It was the morning of the full moon and I was preparing for my journey to France. My older, yet illegitimate brother, Darien was accompanying me on the journey and at French Court for the next few months. The long and tedious journey was to be undertaken by sea and land, stretching over 3 weeks, so I was glad to have the company.
Darius and I have always been close, since he didn't really have anyone else who cared for him. His mother had abandoned him at the palace steps when he was young, with only a note to explain his circumstances, and our father never acknowledged his existence. I always believed it was because he was angry that his own wife could not give him a legitimate son, and it was too painful for him to accept that his only son would never be able to be treated by the public as a rightful heir, let alone carry on the family line and name. So he decided to ignore the issue altogether.
After 3 painstakingly long weeks, we finally reached and set foot on the rich French soil, and Darius and I could not help but stare out of the exceptionally large windows of our gold coated carriage. We gazed in some sort of trance at the beautiful French land before us, coming across fields of colorful flowers in bloom, as well as farmlands occupied by different foods being grown by tenants.
Eventually, I could hear sounds of music and echoing chatter in the distance. I rolled up the thin, blood-red blinds of the carriage once more and saw a marvelous castle across the seemingly everlasting green pasture of land, surrounded by large dark trees. The house of Valois, the palace which was to become my home.
As we inched closer, I could see people waiting in front of the castle, all lined up prim and proper, and assumed they were waiting to officially receive and welcome me to the castle. Our carriage approached the castle and came to a bumpy and abrupt stop at the end of a carpet, launching me forward slightly. Luckily, my head and my brothers narrowly avoided a collision. A very graceful stop, I thought sarcastically to myself. I heard a blast from a trumpet and quiet bells, before someone loudly announced my presence to the gaggle of people that had assembled, imploring them to go quiet.
"I present Princess Delara of Persia, accompanied by her brother, Lord Darien of Persia."
The carriage doors were slowly opened by someone standing outside and my brother was the first to confidently step out. He stood up straight and outstretched his hand towards me. I grabbed it, feeling nervous. I was about to meet my future husband for the very first time.
As I placed my feet steadily on the ground, I looked up and was faced with the one and only King Francis and Mary, Queen of Scots, at the other end of the carpet.
I smiled demurely at them both and walked towards them. Just as I cautiously reached the end, I saw a boy, no older than sixteen, pop out from behind Francis.
"That must be Charles" my brother whispered to me excitedly, while maintaining a stern yet friendly look on his face.
He was accompanied by who I presumed was his mother, the Queen mother, Catherine De Medici. I noted that she looked much more intimidating in person than in her portraits. I swallowed a lump in my throat as my eyes quickly reverted back to The King and Queen.
"Princess Delara, an honor to finally meet you. You can call me Francis. This is Mary" Francis said politely, with a wide grin plastered across his face.
"It is so lovely to finally meet you. I'm Mary. My ladies and I will show you to your chambers" Mary said sweetly. Her beauty captivated me and rendered me speechless for a few seconds. Her hair was long and dark, accentuated favorably by the wind blowing it around slightly. Her face was pale yet had a golden glow, and her cheeks a pretty rosy shade. She was positively radiant.
Mary broke the slight pause of silence when she looked around with a puzzled look on her face and spoke.
"You don't have any ladies with you?" motioning behind me.
"Oh yes, yes I do. They were put on the next carriage but they got held up while we were traveling through Germany. They shouldn't take too long though." I said with a smile that Mary returned.
"Princess Delara, this is my dear brother, Prince Charles, heir to the French throne and hopefully your future husband." Francis interjected with a smile that seemed to radiate throughout the crowd. Everyone loudly applauded and happily cheered at his statement.
"Thank you, brother. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, your highness" Charles said with a grin. I smiled politely and looked into his dazzling blue eyes. I had to admit, he was quite the charmer. His portrait did not depict just how handsome he actually was in real life.
"Well, if you follow me I'll show you where you will be staying." Mary said, cutting short my first meeting with my future husband, leading me inside the castle. I supposed a bit of distance for the time being would be wise, it would give me time to settle in to my new life and to figure out how things worked around court.
Some of the people who were gathered outside left and some of them stayed. I guessed most of them were the nobles that occupied the castle, due to the grandeur of their over the top sequined dresses and silk robes.
Charles disappeared in the crowd. It then crossed my mind, as I was being led to my chambers, that there may be some type of welcoming ball planned. This thought set my nerves off again- the thought of having to wait in general made me nervous, even though I knew it was for the best. Charles and I barely knew each other, so the more time we spent getting to know one another the better.
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