The King of Stone

THREE

"Sir, Madam."

"What is it?" Lord Newell asked as the servant walked into his sitting room.

"A letter from the King, sir," she said, handing him a letter before she curtsied and walked away.

Lord Newell opened the letter as his wife waited patiently to hear what it said.

"Well?" Lady Newell asked. "What does the King want?"

"He requests our daughter come to court," Lord Newell said.

"Sophia? Well, isn't that fantastic!" Lady Newell exclaimed.

"No, my dear, Jane."

"Jane...oh, my," she said, feeling surprised at the news, also wondering how Jane would react to being taken from Lord Nicholas. "But you and I both know it is her intention to be wed to Lord Nicholas, is it not?"

Lord Newell nodded. "It is, but this is the King, my dear. This could mean great things for our family if he finds favor in her."

"You mean, take her as his whore."

Lord Newell glanced sideways at his wife, knowing she was very correct in her statement because that was exactly the type of man King Henry was–selfish and used women merely for his pleasure–and he was requesting Jane to court most likely because he was bored or unhappy in his marriage or with his other mistresses and needed a new distraction, younger perhaps.

"Please tell the King Jane is to be married and is unable to go," Lady Newell pleaded.

"I cannot, my dear," Lord Newell said. "I will not refuse the King."

"But if she goes, what then? He will use her until he is bored with her too, but then he will toss her to the side and no one will want her! This will ruin her chances with Lord Nicholas!" Lady Newell yelled.

"No! You are very wrong in that assumption! If anything, this will widen her chances of a great match! Favor from the King may bring her favor from any number of Dukes or Lords! Don't you see?!"

Shaking her head, Lady Newell said, "But at what cost?"

"Our family's reputation depends on it," Lord Newell said.

Jane entered the room just then. "Depends on what? What's going on?"

Lady Newell's eyes bounced between her daughter and husband before she said, "I'll have nothing to do with this." Then she stormed from the room.

"Nothing to do with what?" Lady Jane said.

"The King has requested your presence at court, my dear," Lord Newell said.

"No," Lady Jane said. "I won't go. I can't leave Nicholas."

"You must. This is the King," Lord Newell said.

"I cannot. I will not," Lady Jane said, shaking her head.

"You will go to court. Our family needs you to do this."

"The King is a cruel and reviled man, Father. How can you ask this of me?"

"I ask this of you because it is what is required."

"Required? How can you say that, Father?! You know what he will do! He will use me as a mistress until he is tired of me or until I am with child. Then he will find someone else and then Nicholas will no longer want me when I am used up!"

"The queen has fallen from the King's favor, my dear, and if you gain his favor, great things may come to our family," Lord Newell said.

"You mean position and power, even money, perhaps," Jane said, turning her back to her father as tears welled in her eyes.

"Many great things, my dear."

"I refuse. I will kill myself before I am subjected to that horrid, awful man."

"Do not say such things. You know God will condemn you to Hell for such acts!"

Jane spun around. "But will He not for committing adultery with the King?! What of that, Father?! Do you feel no shame in send your oldest daughter to be the King's whore?!"

"It is what must be done. Do not think of it that way. Think of it as though you will be finding his favor."

Turning her back to him once more, she said, "You think of it however you need so you sleep better at night, and I'll think of it as I need to as well."

***

"Lady Jane," Lord Nicholas's mother, Lady Rebecca said as Lady Jane entered their house later that day. "Are you well?"

Jane wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Is Lord Nicholas here?"

"He's in the library, Jane."

Jane hurried through the halls and into the library to see the man she loved sitting with a book open on his lap. He immediately looked up at her, surprised to see her red, swollen eyes.

"Jane, what is the matter?"

"I have the most dreadful news," she said through her tears.

Nicholas hurried over to her, grasping her arms in his hands as he said, "What is it? What is the matter?"

"I have been summoned to court," she said.

"Oh," Nicholas said, unsure how else to respond. Nicholas was the type of man who did not openly display his emotions even when he felt them strongly, so when he learned this news and felt it in the pit of his gut, he held it in and was strong for Jane.

"Though this news is devastating, you must do what the King requests of you," he said.

"But you will not want me any longer," she said.

"Nonsense."

Sniffling, Jane said, "Promise me you will come to court as well."

"I will try. But I cannot risk my family's relationship with the King, Jane. If he has requested you, it means you are in his favor. I cannot jeopordize that."

Jane collapsed her head onto his chest–an act of intimacy that was foreign to them–and she wrapped her arms around him as she said, "I cannot go."

Returning the intimacy, he said, "But you must."