Castles That Crumble

sixteen

I get woken up by a knock at my door. "Come in." I say, still tired. The queen enters the room and I stand up, rubbing my eyes.

"What do you want?" I ask, confused on why she's here this early in the morning.

"Today may be the day you tell your father about what happened. Today may be Scotland's downfall." I look around, unsure on why she's saying this.

"So?" I ask, with attitude. "You will not walk out of this drama with my son on your arm." She snaps at me.

"Your son?" I ask, stepping towards her. The queen raises an eyebrow, and puts her hands together. She started trembling and somehow, I could see fear.

The queen fixes her posture and storms out the room.

After the queen left the room I let out a big sigh and fell back on my bed. A sigh of relief. I was going home today.

In a few hours, I'd be at my court and surrounded by people who I could actually be myself around. After all, I missed Harry.

After my sigh, I get up and do some last minute packing. The carriage to take me and Nicolas back to England court was leaving in a couple of hours.

After I finished packing I called up the servants to take my luggage. "Thank you." I say, slipping a couple pieces of gold into each of the servants hands. 

"Thank you, princess. This will feed my family for a month." One of the servants. The other servants thanked me and left, but this one stayed behind.

"Of course." I say, smiling. I loved making people happy, and since I was a royal, money didn't mean anything to me. I had everything I needed.

The servant bows and walks out of my chambers. A few seconds later, Nicolas comes in. I suddenly remember his confession yesterday and I get nervous.

"There's talk in the servants quarters that you gave some servants a little gold." He whispers in my ear.

"Yes, I hope that's okay. They were very kind with my luggage." I say, nervous that he might be mad, but instead he just smiles and takes a seat.

"You have a kind soul, Mary." He says, still smiling. "Thank you." I say, flustered.

"Well, are you ready?" He asks, standing up again. "What?" I ask, confused. "To go home." He laughs.

"Oh, sorry." I say. A conversation with him made me completely forget about what was happening today.

I still haven't decided if I want to tell my father today, I was hoping I'd decide on the carriage ride home.

I step into the carriage, grabbing Nicolas's hand for support. I take a seat on one side and watch as Nicolas takes a seat on the other.

"So, are you excited to go home?" He asks, trying to make conversation. "Yes, I can't wait to see my ladies in waiting." I say, smiling at the thought of hugging my friends in a couple hours.

"I'm most excited to see Victoria, I want to hear what kind of trouble she's gotten herself into now. Anne and Catherine are the quiet ones, so they probably won't have much news, other than gossip at court of course, but I don't care much for it, and-" I stop talking, realizing I have talked a lot in the past seconds.

"I'm sorry for talking too much." I say, with my hand covering my mouth.

"Don't apologize." Nicolas says simply. "I was listening to everything you said." I smile and look around, unsure what to say next.

Nicolas must have noticed my nervousness so he started talking instead. "You say Victoria is the trouble maker?" Nicolas asks.

"Yes, well she gets into a lot of trouble." I giggle.