Please note that I am writing this for a bit of fun and facts are likely to be slightly wrong since I have no idea how a King's Court works. I have googled some bits so hopefully that will help. I haven't written something like this before and I've used some of the Casino Royale book to help me a along a little. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy. Please R&R so I know whether or not to continue!
~Bethany
Eve knelt down on the floor of the palace kitchen next to another servant of the King named Q. No one knew his real name; sometimes she wasn't even sure that he knew his own name.
'Did you hear?' Eve whispered as she grabbed a rag and started scrubbing the floor next to Q. Q looked over at her and raised his eyebrow.
'Hear what?' he asked as he tried to scrub away a particularly stubborn piece of grime with a small frown upon his face.
'King James has appointed a new lady in waiting to the Queen.' Eve kept her voice low. Any of the other servants might tell on her for spreading gossip just to gain favour with the King. It had happened before so she didn't see why it wouldn't happen again. Q stopped scrubbing for a moment and just stared straight at Eve. 'It's true. I overheard the Butler telling the Housekeeper, not very wise. He should have kept his voice down anyone might have heard him!' Eve covered her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter. Q bit his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing and carried on scrubbing the floors underneath his knees.
'What is she like?' Q asked eventually after he spent five minutes scrubbing in silence. Eve shrugged and shook her head.
'I don't know. She's probably very beautiful. He always picks the beautiful ones…' Eve dropped her rag into a rotting bucket. She ran her fingers through her ragged hair and twisted the ends between her fingers. Q shuffled over and put an arm around her.
'You're beautiful too, Eve. I'm sure the King will notice you one day and you'll be the new lady in waiting before you know it.' Q said to her softly as he rubbed her arm gently for comfort. Eve rested her head on Q's shoulder.
'Do you really think so?' she asked with a small smile.
Q looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear him and then lowered his head for good measure.
'He would be mad not to.' He told her with a large smile.
Xx
As Q made his way around the castle throughout the day, he eventually caught sight of the new Lady in waiting who was following the Queen to the garden. The Lady in waiting was certainly different to the Queen, but she was equally as beautiful. Queen Vesper had long dark brown hair, red lips, blue-green eyes and wore a magnificent purple gown. The Queen could be bitter at times, and it was no secret that she and the King argued from time to time, but usually they were quite happy together. The Lady in waiting was very plain in the face. She had ginger mid length hair, nude lips, and brown eyes. Unlike the Queen's colourful display, she wore a plainer beige gown. Q stood and bowed as the Queen walked past.
'Your majesty.' He said.
The Queen nodded at him and Q went straight back to cleaning the floors. He watched the women walk away out of the corner of his eye as he did is duty. Eve was right, they always are beautiful, but none of the King's ladies had lasted as long as Vesper had, perhaps beauty is not such a virtue these days. King James' court was filled with beautiful women, Eve being one, the Queen and her Lady being two others, but there was also a young lady named Camille who was the Housekeeper, and another maid of the court named Severine.
Q finished cleaning that corridor and went off to find Eve. He eventually found her still in the kitchen. The other servants to the King had gone and Eve sat alone in the corner of the room against the stove.
'You should probably move away from there.' Q said, pointing towards the stove. 'The cooks will want to prepare the King's meal soon.' He tilted his head. 'Are you all right, Eve?' Q asked noticing her solemn expression. He sat beside her and gave her a quick hug.
'I am just tired of serving the King in this way.'
'If you work hard and work to the best of your ability now, the King is more likely to notice you and you might be able to become Lady in waiting someday.' He breathed. 'Speaking of Ladies in waiting, I've seen the new one. She is pretty, granted, but she's got nothing on you.'
Eve smiled and got back up off the floor.
'You're honestly the best friend a girl could ever ask for, Q.' Eve helped Q up off the floor and back on to his feet. They shared another quick hug before going to back to work before the cooks came.
Xx
'The garden is certainly lovely this time of year, your majesty.'
The Queen walked around the huge glistening pond slowly, the gravel crunching beneath her feet. She stopped and looked down at the water which was deeper than it appeared.
'The royal gardeners do a wonderful job on maintaining it, Miss Fields.' She answered her Lady in waiting as she bent down by the pond and running her fingertips gently through the fresh water. 'I've always liked the pond best off all.' Queen Vesper continued to say in her raspy voice. The Queen stood and took a deep breath of the fresh air around her.
'It is a beautiful pond, your highness.' Miss Fields agreed. 'Will the King be joining us this afternoon?' she asked.
'He will. When he arrives, I would like it if you left us alone.'
'As you wish, your highness.'
Around ten minutes later, King James of England and Wales joined his wife in the garden. Lady Fields took her leave but not before graciously greeting the King.
The Queen watched Lady Fields make her way back inside the castle and then glared at her husband. She folded her arms across her chest and frowned.
'I wish you would stop bringing other women into the court.' The Queen said sourly. The King smiled apologetically.
'I thought she might have been useful to you, Vesper. That's all.' He put his arm around her waist and walked her around the vast, colourful garden. It was filled with rose bushes, fountains and archways.
'I think you know how good looking and charming you are, and I think that you use that to bring in beautiful women because you need to keep your ego intact and you cannot do that married to me.' Vesper answered bitterly, but she didn't move away from her husband, she just kept her arms to herself.
'You are my Queen and I love you. I wouldn't do something like that to you.' James explained. 'If Lady Fields bothers you, I can have her excused from my court.'
'Thank you, James.' The Queen smiled. 'I hardly think that will be necessary just yet.'
The King led his Queen back into Skyfall Castle and into the dining hall for dinner. Lady Fields was already stood behind her chair, waiting for The King and Queen. King James motioned for her to sit and so she did. James and Vesper sat in their own seats. They talked amongst themselves for a while until Eve and Q came into the dining hall and placed the food in the middle of the table.
Q placed a plate in front of the King, who looked up at him and smiled.
'Thank you.' He said softly.
'You're welcome, sire.' Q answered bowing and walking away from the table. Eve eyed Q and the King's encounter from across the room from where she was serving Lady Fields. Q and Eve stood together in silence against the wall, waiting to clear plates and pour drinks for the two Royals and the Lady in waiting. Once the meal was over and all the plates had been collected, Eve and Q took them down to the kitchen.
'I saw the way you were looking at the King.' Eve said with a small smile once they had reached the kitchen and dropped the plates carefully in to the sink. Q turned his head to her as he started to scrub the plates clean.
'I'm sorry?' he said furrowing his brow.
'You were looking at him in the same way that the Queen looks at him.' Eve continued as she dried the plates that Q had scrubbed clean.
'I was? I didn't realise…' Q shrugged handing over another plate to Eve.
Xx
'Your Majesty, the Queen is dead!' Lady Fields cried out as she ran through the throne room and fell to her knees in a great frenzy. There were tears streaming down her cheeks and King James got to his feet immediately.
'Are you sure?' he bellowed.
'Yes, sire. I found her in the pond.' She cried harder.
The King motioned toward his guards and two of them immediately ran forward and seized Lady Fields by the arms and dragged her to her feet.
'Escort Lady Fields to the tower and do not let her go until I find out what has happened to my wife.' The guards nodded and dragged her away, Fields shouted and screamed and cried out for them to let her go but they kept a tight hold on her. After they had gone, the King ran to the garden as fast as his legs would carry him. He knelt beside the pond and looked in, where he saw his Queen lying at the bottom. James took off his robes and dived in, swimming down until he reached Vesper, he tried to bring her up but she was too heavy. He soon saw that there were heavy stones tied to her ankles with rope from a pair of curtains. James dislodged the rocks from the rope's grasp and pulled his Queen to the surface. He tried to revive her for ten minutes before accepting that she had gone. James sat on the ground, holding his wife close to him and pressed his lips against her forehead. A strong wind blew and with it came the sound of rustling parchment. James looked around and saw that there was indeed a piece of parchment tucked underneath a rock by the pond side. The King took it and unrolled it; he read the words written on it quickly and then threw it into the pond as if the parchment were read hot.
'My darling James,
I love you with all my heart and while you read these words I hope you still love me because, now, with these words, this is the last moment that your love will last. So good-bye, my sweet love, while we still love each other. Good-bye, my darling.
I have been sending Government secrets to Russia and have been working for the Russians long before we married. I was in love with a Pole in the R.A.F and until you, I still was. The Russians caught him and tortured him, they found out a lot from him and about me. They came after me and told me he could live if I work for them. I tried to give them as little information as I could. You must believe me about this. I fell in love with you and they wanted me to find things out from you, but I refused. They threatened me, and finally they withdrew my control and I knew my lover in Poland would have to die. I hoped I would have a baby of yours and be able to start again somewhere.
I knew it would be the end of our love if I told you. I realised that I could either wait to be killed by the Russians, and perhaps get you killed too, or I could kill myself.
There it is, my darling love. You can't stop me calling you that or saying that I love you. I am taking that with me and the memories of you. I've got to be brave. You might save my life, but I couldn't bear the look in your dear eyes.
My love, my love.
V.'
James found that his eyes were wet with something other than pond water and he dried them. At least now he knew the truth, and knew that Lady Fields hadn't murdered his Queen like he had suspected before.
It didn't take long for the news of the Queen's death to travel round the Castle. Eve and Q were discussing it before lunch.
'What do you think happened?' Eve wondered.
'I don't know.' Q answered.
'I wonder how the King is holding up.'
'I don't know. Not well I'm assuming.' Q said staring out the window hazily at the pond in which the Queen had lost her life.
'I heard the King had Lady Fields locked away in the tour for murdering her.' Eve whispered. Q snapped out of his daze then and furrowed his brows at her.
'Who told you that?'
Eve sighed heavily.
'The butler.'
The two of them carried on working for the next two hours before a one of the King's guards, Tanner, came before them.
'Q, His Royal Highness the King would like to see you.'
Eve looked a Q slightly worried but Q put down his rag and nodded.
'Right away, sir.' He stood up, brushed the dirt off of his trousers and followed Tanner to the throne room. Once he was there, Tanner opened the door for him and Q stepped inside. The door closed leaving him alone in the throne room with the exception of James. The King sat in his throne and behind him was a painting of the late Queen. Q looked at it as he walked forwards, there was something unnerving about the portrait, it was as if Vesper was alive in it and she was still looking out for her husband even in death. When Q reached the King's feet, he knelt down.
'You called, your Majesty?'
'Stand up please, Q.' James instructed and Q stood up right away. 'I'm in need of a new butler since I had the previous one banished. I would like you to take his position; I think I can trust you, despite your age.'
'Thank you, your highness. I will not let you down. ' Q smiled and bowed, but soon realised that he should not be acting in such a way at such a delicate time in the King's life and his smile dropped. 'I would also like to offer my condolences on your loss.'
The King nodded solemnly.
'Thank you, Q. Now, I must warn you, I will not have slander in my court, do I make myself clear?' James asked sternly with wide eyes. It was then that Q noticed how breath-taking that the King's eyes were. They were the bluest blue that Q had ever seen.
'Crystal clear, my lord.' Q said. 'As clear as your eyes.' He thought.
'Good. Tanner will escort you to your room and your duties start tomorrow. '
'Thank you, my lord. I cannot express my gratitude enough.' Q bowed and walked out of the throne room. Sure enough, Tanner was waiting for him and he took him up some stairs to a room that used to be inhabited by the previous butler. It was quite a big room and there was a bed with soft pillows and sheets. He had his own window overlooking the front of Skyfall Castle and inside the wardrobe were a line of black suits. Q took out one of the blazers and put his arms through it. It practically hung off of him and would definitely need tailoring. He ran his hands over the material and smiled as he thought of all the great things that were about to come his way.