Castles That Crumble

one

I walk through the huge double doors and walk into the throne room. My mother, Queen Elizabeth, waves her hand and signals for everyone to clear the room.

Once everyone has left the room, the two guards that were standing at the entrance, closed the doors.

"We have received word from Scotland." My father starts. "The Scottish prince will be coming in a weeks time. You are to marry him." I clear my throat, surprised with the news. "When am I to marry this so called prince?" My mother's posture straightens. "A week after your eighteenth birthday." I wanted to argue, I wanted to throw a fit, but instead, I bowed my head and walked out of the throne room.

♡

"Mary!" I look up from my reading and see one of my ladies in waiting coming towards me. I have three ladies in waiting. Anne, the most careful and gentle girl you'd ever meet. Victoria, a dazzling smile and loves to cause some trouble. Finally, Catherine, the shy one out of us.

When my mother was picking my ladies in waiting, I hated the idea, but now, once I actually got to know them, they aren't so bad.

"Mary, are you well?" I snap back into reality, realizing I've been zoned out for a couple minutes. "Yes, sorry, daydream. Did you need anything?" Anne takes a seat on the gold designed seat next to me. "I was just reminding you that the prince comes tomorrow. The queen sent me. I clear my throat before I start talking. "I haven't forgotten. Thanks, Anne."

I stand up and Anne rises with me. Anne bows her head to pay her respects and walks off. I let out a quiet sigh and walk into the throne room.

"Mother? Father?" My mother looks up and says goodbye to her ladies. My father on the other hand, acknowledges me, but keeps talking to the nobles. I raise an eyebrow, surprised that he's ignored me. "He's talking to some nobles about grain." I nod and turn my attention to my mother. "Are you sure I have to marry this prince? After all, we have all the armies and money we need."

My mother grabs my hand and starts rubbing it with her thumb. "I'm sorry, Mary. Sometimes we just have to do things we don't want to do, for our county. You will understand more when you become queen." I nodded, even though I wouldn't understand, I wouldn't make my children marry the prince of anything if they didn't want to. They would be able to marry whomever they wanted.

"He will be here tomorrow, early, they assume. He is bringing his friend, Harry. Please try to get along with them, I know you have a bold personality but please, try for me, our country." I give my mother a warming smile. "Yes, mama." and walk out the throne room.

I walk down the dark hallway, shadows creep me out because I'm scared of the dark but I hold my head high and walk elegantly. I keep walking until I get into one of the castles dining rooms. Our castle has many different rooms, some I'm still not familiar with.

I step into the dining room and put on a fake smile. I see that my siblings have already been seated at their assigned seats.

Every night at supper, we sit at the same seats. My mother and father on the ends, me and James on one side and Alice and Charlotte on the other.

Some days, I want to sit next to one of my sisters, but my parents always say no. They always tell me that me and James must sit on the same side because I am the eldest and James is the man, so he's the second in line to the throne.

If I were to die without a heir, the throne would go to James, instead of one of my sisters. It's always been confusing to me because James is the youngest and what does being a boy have to do with ruling England?

I snap out of my thoughts when a servant places a plate of food in front of me. "Thank you." The servant smiles and grabs the next plate of food to give to James. I notice the servants give the plates out in a certain order too. My father first, my mother next, me, James, Alice, and lastly, Charlotte.

Charlotte is the youngest of us, so sometimes she has temper tantrum's, but I chose to ignore it.

I look over at James who is devouring his food. I pick up my spoon and taste my soup. Dinner is so awkward for me because our family never has anything to talk about. Sometimes, I try to come up with questions to ask my parents, but it only fills up a little bit of table conversation.

"So, Mary. Are you excited to see the Scottish prince tomorrow?" Charlotte asks. Charlotte loves mischief, so she reminds me of my lady in waiting, Victoria, in a way. "Yes, very excited." I lied. I was scared and afraid to meet him. What if he was horrible. He's my age, but he could be a terrible person.

My father stands up and walks out of the room. I look down and see he's already finished eating. My mother stands up after him and walks with him. Soon enough, everyone is finished eating and it's just me left. I've been so focused on tomorrow that my soup has gotten cold.

I stand up and see the servants coming out to clean up. One of them picks Alice's plate up, and walks over to come pick up mine. Before she could pick the plate up, I pick it up. "Allow me." The servant hesitates but nods and carries the other five plates to the kitchen.

We work together to clean up the table, in silence. A silence that I enjoy.

Once we are done, I return to my chambers to get ready for bed. My handmaiden, Julie, gets me dressed in a nightgown and takes off my jewelry. "Thank you." Julie nods and clears her throat. "Goodnight, princess." After she closes the door I get into my soft bed and roll to sleep.