That night a feast was to be held, so when the ladies of the court returned from hunting, they rushed me off in a swirl of gowns and pearls. The afternoon was spent brushing, braiding, and binding until we were deemed beautiful enough to flirt our way to a title.

We walked down the steps into the main hall where the brilliance of the court hit my eyes all at once. The room was dripping with candles, long wooden tables filled the room where food was being set out by servants. The amount of food on the tables was spectacular in itself, an army far greater than the amount of people who filled the room could have been fed.

As I stepped out onto the main floor, I got lost in the sea of satin and hose, until I found myself swept up to the top table where Henry sat next to Anne. The two were the finest actors in the world, they smiled and charmed the court as if they both had not a care in the world. Unfortunately, Henry caught my eye as I quickly tried to move my way back down the tables. “Ah, my newest soothsayer! Charm us all with a prediction,” Henry proclaimed to the court.

The entire room fell silent. It was like being sucked into a vacuum. I looked around at everyone, my heart pounding right out of my chest. What could I predict in the moment? I searched around the room for anything that could remind me of something I had read. Nothing! Absolutely nothing came to my mind.

“The next servant who comes from the kitchen will trip,” I said shakily. That was the only thing I could think of? Seriously? And then like magic, a servant came into the hall and tripped over a man’s foot. With a clatter, a tray of pheasant hit the stones of the floor, and the entire room erupted into applause and laughter.

“Your sight is clear, let’s hope it continues,” Henry proudly stated to me. I realized at that moment I had been holding my breath through the entire ordeal, and quickly began to breathe hard against the rigidity of my corset. “Eat, eat!” Henry proclaimed to the room, and with a rush of fabric and the clatter of plates, the room moved to sit down.

After six courses of decadent food followed by delicious dessert, the tables were cleared, and the dancing began. Musicians played light-hearted dances that brought the dancers into intricate interwoven lines. As I moved to the edge of the room to watch, a hand grabbed mine and quickly whisked me down a corridor off the main hall. “You’re welcome,” a handsome man with soft brown eyes whispered.

“For?” And then it dawned on me, the man whose foot the servant had tripped on! “Did you do that on purpose?” I exclaimed. “Well, you looked like you needed some assistance, or was that the future who needed assistance?” he teased while smiling gently. “Thank you!” I practically gushed. I was so incredibly thankful for his help. “Care for a dance?” he asked. “Of course,” I replied with a hint of a blush.

We moved out onto the floor and took positions in a line dance that had us weave in and out between other partners. Towards the middle of the dance, we were brought together and I couldn’t keep my eyes from his. “Your name?” he asked. Gah! Think of something period appropriate… “Joan,” I replied quickly. “Joan… lovely,” he breathed.

“And you?” I quickly insisted. “Thomas, just Thomas” he said. “Just Thomas?” I inquired. “Who needs to know where you’re from or who you are associated with when there is dancing to enjoy, and a beautiful woman to dance with,” he said, never once wavering. I couldn’t believe I was being wooed by the words of a man five hundred years my senior!

I stayed in the main hall dancing with Thomas until the last dribbles of people finally went off to bed. “Goodnight Joan,” Thomas said with a deep bow. “Goodnight,” I said in my deepest of curtsies. “Perhaps tomorrow we shall hunt with the king,” Thomas said hopefully. “That would be delightful,” I replied. And with that, he swept out along a corridor the opposite direction from where I was headed.

I walked back to my room humming to myself feeling absolutely exhausted and dreaming of falling into bed. Suddenly, someone grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me sharply into another corridor. “Thomas?” I inquired of the rough stranger. No reply. A piece of scratchy fabric was shoved over my eyes and I was thrown over the shoulder of a second man. “Quickly, this way,” muttered the man who walked ahead of me.

I began to kick and fight the man holding me, and he laughed at my flailing arms and legs. “We’ve got a rowdy one,” he chuckled to the other man. “This’ll calm her down,” said the first man, and with that, I felt something hard and cold hit the back of my head, and everything went black.