Disclaimer:
Obviously The Tudors are not mine... And neither is History. If they were the show would revolve around a dashing diplomat, there would be TomKat like there never was before, Henry would be such a secondary character he wouldn't even figure in the opening credits, certain male cast members would find themselves in contrived plots to make sure they appear shirtless 99% of the time (I take suggestions!) and the rest of the "argument" would serve as an excuse for Chapuys and Mary to get locked in rooms of increasingly smaller size, with increasingly less amount of clothes. And we would all love it. But, since it's not like that, then that means I do not own it. Not even one bit.
Warning:
Ok, so to make this all clear I'm laying it on the table from the get-go: This fanfic takes liberties with history, profound liberties. I do this not cause I like to fuck around with history (I am a history major after all) but because either the show did it first and I'm not about to change it (they DO take unnecessary liberties with history that sometimes have no apparent purpose, but I am sticking to them) or because I consider it essential in the creation of a situation where Mary/Chapuys could actually happen, while respecting Mary's queenly destiny... sort of. It took a lot of thinking, and sometimes it might take a leap of faith, but I tried to write the pairing in a possible, believable scenario, so all changes, which may seem unnecessary at first, actually make sense. If you have questions regarding the purpose behind any of these changes, PM me. I'll be happy to explain why I decided to alter this or that.
The main change is Chapuys's age... I have made him ten years younger. It's not because I wished him to be closer to Mary in age (I had no problems with their big age difference) but because if he stayed his real age by the end of the fic (it's going to encompass a lot of years, way beyond the series finale) he'd be too old for the Era, for his job and so on. It just wasn't plausible, so I had to change it, though I regretted it. So instead of being 27 years older than Mary he is 17, which is still a big difference, especially during Tudor times.
The only change that is a bit unnecessary is that I introduce a Spanish play, The Dog in the Manger (El Perro del Hortelano, written by Lope de Vega), that was actually written in 1618. The play enriches a part of this fic in such a way that I felt the liberty was justified. I am looking for an English translation of the play (I could not do it justice), to put along with the original Spanish text so most of you who do not know Spanish can understand. If anyone owns a copy, I may have a favour to ask of you! If someone knows where to find a copy to download, please let me know.
If you do not agree with this altering of the historical facts, then don't read or complain, because you were warned.
Dedication: To SSLE (I am posting this because of that awesome chapter of Take this Waltz, Dani), Vain-Life Poetess and CourtsofLove, the wonderful girls who preceded me in the Chary business. Thank you for paving the way, ladies.
Onwards with the fic!
And sorry for posting this as a first chapter, I am aware most of you won't read this but I felt the warning was needed.