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Besides, Alinor kept her eyes lowered lest the ladies see what burned there, she longed for Simon. What lived in her memory was not the fairytale dream of love but Simon's last kiss. |
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When the news came that Richard had landed safe in Sicily, the Queen began the trek down the west of France and over the Pyrenees. They moved with surprising speed for a group led by a woman who was near seventy years of age. Alinor marveled at the Queen's strength. They traveled so swiftly that they outsped the messengers both from England and from Sicily. It was just as well that they did and that Alinor was so tired each night that she slept at once without time for a single thought or memory of a single dream. |
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They did not linger at the Court of Navarre either. This was not owing to a lack of welcome from King Sancho, who was utterly delighted at the honor done his daughter. He was prepared to wine and dine them until spring with the greatest pleasure. The Queen, however, said plainly that she wished to cross the mountains before the passes were blocked with snow. Sancho was stunned. She could probably pass the Pyrenees, he pointed out, but he hoped she would not risk his daughter in a winter passage of the Mediterranean. The Queen assured him that she had no such intention. She would cross the Alps when it was safe, but to do that in good time it would be necessary to be there, waiting for news that the passes were open. |
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It was fortunate that Alinor was not at that conference. She would have been hard put to it to keep her gravity. What the Queen thought was safe was no doubt a far cry from Sancho's ideas. In her desire for speed, the Queen had instructed the guides to take the most direct route rather than the normal trade route. Alinor recalled Beorn, white and trembling, leading her horse over trails where the beast could scarcely put all four feet on the earth at the same time. Once she had needed to dismount and walk, |
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