The Fairest Beauty

Arriving in Hagenheim early in the afternoon after their night at the inn, Sophie tried to take in everything her eyes landed upon — the buildings, the streets, the people. Did Gabe know this person? Had he ever been inside that building? Was that young man a friend of his? She could see the towers of the castle rising above the rest of the town at the far end. Was his bedchamber behind one of those windows? Where was his mother? Would she be happy to meet Sophie?

 

Her heart gave a little lurch at the thought of meeting Gabe’s mother for the first time. Would she be as warm and welcoming as Gabe promised?

 

Valten brought his horse alongside hers, startling her. He kept his gaze straight ahead. The townspeople lined the streets, staring at them, some of them waving, others shouting “Willkommen!” An older woman called out, “Good health and long life to our young lord and his new bride!” More shouts rang out and people came running to join in the celebration.

 

Feeling like she was betraying them all, Sophie smiled sheepishly and waved back to the children who were calling after her, “Sch?nesjunges Fr?ulein! Lovely Lady Sophia! Lovely! Lovely!”

 

Valten kept his gaze straight ahead while his father nodded to acknowledge those welcoming them home. The people seemed to adore their duke and his son. Sophie couldn’t imagine the people of Hohendorf reacting in such a way toward Duchess Ermengard.

 

Although they’d probably react in just this way when they learned she was dead.

 

Their entourage of knights soon traversed the length of the city, crossed the Marktplatz with its impressive buildings that surrounded the cobblestone square, and entered the castle courtyard. Before she knew it, she and all the knights were dismounting their horses, and groomsmen were leading the animals away.

 

Someone was taking her hand. She turned to see Valten placing her hand on his arm. Will he actually speak? No. Instead he silently led her to a huge wooden door in the side of the gray stone castle.

 

They entered, and as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark interior, she heard a gasp, then quick footsteps coming toward her. She focused on a woman just moments before that woman took both her hands and said, “You must be Sophie. I am Rose, Valten’s mother. Welcome to Hagenheim, my dear. I hope you will be very happy here.”

 

Sophie smiled. Gabe had been right. His mother was just as he’d said.

 

Gabe’s mother ordered a bath be drawn for her, reminding Sophie of the seven men’s kindness. She bathed in a large tub, with warm water and scented soap and a wonderfully fragrant liquid soap for her hair. She almost began to feel like a lady.

 

Every time guilt rose up to scold her for deceiving her new family-to-be, Sophie let the warm water distract her. After all, when Gabe arrived, he would make everything right. He would convince his family to let the two of them marry, and Valten could find himself his own wife. They would understand.

 

But without Gabe here to attest to their love, how could she tell them? Surely she could put it off until Gabe arrived.

 

Make haste, Gabe.

 

After her bath, Sophie received what she had been longing for — hours of talking to Gabe’s mother, who insisted she be called Rose. Lady Rose hinted that her own upbringing hadn’t been so different from Sophie’s. She’d grown up the daughter of a woodcutter outside the town walls, before the town healer befriended her and made her a healer’s apprentice. The healer had been kind to her and had taught her many things, including how to read. Sophie hoped to hear the rest of that story in the days to come, hoped to learn how she ended up marrying a duke when she was only a woodcutter’s daughter. But Lady Rose wanted to know about Sophie.

 

Sophie told Rose that she’d had to leave her most prized possession, her pages from the Gospel of St. Luke, in Hohendorf. She confessed she wanted to be able to not only read in Latin, but also in other languages, and to speak and write them as well.

 

“And so you shall,” Lady Rose said with a smile. Then she introduced Sophie to Gabe’s sisters, and the five of them talked and giggled until it was time to go to the Great Hall for supper.

 

Sophie had the urge to stay very near Lady Rose as they entered the Great Hall. Would she be expected to sit near Valten and make conversation with him? Please, let us be placed as far apart as possible.

 

Lady Rose sat at the end of the long trestle table and motioned for Sophie to sit beside her. Sophie sank down on the bench and Rose’s oldest daughter, Margaretha, sat on her other side. Sophie sighed in gratitude.

 

Soon the men entered the room, all impeccably dressed, their hair looking damp and clean. Valten had changed clothes and was wearing a rich-green doublet and a crisp white shirt. Somehow he looked even more forbidding, even more like a warrior, than he had in his rough traveling clothes, so sharp was the contrast of his lordly clothing to his muscular size and rough demeanor. The scars on his cheeks and chin were more noticeable without the dust of the road to obscure them, and he seemed to overwhelm the sophisticated clothing with his broad shoulders.

 

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