The Twylight Tower Read Online Free Page B

often sang.
    THE SUMMER DAYS BLURRED BY FOR THE QUEEN AS FAST AS did the other couples dancing around her and Robin two weeks later. “Another gay galliard!” she commanded her musicians in the raised gallery. “No more slow pavans. Wait—instead I shall have
la volta!”
    Cornets and sackbuts wailed at a faster pace while recorders, timpani, viols, lutes, and citterns picked up the romping beat. Robin partnered Elizabeth again, whirling her about between the set-piece intricate steps, then—during the women’s leap—throwing her into the air and catching her. Women squealed and men shouted in their exertion and excitement.
    Elizabeth laughed and urged on the others. They ought to be grateful, she thought, that unlike in slower movements, she had no time to correct dancers who didn’t know their footwork. She was relieved she hadn’t eaten much of the huge meal, but then, she never did. If courtiers and servants ate as she, theeighteen kitchens of Richmond would hardly have to turn out the vast tables of food each day.
    As Robert spun her again, Elizabeth realized these had been the most wonderful months of her life, even if she did miss her dear friends Bella and John Harington, whom she had sent into rural exile for lying to her. She doubly regretted having to do that, for their daughter had run away on top of all their other troubles. They’d been gone for over a year now and she intended to summon them back soon. A precedent about being able to trust one’s friends must be set.
    Elizabeth sighed, even in the midst of a strenuous swing step. Bella had been such a fine sportswoman and dancer that Elizabeth would love to have her here to vie with for the highest
volta
leaps. Now she was stuck with the likes of simpering, snide Katherine Grey, a cousin with Catholic leanings whom she feared the Papists would champion behind the queen’s back. At least, Elizabeth thought as she nearly tripped on the redheaded chit, she had Katherine where she wanted her, among her ladies under watch and— curse the woman—underfoot.
    “Faster, dear Robin, faster,” Elizabeth cried as he spun her just before the final vault and catch. Aha! She was certain she had flown higher than her ladies. Everyone laughed and gasped for breath, looking to see what their queen would command next.
    But again, as increasingly of late, Elizabeth felt someone staring, someone hostile. Quickly, carefully, she skimmed the crowd, then scrutinized her musicians’faces. The men, her ensemble—professional musicians were always male, of course—were leaning forward from their gallery above, waiting for her next selection. No face seemed out of place, nor a single countenance threatening. The same among the courtiers, though Elizabeth would like to smack Katherine Grey’s smug face.
    “You’ve quite exhausted everyone with hunting this morn and now such dancing,” Robin said, no doubt put up to hinting she end the evening. Realizing it must be nearly midnight, she turned to face him with a smile. She knew that more and more, as people saw he was the favorite, however much some of them still resented the parvenu, upstart Dudleys, they went to him with bribes and requests much greater than this one for her ear alone.
    “Have I worn you out?” she countered, trying to keep from appearing to be so out of breath.
    “Never.” He leaned closer, whispering in her ear so hotly his breath made her earring bob. “Summon me or visit me alone tonight, and I will show you I am still up for whatever you would like.”
    “Why, my lord, I believe you’re being bawdy. But in truth, I am exhausted. It’s Cecil’s fault, moping around here day after day since his return, and Kat’s taken to giving me her long looks again.”
    She made a dour face at him, and he laughed as he escorted her back toward the table. “But I believe I shall take pity on you all and have you escort me to my chamber. Master lutenist, music!” she called with asharp look at Ned