‘The Shepherdess: Intrigue’ by JM Landels

The Queen was a tiny woman, whose feet rested on a gilded footstool beneath the stiff skirts of her old-fashioned Spanish-style dress. With a miniscule silver fork, she plucked a morsel from the bowl of coquilles Saint Jacques at her side and slipped it between fleshy lips. She put down the fork with deliberate care and at last motioned me forward.

I approached, curtseyed, and willed my stomach not to revolt at the smell of the seafood. The ground oyster shell that Madame had dusted over my face tickled my nose, and the cochineal on my lips doubled my inclination to sneeze. I bit my lip to stop the sneeze, and the taste of rouge nearly made me vomit instead.

Michel had already made the introduction, so there was nothing I needed to say as the little Queen appraised me. She addressed her questions to him.

“Is she skilled with the needle?” She pronounced it a-gual with her Spanish accent, so I barely understood her.

Michel cleared his throat. “I believe the sisters valued her work in the garden above all.”

She eyed me again. “Odd work for the daughter of a noble family.”

I responded before Michel could dig me further into a hole out of which I would not be able to clamber.

“The herb and flower gardens, Your Majesty,” I said, mimicking Michel’s accent as best I could. “I … made creams and healing salves.” I could at least make a balm for a ewe with a sore udder, but this still left her unimpressed. “Powders and colours for the faces and hands of noble ladies.” Another partial truth. But how hard could it be to grind up seashells and add pigments to my lanolin mixtures?

She sniffed. “A young lady should be taught to sew, to sing, and to dance.”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” interjected Michel. “Which is why, with the passing of our beloved parents and her education falling to me, I have brought her here for the improvement of her mind and soul.”

Marie-Therese extended a be-ringed hand. “I shall contemplate it, Chevalier.”

I took the childlike fingers and kissed the air above them as Michel had instructed, noticing the redness of the knuckles and the chafing where the rings bit into flesh. I could fix that, I thought, given the chance.