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Together, they went to the great hall, which was packed with families and nobility trying to edge their way to the front. However much they might disagree with the empress, being present at a coronation was not an event to miss, and many were dressed in their finery.

Bronwyn spotted jewels and necklaces on women to dazzle the eye, soft silks and satin that clung to bodices and shapely calves, whilst the men looked on and laughed, conversations going on all around them as the noise in the abbey rose to a clamor and people angled to get the best seats.

Then there were trumpets, drums, and great fanfare as everyone rose to see. Bronwyn and Lady Alice were shoved out of the way, moving to the side as people shuffled back to let the procession pass.

“Come, we’ll join it,” Lady Alice said. “Look, there’s Lady Susanna. We’ll join her at the front.”

“What?”

“Bow your head and at the end, fall in line behind them. We’ll have a better view from the front if we’re part of the parade.”

“All right, but you’re out of your mind.”

“No more than you, going along with Lady Morwenna to a jail cell. What were you thinking?”

Bronwyn reddened. “I wasn’t.” She paused. “I wanted to know the truth. I knew it was risky, but I didn’t think until it was too late that I might be in any real danger. I never thought she could hurt me. I was—”

“Too full of yourself, clearly,” Lady Alice snapped. “Sorry. I would’ve gone after her too. I’m just glad I was there to rescue you.”

“Thank you,” Bronwyn rasped.

The procession filed past. The empress wore a white, satiny gown that shimmered in the light.

The effect made her look angelic and almost holy, and her long hair had been combed out to cascade down her back in silken waves.

She wore a deep-red cloak trimmed with ermine and shot Lady Alice and Bronwyn a questioning look as she walked by, but then paid little notice.

The trumpets and horns blared the signal for people to watch, and Bronwyn could hear the roar of people outside cheering. To say it was loud was an understatement; the horses and people outside sounded like a swell of noise, a cacophony of sound.

Then Lady Alice grabbed her hand and whispered, “Keep your head bowed and keep pace with me. It’s strange—I don’t see Rupert or Theobold anywhere.”

They joined the end of the procession, their heads bowed as if in prayer.

Bronwyn and Lady Alice followed a small procession of servants and pages dressed in bright livery who held banners and flags.

Soon they were led up to the front and stood off to the sides of the group surrounding the throne, just thirty feet away from the empress.

The horns and drums rose to a crescendo and then stopped as Henry of Blois and members of the clergy began the ceremony.

Bronwyn stood, looking around the crowd. She couldn’t see the crown anywhere, and the room was very warm. The abbey was stuffed full of people and quiet, despite the noise from outside. The abbey doors soon shut, sealing the group in.

The bishop intoned from a great book, and sometime later, the empress was handed a rod and scepter, and gave many oaths to look after the people and counties of England.

Bronwyn felt her eyes getting drowsy and had begun wavering on her feet when Lady Alice elbowed her in the gut, jolting her awake.

“Look,” Lady Alice whispered.

Sir Ranulf approached, holding the crown on a pillow, a smile on his face as he walked toward the empress.

Time slowed, and to Bronwyn, it felt as if she were trying to run through mud. She saw him get ever closer and she shoved and pushed her way past people, calling, “Stop! Stop the crown! It’s poison!”

People stopped and stared at her. Sir Ranulf froze and, flashing a look of annoyance, continued to approach.

Bronwyn’s arms were gripped by two men, but she kicked one and head-butted the other, slipping from their grasp. She got away and, stumbling on her hands and knees, flew toward the raised dais, where the empress was on her knees before the bishop, who stared at her in dismay.

Bronwyn and Lady Alice together charged at Sir Ranulf. Bronwyn shoved a guard away and was tripped by another, when Sir Robert stepped in and shoved one aside, letting her pass. Bronwyn dodged, finally knocking into Sir Ranulf with her shoulder.

It wasn’t much force, but it was enough, and he stumbled, the crown flying from the pillow. The crowd of nobility gasped and shouted, people called out for her head, but all Bronwyn could see was the golden crown, lying on the floor. A servant went to pick it up.

“Don’t touch it! It’s been poisoned.”

The servant paused.

“You stupid girl,” Sir Ranulf backhanded her across the face, making her ears ring with the force of his gloved hand across her cheeks.

Gasps rang out at the sight of him striking her. She fell back, staggering, and Sir Robert caught her. “I’ve got you,” he said, holding her up. His tone was calm, but his hand gripped her arm. She wasn’t going anywhere, she realized.

“Stop him. The crown,” Bronwyn rasped.

“What is going on? What is that girl talking about?” the bishop asked.

Lady Alice said, “The crown has been tampered with. It’s a plot by Sir Bors to kill the empress.”

People looked over.

Sir Ranulf snorted. “The girl is telling tales, Empress. And just where is Bors now?”

“We’ve locked him in a cell in the castle. He tried to kill Bronwyn. She figured it out,” Lady Alice said.

“Figured out what? We are in a ceremony, young woman,” the bishop said angrily.

Empress Maud held up a hand. “I would hear what they have to say. Ladies, come here.”

Sir Robert released Bronwyn’s arm, and she and Lady Alice approached the empress.

“Tell me what you have found,” Empress Maud said.

Bronwyn croaked, “Sir Bors was part of a plot from the start, to use the battle at the beginning to steal the crown. If you had no crown to be crowned with, there couldn’t be a coronation.

He used the opportunity to steal it, but he and Lady Morwenna were interrupted.

” “What happened to your voice? And Lady Morwenna? What has she to do with this? Lady Susanna, where is Lady Morwenna?” Empress Maud gazed around the room.

“I don’t see her. Funny, I don’t see those squires, either.

” She glared at Sir Robert and Sir Ranulf.

There was a scuffle, and a lot of shouting as Theobold shouted, “Let us through. I am squire to Sir Robert of Gloucester!”

“And I am squire to Sir Ranulf de Gernon.”

Lady Alice looked at Bronwyn and practically cheered. “Rupert.”

Bronwyn grinned.

The voices carried, and grew nearer. “I don’t care who you are. Both of you are ruining the empress’s coronation,” a clergyman said.

The squires, followed by a few angry nobles and clergymen, interrupted the procession and made their way to the front. The clergyman bowed and said, “I’m terribly sorry, Your Grace, but these two men—”

“Enough.” Empress Maud held up a hand. “Let them approach. I know them.” She glared at the squires. “Why did you decide to come late and interrupt my coronation?”

Theobold bowed. “Apologies, Your Grace. We were locked in where you keep the crown. It’s gone missing.”

“You were careless with the keys?” Sir Ranulf grinned and a few men laughed.

“No, Your Grace,” Rupert said. “We found the crown gone when someone locked us in. We had to force our way out.”

“I see. Theobold, why on earth didn’t you tell me what you’d discovered about the crown?

I tasked you with finding the blasted thing and you didn’t.

Then it was poisoned and I almost died. I’ve lost too many good people now, thanks to your incompetence.

And now you’ve let yourself get locked in a room?

What is wrong with you?” The empress seethed.

Theobold swallowed and inclined his head. “Your Grace, I…… We knew it had been stolen and then returned but didn’t know who was behind it. We had suspects, of course, but no real proof. Not until now. I have been working with Mistress Bronwyn to find out.”

“And yet I told you to keep an eye on her in the first place.” She rolled her eyes and let out a noise. “You’re as bad as my guards. Well, while you two squires were breaking down doors, I was hearing how Lady Morwenna was supposedly involved in all of this.” To Bronwyn, she said, “Pray, continue.”

Bronwyn spared a glance at Theobold, who looked at her stonily. She said, “The night of the battle outside Lincoln, Lady Morwenna was stealing the crown whilst Sir Bors killed the guard. But Lady Eleanor caught them, so he killed her.”

“What proof have you of this?” the empress asked.

“None. The girl lies, Empress,” Sir Ranulf said.

Bronwyn glanced at him. Why was he so keen to defend Sir Bors and Lady Morwenna and put the crown on the empress’s head? She noted he was wearing gloves. Perhaps he was in on the plot too.

“He killed her with a garrote and hid it in Sir Robert’s things to try to accuse him later on the road to Winchester. But it was disposed of, and he used another to try to kill me, earlier today,” Bronwyn croaked, coughing.

“It’s true,” said Lady Alice. “This morning, Lady Morwenna led her to a cell and confirmed it when Bronwyn revealed what she knew. Sir Bors tried to kill Bronwyn, and Lady Morwenna would have just let it happen, if I hadn’t saved her.”

“How did you do that?” Empress Maud asked.

“Hit him with a chair leg. He’s in the cell now. Lady Morwenna fled.”

“Guards, go investigate the cells and bring him to me.” Empress Maud turned to the young women. “So it was the two of them behind this?”

Bronwyn coughed and rasped, “Not entirely. I think she was working with someone, not just Sir Bors. He’s not smart enough to do this on his own.

But Lady Morwenna’s perfume could be smelled in the tent where I found Lady Eleanor, and again in the healer’s stores when it was broken into and the monkshood taken.

It was easy for her to steal a needle, and she affixed the poisoned needle to the crown with tree sap. ”