The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile Read Online Free

can’t make our own decisions or manage our own affairs as well as any man?”
    “It is not a question of who said it. It simply is.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Well, the Maid of Orléans didn’t marry. She didn’t scrub and sew and plan dowries. She donned a suit of armor and went to war for her dauphin.”
    “Who betrayed her to the English,” I reminded her and paused.“Beatriz, the Maid was called upon to perform God’s work. You cannot compare her destiny to ours. She was a holy vessel; she sacrificed herself for her country.”
    Beatriz made a rude snorting sound but I knew I’d scored an inarguable point in this argument we’d been engaged in since childhood. I remained outwardly unperturbed, as I invariably did when Beatriz pontificated, but as I imagined my vivacious friend clad in rusty armor, urging a company of lords to war for
la patria
, a sudden giggle escaped me.
    “Now you laugh at me!” she cried.
    “No, no.” I choked back my mirth as best I could. “I was not. I was only thinking that had the Maid come your way, you’d have joined her without a moment’s hesitation.”
    “Indeed, I would have.” She leapt to her feet. “I’d have thrown my books and embroidery out the window and jumped on the first horse available. How wonderful it must be to do as you please, to fight for your country, to live with only the sky as your roof and the earth as your bed.”
    “You exaggerate, Beatriz. Crusades involve more hardship than history tells us.”
    “Perhaps, but at least we’d be
doing
something!”
    I looked at her hands, clasped as if she were brandishing a weapon. “You could certainly wield a sword with those big paws of yours,” I teased.
    She stuck out her chin. “You’re the princess, not me. You would wield the sword.”
    As if day had slipped without warning into night, cold overcame me. I shivered. “I don’t think I could ever lead an army,” I said, in a low voice. “It must be terrible to watch your countrymen cut down by your foes and to know your own death can happen at any moment. Nor”—I held up my hand, preempting Beatriz’s protest—“do I think you should exalt the Maid of Orléans as an example for us to emulate. She fought for her prince only to suffer a cruel death. I’d not wish such a fate on anyone. Certainly, I do not wish it for myself. Boring as it may be to you, I’d rather wed and bear children, as is my duty.”
    Beatriz gave me a penetrating look. “Duty is for weaklings. Don’ttell me you haven’t questioned as well. You devoured that tale of the crusader kings in our library as if it were marzipan.”
    I forced out a laugh. “You truly are incorrigible.”
    At that moment, Alfonso and Don Chacón rode up, the governor looking most chagrined. “Your Highness, my lady de Bobadilla, you shouldn’t have galloped off like that. You could have been hurt, or worse. Who knows what lies in wait on these lands at dusk?”
    I heard the fear in his voice. Though King Enrique had seen fit to leave us be in Arévalo, isolated from court, his shadow was never far from our lives. The threat of abduction was a peril I’d long grown accustomed to, had in fact come to ignore. But Chacón was devoted to our protection and viewed any possibility of a threat as a serious matter.
    “Forgive me,” I told him. “I am at fault. I don’t know what came over me.”
    “Whatever it was, I’m impressed,” said Alfonso. “Who would have thought you’d be such an Amazon, sweet sister?”
    “I, an Amazon? Surely not. I merely tested Canela’s prowess. He did well, don’t you think? He’s much faster than his size would indicate.”
    Alfonso grinned. “He is. And yes, you did very well, indeed.”
    “And now we must be getting back,” said Chacón. “Night is almost upon us. Come, we’ll take the main road. And no galloping ahead this time, do I make myself clear?”
    Back on our horses, Beatriz and I followed my brother and Chacón into the twilight.