Changing history

Chapter 4

France 1558

18 july

Mary Stewart, The Queen of Scots arrived with her carriage. She couldn't wait to meet her betrrothed Francis, The Dauphin of France.

She heard the sound of trumpets as the carriage rolled inside the castle walls.

"Welcome my dear" King Henrik II of France greeted her.

She courted as she answered politely, "Glad to be here, your highness" and looked around with her eyes searching for something or someone.

"Francis will come soon, I hope. I apologize for the lateness of my son".

"No! There's no need to apologize I'll be happy to wait for him".

"Is that so..." the king looked at her and then at the gates.

Mary asked him if he was waiting for someone.

"Ah-yes. The princess of Sweden is coming to visit us" he said excitedly.

"The princess of Sweden? But what could possibly the reason that she would be visiting you?"

"You'll see" the king shrugged.

And as soon as he had said that the gates opened once more. A big golden carriage arrived. On the door was the crest of The Swedish royal family. There were two lions holding a golden crown with a golden cross atop a blue pearl. On all sides of the pearl there were white pearls sitting on a rem of gold like half of a bridge connected to one blue orb. Beneath the blue pearl a red soft fabric sat. Underneath this crown a banner of blue and yellow formed a cross. On two of the four sides there were three golden crowns. On the other two there were a lion similar to those two who held the crown. Above the little crown there was a bigger one who sat upon a a red coat with fur inside.

King Henrik and Mary held their breath along with the other servants and spectators as a darkhaired little girl stepped out of the carriage. She wore a light blue gown which really fit her eyes perfectly. Long sleeves fluttered in the wind along with the veil upon her head as she walked. Her face was little and had a slight flush of excitement. Innocense yelled out all over her yet there was an aura of a queen around her.

"Your highness" the princess curtsied.

The king was absorbed in the beauty of this little girl but managed to bow back in respons. She turned to Mary and they curtsied at each other.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, your highness. I've always wanted to travel to France..." she said in french and looked behind the king at the two guys who was coming towards them.

The king turned to see what it was she was looking at only to see his unfilial son walking towards them together with his bastard. He apologized for his son's late arrival with a frown and introduced him towards her along with the rest of his family. The bastard Sebastian who's mother died in childbirth and the beautiful queen Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. After introduction the king escorted the little princess inside the castle were they went their seperate ways as Sophia's lady-in-waiting Kristina showed her to her room. Little did she know that the prince was looking her way.

Sophia felt relieved when Kristina told her that the bath was ready. She hadn't bathed for two days and felt dirty and cold. But the warm water made her feel like the journey had been worth it.

While bathing Sophia thought back to the days when she still was Lucy. When her life had been boring and she had been bullied by her classmates in school for being a nerd. But that only made her work even harder and she step by step rose to become one of the youngest people who won a Noble Prize in literature. She would do the same here in this century too. Overcome every dirty trick the court will offer her and rise to become powerful.

Francis was taking a sip from his goblet while looking at the dance floor. Many young women were eyeing him especially Mary. The only one who didn't was Sophia, the princess of Sweden. She appeared to be too busy playing Monopol together with his father, Bash and four other nobles to take a look at him. Monopol had become his father's new favorite game. Ever since he heard about it from some of his nobles he became quite curious about the game and ordered one. At first it had become quite frustrating for Henrik since he kept losing but when he became better at the rules he started winning.

Francis didn't know why he felt so attracted to her. It wasn't like he knew her at all. But it was the way she talked. She didn't speak like a normal eleven year old would do. She had many ideas and explained them so it would be more simplier for people to understand. He remembered their conversation when they were dining. Although it should have been boring to listen to politics he surprisingly couldn't help but listen. Everything that came out of her mouth was new and fun to listen at. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one who thought so. Other young men were eyeing her even though she seemed oblivious to it. Even men older than his father. He saw a young man, a son to a noble asking her something which seemed to take quite long. With a deep frown he put down his goblet and walked towards them.

"Princess, would you like to dance with me?" he asked interrupting their conversation and grabbed her hand without thinking, surprising everyone.

"Of course. I would be honoured", she said saving his face.

He escorted her out to the dance floor. He bowed and she curtsied as the new song played. Though there was a big difference between their heights they didn't have any problem dancing at all. He twirled her around the dance floor. Their eyes didn't seem to see anything but each other. Even when the music stopped they didn't stop dancing. It seemed as though they were dancing to their own melody. It was only until they heard the booming laughter of the king that they decided to stop dancing. Sophia thanked him for the dance as well like Francis did.

Meanwhile outside a broken-hearted young woman cried silently. Why didn't anyone in this world love her? Her father used to love her mother until that whore, Anne Boleyn came into picture. She used to be her father's eye stone before, that bastard Elizabeth came. Why? Just why was everything so unfair?

Suddenly a rustle caught her attention. Frigtened she moved away and was about yell guard when a hand fell over her mouth.

"Hush, calm down and don't say a word" his deep voice whispered in french.

Her heart started to beat but not out of fear. She slowly turned around to get a better look at the man holding her. Her eyes went wide as she recognized him. He was a man who had tried to propose to many of her father's wives before.

"Eric!" she exclaimed.

"Yes and you are... Mary?" his face showed an expression of suprise.

A long silence fell between them before Eric started giving her compliments about her having become a beauty and everything. She blushed and awkwardly tried to go back into the castle. But when she saw the two of them laughing at some joke she just couldn't stand it and tried to run away once again. But this time someone stopped her and comforted her in his embrace.

Eric who had lots of experience when it came to love realized why she was sad. He saw his little sister dancing with that good-for-nothing prince and became jealous. He didn't understand why she wanted to marry him so much. Besides the prince was already engaged to a now crying girl. Love truly was cruel and he of all knew that the most.