A Thousand Eyes: A Novel of Elizabeth I

Chapter 8

"The Scots," Cecil informed me, "are rebelling."

I had previously been poring over an endless pile of letters, but at this I stood up. "Who is rebelling?"

"The Protestants. They have found the Queen Mother too oppressive."

I rubbed my fingers against my chin. "Well. Is that all?"

"The chances look very good for them. They have nearly captured Edinburgh. I think we should send help."

Send help. My cousin would not be happy, that was for sure. But she had never tried to negotiate with me, and it was becoming increasingly clearer to me that to pursue friendship with her was fruitless. "And what of it? What are they looking to do - will they replace the Queen Mother, if they are successful?"

"It is not yet clear," Cecil said. "All the letter said was that the rebellion is more successful every day."

"You want to send aid to a cause that has no plan?" Was he mad?

"They have a plan, Your Majesty. If they succeed they will probably force the Queen Mother to negotiate more lenient terms for the Protestants."

"This has nothing to do with us."

"Your Majesty, the Protestants in Scotland are increasingly powerful. It would be immensely helpful to have their support."

"I'm not doing it at the cost of a possible alliance with Mary." There was little chance of that happening, her being so headstrong and lusting for my throne, but I wasn't going to throw that chance away for a band of rebels.

"Mary doesn't have to know. If we send a small fleet - "

"A small fleet?"

He corrected himself. "A few ships. We'll send just enough men that the Protestants will thank us greatly for our help, but a small enough number that it can be done without the knowledge of any of the ambassadors. If they win, we can negotiate with Mary. If they lose, she will never know that we were involved at all."

I bit my lip. It did sound like a good plan. "We'll send a small number of ships," I said. "And it will be done in absolute secrecy."

Cecil grinned.

-----

Duke John entered the room with a flourish - not with the pompous flourish that the duke of Norfolk, for example, might show, but simply with the sort of presence that all eyes were drawn to him. I had never seen him before, but I knew immediately that he was of noble blood - it was in the way he held himself, wide shoulders and spine straighter than a chambermaid's broom - and approached him. His doublet was longer than most Englishmens',  a deep navy blue that was almost down to his knees,and his hose were slender and form-fitting rather than the extended fabric at the thighs that I was used to seeing, but he modeled these foreign garments as if we were the ones who should conform to him and not the other way around.

"Your Majesty," he said in English, kissing my hand as he bowed deeply, and his accent was subtle but delightfully tart. It's a shame, I thought, that it was his brother who courted me and not the duke himself. Unless the prince was better.

"My lord," I smiled, as genuinely as ever I had smiled at an ambassador.  Immediately we launched into conversation - he started telling me all about Sweden, about dazzling mountains and snow-capped forests and crystal-clear lakes. And the Northern Lights.

"Aurora borealis, we call them. Oh, Your Majesty, you would love them more than anything on this earth. Especially in the winter, when the night is clear, the sky lights up like a beautiful sunset, but a thousand times brighter - the lights cover the sky for leagues and leagues round - ah," he smiles. "It is simply indescribable. There is nothing on this earth quite like it. Whenever I doubt in God, I wait for the aurora borealis. Under that beautiful sky, there is no way to doubt God's omnipotence." He sighed dreamily, and I was enthralled. Perhaps a trip to Sweden wouldn't be the worst thing, if I were to be married there - but no, I reminded myself. This is all only a facade, nothing more. "I'm sure, when you and my brother are married, you will be able to see them, and Your Majesty, you will never be the same." He was so expressive, so enthusiastic.