Reign

Marriage

Cecily walked through the garden in the yards of French Court in her fur hat and fur cover up, with a glass of wine in hand. It was a very chilly spring day, but the sun was shining giving a glimpse of warmth. There were a few others taking a stroll on this beautiful day, but Cecily found herself alone this afternoon, which seemed to be a normality for her these past few months. Aside from her occasional lunches with Lola, Kenna and Greer that tended to be a little awkward since she they were Queen Mary's ladies, or 'family' dinners with Lord Edward and his daughters which she dreaded simply because their side comments and subtle remarks on the events that had taken place recently. Cecily had decided to ignore and disregard her stepsister's attempts to pain her. She held her head high, even if it meant she needed some liquid courage to help... Which Cecily had seemed to want most days. It was her only way to numb the pain of everything she had gone through recently.

King Henry was currently in Rome to persuade the Vatican to legitimize Bash his bastard son and Cecily's ex-lover, who was now engaged to Mary, Queen of Scots. Bash acted as regent in his absence, since the mad King had his ever so hateful wife Queen Katherine locked away for her attempts to displace Bash. Francis was currently off enjoying the life he never got to have that he envied Bash for. He could now leave the castle freely with unimaginable wealth to do as he pleased as Bash had done his whole life. Francis never could since his life was of the utmost importance to the Valois line, being the next heir to the French throne. But, since the line of succession was going to change, Francis' life suddenly became of unimportance.

Although Cecily was happy Francis could leave and not have to witness his brother parade around with his ex-fiancé, she did wish he was still here. Cecily wanted someone to talk to who could relate to the heart break she was experiencing, although she did her very best to avoid Bash and Mary at all cost. She attended parties for only a very short time or skipped it all together, and had servants update them on their whereabouts so she knew where to not go.

Cecily had chosen to have all of her things moved to the new chambers provided to her by Francis. Cecily felt better there, even though Francis was gone.

She had been walking the bare gardens for an hour or so, when Lord Edwards envoy approached her to tell her that he requested her presence.

"Oh joy," Cecily said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and finished her glass of wine, handing the empty glass to the envoy only to strut past him. The envoy looked quit confused as he looked at the glass in his hand.

You could say her attitude to the world had changed a little, and she had almost given up completely on caring what others thought. Most days the wine had her in a decent mood, but sometimes a bit too honest and blunt for a lady of her station.

She walked down the long halls until she reached Lord Edwards chambers and she entered to see him sitting at his desk, as normal.

"You summoned me?" She asked.

"Yes, I have received a letter from your grandmother," He told her with a flat tone, leaving Cecily to wonder.

"And?" She replied, annoyed.

"She is gravely ill. She claims the physicians give her less than half a year of life left," He told her, acting as if he almost cared.

Cecily wanted to feel sad, truly, but she couldn't bring herself to worry, or even shed a tear. She wondered if it was her grandmothers tough love, or all the alcohol she had consumed today which made her feel this way.

"How sad," She pretended to feel some remorse as she turned to look out the window in front of her step father, who unfortunately would still control Cecily's funds... Which meant Cecily would probably never marry, and if she didn't leave them to him, they would go to the highest bidder leaving Cecily with barely anything. Either way Cecily knew she was screwed.