The Royal Seamstress | ONC2020

Chapter 8: God's Will

I ran down to Margaret. I had to tell her about the arrangement I had made on her behalf while ruining my own future and perhaps my feelings as well. I hoped not to get emotionally destroyed inside but I had no idea, where this was going. I was now the mistress of the King and Margaret had to be married to a stranger.

"Where have you been?" Margaret asked as I entered the sewing room. I was paralyzed by her question. I had to break the news to her immediately. I had hoped to buy some time to find the best way to tell her but now she had confronted me completely of guard. "You have been gone for over an hour. Normally, you're the first to be down here every morning."

"I know, I had to see his Majesty," I answered dryly.

"Why?" Margaret pushed me more than I liked. "Have you taken the position as his mistress?"

"Yes, I have, but that's not the important matter," I said. "I have made a deal for you."

"A deal?" She looked confused at me. I swallowed hard before continuing my speech.

"Yes, he has agreed that you remain at court, but you have to marry a man of his choice."

Margaret looked at me. Horrified. Shook her head before almost falling down on the wooden chair behind her. Her breathing quickened. Her hands rested on the edge of the table. Almost like she tried to push herself away and hold on tight at the same time. I knew I should have said it at anthor time. Maybe even under more considered ways of delivering the whole wedding scheme.

"Who am I to marry then?" she asked hastily. "Do you even know?"

"No, I don't. I'm sorry, Margaret. It was the best deal I could get for you."

"It's all right. I can live with it. At least you have saved me as you promised. I really do appreciate what you have done for me. Now I just have to hope for a good husband."

I nodded, while placing a hand upon her shoulder.

"I do know it will be one from your own station and that you will remain a sewing girl."

She smiled. I knew she didn't want to leave my side. She had told me so many times in the late hours of the night. Sometimes she had told me little stories of her family, which was the reason I knew about their situation and poverty. As a child she had dreamed about marrying a man for love; just like me. She had dreamed of her own home with children and enough food to never get hungry.

"Elizabeth?" she said. "Since you're now the mistress of the King, will you be allowed to attend my wedding at all?"

I sighed. As a mistress of the King I wasn't allowed to mix with the servants. I haven't spoken to the King about my position at court yet. I actually didn't know if I was going to remain a seamstress. I had just assumed I was to remain at my current position. I couldn't see any reason to raise in the hierarchy just because I was to please the King at night.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't think my position at court has changed just because I've become mistress of the King."

"You're wrong. Everything has changed."

"No, he's not going to make me a noble woman just because I'm his new mistress." I thought a little of telling her of the other agreement I had made for myself. I couldn't foresee her reaction. Maybe she would get mad at me for not making things better for her when I had made such a good agreement for myself.

"Do you think I will have a man who loves me?" Margaret looked worried. "I can't choose him myself. How am I to love a man I haven't chosen?"

"You will grow to love him in time," I answered and thought of my parents. They hadn't married for love. Neither had my grandparents "Most people in the world doesn't marry for love. Some are just luckier than others to have a match which evolves into love over time."

"And what about all those who aren't that lucky?"

"They just have to live with the match given to them by God."

"How can you say it's Gods work if you're unhappily married?"

"Because God decides who you marry. He decides your destiny."

"No, it's your family or guardian who decides who you marry. Not God."

How could she be so ignorant? It was always God's work when a marriage took place. God's will was the will of the world and he decided the fate of every living being. Sometimes people went against the path God had made for them and they were punished for their disobedience. Adultery was a sin and God punished those who committed it. I was afraid that he would punish me for being Henry's mistress since he was a married man, but I tried to comfort myself by telling my inner core that I didn't do anything wrong after all since I did it for my own education. Hopefully I would gain a better life by being his mistress.

"Do you not believe in God, Margaret?" I asked worried. "Aren't your family fearing God?"

"I didn't grow up in a family with strong faith. My family had every reason to go to church, and they did when I was younger, but their situation in life never got better and they stopped believing."

"But aren't they afraid of going to hell?"

"No, why should they?" she asked. "My father often says that this world is hell and that we all go to heaven."

"Margaret, he's wrong. If you don't believe in God, you're going to hell."

"No," she said. "You think people go to hell without faith. I don't."

"But what about your wedding?" I asked hastily. "You need to look like you believe. You're going to be married in a church. The King will oversee the ceremony himself."

"Don't worry, Elizabeth. I can be quite convincing. Otherwise I would never had been given this position at court. You know that."

I knew it. I had always taken her for such a good and pious girl. She had always seemed so timid and obedient, but I had been wrong all along. She wasn't faithful to the Lord. I had to do something about that. I just had to.

"Margaret, do you want me to teach you the beauty of God and his great will?" I gave her an encouraging smile. She gave me an expression which implied she wasn't happy with my proposal, but she wasn't going to change my mind and draw it back. I was determined to make her into a good girl full of love for God and his great powers.

"Which purpose will that serve?" she asked. "I can't see how it will make me a better person."

"It's about giving you something to believe in. You need to believe that the great powers of God brought you to court."

"God didn't do that, his Majesty did."

"His Majesty are also ordained by God and therefore the closest you come to the heavenly powers on earth, except for the Holy Father in Rome."

Margaret sighed.

"Fine, I let you teach me the will of God, but I will not promise you I will be convinced."

I smiled. She would be convinced. I knew it. 

Word count: 1261 words.

Total word count: 9334 words.