Chapter 2 ~ Sofie Von Tirol

 

The next morning, I stood beside my husband, weeping in his arms as he kissed me goodbye. The men made jokes about him missing a warm bed.

“I’ll pray for your return,” I told my husband once again, not wanting him to leave my side.

He kissed me again. “I’ll come back to you, my Sofie. I’ll come back soon. When I do, I’ll put a baby in you. That is, if you don’t already have one.”

The men laughed again.

“Day quickly turns into night,” my father stated impatiently, wanting to return to Werdenfels to make certain that it was still standing. My brother’s horse veered up, wanting to charge off. He had to keep it under control.

My husband wasn’t particularly in a hurry to leave me. My father and brother would have to wait. They needed Frederick’s army to march with them, and they couldn’t command him around as they’d like to do. They were practicing a patience that they didn’t have at the moment.

Frederick kissed me again, but in a way that no man should kiss a woman in front of others. I stepped back from him and blushed terribly because his kiss made me remember what had happened the night before.

“Watch over my wife,” Frederick told a few of his remaining men. They weren’t men-at-arms, but a smith, a stable boy and the gatekeeper. They looked honored to have the appointment. As children, the three of them had been his favorite playmates. He had introduced me to them when we went to the stable earlier this morning. They had said their goodbyes to him in the privacy of the stable.

I understood how he felt about them. I felt the same way about my servants. I was very close to them. I was thrilled when my father allowed me to bring two of them along with me. It was necessary to have Martha and Greta along to prepare me for the wedding. They would remain with me and do my hair and dress me every day. They would fetch my food and clean my chamber. I had my own chamber, and I didn’t have to share one with Frederick. Such a room was a sign of luxury, and only the richer castles had them. I’d be moved to my room later today.

I wouldn’t have minded sharing with Frederick.

Frederick pulled me back to his body, holding me closely against him. He kissed me one last time. Neither of us had gotten enough from the other in bed last night.

He released me, and I was forced to watch Frederick get on his horse. He smiled at me, and then the courtyard cleared, like wine being poured from a bottle. I was left alone.

My heart felt heavy as if it were being pulled apart. It wanted to go with my husband. Real tears fell down my face. I feared that I would never see him again.

I turned away and went to the chapel to pray for my husband’s safe return, and I also prayed for a male heir. My husband would be thrilled if he did come home and found me with his heir in my arms.

~

When I came out of the chapel, I explored my new home. I was now the lady of this castle, and in the absence of my lord, I ruled. This rare privilege was only bestowed upon me because Frederick’s advisers had gone with him. I had no idea what the extent of my responsibilities would be. But I knew that I would be relieved from them when my husband returned and resumed his duties.

I spent the morning watching women dipping candles and girls milking cows and children gathering hay on the side of the mountain. There were only a few men left here. Only a handful really, not counting the young boys and old men.

If the Lion came here, he would find the castle easy to take.

A chill shuddered through my body as I thought that.

I got to know my subjects and the other ladies at court. We sat together in the ladies’ sewing chamber and did our needlework. They wanted to please me, and they doused me with attention.

When my chamber was finished, I went to visit it and see where my new home would be. I wanted to see the bed where I would lie to birth my children. I hoped to have many children and live to see them grow up.

My chamber wasn’t very large, perhaps only half the size of Frederick’s chamber. It had a fine bed with curtains to keep out the cold while I slept. I had a dressing table with a mirror. That was a luxury I’d never had before. I went directly to the table and sat down. This was where my maids would get me ready every morning for the rest of my life.

I glanced into the mirror and stared at myself for a moment. I was the Princess of Tirol now. I wondered if I looked different. It was nice to have a mirror that I didn’t need to hold in my hand.

My dowry chest had been placed against the wall. In it were all the things that I’d been working on all of my life. Things that I would need to have a fine home. This household didn’t need those things, but they were mine nevertheless.

I also had a screen for dressing behind, where I could go if one of my husband’s men needed to talk to me while I changed. I also had a window made of hundreds of round circular pieces of glass. I was very high up in the castle. I could see far from here.

Would I see Frederick returning from this window?

“My lady, there is a special feature that this room has to offer,” Greta told me eagerly. She went to a panel on the wall and turned a golden emblem, making the wall jump back. I responded in kind, also jumping.

“The prince can get into your room this way if he wants to without anyone knowing that he has left his chambers.” My maids giggled. I had four in all, two from home and two who had been given to me by my husband.

I blushed, knowing what the prince would want to do if he came through that secret door.

“There are a few other such passages. One is in your sewing room,” Martha told me. I was pleased that my maids were getting to know the secrets of the castle so they could tell me about them.

“I want to know where all the passages are, and where they lead to.” The thought of someone being in a room with me when I didn’t expect it scared me. I wanted to know where people could pop up from, sparing my heart a leap of fear.

Servants were called to show me the passages and where they led to. I spent the rest of the day walking through dark passages while holding a candleholder in my hand, trying not to get hot wax on my hands. The servants moved through these passages with ease. They were no secret to anyone. I wondered how clever that was.

~

That evening, I ate with my ladies. The grand hall was almost silent. The comparison to the night before was daunting. With the men gone away, there was no drinking, singing, or laughing. We no longer had reason to celebrate.

I was left behind with women who wanted me to like them, but I feared they didn’t like me. Because of me, their men were gone. I would hate any woman who took my Frederick away from my bed and my heart. It was common for women to try to gain notice from their prince to improve their standing at court.

But Frederick loved me. He told me so, many times.

We would have been so happy if he could have remained. He was a good man who wanted to be a good husband, but he was also a greater prince. He had promised to protect me. That meant going to war for my sake and the sake of my family.

~

That night, I lay in my large bed and looked up at the painted flowers on the wooden ceiling of the canopy of my bed and felt cold and alone.

Had I fallen in love with my husband after only one night with him?

I heard strange sounds in the night, things I wasn’t used to. People moving about the castle. I feared that they were in the walls.

Anyone who knew about the passages could sneak into my room and then cut my throat. Everyone here had good reason to do it. If the Lion hadn’t wanted to take me and my father’s lands, there would be no war.

If I had been a boy, or an ugly girl, the Lion wouldn’t have wanted me. It scared me to believe that the Lion wanted a woman he had never seen.

Was I really as pretty as what people said? Was I worth a war?

If I were to get sick and die, would the war stop?

I doubted that it would. The wheel was already in motion. The spinning showed no sign of stopping.