Chapter 53
A soft knock on the prince’s bedchamber door woke me. It was dark outside, and hours had passed, for only one remaining night candle shed a pinpoint of light.
Cal was already on his feet and dressed in warm and casual garments, the kind a man would wear in front of his wife. He told me, “Lord Romeo has been informed of our marriage. Friar Laurence told him, and your father has arrived to take you home … one last time.”
I blushed to know Papà would see me and know what had happened between Cal and me. Although why? It wasn’t as if Papà was abashed at having all of Verona that was in earshot know what acts he and Mamma performed in the night.
Cal helped me to rise, although I grumbled at the cold air, which even in this grand room caused my breath to puff white.
He played lady’s maid, braiding my hair, dressing me as efficiently as he had undressed me.
He wrapped me in my velvet cloak, which he had warmed close to the brazier, and I huddled into it with much pleasure.
“Earlier, while you were sleeping, I sent for a report on Lysander.”
I looked up sharply. “Is all well?”
“Well? No. He’s in pain, he’ll be scarred by the flames and, as Friar Laurence said, he’s blind in one eye.
” Cal took my left hand in his. “But already the other eye is clearing, and Friar Laurence assures me he’ll live.
We’ll care for him, Rosie, until he’s well again. He saved you, and I will never forget.”
I sighed softly and said a prayer of gratitude for the life of my One True Friend, Lysander.
Cal reached into the bag that hung on his belt, and he withdrew a small, ornately carved wooden box, polished to a rich sheen, a marriage box.
He flipped open the top, and inside, nestled on a bed of satin, was a ring I’d worn before, for one night only, his mother’s ring, a ring of unmatchable brilliant diamonds from fabled India, each shaped like two pyramids joined at the base, polished in the new way and set in figured gold. “Do you recognize this ring?”
“I do.” An appropriate response.
“Do you remember what I told you about these diamonds?”
Of course I remembered. That night, the night Prince Escalus entrapped me in a betrothal, had turned into its own midnight adventure created of scandal, promises, and revelations.
I recited, “Formed in the Garden of Eden before the Fall, diamonds are unbreakable and so hard they cannot be cut. You said God created diamonds in this shape and with no color, brilliant, clear, a symbol of purity.” I stumbled over the last word, then rushed on.
“These stones will ward off evil, destroy the effects of poison, and lend strength to a warrior.”
He corrected me. “I said, ‘A warrior such as yourself.’”
“So you did.”
“Yesterday, and every day, you have proved yourself.” He stood very close, close enough for me to breathe in the scent of Prince Escalus and know he’d marked me as his own.
“Even if I do run into danger?” His stated opinion, not mine.
“I’ll keep you close and teach you to walk.” He sounded sincere.
I bristled. He had seized the right to do with me as he wished, and had seduced me until I now knew how sweet life with Cal could be. Would I wish to change and become a proper princess, silent, anonymous, the ideal wife?
Cal cracked a smile, an almost real smile, with lifts on each side of his lips.
“The look on your face! Rosie, I have no wish to domesticate the lion’s mate.
I desire the unique creature that I captured.
But you will allow me to race with you, neck and neck, together, and defend you with my sword and hold you close to my heart.
” He put the open box into my right hand.
After taking my left hand, he plucked up the ring and slid it onto my fourth finger, the one with the vein, the vena amoris, that led directly to my heart.
I swallowed and looked up at Cal.
He tapped the large diamond, which sparkled like a phoenix in a nest of canaries, magnifying the beauty of the rest. “What can you tell me about this diamond?”
“This diamond is God’s perfect creation, signifying divinity, spiritual union, and … love.”
“Yes. My love for you. Your love for me. Forever.” Lifting my hand to his mouth, he pressed his lips to the finger where the ring now resided.
Then, as he had once before, on the night of our betrothal, he turned my hand and kissed the palm and folded my fingers over it.
He whispered, “We meet again at the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore.” He helped me don my gloves.
He pulled a new fur hat over my head, one that fit tightly over my ears, and tied the ribbons under my chin.
“To keep you warm today and all winter long,” he told me.
After opening the door, he ushered me into the corridor, where Papà waited, thankfully alone.
As if Cal wasn’t standing right there, Papà asked, “Dear child, you’re happy?”
I blushed from head to toe, looked down at the floor, nodded, and smiled shyly. “The romantic legend of Romeo and Juliet has been vanquished by the love between Prince Escalus and Princess Rosaline.”
The two men shook hands, and Papà said fiercely, “You take care of my daughter!” Then they embraced, and then they looked embarrassed.
Men.
Papà gave me his arm, and we walked away down the conspicuously empty corridor, and I glanced back to see Cal watching, with an expression I now recognized as determined. Determined that I’d come back and stay, I suppose, but while Cal was an unfolding enigma to me, he was still an enigma.
We stepped out into the frigid air.
“I wish it would snow,” Papà said, as had everyone for days on end.
“Yes.” I wasn’t really paying attention. “If it warms up to snow, Verona would shiver less and laugh more.” I looked up at the sky, and not for the first time, I said, “There are no stars, and it smells like snow.”
Dawn was merely a faint light in the cloudy eastern sky.
Today was the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and this morning I would publicly marry Prince Escalus the younger on the steps of the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore for all Verona to see, and for the first time, I truly felt like a happy bride.