Revenge of the Rose Read Online Free PDF

She is visiting the abbess of Mulhausen.”
    “Is she now?” Konrad said, his voice but not his eyes drifting toward Marcus. “I am very fond of the abbess and must inquire after their joint devotions.”
    “I have removed everything from the site that requires removal, sire,” the steward said smoothly, and Konrad relaxed. “When would you like to ride out?”
    “When the village bells ring terce,” the emperor said, then looked again at Alphonse. “Pardon, you were saying?”
    “Sire, I am here to tell you that we have found you a bride.”
    The music had stopped. Konrad was annoyed that the piper hadn’t bothered to play so well until the festivities were over. He took his annoyance out on Alphonse. “We?”
    Alphonse’s ears reddened. “I meant, sire, those of us entrusted to safeguard your interests— that we are aware of an excellent choice.”
    Konrad looked at his uncle narrowly a moment. “I was not aware I had entrusted you with any such thing.” His mouth opened with rueful amusement. “Ah. My darling brother has arrived from Rome and is thoughtfully casting his cardinal shadow for you to shiver in. Am I to guess that your suggestion comes with the church’s seal of approval?”
    Alphonse hesitated, which gave Konrad his answer. “Who is it, then?” He sighed.
    “We recommend the daughter of the lord of Besançon. As Besançon is Burgundy’s largest city— “
    Konrad groaned. “Oh, Christ in heaven, man. She’s full of even more braying opinions than her father is. And she’s ugly. She must be the least engaging creature west of Jerusalem.”
    “You are not marrying her for conversation, sire,” Alphonse pointed out carefully.
    “I am not marrying her at all, ” Konrad corrected.
    “Sire, Besançon is the best choice. It strengthens your position near the border— “
    Konrad laughed sarcastically. “No, it strengthens Rome’s position in my court. Besançon’s loyalties lie with the pope, not with me. So do Alphonse’s, if I am not mistaken, although I can’t think why. What has this new young pope promised you? Eternal life? Entry to his personal collection of holy sisters? What?”
    Alphonse’s ears reddened again. “My loyalties lie with the Empire. It would naturally soothe and flatter my vassals to have your presence in any manner at all in Burgundy.”
    “They’re my vassals, not your vassals,” Konrad corrected. This was an arguable point, and he had spent too many years arguing it already. He began to look around for a distraction. “I do wish you would suggest somebody who might be worthy of the office. Please try to remember I will have to be intimate with her more than once. Why did that musician stop? Hey!” he called out into the damp, shifting greenery. “Piper! Where are you? I want more of that! And why the devil didn’t you play so well over these past two weeks?”
    “I did, sire, but you were too far away to hear it,” said the husky tenor behind him. He twisted in his chair, to find himself gazing at the familiar young face, nearly the human equivalent of a greyhound. Slightly freckled skin and pronounced hazel eyes suggested northern breeding, but the accent had always been impossible for Konrad to place. “Does my music please you, sire?” Jouglet asked solemnly, with a very formal bow, holding up the ivory pipe.
    “It would have if you’d been here.” Konrad frowned. “I gave you one fortnight’s liberty, Jouglet, not three.”
    The minstrel, who almost never looked sheepish, looked sheepish now and put down the hard leather case that cradled the fiddle. “I must have misheard you say forty days— I was resisting temptation in the desert. I tarried in your interest, sire, I promise you.”
    Konrad wanted a better explanation, but he suspected Jouglet was being deliberately vague because they were in public. “Your desertion is never in my interest. The next time you disappear that way, do not bother coming back, you will not be let