Reine des Anglais

I feel guilty.

ᛁᛊᚨᛒᛖᚢ

Canute had scheduled a festival to celebrate the birth of their newest daughter as well as the announcement of Wulfwynn's recently decided betrothal- and he had waited about a month to host it so that Isabeau would be able to attend, which she appreciated.

That had been the only kindness he had paid her in the past month, though. He wasn't particularly rude or angry or aggressive with her- he just seemed to pay her very little mind. It was a stark change from how their marriage had been prior to the birth of Ciar. She was trying to get him to open himself to her again, but she was also afraid of pushing him past indifference with her directly to annoyance and then to anger.

The royal couple were seated side-by-side in wooden thrones on a stage on the edge of the arena for everyone to see them. It made the distance between the two of them all the more obvious.

The entirety of the English nobility was sitting around the competition theatre Canute had had built, it had hosted jousting already earlier in the day- now it was just one on one melee combat. Geoffrey was fighting an English soldier at the moment, it was clear his skill was far and above the Englishman's- but the Normanman was trying to pull the match out for the entertainment of the nobles.

Events like this served to bring the nobility together under their new king- especially with the birth of a princess. A prince would've been more security for the new official royal family as it meant that there was an heir to the throne, especially with two girls already, so having a number of princesses meant doing a little more smoothing over still.

Isabeau clapped her hands excitedly as she watched the match end in the arena before her.

Geoffrey waved to his sister and brother-in-law as he stepped back from his fight, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Almost everyone in court had noticed the growing distance between the King and Queen, and he'd begun hearing whispers at her expense. He had tried to bring it up with Canute but he'd brushed his concerns off. It was a relief to know he wouldn't set Isabeau aside- but if it meant this marriage was going to go as south as her first and she'd be trapped again, he may have to let Richard take his title from him to keep her safe.

"Canute, before the feast tomorrow night, I thought perhaps it would be a good time to present Ciar to the nobles officially?" Isabeau said to her husband, looking over at him. "With whatever title we're bestowing on her."

"If you think it would be best," he said nonchalantly as he took a sip from his drinking horn.

"It'll help to ingrain her in their minds as their newest princess, and further the idea of our lineage being their royal family." Isabeau nodded as she worried her wedding ring around her finger. "It'll be beneficial to your rule."

"Then I suppose we should." Canute glanced over at her. He knew she was getting more and more nervous about his coldness- but he also hadn't seen any evidence that the letter he had found when she gave birth was false.

Isabeau felt a pang of sorrow in her heart as she turned back to the next set of soldiers in their sparring match. The glimpse at happiness she had experienced the past four years only served to hurt her now- if she had known this would be how their marriage would turn out after the war she could have better prepared herself. Even struck a deal to escape it- but now her heart would keep her trapped as long as he chose to keep her here. She wished he'd at least tell her what had changed so she could even try and understand the shift in his feelings towards her. She was too afraid to ask him- it felt like a risk of angering him.

Her husband stood up out of his chair and glanced at her again before turning to leave the stage.

"Continue without us, please!" Isabeau sprang to her feet and clasped her hands together. "We're simply going to go and see our precious daughters! Thorkell, take command of the matches. No death matches, if you please."