The Spanish Queen

II

January 17, 1561

The young queen has grown to be a respectable young lady at court. At the age of fifteen many would compare her to her mother, one of the most respectable ladies in Europe. Her father was correct, she became more beautiful as the days went by, with a strong head on her shoulders. Her mother, Isabella, tried to give her the best childhood she could at court. Although that didn't mean she wouldn't be educated on the politics of her nations. She had attended her very first council meeting at just seven years old. Now at the age of fifteen, she enjoyed the fact that people were now listening to her. They now respect her and listen to her ideologies. As mentioned before, she was remarkably beautiful, she had the Habsburg staple of long brown hair with almost green, mesmerizing eyes that she inherited from her mother. 

Her beauty was something that heavily played in her desirability when it came to looking for marriage deals. It was known that with her being a woman she needed to marry a King or crown prince, and soon. If she wanted to keep her respect and power. This did not make the Queen happy, she was always saddened by this thought, but she knew it was something she had to sacrifice.

She was of age and in search of her future husband, "My love, it is time. You cannot stay as a single Queen your entire life. Your people need to see you at least attempted to grow." It was the 100th conversation the pair had that entire week. Celeste's mother had grown rather pushy on the subject lately,"Mother I understand. I just don't see why it has to happen so soon!" Before her mother could respond she was interrupted by a nobleman, who was reading off an invitation, "Your Majesty's, the French will be hosting a Gala in a few months time. They have written three letter's in attempts to see if you and the Queen shall attend". Isabella quickly took interest in his words, "Yes, please make sure to write back and state we are very interested in attending. Will you please prepare our guards and pack our things? When will this grand gala begin?" The nobleman, who had grown into his grey beard, rolled the invite and responded to Isabella. "In three months time, your grace." She nodded indicating her acceptance, the lord bowed and walked out.

That same day the mother and daughter duo called for a meeting. The Spanish council had spoken about the trip to french court. It was no news that the young queen was in search of a husband. The French and Spanish knew exactly well what would be in store for the next three months. By this point, the young queen had no idea how quickly the thought of marriage would be detailed of. The young queen was nervous, millions of thoughts filling her head. She had no idea what would be in store for her, to take her mind off of these topics she thought about other opportunities that would be open to her. There was words, her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots was attending. She was married to Prince Francis, the 'spare' heir. This gave Celeste something to hold onto, something to look forward to. She would be meeting another girl who holds power to their name.

The pair of royals were walking through the gardens, the Celeste despised silence when it came from her mother, but she took the brave step and interrupted the silence, "I'm guessing Elisabeth will be attending the gala as well?" Her mother mother chuckled at the sound of her name. Isabella never liked her, and Elisabeth showed her true colors when she expected something of Spain when the Queen's eldest son died. Elisabeth was angered that Spanish family would not offer her anything else, the family attempted to offer a small piece of land and a title, given that the two were not married for very long or had any children.. "Well I suppose so.. You shouldn't worry about her. Just keep your distance, we want the best for Spain, and that is to have a strong alliance with France."