Windsor Castle July 1172 Henry woke first, but he did not leave me. When I turned over, and drew my hair from my eyes, I found myself cuddled close to him in my sleep, his eyes on me. I did not know that for the king to stay abed with me was a high honor. Any other woman would not have been allowed to sleep at the king’s side, but would have been sent away when he was done with her. We had broken new ground. Already, I was more than I had been. “Good morning, my lord,” I said, my voice sleepy, my eyes still heavy with dreams. Henry kissed me, his lips warm on mine. I felt his love for me behind them, and no trace of his lust¹, or mine. He kissed me, and I felt safe, safer than I had ever been. I knew that this safety was a slippery slope; I would have to tread carefully to stay in favor, move with care to stay in his good graces. But for that moment, and for as long as we were alone, I forgot all that. I would forget that he was king. He was the man I loved, the man I wanted; the man I finally had. “Good morning, Alais, Princess of France.” I kissed him back, my lips lingering over his. I wanted him to make love to me again, though he had kept me awake with love play into the early hours of the morning, his hands on my body, his body over mine. “In this room, I am no princess,” I said. “I am only yours.” Henry laughed and moved as if to draw back, but I clung to him, my hand running down his thigh², and he stayed. “You are always a princess, and I am always king.” “I know that, Henry. But here, behind the curtains of your bed, may we not be lovers, and nothing more?” “No. You know we cannot.” I drew back from him this time, for he would not join me in love play. I saw that if I was not careful, he would leave me, and deny that this night had ever happened. Then I would still be no one, with nothing, with nothing left to play for. So I used the weapon I always used with Henry when my wits and wiles³ failed: I spoke⁴ the truth. “Henry, I am a princess of France and you are King of England. We are bound by treaty to keep faith with my father, to keep the peace between our two countries, between the lands you and my father hold. I know this. Last night did not change it.” I raised myself so that I sat before him. He listened to me, and his eyes never left mine for an instant. “I have

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