No. This was madness.

"Her name!" Theodora demanded.

The patience was gone now. No coaxing. She spun back to Stephen with all the force of a queen who had never been crowned.

"Her name," Theodora snapped again.

His lips moved. For a bit, nothing came out. Then, with a whisper, he answered. "Livia..."

*****

Agnes, the late Thomas’s nurse, hurried through Whitehall with her heart beating hard enough to make her ribs ache. She knew the queen mother.

Theodora did not have friends among servants. Agnes had cared for little Thomas in the short, fragile time he had lived, and that had placed her close enough to see things.

The queen mother was not cruel for sport. She was cruel with purpose. If Theodora had Stephen locked up, it would not end well.

So Agnes ran. She passed the lower gallery, turned sharply by the west passage, and kept going until she reached Lord Ashcroft’s apartments.

She banged on the door. "Lord Ashcroft!" she yelled.

No answer.

She struck the door again, harder this time. "Lord Ashcroft!"

Still nothing. The one man in Whitehall who might have been able to help Stephen was not bloody there.

Agnes pressed a hand to her chest, trying to breathe. She was just about to bang again when a voice came from behind her.

"What is going on? Why all the yelling?!"

Agnes turned. Princess Madeleine stood behind her, with a fur-lined mantle thrown over her shoulders. Her dark hair had been loosened from its pins. Agnes dropped into a clumsy curtsy. "My Lady."

Madeleine’s eyes narrowed. "You are Thomas’s nurse."

"I was, Your Highness."

"Then why are you shouting outside Lord Ashcroft’s rooms like the palace is on fire?"

Agnes swallowed. "I need to speak..."

"That much is obvious," Madeleine cut her off. "What is the problem?"

Agnes dipped her head. She did not want to speak to the princess. Madeleine’s patience snapped almost at once.

"Speak, woman!"

Agnes flinched. "Master Stephen is in trouble with the queen mother." She wondered if she had made the wrong choice. Then a slow smile spread across Madeleine’s face, and that frightened Agnes even more.

"It’s alright," Madeleine said. "I will handle it." She turned and hurried through the halls.

Thank heavens she had chosen not to walk with the maid today. The fool would have taken a detour to the queen mother the moment Madeleine received the news.

Madeleine moved quickly. This was opportunity. The queen mother had Stephen? Why? She did not care. As long as it was something the woman could get in trouble for.

Let Theodora play monster in the dark. Madeleine would play saviour in the light. By the time she reached the king’s quarters, her breath was controlled, her face composed, and her eyes bright with urgency. The guards straightened at once.

"Inform the king I am here," she said. "I bring urgent news."

Seconds later, she was ushered into the room. Henry looked up from the bed.

"Princess?"

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Madeleine cried theatrically.

Henry pushed himself up. "What is—are you okay?" He shuffled off the bed, bare-chested and still half-caught between sleep and alarm. She rushed toward him as though fear had robbed her of all courtly restraint.

"Stephen..." she said, voice trembling. "He is... in trouble."

Sleep vanished from his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Madeleine reached for him, her fingers tightening around his arms. "The queen mother... she has him."

Henry’s blood ran cold. God, no. He had warned her. He had warned her not to go after Stephen or Lionel for information. But Theodora never heard a warning as a boundary. She heard it as a locked door and immediately began looking for the key.

Henry did not bother with a robe. He stormed out of the bedroom.

"Your Majesty!" Madeleine grabbed the robe from where it had been thrown across a chair and hurried after him. "Your Majesty, wait!"

The guards outside his chamber stiffened at the sight of him—bare-chested, barefoot, furious.

"Out of my way," Henry snapped.

They obeyed instantly.

Madeleine hurried behind him, clutching the robe, half-running to keep up. "Your Majesty, please, at least put this on."

Servants scurried out of the way as he marched through the halls. His eyes blazed. His muscles were taut, his jaw locked, his hands curled into fists at his sides. Every step seemed to strike the palace.

Madeleine followed, breathless but thrilled beneath the fear. What a man! She thought. What a mighty, gorgeous man. "My king," she called intimately. "Please."

He turned sharply into the corridor leading to Theodora’s apartments. The guards at the queen mother’s door saw him coming and visibly paled.

"Your Majesty—" They plastered themselves to the wall before he even reached them.

He kicked the door open.

"Your Highness!" Stephen giggled from where he sat slumped in the chair.

Stephen lifted one weak hand in greeting, his eyes glassy, his hair mussed, his whole body loose. "You came for me."

Henry ignored his mother completely and crossed the room. "Stephen."

"You came for me," Stephen sighed again, beaming up at him. "I always knew you love me."

Henry choked. "For God’s sake."

Madeleine, standing by the broken-open door with Henry’s robe still gathered in her hands, stared at the scene. The queen mother, however, looked merely irritated.

Henry bent and hauled Stephen up by the arms.

Stephen’s head rolled against his shoulder. "Careful, Your Majesty. The floor is moving."

Henry turned his blazing eyes on Theodora. "What did you do to him?"

"He just needs to sleep it off," she said. "He’ll be fine by morning."

Henry’s jaw tightened. "You had no right."

"I am your mother!"

Madeleine watched, her gaze moving between mother and son, drinking in every crack in the great Theodora’s control.

Stephen, meanwhile, tried to whisper. It was a heroic failure. "I told her," he said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "She knows about Livia at Beaumont’s brothel."

Madeleine’s eyes narrowed. Livia. The name sparked recognition in her mind at once. The name Henry had called in his sleep. The name no one in the palace answered to.

(Brought to you by Mar King 1/3)