there, getting spices for the cook from the locked cupboard, and I ran to her, crying for the king and myself.
"No, Little Bird," she said, "you weep for the wrong person. It is not the king who is dead, but Eleanor, his kind and gentle queen."
On her way to join the king as he warred against the Scots, the queen took ill and died. The king, broken of heart, came from Scotland to take her back to London. He built a towering stone cross to mark the place where she lay at Lincoln Castle and will have one built at every stop from here to London. I knew then who the tall sad-faced man was. I had seen the king, finally, for the first time, and there was no cheering or celebrating or glee, only grief. I had cried with the king.
I told my mother then about the little bandits and losing my sausage and seeing the sad procession, and she cooed and comforted me and forgot to scold me for running off. This made me feel some better, but what comforted me the most was the thought of telling it all to Perkin.
Morwenna says that fairies have the faces of beloved dead and that some people who have seen fairies recognize their faces. I think I would not be afeared to meet a fairy with the queens face, God save her.
3 RD DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Birinus, apostle of Wessex, first bishop of Dorchester, and builder of churches
George was drunk again all day. Aelis has been taken to
London for the king's Christmas court. He never says her name. Is it the curse?
4 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Barbara, said to have been martyred in Nicomedia, Heliopolis, Tuscany, and Rome
My brother Thomas has come from serving the king to spend Christmas with us. Because of the rain he arrived so sodden and beslombered with muck that I did not know him. He is near a stranger to me, as he is much with the king, but does not seem as abominable as Robert, so I shall not overly vex him.
Thomas says the king, still on his way to London with the queen, does not weep but rides with a face of stone, so deeply does he grieve. I wonder if the mothers of the two boy bandits hanged at Wooton grieve for them. I find I prefer fairs and feasts to hangings.
5 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Crispina, who was shaved bald to humiliate her before she was beheaded
Thomas, very lordly in his patterned hose and pointed shoes, played the child long enough to coach the village boys in their fighting games. As I sat in the sun with my eyes closed, I could hear the thud of wooden swords on wooden shields, the screams of the dying and joyous shouts of the victors, the furious whinnying of those boys doomed to be horses instead of knights, and I pretended I was on crusade. I shall not tell George this.
6 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Nicholas, who loves children, pawnbrokers, and sailors
There are no Jews left in England today, Thomas says. By order of the king they have all left the country. I find it hard to believe that the old lady and the little soft-eyed girl who stayed
in our hall could be a danger to England. Is it blasphemy to ask God to protect Jews? I will ask Edward.
Or maybe not. Mayhap I will whisper it just to God and trust it is all fight. God keep the Jews.
7 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Ambrose, proclaimed bishop of Milan before be was even a Christian
Thomas says the king and the people of his court have chosen each his own special profanity so that they don't have to say "Deus!" or "Corpus bones!" or "Benedicite!" as we ordinary folk do. The king says "God's breath!" His son says "God's teeth!" Thomas says "God's feet!" I, not being ordinary, shall choose one also. I will try one on each day and see what fits me best. Today it is: God's face!
8 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Budoc, who was born at sea in a barrel
God's ears, it is cold! The sun shines on a fairy world carved from ice. No one stirs outside. I think all of creation is huddled in our hall, so I have sneaked into my chamber. The fireplace is
"No, Little Bird," she said, "you weep for the wrong person. It is not the king who is dead, but Eleanor, his kind and gentle queen."
On her way to join the king as he warred against the Scots, the queen took ill and died. The king, broken of heart, came from Scotland to take her back to London. He built a towering stone cross to mark the place where she lay at Lincoln Castle and will have one built at every stop from here to London. I knew then who the tall sad-faced man was. I had seen the king, finally, for the first time, and there was no cheering or celebrating or glee, only grief. I had cried with the king.
I told my mother then about the little bandits and losing my sausage and seeing the sad procession, and she cooed and comforted me and forgot to scold me for running off. This made me feel some better, but what comforted me the most was the thought of telling it all to Perkin.
Morwenna says that fairies have the faces of beloved dead and that some people who have seen fairies recognize their faces. I think I would not be afeared to meet a fairy with the queens face, God save her.
3 RD DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Birinus, apostle of Wessex, first bishop of Dorchester, and builder of churches
George was drunk again all day. Aelis has been taken to
London for the king's Christmas court. He never says her name. Is it the curse?
4 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Barbara, said to have been martyred in Nicomedia, Heliopolis, Tuscany, and Rome
My brother Thomas has come from serving the king to spend Christmas with us. Because of the rain he arrived so sodden and beslombered with muck that I did not know him. He is near a stranger to me, as he is much with the king, but does not seem as abominable as Robert, so I shall not overly vex him.
Thomas says the king, still on his way to London with the queen, does not weep but rides with a face of stone, so deeply does he grieve. I wonder if the mothers of the two boy bandits hanged at Wooton grieve for them. I find I prefer fairs and feasts to hangings.
5 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Crispina, who was shaved bald to humiliate her before she was beheaded
Thomas, very lordly in his patterned hose and pointed shoes, played the child long enough to coach the village boys in their fighting games. As I sat in the sun with my eyes closed, I could hear the thud of wooden swords on wooden shields, the screams of the dying and joyous shouts of the victors, the furious whinnying of those boys doomed to be horses instead of knights, and I pretended I was on crusade. I shall not tell George this.
6 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Nicholas, who loves children, pawnbrokers, and sailors
There are no Jews left in England today, Thomas says. By order of the king they have all left the country. I find it hard to believe that the old lady and the little soft-eyed girl who stayed
in our hall could be a danger to England. Is it blasphemy to ask God to protect Jews? I will ask Edward.
Or maybe not. Mayhap I will whisper it just to God and trust it is all fight. God keep the Jews.
7 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Ambrose, proclaimed bishop of Milan before be was even a Christian
Thomas says the king and the people of his court have chosen each his own special profanity so that they don't have to say "Deus!" or "Corpus bones!" or "Benedicite!" as we ordinary folk do. The king says "God's breath!" His son says "God's teeth!" Thomas says "God's feet!" I, not being ordinary, shall choose one also. I will try one on each day and see what fits me best. Today it is: God's face!
8 TH DAY OF D ECEMBER ,
Feast of Saint Budoc, who was born at sea in a barrel
God's ears, it is cold! The sun shines on a fairy world carved from ice. No one stirs outside. I think all of creation is huddled in our hall, so I have sneaked into my chamber. The fireplace is
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