The Heart of a Queen (A Historical Romance)

Chapter 13

Although she loved being initiated into important matters that encompassed the world beyond what she'd always known, Brienna sometimes found her lessons in reading and etiquette very claustrophobic. She missed her long walks on the cliffs, she missed riding, she even missed serving dinner—a least it allowed her to move about.

She slumped though an afternoon of French verse about Charlemagne in which Isobel had to snap her fingers in order to get her to perk up her attention. Finally, her teacher turned the book facedown and confronted her.

"What is it? You look like a seagull with its beak tied shut," Isobel observed.

"I'm tired of all this sitting around," Brienna confessed.

For a moment, Isobel looked like she was about to hurl fire at her, but then she paused, her face opening in a cloying sweetness that was unlike her.

"Well, luckily we'll be moving onto something much more active tomorrow," she said.

"What?" Brienna sat up, hoping for anything that would be done outdoors—sword fighting, riding, even marching in formation would be fine.

"Dancing," Isobel declared, then snickered as Brienna dropped her head over her lap.

Dancing, though it did mean more activity than her other lessons, was still, unfortunately, taught inside. Isobel ordered Geoffrey to clear the tables from one end of the great hall, then instructed him what music to play on a delicate lute which he handled as gently as a lady's bare foot.

Then, with Brienna watching closely, she walked through the steps herself, facing an invisible partner. It was very different from the dancing Brienna was used to, when her family gathered in the evening, or on occasions when the whole clan came together and everything was a riot of music and revelry. This was much more formal, and seemed designed to allow people to strike attractive poses without breaking out in a sweat.

"It's very easy, as you see," Isobel said to Brienna when she'd gone through the first routine.

But when Brienna tried to imitate her, not only did she have trouble remembering the steps in order, but it was as if her limbs had been cast in wood and couldn't move from one to the next with any grace at all.

Isobel tried to make it easier for her by tapping out the rhythm with a cane upon the floor. Then she stood nearby and walked through the steps with her, but Brienna found that watching Isobel and trying to dance at the same time made her fumble even more. Finally, Isobel stood behind her and held her arms, making them go through the movements they were supposed to, and kicked the back of her heels when Brienna forgot to move her feet.

After an especially sharp kicks, Brienna exclaimed in pain and grabbed her ankle, and Isobel groaned in frustration.

"Perhaps it would be better if you had a partner," she offered.

Brienna felt a twinge of hope that Isobel would fetch Llewellyn, but instead she walked over to Geoffrey and took the lute from him.

"Geoffrey will assist you, and I will play," she dictated, and went straight into the first few notes of the refrain.

Geoffrey ambled into his assigned task with the unquestioning timidity with which he did everything. He stood in front of Brienna and bowed, and she wondered how his pitiful presence would be of any help.

But once he started dancing, he was transformed. He was an excellent dancer, and it was as if his stature took on height and breadth as he took each position with confidence and elegance. Brienna for a moment had no trouble picturing him dressed in regal apparel and convincing everyone he was as noble as herself. Nobler, if anyone saw them dancing side by side.

Brienna was so transfixed that she missed her cue and Isobel had to stop, stamp her foot on the floor to call her back to attention, and begin the song again. Geoffrey patiently returned to the beginning and gently guided Brienna through the routine with nods and shakes of the head. They did this again and again until she could do it without his artful nudging, and Isobel set down her lute.

"That's enough for today," she said.

"What a shame!" a deep voice called from the doorway.