The Book of Sofia - Prologue

Roselle carefully carried the flagon of wine into the bath chamber of her master. She quietly sat down the flagon beside the meat and bread. Earlier that night, she was abruptly woken up by a servant boy at the commands of her mistress. Her lord master had returned home from a war. In the middle of the night and no welcome feast, she thought as she rubbed off her sleepiness. The servant boy gossiped to her that their master came home upon the message that his beloved wife, Lady Leonelle, was being held hostage by his enemies at his own residence. Only that the message was false and that Lady Leonelle was safely in her bed chamber.

Roselle stepped outside the bath chamber while more handmaids carried buckets of scalding hot water for her lord master’s bath. Her lord master, the great general Lord Claus, was finally home after 3 years of being away, at war with the Hidzaps. And the general wanted his wife’s company in the bath chamber.

Serving as Lady Leonelle’s handmaid, Roselle had to be careful of what she says or what she sees. She told herself not to remember what Lady Leonelle was doing when she was summoned to her lady’s bed chamber. My dear master Lord Claus loves his wife, he loves her enough to give up his kingdom for her, Roselle reminded herself. She told herself to forget that Lady Leonelle ordered her to sneak a naked man out of her bed, and to stall her master at the hall while she dressed.

There were splashes of water, sounds of moaning and grunting. Roselle blushed. It was not the first time Lord Claus and Lady Leonelle made love in the bath chamber. Roselle stood outside the bath chamber, thinking of her master’s love for his wife. I would never betray my Lord Claus, if only you would have me, she fantasized.

Lord Claus was the prince of the Storm Lands, born as the sole heir to King Clintus. But in his teens, Lord Claus fell in love with a common girl, a baseborn daughter of a kitchen wench. He married Leonelle and denounced his claims to his father’s kingdom. Out of rage, King Clintus disowned Claus in court. But Claus worked his way up the military rank, defeated great armies, conquered foreign lands and came home celebrated as the greatest general the Storm Lands had ever had.

Roselle’s trance was broken by a loud clang of the wine flagon onto the ground. Roselle stood up alerted. A few armored men walked into the bath chamber. One of the men put a knife to her neck and dragged her into the bed chamber.

Roselle was scared. Are these men assassins? Are they Lord Claus’ enemies? Are they going to kill me?

“My lady, you had done well,” the leader of the armored men said.

“My Lord Visius, I deliver to you the great Lord Claus, weak and naked in his bath,” Lady Leonelle laughed as she pulled her silk gown over her wet shoulder to cover her bare breasts.

Lord Claus sat slumped in the huge tub, eyes wide open with confusion, but too weak to move. He had been poisoned. By the woman he loved. The woman he raised from ground to be his wife.

“Why?” Lord Claus mouthed.

“Why?” Lady Leonelle snickered. “I like to win. Dear Lord Claus, you are fighting on the losing side of the war. The Hidzaps are winning. They have been raiding the Storm Lands while you are holding sieges, too soft-hearted to kill.”

“I raised you from the ground,” Lord Claus’ eyes were full of betrayal.

“Exactly. When you lose, or when you die, what do you think will happen to me? Your father will kill me. Or worse than that, I will go back to scrubbing pots and fetching water for mi’lady’s feet. I have risen too high to fall back to the hole where I came from. I am sorry my love, I am surrendering you to your enemies.”

Standing next to the door, Roselle was shaking in fear. Should she run to the hall, she might be able to call the guards and save her lord’s life. She pushed away the knife at her neck, swung a kick at the groin of her captor and ran like she never ran before. 

Her feet throbbed from hitting the metal armor. Yet, she ran. She ran to the hall as fast as she could. Then she fell. Paralysing fear engulfed her as she felt sticky liquid the smell of copper seeped through her clothes and filled her nose and mouth. She coughed. 

Blood, she thought, why is blood coming out of me?