CHAPER 36

Both Guy and myself were speechless. We stared at the young woman before us, and then a long, slow smile spread across my face. Tiger Rose smiled back at me, her blue eyes sparkling, an unacknowledged female truth passing between us. "Of course," I said.

Perturbed, Guy glared at us. "What do you mean, 'of course'?"

"They wouldn't be looking for a woman," I said, the pieces fitting together. "They would assume only a man would be educated enough and intelligent enough to write those codes. So you would have been a far safer bet to leave alive."

"Quite," Tiger-Rose replied. "Once Hood's men found me, I simply told them I was the courier's cook and they accepted it without question. Said it seemed a shame to kill a poor simpleton who only had the skill to serve others." A wicked grin crept onto her face. "Wankers."

"Wankers," I replied, smiling. I felt my smile continue to widen until my face felt as if it would crack. Tiger-Rose's expression kept pace with mine, until both of us exploded into guffaws of laughter. My face reddened and her curly black hair shook. In that moment, we became friends.

At first puzzled, Guy eventually rolled his eyes in exasperation and shook his head as both of us squealed with uncontrollable laughter. He gave us a moment to get it out and then snapped, "Not all of us are morons, ladies. God's bones - two hens and a lot of cackling."

"Well, Sir Guy," Tiger-Rose squeaked out, tears squirting from her eyes, "I see who has been helping you translate my letters. My lady? Your name?"

"Nyssa, " I began, but Guy abruptly cut me off-

"Of Gisborne," he finished, putting his hand possessively over mine.

"Oh?" It was Tiger's Rose's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I thought you were marrying that French knockabout Sabine du Millefleurs."

"My wife killed her. You missed it," Guy said dryly.

Tiger Rose turned to me questioningly, and I pulled a Yup, I did it face while casually turning over my hands. At this, she burst into fresh gales of laughter, nearly doubled over. To my amusement, this seemed to re-ignite Guy's irritation. Covering her mouth, Tiger Rose turned back to me, gained control of herself and stuttered out, "Well, now I know whose tits not to get on," she said, smiling. I nodded, hiding my own laughter.

"Well, have you two quite finished?" Guy asked, sounded annoyed but I knew better tat this point He seemed slightly amused but not displeased that two women could have such an immediate friendship, when our relationship had taken years to build. "This information was apparently quite important, but I must say that I no longer feel this is the proper place to exchange it. Everyone but the King has been through here in the last hour."

"Oh, should we be expecting him next?" Tiger Rose quipped with feigned surprise, looking about inquisitively. I bit back laughter again.

"Bloody hell, I hope not," Guy responded.

"I think I know perfect place for information exchange," I said slowly. I looked back at Guy, a memory coming back. "It's not far."

From our cramped viewpoint, I showed Guy the crack in the hidden room of our house where I had first seen him, and Tiger Rose smiled as I did so. "I rarely say this, but you two are quite well matched."

"Well matched for driving one another mad," I responded, grinning at Guy. He gave a quick nod, but his eyes help a smile.

"All right, well, the information you need, Sir Guy and Lady Nyssa, is this. The Treaty of Le Goulet between England and France that Kings John and Philip recently negotiated will soon be null and void."

"The peace treaty?" Guy gasped. "But…but this was progress! We were to end the battles…Des Roches came our aid…both sides wanted the conflict done and dusted-"

Tiger Rose held up her hand. "It seems that France and England are not to be allies for a long time, Sir Guy." Guy's deep blue eyes bore into hers, his face frozen.

"Tell me why."

I felt him shaking with anger. I thought of his long engagement to Sabine, his political maneuvering, his hard work to end the conflict of succession and his hope for peace and stability in England. The last seemed to evaporate into the room as he spoke, his voice murderously angry. "After everything I've done, all that I've given up, you tell me why."

Tiger Rose met his gaze with fearsome calm.

"Love."

Guy's eyes widened in shock.

"Love is going to cause war with France?"

She sighed, and I felt what a burden this was for her bear. As much as Guy, she had kept secrets, spun intrigues and passed coded messages that affected the lives of thousands. Simply speaking what she knew, even in a hidden room, must feel very vulnerable. I reached out to her and took her hand. "Rosie?"

She managed a small smile then. "No one calls me that, but I like it." Turning back to Guy, she said, "Yes. Love. Love is going to kill thousands more men. Because this time the King is in love."

"Whaaaaat?" Guy exploded. His eyes grew frantic. "No, no, no…for God's sake, John! He's been married to Isabel of Gloucester for years now! Can't he simply carry on elsewhere with this other woman?"

"It's rather more complicated that that," Rosie said evenly. "Isabel and John are indeed married, but they are also consanguine as half cousins. When they married, the Pope forbade them have children, or marital relations. King John cannot produce an heir by his current wife, which leaves England vulnerable to French succession. An annulment is has been secured. "

"Damn!" Guy exploded upwards, furious, and struck his head on the ceiling of the low roof. I reacted, immediately trying to pull him downwards again, so that his great height would fit back into the small space. Cursing, Guy slowly knelt back down, squinting his eyes against the pain.

"So it isn't love then, but common politics and a lack of love," he grumbled, holding the side of his head where a goose egg would soon form. I shushed him, took his hand and pulled him to me, kissing the top of his head. "Tick, tock, love," I whispered. "Calm down."

"Indeed, Sir Guy," Rosie responded, "now is the time to listen and cool your blood. My next bit of information is even more precious. This is not simple politics. The King is undeniably in love, and the woman he loves is a noblewoman. That is why he cannot secretly carry on for much longer. Few know of this new development," she said, looking at both of us before delivering the final blow.

"His intended is Isabelle of Angouleme."

My mouth fell open. Guy knew many more of the current political figures than I did, but even I had heard of Isabella. Her beauty was legendary; barely a teenager, she was compared to Helen of Troy. I had never seen a portrait but she was rumored to be blonde, blue eyed and would be a perfect temptation for John, who was 22 years her senior. When I glanced at Guy I saw the same thoughts crossing his face in quick succession, ending with a final dark cloud over his brow.

"And you're saying that her strategically located lands in Angemois have no play in this whatsoever?"

Rosie shrugged slightly. "I never said that. But I do know the King has is bedding her in a most virile manner. His detractors say that when together, the King rarely rises before noon, so hotly does he lust for her."

Guy abruptly blushed, and I followed suit. Rosie gave us both a knowing look. Regaining his composure, Guy abruptly straightened his shirt and cleared his throat. "Yes, well…perhaps. The King is in the prime of life."

I held back a giggle, glancing at Rosie. She rolled her eyes and sighed, smiling in tolerance.

Guy then looked at Rosie with a touch of admiration. "How do you have all of this confidential insight into the King's private life?"

Rosie laughed at loud. "My dear Sir Guy, have you still no understanding of women's role in this life? We are observers. That's what we do, because we are so limited in what we can participate in." I nodded my head vigorously in assent at Rosie's assessment of the female station of life. She noticed and glanced at Guy for acknowledgement. He raised an eyebrow at me, and smiled a bit sheepishly.

Continuing, she said, "We have very few personal choices. So we watch. We observe, we analyze and we report what we see. Sometimes, we even get paid to do so. And then, even more rarely, we are able write about it."

"Wait a moment, you have actually seen John bed Isabella of Angouleme?" I said, unable to contain my curiosity.

"No," Rosie replied solemnly. I was silent for a beat, feeling inappropriately disappointed. Then she said, "But I heard three hours of it from a closet in the same room."

Guy's eyes widened and Rosie smiled, over-pronouncing her next words "I never said that observing was easy, Sir Guy!"

Guy now looked a bit ill. "But she's only a child…eleven years old at most."

Rosie nodded. "As I said before." She paused a moment to let this new information take hold, then continued. "Apparently that is the age his Majesty prefers. However, I can attest that it was Isabella and the King during that time. I their faces quite clearly when they entered the room and again when he kissed her goodbye. He told her many times that he loved her and that nothing would keep them apart, even if it meant war, the tearing apart of cities, his future as King…anything. Whatever else may be true of the politics of the situation, I can tell you he believes that he is very much in love with her."

I saw emotions warring on Guy's face. He both hated he King in that moment, and understood him exactly. So did I.

It was Guy who spoke next.

"So you believe he will ask Philip for his blessing and be denied? Why should Philip deny him?"

"Nay, Sir Guy. You ascribe to the King far too many knightly qualities. He may love Isabella, but he is truly selfish in his love. Isabella is already promised to Hugh de Lusignan."

Guy gasped, then closed his eyes. "No. He cannot-"

"Yet he will. The King plans in late summer to take Isabella as his bride. This will ignite war with the Lusignan dynasty. Philip must support them or he will lose strategic lands and trade routes in Aquitaine. And John and Philip will be enemies once again."

Guy's hands were buried in his face. His voice was muffled. "And all for love."

Rosie's voice came softly. She gently touched his knee. "All for love, Sir Guy."

Guy sighed deeply. His image of his overlord was crumbling from a divinely ordained sovereign to a common, mortal man. "But not true love. Love of himself. " He looked up, his eyes red and hurt. "How could he do this? How could he care so little for his own people to fulfill a need with an eleven year old girl? How could he ask me to give up my own love and my whole life to do my duty when he will not do his? He is dooming men to suffer and die in warmongering for this!"

"But it's not his family or friends who will die, love," I said. "You forget. It's mine. We are the disposable class to him." My eyes looked deeply into his, and for the first time, he truly understood my station.

"Well then fuck him well and good!" Guy roared, sitting up. "You are not disposable. You are my family now. No more. I will be an outlaw, I will be a criminal, but I will fight John with everything I have. Even if it means teaming up with Hood, I will fight him. What does he know of sacrifice, of knightly virtues or anyone but himself?" In that moment, I truly understood that Guy had deeply believed in John, had believed he was the true ruler of the English people, that he would protect and care for his own. Mine had always known he didn't give a fig but was still the better choice due to his English heritage, where Arthur was practically French.

"Sir Guy," Rosie said, breaking in diplomatically, "forgive my English practicality, but you are far more valuable as you are than as a criminal. Let John think you are on his side. Learn all that you can. Even if the laws apply only to free men, make them apply to someone who can make a difference. Share your information with the royal court officials, the judges, the exchequer. Make his political systems fair, one official at a time, right underneath his nose. And then take England back." She put her hand on his.

"For the people."