Both women wore English gowns and Charlet was still glaring at the guard when Anna pulled her away by the elbow. She stopped midway to the king and began to curtsey.
But not Charlet. She marched straight up to the king and stopped only two feet from him. "I would honor you with a curtsy, but I am too furious to do it."
The king smiled. Her mother once said the same thing. She was just as lovely as Anna said and he stared at her face for several moments. Yes, he could see his sweet sister's resemblance in her child.
Charlet sneered, "Which of these mules is your nephew?"
A man of twenty sitting next to the king stood up. "I am the king's nephew. What do you want?"
"I want to strangle you!" She walked closer and looked him in the eye. "Do not pretend you do not know who I am."
"My lady, I do not know who you are."
"Then it is time we met. You tried to have me killed and I suspect you are responsible for the death of my real parents … and the ones who raised me. You had their cottage set on fire trying to kill me, but I lived."
The king was aghast and signaled for his guard. But when the guard surrounded Charlet, he said, "Not her, him!" Two of his guards grabbed his nephew under the arms. Then the king turned back to his niece. "Have you any proof?"
Charlet opened the palm of her hand and then unfolded the letter. She handed it to the king and stepped back. She watched him read it and saw the fury building in him. The king turned his angry eyes on his nephew. "Take him away. He will die for this."
"Nay!" the nephew screamed. "Uncle, it is a mistake. I have done nothing, I swear it!" He was still screaming after the guards carried him out the door and then all the way across the king's courtyard.
Finally, the king motioned for Charlet to come closer. "I have longed to see you and now you are here at last. Will you stay and talk with me?"
She noticed for the first time the many eyes watching her and turned all the way around to see them. Some smiled, some looked stoic, and others had dropped jaws. She wondered if she should tell them who she was and then decided she would. "I am Charlet, daughter of..." She turned to the king for help.
"You are the daughter of Austin and Victoria, my sister. And you are next in line to the throne of England." He heard the gasps from the crowd and turned to them. "You will honor my niece, protect her and see that she has all she desires."