Nicholas stepped away toward the door, already done with her for the moment. "Prepare," he added over his shoulder. "The bidding begins in an hour."
Then he left. The breath she had been holding collapsed out of her in a trembling gasp. Her knees gave slightly.
Tears came fast, slipping down her cheeks as she bent forward. An hour. That was all she had.
Jane's gentleman client hadn't come. No help was coming. No miracle. Who would claim her tonight?
A merchant? A noble? Her stomach twisted painfully. Would he at least be presentable? Would he smell of anything other than ale and rot? Would his breath be something she could endure without flinching?
If there was a God, He would grant her small mercies.
*****
That night, Lady Bella made her way through the quiet corridors of the palace after ensuring her infant son was finally asleep in the nursery under the care of his wet nurse. The building had shifted into its nocturnal stillness—stone halls cooled by the night air, torches reduced to a softer glow, and servants moving between duties.
The royal library was a place usually reserved for the occasional minister seeking counsel from dusty volumes. As Bella arrived, the librarian was already moving through the shelves with a long pole, lowering the last of the lamps.
"Lady Bella!" he said immediately, startled, and bowed with hurried respect, unsure whether she belonged in a place of learning at such an hour.
"I believe you are the librarian," she replied calmly, folding her hands in front of her.
"Yes, my lady. How may I be of service?"
A brief silence followed. The librarian's expression tightened with curiosity, waiting for a request involving genealogy records, court histories, or perhaps a translation of a text.
Instead, Bella said, "I would like a book on how to please the king."
"Pardon me?"
"A book. On courtly intimacy and how best to… satisfy royal expectations."
The librarian hesitated, glancing toward the shelves looking for an offering of escape from the conversation. "My lady… you are the king's favourite. It is widely said your presence alone secures his attention. Surely you already—"
"That is not the point," she interrupted gently. "More knowledge would be useful. The king has shown interest in what I have been reading lately."
The king's attention had shifted in unsettling ways. He no longer responded to her presence with the same certainty he once had.
Her short trip to the king's private chambers had been riddling her mind. In the past, the king would barely take a breath after she curtsied before ravishing her, burying his face between her generous breasts and fucking her till she was out of breath.
That night, the king had been… different. Bella could not name it properly, and that unsettled her.
Disinterested, yes. Detached, certainly. His mind had been elsewhere entirely. And instead of reaching for her as he always had, he had asked about books. Books.
Bella walked behind the librarian, her fingers lightly brushing the spines of volumes as they passed, her thoughts circling back to that moment again and again.
He had not looked at her the same way. Perhaps he wanted something new. Something different. Something she had not yet given him. She had always been enough before—more than enough, if the whispers in court were to be believed.
What else could there possibly be?
"Uhm…" the librarian muttered ahead of her, holding his oil lamp a little higher as they moved deeper into the back of the library. The shelves here were older, less organised, the books worn from age rather than use. "What you seek is… not exactly common reading, my lady."
Bella said nothing, simply following.
"It is more like a… picture book," he added awkwardly.
Bella raised a brow slightly. "Whatever there is," she said.
The librarian hesitated briefly before stepping toward a lower shelf tucked away behind a column. He reached in and pulled out a book bound in darker leather than the others, its surface worn smooth by time and handling. He turned and handed it to her.
"I believe this would do, my lady."
Bella took it. It was heavier than she expected. Her fingers traced the edge of the cover for a brief moment before she began to open it.
But the librarian moved quickly.
"My lady," he said, stepping slightly closer, "this is not a book you want to look at in the presence of a man."
"Oh… of course. I'll bid you good night then," Lady Bella said.
"Good night, my lady," the librarian replied, bowing again—this time with a touch more relief.
Bella offered a small, polite smile, clutching the book a little closer to her chest, and turned to leave. The soft rustle of her gown echoed faintly through the quiet library as she retraced her steps, the flickering lamplight casting long shadows behind her. She could feel the weight of the book in her hands. Whatever lay inside those pages was something she had not yet encountered—something the king might expect, something she might need to understand if she was to keep her place.
Nothing at court was permanent. She would learn. Whatever it took. The librarian watched her go, the faint echo of her footsteps fading into the distance before he finally allowed himself to relax.
He let out a long sigh. "What is it with the nobles and books lately?" he muttered to himself.
First the king. Now Lady Bella. It was as though the entire court had suddenly discovered curiosity all at once—and chosen his quiet, orderly library as the place to indulge it.
He glanced back at the shelf where the book had been taken from, shaking his head faintly. "I wonder who will walk in next," he murmured. He extinguished the last of the lamps.
*****
Theodora walked down the corridor toward the king's chambers. Behind her followed two young noble ladies, their gowns rich but their faces betraying nerves they could not fully hide.