Rock Valley

“Annabel?” a soft voice was whispering in the distance.
“Annabel is something wrong?” the voice came closer and sounded somewhat distressed.

“Annabel, please wake up!” the firmness in the sound of the voice made Annabel Tudor open her eyes. The world was spinning around her as she abruptly realized where she was.

She was home. And home was where her children were, where all the work was. Home was where her husband had left her, months ago, to be dropped off at the border by the royal guards. Home was where the young woman, proclaimed to be a widow, had struggled to support her four children and keep the household running. Home was where she had tried not to hear the whispering voices of the servants and the commoners who walked by, watching the swollen figure of the wife of Alderic, the rapist. Home was where she had spend most of her nights crying for what she believed she had, but realized she would never possess, a loving husband, a happy family, security.

And home was where she had finally collapsed on the bench by the fire, exhausted from the housework, the caring for her twins, Clothar and Fredegar, Sigibert, the toddler and her one year old baby son Arbogast while heavily pregnant with her fifth child.

Somehow she managed to push herself in an upright position without vomiting. The morning sickness she had experienced with the first four of her children had turned into a full day sickness with this one and her stomach seemed not to be able to control itself.

“Elaine… I…” Annabel felt ashamed by her appearance as she saw her sister in law, the queen of Lothian sit in front of the blazing fire. It was already cold outside, even though it was merely October. Annabel tried to straighten her hair and unwrinkle her dress, but the worn, dirty housedress was simply beyond saving and her hair, once her pride and glory, hung greasy and limp around her face, shining not from proper care but from the sweat and dirt accumulated in its locks.

“You look like hell sister.” Elaine spoke softly. She understood why any woman would lose herself, after all Annabel had gone through, but when her ladies maid had whispered in her ear the other day that there was a lot of gossip going around about the state of the king’s own sister in law, she had to intervene.

“Elaine, please…” Annabel pleaded for mercy. She knew what the queen must think of her and of her husband, after what Alderick had done to the princess, but she did not need her disapproval right now.

“I can’t let you do this to yourself Annabel. You need help. And I am here to provide just that.”
“Help?” Annabel frowned upon those words. “I can handle things” she spoke softly, frightened all of the sudden of losing her children once the queen would notice the state of the rest of the house. She had but one servant left, as she could not afford more and the woman and she had been working hard trying to keep up with the housework, but there was simply too much to do.

“Look at you.” Elaine continued. “Sister, you look as if you haven’t bathed in weeks. I’m sorry to say this, but I could smell you before I saw you and…” she looked at the other woman’s chest “It looks like you have been neglecting your youngest Annabel. When was the last time you fed Arbogast?”

Annabel suddenly realized how this must look. She could hear her youngest two crying upstairs, probably hungry and wet. Her kitchen was as filthy as her gown and indeed, she had forgotten to feed her baby, causing her breast to leak heavily into her gown, causing two large wet spots. Tears prickled behind her eyes and she left the sitting room without speaking a single word and entered the kitchen where she let them flow freely over her stained cheeks

Elaine gave her a moment to herself before following her into the kitchen, ordering her ladies in waiting to remain in the sitting room.
She held the other woman until Annabel had shed all the tears she had to shed and then spoke softly, as if to a child.

“There is a bath waiting for you upstairs. My maid will help you wash your hair. I brought a few gowns along from when I was expecting Eachann, you can use them better than I can right now. Don’t worry about the children, I brought one of the nurses along to stay until that little one in there is off the breast and ready to conquer the world of solid foods. And I’ll be leaving you a cook and two men to look after the animals and the grounds. Gawen has decided to give you Aldericks allowance, but since the boys are to young to do the finances, our own steward will help you out until you know how to do it yourself.”

Annabel looked at her sister and felt nothing but gratitude. Once more, Elaine had foreseen all she could possibly ever need in the future, until her twin sons were old enough to run the estate by themselves.
“Annabel, there is one last thing. Perhaps you won’t like it, but understand that it took Gawen a lot of tears and pain to do it. Alderick has been proclaimed officially dead, so your marriage to him as ended. If he ever returns here, the soldiers will certainly kill him for real.”

Annabel merely nodded her head. She understood why the king had to do that, given what her husband had been up to in the past. She would never hold it against him for he had only their best interest at heart.

Annabel was soaking in the hot water. The queen’s body servant had perfumed the water with roseleaves and had added plenty of soap, making it a hot bubbly bath. Her hair had been washed four times and rinsed with vinegar to make it shine and she had been scrubbed head to toe, making her skin feel like her youngest son’s bottom.

As she relaxed in the warm bath, she could hear the servants running around the house, cleaning out the fireplaces, washing the children and cleaning up.

By the time the water had gone cold, Annabel had shed her last tear. She felt reborn, even though her face still bore the marks of her suffering. Her eyes were still puffy and red, but she knew she would be better soon. A maid rushed in with a heated cloth to dry her off and as the woman gently dried her ladies swollen stomach, Annabel could feel her unborn child move towards where the hands of the servant were patting her skin. She smiled. This would be her last child, but it would be the first one she would be able to raise in a loving, carefree home.

The woman brushed her hair until it was dry and silky and then put it up, adorning it with the jewels that had since long belonged to the Tudor family.
Then Annabel was dressed in one of the gowns Elaine had brought for her, made especially to fit her expanded midriff.

As she descended the stairs into her clean living room, Annabel felt remarkably better. She sat herself down next to Elaine, who had finished a needlework that had been lying around the living room for months; it was a dress for the new baby, with animals along the trim.
Annabel closed her eyes. She could hear the busy sounds of a household in working order. The nurse was upstairs, playing with her sons. The cook had started supper and the sweet smell of pie was entering the sitting room. Outside, she could hear the groom scolding the dogs for burying his brush before he returned to the stable to tend to the horses.
“How are you feeling?” Elaine asked softly as she opened up her eyes.

For the first time in months, a smile appeared on Annabel’s face. “Well. I feel well.” She said and Elaine truly believed her.