The Library Chapter Five
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The Library Chapter Five

A Threat, a Masque, and a Twist

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The Library Chapter Five
Avolonlighting.com

When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry and gray. My head ached where I had been clobbered, and my body was stiff from sleeping in a semi-upright position. I blinked my eyes repeatedly until the room began to take shape. I was in a room with a long wooden table surrounded by bookshelves and various desks and armed chairs. I could tell it was early morning because gray light filtered through the panes of the window down onto the floor. Dust mites swirled in the light.

A man in a deep plum doublet sat at the farthest end of the table from me, staring discontentedly. "Good morrow," he stated flatly in a strong baritone voice. "I am deeply sorry for the rudeness of my men, they won't use force again upon your compliance," he continued. "Who are-" I began; he cut me off matter-of-factly, "I am Thomas Howard, and the Howard House requests your services." He rose from his seat and walked along the table while he explained, "Anne is done for. The Howard House no longer supports her as a viable option for gaining a true heir to the throne. We hope to displace her with a cousin of Howard descent who will listen to her betters, and provide us, and England, with an heir." He stood above me, and I looked up into his hardened face, "I work for the king, not the Howards," I stated proudly.

Suddenly, he grasped my chin hard and turned me to face him. "You will do as you are bid or there won't be anything left of you to protest with," he growled, specks of his saliva landing onto my face. "And if you do as you're told, we can make everything worth your while... what do you desire? Money? Land? A husband? The Howards are a powerful clan, and we can make anything happen for you once you've made everything happen for us." I kept my eyes trained on his throughout his entire speech, I wasn't going to allow him to intimidate me.

I knew what women he would put forth to entice the king, and I also knew none of them would catch him again until years later. But an alliance with the Howards can't be the worst thing I could get myself mixed up with, so I said, "I will do as you ask, but I make no guarantees about what Henry will pursue or not." "Come soothsayer, you can make Henry believe anything I want," he smirked. "I can only try," I replied.

He glared back at me, then turned and strolled back up the table, "what's to become of Anne? I know you know, so don't try to conceal any information." I waited till he reached the head of the table, "he's going to have her beheaded for adultery and incest," I said bluntly. A perplexed look momentarily flashed across his face, then immediately returned back to his stone cold look. "No divorce?" "No."

He turned to the window and gazed into the early morning light, "we will begin our diversions tonight at the masque that is planned. You are to be at his side telling him what the future holds with any of the Howard women, I don't care which one, all of them for all I care until he latches on to one." He turned back to me, and with a tight wave of his hand he said, "go, I will be watching you tonight."

I slowly stood up and hobbled my way out of his chambers. As I wandered down cold stone hallway after cold stone hallway, I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned to look, and relief flooded my heart as Thomas, from the night before, hurried to catch up with me. "Are you well? You look as if you haven't slept, and are you injured?" He quickly assessed me and deemed me not fit for the day. "Come, I will make sure you are back to good health," he offered me his arm and I collapsed against him, my body too tired to keep walking. His eyes filled with an even deeper concern, as he scooped me up and carried me down the hallway. I quickly fell asleep to the clip clop of his heels on the stones.

When I opened my eyes, for the second time that day, I was caressed by a down bed with pillows galore. The room I was in was washed with rosy light, for the sun was setting after a long day. A gown was laid out on a chair by the door, it was of a deep midnight blue with seed pearls sewn into beautiful shell patterns. I rolled off the bed and opened the door to find a serving girl waiting just outside. "You're awake!" she proclaimed much too brightly for my groggy ears. "We'll have you ready in no time, the Queen plans to go down to dinner within the hour," she prattled on as she began preparing my dress.

An hour later I walked down to the great hall, but tonight the long tables had been moved to the sides early, for a gigantic wooden ship filled the hall, complete with canons, blue satin for waves, and courtiers dressed as roguish sailors and glimmering mermaids. Henry sat at his table at the head of the room, where he laughed with joy at the melodramatic acting of his very own seafaring adventure. Anne smiled tensely around the room at each woman that came under Henry's gaze. I stood in complete awe in the archway watching the spectacle, it was truly beautiful, and so very well rehearsed.

A hand touched my waist lightly, and I turned to see Thomas, ever present, beaming in a blue doublet of his own. "Do you like it?" he asked. I looked from him to the show, and smiled "it's beautiful!" He laughed, "thank goodness, I wanted it to be perfect for you!" "Me!?" I exclaimed in shock, "you did this for me?" Thomas blushed, "well I had been planning a sailor adventure masque for a while, but I changed the story for you," and with this, he guided me further into the room and pointed. In turn, the captain of the ship pointed to a young woman in blue to step forward. "Tell us a prophecy, young maiden!" he proclaimed to his court of sailors and merfolk. "I believe your man there shall trip!" the girl in blue said while pointing to a sailor coming from beneath the deck. Sure enough, he tripped in a slow motion dramatic fall over the foot of a sailor clad in blue. The entire court rang with laughter in the delight of reliving the night before.

"My hero!" proclaimed the girl in blue, and she ran forward to thank the gent who tripped the sailor. He slipped his arm around her waist and dipped her into a graceful backbend, complete with a kiss, and again the court roared with approval for the story. The players then came out onto the deck and gave illustrious and overdone bows to the rest of the court, and the ship was pushed back to make room for the dinner tables.

Henry was all laughs and delight that night. Anne was too, but her laughs were thin and frail like her body was becoming. Women constantly tried to place themselves within Henry's eyesight, and I remembered what I had been threatened to do. I looked towards Thomas Howard, and he pointed to a mousy brunette who was sitting three people down from the head table. I walked up to Henry's side and curtsied low. "Any good news for me tonight after this wonderful masque, my fair fortune teller?" Henry was absolutely beaming with wine and joy. "What would make you the happiest to hear, my lord?" I asked demurely. "Will I possess a maiden so wonderful as the mermaids who danced upon the deck of that unfortunate vessel?" Henry teased.

Anne, frustrated and stung by Henry's wiles, stood and excused herself in order to speak with a cluster of courtiers nearby. "I do believe that the young woman in the palest of blues just three people down is in your future, sire." "Indeed," he replied. "I believe my mission has been set for tonight! Thank you, my dear. And remember to enjoy yourself tonight," he said with a devious smile. "Thank you, your majesty," and I curtsied myself away from his end of the table.

As I walked down along the windows of the great hall, I saw Thomas across the room leaving into the gardens. I decided to pursue and found myself in the moonlight where the flowers of the garden shimmered in its silver light. Thomas turned at the sound of my footsteps, "are you sure you cannot read minds as well as the future?" he teased. "Well, I assumed leaving before dinner was the signal for needing to talk," I replied with a mischievous smile.

"I've actually been wanting to tell you something since I first heard of your soothsaying capabilities," he continued on, more serious. "I know you aren't really seeing the future," he said bluntly. "Wha-" "A smart profession to choose to hide your true identity, but not good enough to fool me," he continued. "How did y-" "Joan... I don't belong here either," he sighed. "I'm not a Renaissance man, I'm an American." I stared at him in disbelief... "You're.. you're.." "Trapped in the same book with you," he finished.

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