mad queen » reign cw

ii.

( fact two! )

arthur blackwood, duke of
edinburgh has been married
twice and widowed once.

— — —

isabelle de valois placed her brush down onto her vanity, sighing.
"are you still stressed, belle?" james asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

the queen nodded, and james walked up behind her.
"everything will be taken care of, my love. i promise. perhaps we can take a day off, spend it with eden." james stated, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

isabelle turned around and leaned her forehead against james's chest. she looked up at him, kissing him. james kissed his wife back, resting his hands upon her cheeks.

one of his hands traveled down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. isabelle pulled away, lightly pushing him off of her. james sighed, knowing that he would not get anywhere with his wife.

"belle, why won't you have another child with me? you're not barren. we're happy. so why not?" james folded his arms over his chest.

"i do not wish to discuss this, james." belle shook her head.
"isabelle." james said firmly, causing belle to look up at him.
"i don't like your tone." belle challenged.

"talk to me. please, that is all i am asking of you." james responded, ignoring her previous statement.
isabelle sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"i'm scared." isabelle revealed. james furrowed his eyebrows.
"scared? of what?" james questioned.
"i could die, james. do you remember how much blood i lost with eden? i cannot do that again." she shook her head.

she had a point. that was the most terrifying day of james's life—to know that the woman he loved could have died.

"that is not all." belle added.
"what else scares you?" james asked. this time, she couldn't look at him as she spoke.

"i am afraid that you'll bed another. you'll find another marlene while i sit with our baby forming inside of me. i am afraid that we will become toxic for each other once again." isabelle said, which broke james's heart.

he kneeled infront of belle as she sat on their bedside.
"belle, i am not the man i was five years ago. i realize that you and eden are the most important ladies—the only ladies, well besides mary, in my life. i will never, ever, bed another because you are the one that i love and you are the only woman that i want to bed. forever." james spoke.

isabelle looked at him, cracking a smile at the last part. she looked into his eyes.
"are you sure you want to bed me forever?" she questioned.

james nodded.
"most definitely, my love." he smirked before pressing a kiss upon her lips.

"maybe forever can start tonight." isabelle teased, earning another kiss from her husband.
"perhaps it can." james commented.

|||

isabelle's eyes opened, causing her to blink a couple of times for her eyes to adjust to the light.

she looked over to see a shirtless james sleeping peacefully. her lips formed a delicate smile. she leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek.

there was a knock on her door, causing her to scurry out of her bed, in search of a robe. finding nothing, the queen slipped on her nightwear.

"come in!" she ordered. the door opened to reveal sebastian de poitiers, isabelle's bastard brother.

"good morning sister. lucky night, i assume." bash commented, referring to james's clothes on the floor.

isabelle rolled her eyes at her brother's cheekiness.
"you assume right. what did you want?" she asked.

"you might have had a good night, but i don't believe you'll have a good morning. it's catherine." bash commented.
"what has she done now?" isabelle questioned.

"i'll leave you to get dressed and then i can escort you to see her." sebastian said.
isabelle nodded, dismissing her brother.