaped plague-ridden Segovia and

traversed Castile to be with me; she had confronted Joanna until my half-sister

allowed her into the
casa.
Her courageous presence helped ease my fear that this move north might result in another attempt to lock me up. Like the admiral, she believed I

would come to no further harm until my child was born.

“There are two kinds of women inviolate in Spain: an expectant mother and a

recent widow,” she reminded me. “Not even that snake Villena will allow anyone to

touch you in your state. Besides, you declared before the entire Cortes that you wish

to rule as queen. No doubt they‟re all gnashing their teeth, but they know they can‟t

declare you mad again. For now, they‟ll have to wait like everyone else― which is just

as well, for time is exactly what we need.”

She was right. Time would work in my favor and against Philip‟s. Indeed, his

worries increased daily. Not only was the plague spreading with a horrifying facility,

but bandits prowled every road and doomsayers incensed crowds with their

calamitous predictions. Many preached against the Flemish, blaming them for the

disasters that befell Castile. Many began to shout “
Flamencos fuera!
Flemish out!”

wherever they caught sight of my husband with his retinue.

Within the castle, Don Manuel fared no better. Beatriz proved adept as ever at

sniffing out gossip and learned the diminutive ambassador had been threatened so

repeatedly, he refused to anywhere without a armed escort. The constable told him

bluntly that Burgos lacked the resources to withstand a prolonged royal stay and

couldn‟t possibly be expected to shoulder the expense of feeding and lodging His

Highness‟s entire foreign retinue. With their bid for the treasury thwarted, Don

Manuel made frantic advances to his former master and my father-in-law the emperor

for a loan but thus far His Imperial Majesty had demurred. Don Manuel was fast

running out of money he needed for bribes to keep the nobles content and fierce

arguments soon broke out between him and several of the
grandes,
one of whom

suggested he advise His Highness to melt down the gold plate weighting his dinner

table before someone did it for him.

“Never have I seen a court so on edge,” added Beatriz with a mischievous smile.

One might say His Highness and Don Manuel are the most unpopular men in Spain.”

I welcomed the news. It might take the admiral and my father weeks to reach

Spain. While Philip and his henchmen battled the nobles they‟d have less time to

focus on me. It did seem that the next five months or so, providing I didn‟t go into

premature labor, I would be safe.

I turned back to the chamber. Doña Josefa sat on a stool close to the hearth,

adding panels to one of my new brocade gowns, while Beatriz embroidered its hem.

Outraged by the threadbare remnants in my wardrobe, Beatriz didn‟t cease

complaining until she cajoled a Burgos merchant to donate a costly (albeit limited)

supply of cloth, out of which she and Doña Josefa conjured three new dresses and a

cloak for me.

“There‟s another banquet tonight in the castle,” I remarked. “The torches are lit

on the gates.”

Beatriz scowled. “Don Manuel may plead poverty to anyone who cares to listen,

but he‟ll never willingly forgo his own pleasure. How he can dare call himself a

Spaniard is beyond me. The plague rages throughout the realm, killing off our people

and leaving our grain to molder in the fields, and he slaughters geese and oxen by the