The King's Artist

Ch 64: The Coalition

The anger that flashed through Adelaide was so sharp and so sudden that she flinched. It burned through her throat and coiled in her stomach, roiling like acidic bile. Red blurred her vision as she glanced at Henry who was staring at the ground with his brow furrowed. 

No one had spoken since the proclamation. 

Jasper's own rage was evident on his face, as well, while concern radiated from Kayden. 

Images of Thomas Grey's face flashed through Adelaide's mind. The betrayer hadn't been named, but he was the first person she'd thought of. 

"Who?" Henry said, his voice low and dangerous. 

Before the conversation could continue and an answer given, a knock sounded at the door. Kayden moved to open it and several pairs of feet shuffled into the room. Adelaide nodded her head at Marcus, Anthony, and Theodore before her gaze fell on the stranger she didn't recognize.

He appeared to be in his late thirties. His face was flushed and his breathing heavy, and Adelaide had to wonder if he'd been running recently. His face was long and his cheeks sunken, but he had kind eyes. He was still dressed in traveling clothes and there was a worry in his stance that brought with it an eerie tension. 

The man moved to kneel in front of Henry immediately. 

"My Lord," he said in a dry voice. He cleared his throat, but when he spoke again, the weariness of travel was still evident. "My name is Christopher Urswick. I am your mother, Lady Beaufort's, chaplain and confessor. I was sent by John Morton, Bishop of Ely to inform you of Pierre Landais's plot to hand you over to King Richard."

Adelaide's face paled and she turned her attention to Henry, watching his side profile. Pierre Landais, Duke Francis' chancellor.

"Does this mean that Brittany has betrayed us?" Adelaide resisted the urge to tag on the word 'again?'. She still wasn't over the kidnapping Henry had had to endure when they were younger, all because Brittany had gotten presumptuous and tried to gain favor with England when the Duke had been sick. 

"The Duke is gravely ill and not in his right mind right now," responded Urswick. "And his chancellor Landais has been attempting to gain allies for some time now. The Breton nobility do not favor him, you see. I believe he hopes that by complying with King Richard's requests for your custody, he'll be able to gain the necessary support and funds he needs to obtain more power in Brittany." 

"King Richard has supposedly promised Landais the income from your Earldom of Richmond," added Jasper, a biting resentment in his voice. "That is, if negotiations, your capture, and subsequent return to England, are successful."

"So what do you suggest, Uncle?" Henry asked leaning against his desk and crossing his arms. 

Rather than answering, Jasper sighed. With a shake of his head, he looked to Urswick instead, who had risen to his feet. Marcus had offered him a glass of water and he was downing it desperately. 

"I suggest you flee to France," Urswick said as soon as he was done drinking. "Landais has formed an alliance with the Duke of Orleans, who the French regent, Anne de Beaujeu, is in a power struggle with. They have plans to add England to their partnership. The deal, from what we've learned, is that Brittany will give you to England, and once you're no longer a threat to Richard's throne, England will invade France and assist Orleans in gaining the regent position."

"Does France know of this threat?" Henry inquired. 

"Yes," nodded Urswick. "Richard has sent word of his intentions to invade and France is understandably concerned." 

"So, it's possible that I can gain asylum if I make arrangements with Anne de Beaujeu," Henry surmised. "Since me inheriting the throne will stave off Richard's threat and cause Orleans to lose power."

"That is what I hope," said Urswick. The tone of his voice had Adelaide believing his words, as did the sincerity in his eyes. 

Henry stood suddenly, unfolding his arms, and pacing. 

"Can you go to French court and ask them permission for me to obtain asylum?" Urswick was nodding his head before Henry was even finished speaking. 

"I will leave immediately." 

And then he was gone, already darting out the room. 

Adelaide's ears were ringing as the rest of the room filtered away. They were all leaving to prepare for the moment Urswick returned. They would be fleeing for their lives. 

Jasper whispered something to Henry before shutting the door behind him. And then it was just the two of them again. 

"Henry," Adelaide's voice broke and tears sprung to her eyes. 

She rarely cried and the fact seemed to startle Henry. He moved across the room in only a few strides and gripped her face between his hands, his eyes wide with concern. 

"It's going to be okay," he whispered to her. His attempts to comfort her, though, were unsuccessful, and a sob escaped Adelaide. 

"I'm afraid," she admitted softly. Henry gave her bittersweet smile and touched their foreheads together. For a moment, they both just closed their eyes and breathed. 

"I am, too. But we'll get through this. We'll overcome this, just like we have everything else. Our enemies are the same, as is our objective."

Adelaide nodded, but the fear wouldn't receded. England, Brittany, and part of France all wanted Henry dead now. He could say that their enemies were the same—and they were technically—but there was also more of them today than there had been yesterday. 

And they were everywhere. 

If the French regent and King Charles's VIII didn't accept their plea for asylum, what were they to do? Where would they go to run from Richard? And all that was betting on if they even got out of Brittany successfully. If Landais appeared before Urswick returned, how were they to combat Henry being captured again? 

Too many questions. Too many fears. Too many concerns. 

With Henry's kiss, Adelaide's thoughts slowed, but it wasn't until his hands drifted through her hair and his tongue invaded her mouth did her body relax and her mind go blank.