'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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(I'm not sure where this dress is from but this is where I got the inspiration for Tulia's dress from.)
29th November 1560
Today was the day that Tulia Byrne had been preparing for since she was a mere girl of Eleven. Her wedding to Charles Valois was only a matter of hours away. The young girl was a mixture of emotions. She was terrified, excited and nervous all at the same time, it was making her feel sick.
"Did you feel this way when you married Henry?" Tulia asked Catherine nervously, as the Queen tightened her corset to nearly an unbearable state.
"Sick, but in a good way?" Catherine deciphered, not lifting her eyes from the strings that she was threading carefully through the loops of her daughter-in-laws cream coloured corset.
"Yes." Tulia gulped, wincing slightly as Catherine tugged harshly on the string.
"No." Catherine mused, looking at the younger Queen with a humorous look. "I was outraged at his behaviour and I couldn't feel anything other than anger and resentment." Catherine reminisced fondly. "And lust, lets not forget about that."
"I wish I had your confidence." Tulia muttered, she had never thought in her life that she would want to be more like Catherine de Medici, but on this day it was different.
"Nerves are a good thing." Catherine sighed, moving to attach the sleeves to the Queens dress carefully. "I would be worried if you weren't afraid of signing your life away to get into a loveless marriage."
"You think he won't ever love me?" Tulia asks with a dejected frown.
"I never said that." Catherine smiles as she connects the Valois Fleur-de-Lis to the rearing stag. "It's always a possibility Tulia, remember that."
"Of course." Tulia nods, watching as Catherine steps back to look at the finished product. "How do I look?"
"Like an angel." She coos, turning Tulia around so that she can look into the mirror. "Just missing your crown."
As Catherine turned around to grab the crown out of the silver box that lay on the dresser Tulia walked over to her vanity and took something important off of the mirror and slipped it around her neck, tucking it under the lacy sleeves.
Moving back to where Catherine was stood she bowed her head down in order for the older woman to place the crown neatly on top of her head, embedding it carefully into the braids that already resided on her head. The young Queen was a beauty to behold.
"Could you get me my bridesmaids please." Tulia muttered, looking at herself in the mirror in awe.
"Of course." Catherine nods. Smiling at her with happiness which was unusual for the Medici woman.
Catherine left Tulia was alone with her thoughts. Although the young girls feelings for the Dauphin were growing every day, she still did not love him and did not truly see herself being in a happy marriage with him. She kept forgetting that they were both still young and that there was hope for them in the future but alas, youth did not stop Mary and Francis.
