Roselynde by Roberta Gellis Read Free Book Online Page A

meek and obedient maid."
    "If they spoke of me at all," Alinor answered stoutly,
"I am sure they spoke no ill. Meek, possibly I am not, but I am obedient
to reason."
    "That is a round answer," the Queen acknowledged a little
too gravely, "and shows a most proper and touching trust in your vassals'
loyalty and prudence."
    "Which surely I have good reason to trust." But Alinor
was over her momentary crossness. She was aware that the Queen was teasing her,
and her eyes laughed.
    "Most surely. So then, Simon, do not look so black and
explain how it comes about that you have a misliking to this duty."
    The lightness of the Queen's tone did not communicate itself to
her liegeman. He was no longer pale, but his face remained closed. "I can
assure you that it has no source in the Lady Alinor," he prevaricated.
"Her faith in her vassals is well founded, so far as I can tell, for we
did not speak of her at all. I did not know, you see, that I would soon be so
intimately connected with her affairs, and did not wish to ask questions about
what did not concern me."
    Both women looked at him, Alinor really angry and the Queen
concerned. From Alinor's point of view she, if anyone, was the one put-upon.
Her property was well run. Until the last year of his life, her grandfather had
visited each and every holding, no matter how small. When he grew feeble, she
had gone with Sir Andre. The lesser vassals and castellans respected and obeyed
her chief vassal; they paid their dues promptly and in full. The serfs were
not, for the most part, starved or ill treated; they did their share—if not
willingly, at least they did not run away to the new, growing towns as the
serfs of many other masters did.
    Having given the matter some calm thought, Alinor had brought
herself to accept the Queen's reasoning. It was all very well for her to
protest that she was honest and would pay the King his due. Words, after all,
were cheap. It was only reasonable to appoint a warden to be sure she was honest.
But such an appointment was a prize to be fought over. Alinor knew that royal
wardens were not paid. It was customary that a healthy slice of the estate
revenues would go into the warden's purse rather than the King's coffers. Since
it was dangerous to reduce the King's share by any visible amount, the extra
sum was either squeezed out of the estates or taken from the ward's share.
    In some cases, where there had been disseisin or war, where the
vassals were trying to free themselves from their overlord, the warden's task
was hard. He might have to expend much of his own resources to build an army to
beat his ward's vassals into proper submission. In other cases where the land
itself was ill managed no one knew the true worth or who was responsible for
what duty, a warden might find himself in serious trouble by over- or
underestimating the revenue due the King or he might need to expend much time
and labor before the land could be made to pay a fair rental. Then, of course,
the warden's share was only a fair payment for his effort.
    Alinor was angry because none of these things were true of her
lands. Sir Simon Lemagne had been given a rich gift. He had no more to do than
examine the account books—or, rather, Alinor thought a little contemptuously,
have his clerks examine them for, surely, the great warrior could neither read
nor write himself. Then his great labor would consist of opening the coffers
and taking from them the King's share and his own. What right had he to speak
coldly of her "affairs."
    The Queen had not a thought to spare for Alinor or her feelings.
Never in all the years that Simon had served her had he shown such resentment
for a task laid upon him. And never, even when his temper had been aroused, had
he failed to respond to her teasing. His ready sense of humor had always
tickled him into compliance when he had been bested by her in a game of wits
and set to doing something he really did not approve of. All in all, Simon had
been acting