'Sometimes we have to sacrifice our youths in order to let people live.'
Tulia Byrne has been a Queen for longer than she could remember. Her story begins so carefree and so full of love and yet by the end of it you'll be wondering if you even know...
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Although the young Queen has only been absent from French court for a couple of months it felt like an eternity since she had seen the place. Everything looked and felt morbidly different. The castle seemed to be surrounded by a dull grey hue that swirled around the turrets and spires of the great castle. This eerie atmosphere played on the faces of French nobles too, each one of them had a sombre expression yet they did not seem too sure why.
Tulia's arrival at court had been a quiet affair. The only ones who knew about her from the beginning of her voyage was the King and Queen themselves. Mary had feared that Elizabeth would attempt to have her killed or captured on her journey so nobody had been made aware of her presence until she was hours away from the front gates.
Her last arrival was held at the docks, this one was the complete opposite. Her carriage was on its way up to the front of the castle, Tulia knew perfectly well why this was happening. It was a formal introduction between herself and her betrothed. She had received the news that her marriage was soon and she was terrified. The prospect of living her life with someone she had barely met scared her to her wits end.
She knew not what he looked like, not how he acted and not if he would like her. Many thoughts swirled around the Queens head as she assessed every outcome that the meeting could have. He could be pleased to see her, he could think she was beautiful. But he could also despise her, think she was ugly, or call for an end to the proposal.
The carriage had stopped and the young Queen could hear the driver jumping down from the carriage in order to open her door. A handmaiden that sat with her in the carriage softly smoothed out some unruly red hair and smiled at her Queen.
"Good luck." The older lady whispered to her in an encouraging tone. Tulia smiled slightly in gratitude, she could not bring herself to give a verbal answer.
Light streamed into the dark carriage as the door was opened and a hand was offered. Taking the hand lightly Tulia pulled at her skirts in order to get a firm foot onto the step, and then onto the floor.
As she descended from the carriage, she looked around. Casting her eyes around the envoy of people she spotted the most important people straight away. Mary and Francis were stood at the top of the walk way, smiling at her brightly as Tulia's dark blue dress was smoothed out by the hand maiden that emerged from behind her.
On Mary's side stood Lord Narcisse who had an impassive look on his face, he seemed to give her a slight nod from where he stood. Tulia could not decipher whether this was the case as he was stood so far away.
On Francis' side, stood two people. Tulia was puzzled as to why Catherine was not there. She knew one of the people that stood by Francis, Princess Claude. She was wearing a soft pink dress with her hair thrown up above her shoulders, similar to how it was when they first met. The other person was nearly a complete mystery, if she did not remember why she was here on this day she would've seen the boy as a stranger.
