Nick lurched forward and snatched the knife right out of the oyster chef’s hand.
“Majesty,” Francis hissed, slamming his palm over Nick’s wrist. The cook scurried away to safety.
“You are certain?” Nick asked me, his eyes flaming jewels of aquamarine.
“One hundred percent.”
“Majesty, it would do well to remain calm,” Francis cautioned, sliding the knife away from the king.
Nick’s hands were now tight fists of white skin. “No man may question the pleasure of their sovereign king,” he said through his teeth. “All are bound by God to obey me.”
Francis’s curls tipped in a gesture of submission. “My gracious lord, I caution you to consider the cause of such plotting between Norfolk and the councilmen before they increase in numbers.” He shot me an uneasy glance. “A king’s marriage should bring greater power and esteem to the realm. What case have you made for Lady Pembroke, who offers no such benefit?”
Nick slammed his fist down so hard that the table shook. The musicians were trained to play loudly enough so guests couldn’t hear Nick’s conversations, but nervous faces peeked at the evidently furious king.
“Any man who does not have his king’s welfare at heart will be summoned before me to explain himself—no matter his station,” he warned Francis in a steely tone.
The earl returned an obedient nod. “You shall continue to find me your most true and faithful servant, Your Grace.”
Humiliation scorched my cheeks over hearing Francis still overtly questioning our relationship, especially given how I’d just gone in to bat for him with Alice. No matter how much Nick and I loved each other, it would never be enough for Francis, who wanted his king to be politically secure above all things. But I truly believed that he genuinely loved Nick too much to ever cross a line the way Norfolk had and conspire to stop the marriage.
Nick sat stewing over his wine cup before he smacked it across the table, sending red droplets flying like blood splatter. “I cannot even look at these faithless cod’s heads,” he snapped at Francis. “You will arrest every member of the Privy Council on the grounds of sedition. Interrogate them all and make ready a warrant of execution for those found guilty.”
Francis’s face mirrored my own horror. “Majesty, the entire council? I beseech you—”
“You dare question me!” Nick grabbed him by his ruffled collar and yanked him to his feet.
“Nick!” I chastised, and he squeezed the fabric with barely contained fury before releasing Francis.
“No man shall ever speak on matters of my marriage!” Nick bellowed to the chamber of nobles, every face a white sheet. “Those who offend the will of their anointed king will find themselves on trial for high treason.” He thrust both hands beneath the dining table and shoved it forward, sending gold platters and cups clanging across the tiled floor.
A moment of chilling silence followed before Nick grabbed my arm and marched me out beneath a procession of arches woven from wheat fronds.
“Let go of me!” I cried when we were safely out of earshot. I was hot with rage at how Nick had treated me in public, not to mention the violent outburst that had Nicholas the Ironheart written all over it.
He was already calmer and halted on the path, but I was just getting started. I continued my brisk pace toward the palace.
“Lady Pembroke, I command you to stop,” he called after me. I didn’t break my stride. One of the guards stayed close to me, awkwardly passing by the king. I couldn’t care less what they thought of us.
“Vexatious girl,” Nick huffed before he briskly caught up again. He dashed in front of me, pacing backward while I charged forward. “Christ, Emmie, I bid you to speak your ill feeling!”
At that moment, I just couldn’t. Lucinda…Norfolk…Nick’s scary eruption and talk of executions…the relentless pressure to become a convincing Tudor queen overnight. Where do I even freaking start!
“Blessed girl, I love you,” said Nick. He stopped still at my onrush, and I banged right into his sternum. I spun away to face the sundial, my stomach a hollow cave.
I could hardly get the words out. “If you love me, then why did you sneak off into a private part of the garden with Lucinda Parker and let her kiss you?”
Nick gasped. “Who said such things to you?”
“I saw you!” I clenched away the urge to shove him with both hands. “To be honest, you both looked pretty cozy.” His silhouette wobbled through the tears threatening my eyes.
He dismissed the comment with a shake of his head. “It was nothing of the sort. Mistress Parker’s daughter has taken ill—a private matter—and she bid me aside to ask for my assistance. As she is your lady, I granted it. Mistress Parker’s kiss was no more than a gesture of gratitude.”
“A gesture of gratitude?” The words ripped through my bewildered laugh.
He took my shoulders and swirled me to face him. “Do not make more of this than it is. Do you know that it is considered polite in this realm to kiss another man’s wife before first entering his home? You stake too much in a chaste kiss. Mistress Parker brought her lips to mine for scarcely a moment, did you not see?”
“Just…please!” I waved my hands to shut him up. I didn’t want to imagine any more lip-locking than I’d already seen.
Nick’s palms kneaded his forehead. “Christ, I would sooner see Mistress Parker banished from court than have you doubt my devotion to you.”
“No.” My jaw hardened. “You know that she’s got a sick baby, and she needs the money.” The memory of Lucinda’s plight roused another thought. “She also said that you raised the people’s taxes to pay for my coronation…people now can’t afford medicine for their babies.”
Nick crossed his arms. “And by what means do you expect me to pay for the crowning of your person, my lady? Have you found coin growing upon trees in this realm?”
“Haven’t you got something like sixty palaces?” I countered, vindictively repeating what he’d once shared with me with such pride.
He paced away from me before circling back with frustration. “I fear that you understand nothing. Not me, not mine intentions, not my wishes, not my kingdom, nor my decisions.”
“That’s not true,” I said, seizing the chance to air what’d been plaguing my mind most of all. “But there is one thing I don’t get: why you would ask me to destroy a ring that’s literally the only way I could ever see my family again. I’d never ask that of you.”
He expelled a heavy breath. “Emmie, it is not so much the ring as that I feel you have one foot in this thing and one foot out. This night alone proves this marriage to be a battle hard-won, it is true. I cannot turn any which way in this place without meeting a lord who believes he has the right to interfere in the subject of my marriage. But I am the king, and I will choose mine own wife. That choice is you, in spite of the falseness of my subjects and the losses I must endure. Is it not fair that I wish not to lose you, too?”
My throat sealed shut. All this time, Nick had been sensing my trepidation about becoming queen and assuming that it was him that I was unsure about.