France
The men stand outside the gates of French Court, Pierre and a dozen others were snuck into the castle by the French guards loyal to them. There will hardly be a fight, only a few are loyal to King Henry and will be greatly outnumbered.
They open the gates, letting the men inside the walls many fall invincible.
"The king is in the throne room with a handful of nobles." A king's guard tells Pierre, they make their way inside and down the halls with light from the full moon seeping inside.
They stand outside the large doors of the throne room, looking to one another before they push them open and raise their swords.
"What is the meaning of this?" Henry says, reaching for his sword but a nobleman loyal to the cause knocks it out of his hand.
"Cousin, the people of France deserve a leader who is not a tyrant." Pierre says, waving his sword around.
"I will not hand over my crown."
"I know that, and so does my army."
"And my men are loyal to their king, they will crush whatever you have tried to form against me."
"Considering your guards and men here have turned to me I highly doubt that. But you are right about one thing, they are loyal to their king, and I am surely that."
Pierre cuts down the few nobleman that try to defend the weapon less Henry, but it isn't long before Pierre stands before him. "You will die, I will sit on the French throne as will my sons and their sons for generations. Your reign ends tonight."
He plunges the blade through Henry's chest, twisting and pulling it back out as Henry falls to the floor, blood puddling beneath his dead body.
Pierre drops his sword, there was no fight, a sword took one king and made another. He takes the crown from his dead cousin's head and places it on his own, sitting on the throne a tyrant still but less of one to the people.
"Long live the King!"
He smiles, and his reign has begun with a murder.
England
John and Thomas look to one another, nodding and going their separate ways; John to English Court and Thomas towards the village. Three nights ago a man killed a king and replaced him, tonight a queen will die, and one will rule three countries.
John sees her riding his way, he waits for her at the tree line as she dismounts her horse and stands before him. Beautiful, as all the stories of the Spanish Queen have said, dark hair and a face to make men fight battles for.
"Queen Castellana, a pleasure it is to finally meet you."
"You must be the man giving Thomas so much information."
"Lord John Barrow, Mary has trusted only me for decades but I can't bear to see her the way she is now."
She nods and he leads her into the darkness of the castle, through passageways into a map room. He slowly opens the door and they walk down the hall, taking a right as they stand before two great doors.
"I warn you, Castellana, what you are about to see is unsettling."
He opens the doors and she stands just outside them, peeking in at glass shattered around the floor, curtains torn down, a mangled wig and a woman with patches of gray hair in the corner.
"Mary, I heard yelling again."
"I keep seeing these faces, they taunt me, I saw what must be that Castellana's lady, her spirit walking around my room."
"You had no reason to take that poor girl's head."
"There are so many things I wish I hadn't done."
Those words, Castellana let's go of the hilt of her sword as John leaves the room for a moment, telling Mary he's going to get fresh water.
"Now, Castellana, go in there now."
"I can't kill her." She tells John simply.
"What are you talking about?"
"She's not in her right mind, she needs to know that there are no threats on her reign and perhaps she will regain her right mind, and England will flourish."
He takes in a breath and lets it out slowly, nodding. "Send her a letter, telling her you aren't a threat."
"She needs more than a promise, I will formally renounce my claim to the English throne, forever."
"Castellana, she has no heirs, the only one there is has been you."
"You and I both know that isn't true, she has her father's siblings, they have children with a claim. I will not take another monarch's life, Henry truly was a tyrant, but that woman is paranoid and tired of feeling threatened."
She turns on her heel, ignoring John as she leaves the castle, mounting her house at the tree line and riding towards the Scottish border.
YOU ARE READING
The Queen of all Spain
Historical FictionThe young Queen of Spain was hidden away as a baby after the murder of her parents as a try to take control of her country. By chance, Castellana escaped to France where she would be raised by its king, leaving Spain to await their monarch. As the...
