Hearts and Crowns Read Online Free PDF

follow. “Pay heed. I will explain your duties to each of you in detail.”
    Peri fell in at the end of the line as they followed the swish of Lady Ermintrude’s heavy gown. She mused absently that a woman of grey complexion did not look attractive in bright red. Moreover, the overwhelming perfume of roses did nothing to mask the sweaty odour of the lady’s body for those in her wake.
    Peri tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of her. “I’m Peri de Pontrouge,” she whispered.
    The girl’s shoulders stiffened, but she offered no reply.
    First stop was the steam-filled laundry. The oppressive heat almost felled Peri. She pulled her sticky gown away from her midriff. Lady Ermintrude turned to the girl at the head of the line, her gnarled hand on a heaping pile of gowns. “Francine Beaujoie, these are Our Empress’s soiled gowns.”
    Peri peered into the mist beyond Ermintrude. Youths and young girls laboriously stirred huge cauldrons of steaming water. The sun had barely risen, yet they looked like they had been toiling for hours. Many had shriveled patches of skin on their arms, legs and faces, no doubt the result of being scalded. She hunched her shoulders as a strange foreboding washed over her.
    Dragging her gaze back to the garments, Peri noted several stains on the gown on the top of the pile. Nearby, two older noblewomen sponged other frocks. Another plied a needle. All three wore heavy gowns unsuitable for such a place. They blinked away sweat dripping from their brows.
    “You will learn from Lady Julie and Lady Latourneau how to clean and mend these gowns. They must be spotless before they are returned to The Empress’s Wardrober.”
    Francine Beaujoie did not look joyful at the task she had been assigned, but she nodded gracefully and joined her teachers. As Peri watched one of the older women dab away the sweat trickling down her nose, she was heartily glad to have avoided that task. She hated sewing. Buried in the laundry, Francine would likely never meet the royal personage she served. She gave the girl what she hoped was a smile of encouragement as they left. To her surprise, Francine smiled back. Peri hoped this was her chamber-mate.
    They continued on to the kitchens, where Tandine de Grisjaune was instructed on how to taste food prepared for Maud. “There is ever the danger of poison,” Ermintrude declared, glaring at the nearest cook, who snarled back like a caged beast. Tandine looked ready to swoon.
    Peri enjoyed the kitchen at Pontrouge where there was always a tasty morsel to be coaxed from the jolly cook. She doubted she would have lasted long in the smoky and noisy confines of Westminster’s kitchens.
    Weary-looking children sat amid mounds of carrots, parsnips, leeks, and onions, their hands raw from peeling. An army of cooks screamed commands at pasty-faced scullery maids and sullen serving wenches, who darted hither and thither. Grease from roasting animals spat and smoked as it hit the hungry flames of roaring fires. Steaming cauldrons boiled. Aromas that might have been tantalising on their own mingled into a belly-churning miasma.
    Breathing a sigh of relief, Peri tagged behind the girl who still had not acknowledged her in any way.
    Ermintrude ushered them into the royal bedchamber, a forefinger pressed to her chapped lips. Peri gaped at the elaborate bed that took up most of the large chamber, surprised Maud had already risen. If Peri were Empress she would not be up before dawn, especially if she could luxuriate in such a bed.
    Raised on a dais with three steps, it was at least four times thicker than Peri’s bed at home. Heavy damask curtains hung on three sides, cascading down like a shimmering blue waterfall from a rail suspended high in the ceiling. A coverlet had been made of the same material. Threads of gold glittered against the blue of the damask.
    The bed did not look as though anyone had ever slept in it.
    Massive ornate wooden chests sat against the walls. An