King Of My Heart (mpreg)

CH 36

I missed Harry.

I deeply regretted making him King; England didn't though. Even though Harry has only been King for two weeks, he was already loved. Nobody believed that Harry's real name was Harry, they insisted was short for Henry. Since it was a sign of disrespect to call a King by a nickname, Harry became King Henry the second overnight since he was the second king that had the name Henry. King Henry the Just, King Henry the Fair, so they called him.

Harry moved the capital of England from London to a town named Holmes Chapel which was about seventy miles away, or a two day journey on horseback, from Doncaster instead of half a week like London.

The northern lords were ecstatic about this shift since it transferred a lot of the political power from the south and the southern lords; so Harry already made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. Harry also became a powerful political ally, publicly denouncing the monarchs of Scotland and Wales and starting to raise armies within England. I smiled whenever I heard news about him but he personally hasn't responded to any of my letters, nor have I seen him since he left...or I banished him I guess.

I sent Liam to help him establish England since Liam knew how to be a secretary from Culpepper and it was actually Liam that responded to my letters instead of Harry; Liam swore that Harry wasn't ignoring me, he was just as busy as I was. Niall was upset about it though since he couldn't think of an excuse be be at Harry's court so he moped around a lot in Doncaster.

The situation with Scotland and Wales was becoming worse, we started receiving reports that my armies and theirs have started clashing at the borders, as the rouge monarchs tested their strength against mine. They have asked other kingdoms and nations for help but no one was willing since the Church declared them as rebels for rejecting my power.

"You have them where you want them, Highness; press your advantage and demand a surrender" Sir Panzer said. "I want them to come into the fold willingly Knight, I do not want to become a tyrant...Culpepper will the other Monarchs finally be open to meeting do you think?" I asked, turning to my secretary.

"I can send letters out tonight Highness" Culpepper replied instead of answering me directly. I nodded "Good and you have my permission to make...vague threats if they refuse" I said before glancing at Sir Panzer before getting an idea "Knight, have your men raid the countryside of Scotland and Wales. Do not hurt anyone, I just want to force the other Monarchs to agree to these talks. Allow them to think I'm getting impatient" Culpepper smiled "You're becoming very clever, young King."

Sir Panzer drew his sword as the door to my room exploded open and a young servant nearly flew into my room, tripping over his own feet in his haste. "Highness, the queen has started giving birth" the young man said, chest heaving, hands on knees. I looked at Culpepper and smiled "My son is coming."

-

I sat in the antechamber of the queen's bedrooms, which the common folk sometimes called a "living room", playing cards with Niall as I waited for my son to be born. We weren't alone in the room though: Cardinal George came from the cathedral in the city to be here, Culpepper stood near a window scribbling furiously on a parchment for some reason. Half of my court was here as well leaving the room tight and cramped, they somehow gave Niall and I a wide, respectful berth though.

Only men waited with me, for some reason it was believed that only midwives and nurses could be present during a royal birth, and the child had to stay away from women until they were a year old, except for their mother, or a woman would try to kidnap them...or something. All these negative attitudes about women made me angry, as if they were that different from men. I remembered the uproar when I hired a female stablemaster, all the men claimed that a woman wouldn't be able to handle the fiery, spirited war-horses and hunting mounts yet she proved very skilled at her job, ignoring the sideways glances that men still give her to this day.

I flinched as Maria screamed and musicians that were playing music in the corner started playing louder and harder to drown out Maria's screams, I was terrified when I first I heard her screams but I was assured that it was normal and all was well; being born and dying are rarely peaceful affairs after all.

It took several hours, dinner was served in here instead of the dining hall, until one of the nurses finally opened the door and walked toward me, holding a bundle of crying blankets. The entire room went dead silent as she nurse stepped out and I knew something was wrong by her slow steps and hesitation; it was so quiet that I was able to hear the baby's soft murmurs from across the room. I stood up and took my baby, glancing over his face before finally asking "What's wrong?" "Her Highness...she...gave birth to a girl" the nurse said softly.

The room exploded into whispers, everyone was very well aware of Maria's promises to give birth to a boy; because women can control the sex of their child, it almost seen as high treason that Maria gave birth to a girl after all her promises. I looked down at my daughter who stared at my face with big eyes before walking out of the room with her. I loved my daughter but my life just became a lot more difficult.

"We'll figure this out" Peter was saying as we watched my daughter "Louis you can count on me." "Peter can I just be alone for a bit?" I said, he nodded and when he walked out.  I sat in my room, watching my daughter lay on my bed sucking on her fist, as I wrote another letter to Harry; I had no idea who else to turn too.