An Old Alliance, A Renewed Love

Chapter 6

"What are you doing?" Her eyes threw daggers at me. Thankfully I had a great tutor in self-defense; both physical and mental.

"I'm on my way to my room, Queen Mary. I hope that is alright, your Grace?" She nods in understanding but I can see despise in her eyes.

I bow my head respectively and continue walking with my guards getting a little closer to me. It's like they know when I'm being attacked whether verbally or mentally.

"Please wait, Queen Margareta. All of my friends and family have had the chance of eating with you except me, perhaps we could have dinner tonight." She smiled that fake smile at me.

"Forgive me for sounding rude, Queen Mary, it's just I have dinner with your King and Queen Mother this evening." I smiled with daggers in my own eyes.

"Perhaps I can join you all." She began to walk away before I could respond. Her guards and servants followed her in perfect unison and my men gathered closer to me, I heard one whisperer say, "Scottish bastard thinks she's really the Queen of France."

I smiled my men knew me far too well. What Mary didn't know was that my guards weren't protecting me from getting hurt by her, they were protecting her from getting hurt by me.

I was drying my hair by the fire when there was a knock on the door. My guard opened the door and said, "His highness would like a word with you, your Majesty."

"He can come in, Billiford." I continued to run my towel through locks of my hair when Francis walked in.

"You know we have servants that can dry your hair for you," he laughs and I do too.

"Well after your wife cornered me in her own castle, my guards have been a little nervous about letting in French servants." I looked at him showing all my disappointment I had in the way his wife spoke to me.

"I heard about that, I'm sorry. She had no right to say anything like that to you." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

I looked up at him from the fire and said, "She's like my mother." He laughs at this and takes a seat next to me on the sofa.

"I'm serious, Francis. The way she worries about image. It's like she was trying to punish me in front of all her servants. She also wants to join us for dinner." I express all my sadness in that last line.

"I don't think it'd be that bad of an idea, you all haven't met in an informal setting. You all could become friends." He looked like he really wanted that to happen.

I shook my head as I stood up to get my brush off the chest by the fireplace. "I know you love her, but I don't and I have no intent in learning how to do so."

He gets up and takes both my hands into his and says, "I love you both."

"But you're in love with her." I say without looking at him and walking towards the window.

As I stared into the rain I began to feel so cold. I wrapped my arms around myself and sighed. That's when I felt his arms wrap around me and give a gentle squeeze.

"I told you I began falling in love with you last night, which was a lie." His voice was soft but it didn't make the pain any less hurtful.

"The truth is-"I turned around in his arms and stopped him from continuing.

"Please, don't say it. I don't think my heart could handle that." I turned away and walked back to the fire and watched the fire crackle as my heart broke into the smallest of pieces.

I heard him take a breath in to justify what he was supposed to have said, but I was quicker.

"Francis, I've loved you since we were children. I thought you were to be my husband." My voice cracked as the tears began streaming down my face. "I know you didn't- you don't- feel the same, but I can't bear to hear those words when you are the sole reason I came to French Court." I turned to look back at the fire.