Page 52 of The Changeling

I shook my head, unable to comprehend such depravity.

‘I’m sorry.’ Robbie kissed me, and rose to his feet. ‘I have to go – we must see what we can do to aid the queen. Lock your door behind me. There is no need to fear – you’re safe now.’

I nodded, but it was a lie. I did not feel safe.

I had foreseen Signor Rizzio’s murder. I had warned him, but I had not been able to save him. What use was my Sight if I could not help those who were in danger?

I slept only in uneasy snatches, and rose in the dawn to take Carlin out to relieve herself, flitting down the stairs as quietly as I could. I had to ask a guard to unlock the door for me, and he watched till Carlin had squatted and pissed, then ordered us indoors again, locking the door behind me.

I was sick with anxiety for the queen. Gathering up a kettle of water and some supplies, I went up to her rooms but the guards would not let me enter. I could hear angry voices inside.

‘Why would you do such a wicked thing?’ Mary cried. ‘I married you, made you my king-consort. Why would you threaten and shame me so?’

‘You denied me your bed,’ Henry shouted back, ‘stayed up playing cards half the night with that blasted Italian, let him sign papers with a stamp of my signature … I am your husband, and you promised me obedience at our wedding, and yet you will not let me be more than just your king-consort!’

‘Enough,’ Mary said. ‘Can you not see I am sick and fainting? I have not slept a wink, nor eaten. If I and my child should die, it shall be your fault and you will be left with naught. Can you not see that?’

‘What do you mean?’ Darnley’s voice was suddenly frightened.

‘Without the Crown Matrimonial, you are not my heir. If I die childless, the throne will be inherited by my cousin, the earl of Arran. You’ll be king no longer.’

‘Then give me the Crown Matrimonial!’

‘I feel ill … my head is swimming …’

Her bedroom door crashed open, and Henry rushed out, looking agitated. ‘The queen … she faints … she needs assistance!’

‘Let me attend to her!’ I cried. ‘I am one of her women, I can help her.’

‘Aye, I know the lass,’ Henry said. ‘Let her in!’

So the guards held the door open for me and I hurried in, Carlin keeping close to my side. The queen lay on her bed, white and dishevelled, still in her bloodstained gown. I ran to her and knelt beside her, chafing one of her cold hands between mine. ‘The villains!’ I said, almost in tears. ‘Could they no’ even let you wash and change?’

‘They have harangued me all night, trying to force me to pardon the rebels and make Henry my heir … but he is naught but a catspaw! As soon as I submit, they will kill me and my baby, then make him a puppet king. I must get away, Caitlín!’

‘How can I help, your Grace?’

‘If you could smuggle a message out to men I can trust …’

‘I can do that,’ I said steadily. ‘I will give your message to Lord George Graham – he is loyal to you, I ken.’

She heaved a great sigh of relief. ‘Tell him to find Lord Bothwell. He will raise an army for me.’ Her fine red brows contracted. ‘But it is too dangerous for him to try to take Holyrood back by force … I could be killed or injured in the mêlée. I dare not risk my baby’s life … oh, if only I could escape from here somehow, and ride to safety!’

‘There are guards on your door and all the ways out of the palace have been locked,’ I said. ‘But if you were to creep down the king’s secret stair tonight, when they are asleep, they wouldna ken you were gone. I could unlock the scullery door for you, I ken where the key is kept.’

She gripped my hand. ‘You would do that for me? They’ll kill you if they catch you.’

‘I will do it gladly, your Grace. But you will have to hold them off till tonight. If you were to pretend the time of the babe had come and you were too weak to walk, they would stop haranguing you, surely? Because they canna risk you dying and the babe too, till you have signed the pardons.’

‘That I can do,’ Mary said, her hands rubbing at her belly. ‘Indeed, I feel so sick and shaken, it will not be hard for me to pretend!’

‘Tell me what instructions you have for Lord Bothwell, and I will pass on the message.’

‘You are a good lass, Caitlín. One more thing you could do for me.’

‘Aye, your Grace?’ I replied, though my heart quailed at what she might ask.

‘Can you ask the king to attend me again? I must persuade him to escape with us.’