Amour de Loin

Towards the Court

I thought I'd never find out where they intended to send me. The trip was not only exhausting due to the heatwave but also perilous. The forest was roamed, they said, by the last unicorn. The one who protected all the animals there and their environment. Yet, we were to find out it was also roamed by thieves. They would attack carts in broad daylight, legends said. When they started following us, the old lady accompanying me was not at all pleased. I found out she feared this would not help her get the pay she deserved, that it was too risky to get young mistresses to the King. I knew we lived under the reign of Henri IV. In case the lady did not intend to take me towards other lands. I did not dare ask her more details as she was very much in a panic. Perhaps we need not even worry about such a far-away future. The driver of the cart did a very good job. He was surprising as he managed to get rid of those outlaws absolutely bare-handed. I am not sure how exactly he did it.

As we were absolutely safe, he and the lady decided to spend the night at an inn. I was told to wash, eat and sleep, and take good care of myself.

I wonder if in such a situation I should have tried to escape. I had thought about running away. But, where was I to go? I couldn't go home, that was obvious, as my family had sent me away. I was wondering if this all had to do with financial trouble in my family. Had my father got into trouble in his business? Was my family under financial ruin? What would happen to my sister? With our own house? Would I find my house in its own place if I returned? I had not even had time to say goodbye to my friends.

I would have expected to feel anxious and scared about this whole new experience. But it was not so. I did not know how I felt or, more precisely, how I was supposed to feel. I tried to remember stories about kings' mistresses and all I could remember was that sometimes, due to various intrigues and misunderstandings or as political strategies, mistresses came out of the story with their heads chopped off. But that could also happen to the queens.

I had no idea about the politics going on at court right now. Was the king simply trying to enjoy himself, did he feel the need for someone close to him, had he been forced into marriage, was he trying to pull off a political manoeuvre to upset his queen and get rid of her and marry someone else?

Were we going to the court or was the King going to come here for me? was another question that crossed my mind as I was preparing to go to sleep. I heard a man arguing with his wife, I assumed, in the room next to mine, about the food. "The food," he said. "Yes." "It's not good at all!" I couldn't hear his wife's answer. Or, I could hear it, but could not understand it.

I was woken up early in the morning. "Come on, we are behind schedule," the old woman scolded me and we went into the cart.