An Old Alliance, A Renewed Love

Chapter 4

A/N: So since it's my birthday I figured why not spam y'all with some chapters! Have Fun!

I heard my door open. It was a servant girl bringing in my breakfast. I smiled at her as she placed the tray down and curtsied to me. She addressed me in a sweet small voice, "King Francis picked out your breakfast, your Majesty. I hope that's alright." I nodded. "Anything else I can get you, Your Grace?"

"Yes. I would like to know your name, if that's alright." I tried to say it as sweetly as possible and with a gentle smile on my face.

"Annette,  Your Grace." She smiled nervously, curtsied and backed out of my room.

I like this Annette, she didn't hover or ask a billion times over if she could do this or that. My servants back home knew that I liked to do things myself, it was a trait I had inherited from Father. He made his servants his closest friends, and he took time to understand all of our people not just the ones in fancy linen. I tried to do so as well, I also tried to make my servants lives easier by doing things on my own. Mother, Catherine, and sometimes my servants, have never enjoyed that part of me. I didn't think about it too much, I just figured I have two hands, I can do things on my own. That's probably one of the reasons I fell in love with my husband.

Just as I was thinking of how my husband's hands would move across his workshop table back in Germany, there was another knock on the door. Expecting it to be Annette, I pulled my robe on as I got out of bed and said, "You can come in." To my surprise it was Francis. His smile was brighter than the early morning sunlight pouring in through my windows.

"Good morning, Queen Margareta. Forgive me for intruding, I was just curious if I could join you for breakfast?" He was already dressed and I could see a servant, Annette I think, standing in the corridor.

I smiled and said, "Of course, I would like nothing more." As he turned to tell Annette to bring in his food, I said, "Would you please give me a moment to get dressed, King Francis?" He looked sheepish as he nodded and left.

Annette came in and set Francis's tray next to mine on the table by the fireplace. Annette said, "Would you like help changing, Your Grace?" I nodded my head and we began the familiar routine every female royal and servant girl knew since what felt like birth. 

As she combed through my hair I asked her, "So how long have you been working at Court?" She kept working through my hair and said, "Just a few years, Your Grace."

"Do you find any joy of working here?" I prayed she would be honest, for most servants told royals yes to save their skin. "I truly do. We servant girls get in on all the Court drama. It's also nice to make fires for the royals in the winter. It gives us warmth too. Working in the castle also means we can go to the kitchen more than servants of Nobles and Ladies and estates." I put my earrings on as I listened to her youthful glee and she continued her work on my hair.She finished with a small sorry for speaking so freely. I smiled reassuringly and allowed her to go and retrieve Francis. It hadn't taken Annette and I too long to get me ready, less than 10 minutes had passed.

Francis came in only a few moments later. Together we sat down and begun preparing and eating our food. As we sipped a drink called, coffee, he told me how Narcisse had come to him last night during the feast to talk about how wonderful his niece was on the eyes, again. We laughed at the idea of Narcisse forcing his niece into Francis's bed. We laughed and spoke about our childhood a bit more. We kept the entire conversation light, like his eyes.

Oh sweet Lord, those eyes will be the death of me, I thought to myself.

"Hmm, I forgot to tell you," he set down his cup and wiped his mouth. "I thought maybe we could hold Charles's festival here. It's only a few months away, which gives you time to go back to Germany or anywhere else a few times and a reason to come back to Court."