Chương 56: Ambassador
Once he got out of the door and then the stairs, Henry finally felt free.
Finally after three months of imprisonment the prince had managed to escape from there, to find himself outdoors and breathe fresh, clean air again and no longer the stale air of the underground cells.
Finally, after months he felt the fresh air touch his skin again and after a long time he was again able to perceive the dark and starry night sky above him.
He observed the stars, thousands of silver dots covering the black sky of England.
Behind him shone the lights of a city that had never welcomed him and that now he was finally able to proudly leave behind him.
In the distance he could hear gunshots, shouts, protests and insults to the monarchy and it was at that moment that guilt began to rise in his heart.
Henry felt partly a coward, escaping from his responsibilities, from the land where he was born but he knew perfectly well that in that country he would not have a future.
-My lord- he soon heard a voice talk from behind him, it was a sweet, harmonious language, it had been a long time since he had heard anyone speak French.
Henry turned his grey eyes, noticed the black carriage that awaited him, it was large, it was majestic, bowing in front of him were two royal pages.
It was the first time in months that anyone had bowed to him with respect, with open and sincere feelings.
-It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance, prince Henry- he resumed raising his gaze again to meet that of the noble.
-We came here by order of your grandfather, to lead you safely to the royal court- the one concluded slowly opening the high door of the carriage.
Even for a man like him, almost two meters tall, that door was high enough but Henry didn't answer at first, so much so that the pages thought he didn't speak French.
-Do you understand what we are saying, sire?- ventured one of the two trying in desperately poor English to communicate with the man.
Henry soon nodded.
-I know both English and French well...- admitted the prince also starting to speak in their language and moving his gaze from one to the other.
One of the two, embarrassed by the situation created, invited the man to get into the carriage.
-Please enter, from here...until we get to Brighton avoiding all customs we will arrive by dawn-.
At that statement, it was clear to the man that he no longer had much time left there, neither in the open, nor in that country, as he was aware, that if his sister caught him fleeing, he would have died the same as his mother.
Without further delay, the man bent his head slightly and was able to get into the carriage and sit on the dark and comfortable seats.
He noticed how the light wooden door of the great carriage was closed when he entered and how soon the two pages began to make the horses first trot then gallop.
It was dark outside, so dark, that he was unable to perceive or notice anything around him, he only noticed through the faint beating of the drops on the window that it had suddenly started raining.
He looked ahead of him, usually the royal order would have allowed the ambassador to be the one to escort the prince to his destination, but in this case, instead of the ambassador, a young woman was in the seat in front of him.
She was at the beginning of her twenties, she had long brown and frizzy hair, which through some string came down to touch the lower part of her neck.
She wore a majestic and precious dress of a light blue colour, with white hems and lace and on top of this she wore a jacket, even too short for her and of a light brown colour, which in a certain way slightly clashed with the clothing.
In any case, the young woman possessed the golden brooch symbol of the royal embassy, therefore, however unlikely she could have been the ambassador.
She soon turned her pale face towards the man, the two eyes of a blinding blue that she possessed were marked by two light and blurred eye bags.
That color of eyes reminded the man so much of the savior of that night.
-I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, prince- admitted the young woman with a certain look of envy and jealousy -or at least I should say-.
She was completely cheeky, as no one would allow a mere ambassador to address a person of royal blood in this way.
Maybe she took advantage of it as the man was so badly dressed.
In any case, Henry had to and wanted to know the identity of that cheeky young woman, so staring intently into her eyes he asked:
-What is your name then?-.
A brief silence was created after the man's question, she looked away, out of the window, in the dark, the rain falling and then, after a silence she admitted
-My real name is Karassandra, but all my acquaintances call me Kara...it's simpler, I suppose ...-. admitted her slowly turning her gaze to the man, who repeated the name of the woman in his head "Kara, Kara, Kara" was not to forget.
-Your name is Henry, everyone knows you, so there is no need to use a great imagination- Kara admitted again, moving her gaze away and with it making the brown ponytail wobble on her head.
-Everyone knows me?- the prince whispered slowly -this means that no one has forgotten me...- he hinted with some enthusiasm closing his hands together, he was so happy not to be alone anymore.
-Everyone in France remembers you- admitted the young woman almost enviously, placing one of her hands on her soft lips -you are known by all as the "prince of destiny"...-.
"The prince of destiny?" how could the French have given him such a nickname? What had he done so great to deserve it?
-They call you that ...- Kara intervened seeing how enthusiastic the man was -... because they say you will be the sovereign who will finally close a bond between France and England-.
-And you believe it?- the curious prince ventured, trying to understand how she felt about him.
-Well, of course not, in short, many sovereigns have tried but never succeeded...if you think about it you are just one of those, half blood, but nothing special...- the young woman opened her big blue eyes as she said those things and so Henry felt she was sure of it.
Anyway, to talk to him like this, in this brazen way, the woman certainly could have had relations with the French royal family.
-Tell me Kara, can I call you that right?- the ambassador on the opposite side nodded weakly -are you by any chance a member of the royal family too?-.
She smiled, the conversation was becoming thick and that curious and strange man was making it even more pleasant and interesting.
Kara had to admit that already a kind of confidence was starting to build between the two.
Both were stubborn and had a certain sense of bickering and fun.
- Let's say, some sort of...- she admitted smiling at the man -let's just say that I have lived at court for longer than you can ever imagine ...-.
In any case the ambassador lifted from her knees, from the skirt of her dress, a block of clothes, washed, fresh, clean, neatly folded, over which was a white handkerchief with a precious lace .
-These- she said handing the pack of clothes to the prince -these objects are sent by your grandfather, hoping they are useful for you-.
Henry took the fresh and clean clothes in his hands, smelled intensely their perfume, he was grateful to everyone, to his saviour, to his grandfather and also to Kara.
Then he untied the folded handkerchief, he could already smell a strong sweet and fragrant smell from there and in fact there was a slice of soft apple pie, his favourite.
It reminded him of his childhood, but how did his grandfather know that this kind of cake was his favourite? Maybe his mother, when she still alive, had told her father a lot about him.
-You can dress yourself up- Kara urged, turning away, back into the dark -for me it does not create any problems, as long as what you are about to see is "beautiful"...- the young woman giggled.
She had a strange sense of humor and almost masculine ways of doing things.
Henry put aside the handkerchief with the cake, he would have kept it for the trip on the ship.
He smiled at Karassandra, he didn't want to be too serious with her or her non-jokey character, so slowly he began to take off the provisional trousers from his legs.
-I assure you what you will see will be very "beautiful"...- Henry joked in turn, changing his trousers first, then his shirt as well.
They were fresh, they were comfortable and perfumed.
-Beautiful, yes, really not that bad, anyway, in my life I have seen even better- commented the ambassador letting out a weak chuckle from her lips and sometimes pulling glances at him and again in the cold darkness of the night.
-You are an expert, so...- commented the prince once, being able to feel at ease in his new and fresh clothes -your family or your husband, I suppose, must be very jealous of you...-.
But so, hinting at that phrase and perhaps some inadequate words, the pale face of Karassandra, soon changed into a gloomy and sad, melancholy expression.
She looked out of the carriage, into the dark.
-This ..- came out almost as a sad whisper from the ambassador's soft lips -this is not funny...-.
Henry was disappointed to see this reaction, almost wondering if she had said something wrong.
On the other hand, they had only known each other for a few hours and he did not pretend to know every fact and event that happened during the young woman's life.
All that Henry knew was that that inherent cheekiness was just a mask to cover up a sad and broken Kara inside her.
-I'm really sorry- the man begged to forgive him giving the ambassador a look full of compassion -I don't have a family now either, so I can understand you...-.
Kara wiped away the tears that had formed there with her knuckles from her clear eyes and returned to look outside, into the emptiness and cold darkness of the night.
-Sleep Henry, you'll need it- the young woman advised, trying in every way to divert the subject or review it -at a rough guess it will now be past two in the night and in three hours we will reach the commercial port of Brighton-.
It would have been convenient to listen to Kara's advice, on the other hand Henry hadn't slept a wink that night, so many things had happened, maybe too many too.
He felt guilty about Kara, for what he had told her that night, but his eyes were already sleepy.
He rested half of his head, along with his golden hair on the end of his soft black leather seat.
It was still dark outside around them but it was no longer raining, it had suddenly stopped.
Henry closed his eyes, sleep took him, enveloped him.
He wasn't completely comfortable, but no matter how badly he had slept in those months, that position was more than acceptable.
The prince slept, he didn't realise how much but what he was sure of was that what woke him up the next morning was the hot sun shining in the sky and the loud, desperate cries of the seagulls that were around there.
He opened his grey eyes, rubbed them, the prince was still sleepy, but he no longer had time to rest.
Now that the light penetrated through the small windows of the dark carriage Henry was able to better see what kind of clothes his acquaintance had given him.
They were of fine workmanship, they were beautiful and they were tailor-made for a person his height.
He now owned a white, candid shirt, the laces of which tightened his suit directly under his neck, and had long light brown fabric trousers, tight until just below the knees, as well as high white socks and leather shoes of a dark colour.
He was certainly not dressed up like a royal, but he could not say that he was dressed like a simple villager.
Everyone would certainly have mistaken him for one of the members of the English upper class.
He looked around, Kara was no longer with him, she was no longer in the carriage, she could no longer hear the voices of the pages but around him he perceived a different environment than Warwick.
Henry slowly opened the golden handle of the carriage pushed the door, went out and as he did the strong sun hit his pale face forcing him to cover his eyes with one of his arms, until everything returned to his normal glow.
It was a warm, sunny day and the blue sky was completely free of white clouds.
He could hear the seagulls scream, fly across the sky, land into the water and fish.
The streets were wide, they were of dark and light stones, which made up a beautiful mix of colours.
The prince could observe several houses, they were small and were located in the shadow of the town's tall bell tower.
The large iron bells of the church rang, he noticed the hands of the clock tower, it was now eight in the morning.
He looked around and was soon taken by the smell of fish, mixed with that characteristic smell of salt that characterised the blue and transparent water of the sea.
In front of him stood the English Channel, which divided England to France with its waters and nearby there were several ships in the port.
They were of different sizes, for different purposes, they came from almost all over the world and it was so common to hear of speaking foreign languages, especially from the kingdom of Italy, Spain and even if more rarely from the kingdom of Germany.
But the thing that struck him most was the great coming and going of thousands of people, sailors, men of commerce, disembarking and carrying the goods into the city through large and resistant jute bags over their shoulders.
He saw a young woman, recognised her by the dishevel brown ponytail on her head.
He walked over to her, noticed how she had changed.
She always had those two brown wisps in front of her ears, coming down neatly to her chest while the rest of her hair was closed in a ponytail.
The ambassador was arguing with a man bigger and more muscular than her.
-We have to get on this ship right now!- the young woman protested almost attacking the big man -don't you see? We are honest passengers too!-.
The man seemed perplexed in every way by what she was saying, he did not understand since she spoke a high level of the French language.
-Listen here, girl...- the man explained calmly answering her -I don't speak your language, you'd better speak English or I can't help you in any way-.
-Excuse me, may I help? -Henry weakly broke into the conversation, almost shyly, hoping he could be of help in any way.
The man aimed his little black eyes on the prince and looked at him shortly
-Do you speak French?- the guardian asked, letting the prince nod slowly -this girl here has been yelling for more than an hour but I don't understand a word-.
Henry was silent for a few minutes, he knew that the French avoided English as the British avoided French so it was a rather strange situation.
-You see, we are passengers on this ship, we should arrive in Le Havre ...- Henry explained trying to be as persuasive as possible.
Kara slowly touched the man's arm, motioned him to turn slowly, cautiously.
Guards, equipped with muskets and royal uniforms circled the crowd, searching and checking the traffic, it was too dangerous for them, if they hadn't taken that ship and the guards stopped them it would have been the end.
-Hurry up!- the young woman urged him tightly tightening the sleeve of his white shirt -give false informations, so that they let us on board...-.
The prince did not know what to say, the mysterious girl from the night before had not said what name she had marked on the ship's list.
The guards were approaching, they had stopped, they were watching them, they seemed to have seen them, they were standing still.
Henry's hair was shorter and he was dressed in civilian clothes, but certainly the guards weren't stupid enough not to suspect their prince.
-Karassandra...- quickly came out of the ambassador's lips as she saw the man's indecision -Karassandre Richard-.
He looked quickly at the ship's list, the guards were approaching, they had to hurry.
-Are you traveling with Edward Parr? Is this the name of this man here?- asked the man observing the body of the prince in disguise with fussy attention.
But before he could ask anything again, Kara realized how the sailors were about to withdraw on board the gangway that connected them to the port and so grabbed the hand of the prince she pulled him forcefully up over the ship.
Just then the guards had arrived at the port but since the ship had already sailed it was no longer possible for them to do anything and to capture the fugitive.
Henry couldn't believe it, he was safe, now no one could hurt him anymore, he was happy, he was free, he didn't have to be afraid anymore.
The young woman next to him was still panting from running, placed her hands on her knees, exhaled.
-You did it, you saved me!- the prince admitted astonished observing the tired and reddened face of the ambassador.
-You were going to get us caught...- Kara complained quickly turning her face to that of the prince, she was angry, nervous, even if satisfied.
-Do not think I saved you because I like you or anything...- she blushed further as she reached the left edge of the ship -I do all this only because your family pays me really good, so don't get wrong ideas...-.
The young woman's brown ponytail was pushed in the air to one side due to the strong wind.
Henry joined her, that place was beautiful, he could see the sea, it was blue, it was transparent and now the village of Brighton disappeared behind them, becoming smaller and smaller on the horizon.
-Thank you- admitted the man crossing both of his forearms on the wooden edge of the large ship and looking away towards the horizon, the blue sea that mixed with the blue sky.
-For what?- Kara asked slightly turning her face towards Henry, his grey eyes and golden hair, she blushed.
-You are saving me, thank you for this, for dressing and feeding me- he admitted happily.
Kara smiled back at him, Henry was a nice person and she was sorry she had treated him in such an unpleasant way last night.
She pulled some food out of a handkerchief, it was short, it was greyish and dry, she put it in her mouth, chewed it slowly, closed her eyes, she liked that taste.
She slowly handed the open handkerchief to the prince who took one of those pieces and put it in his mouth in turn, tasted it, it was sour and salty.
Kara realised he didn't like it and she let a little chuckle escape her lips briefly.
The man looked at her, she was so beautiful and sweet for once when she smiled.
-I suppose you don't like herring, well, it's normal, everyone has their own tastes- admitted the ambassador folding the dried fish into the white handkerchief and placing it neatly in a pocket of her dress.
Henry looked into her blue eyes, they were beautiful, they were the same color as the sky.
Their words were lulled by the rustle of the waves and the white bubbling foam around the underside of the ship.
-From here to Le Havre it will take another three hours- said Kara returning to turn her magnificent gaze to the sea.
-The Channel is a long canal...- commented the prince by her side.
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