The King's Heart
As William Wallace was led through the streets of London to be executed for leading the Scottish rebellion against English occupation, King Edward I lay dying of dysentery. On his deathbed, he had disavowed his son for his perceived weakness in ruling during his absence waging war in France. He had decided to name his brother Theodore, the Earl of Leicester, as his successor. Theodore had contributed a great many soldiers to the English army and collected the taxes required of him by Edward. The King was pleased with his brother's professed hatred of the Scots and felt his resolve would be enough to force Scotland into submission, completing the work the dying King had left unfinished.
As Wallace's execution got underway not far from the royal palace at Westminster, the King known as Longshanks passed away. Edward II, the royally deposed son, and his uncle were at his bedside.
"Go with God, my brother. You are now in his kingdom," Theodore closed his brother's eyes gently. He reluctantly focused his attention on the Archbishop of Canterbury, who would now crown him King. The coronation was relatively quick as he was crowned King Theodore I of England.
William Wallace had stubbornly refused to swear fealty at the demand of his executioner and had paid dearly for it. He had been cruelly hung from a post while still alive, gurgling as he was choked by the rope around his neck. The Scottish hero was finally lowered to the ground after what seemed like an eternity.
The executioner stood over him, "This can all end right now. Just kneel and kiss the emblem on my cloak, and you shall feel no more."
Wallace slowly got to his feet, once again defying English authority.
"Rack him!" the crowd roared as the executioner set the Scotsman up for another round of torture.
The cheering fell silent as everyone in the crowd noticed a figure standing at the edge of the square, surrounded by soldiers.
King Theodore stood near the crowd as the people began to realize that Edward had died and that a new ruler had been crowned.
The new monarch slowly walked through the square as the people began to kneel as a sign of fealty. Theodore continued his walk until he stood directly in front of William Wallace. "Your Highness, this murderer is going to be dispatched in a most horrible way for defying your authority. He will be drawn and quartered!" the executioner played to the crowd for the King.
People began cheering "Death to Wallace!" until the monarch raised his hand to quiet them. They all waited in anticipation of what the King might say.
"Are we not better than this? We call the Scots savages, yet we are cheering for the death of someone in the most brutal way possible. What will this accomplish? Do you all expect the Scottish to suddenly become obedient to the will of England because we have slaughtered their most revered hero? They will only keep on fighting us with more intensity and repay us for executing Wallace. No, the way to do this is to keep him alive and make him suffer as much as possible for the rest of his forsaken life. That way, the Scots will see their hero as a broken shell of a man, and their morale will be destroyed!" King Theodore shocked everyone in attendance. "Your Highness, are you saying that the prisoner's life should be spared, even after all he's done against England?" the surprised executioner inquired.
Theodore hit him with such a blow to the chin that he fell on his posterior. "You dare question my authority?!" the enraged King stood over him.
He turned back to the crowd, "Just think, Wallace will be tortured every day from here on out. Does that not accomplish our goal?"
The people seemed to like the idea of a slow and painful ordeal for Wallace. Shouts of "Long live King Theodore!" went up and the crowd celebrated the welcome news. He nodded to his guard of soldiers, who dragged Wallace back to his prison cell.
The news quickly spread of the King's change of sentence for William Wallace, and most were pleased that he would be put through everlasting torture.
Theodore I sat on his throne as one of his courtiers came up to him, "My King, they are ready to do as you requested."
"Good, proceed at once," the monarch ordered.
The doors to the massive throne room were opened and a group of soldiers roughly brought in William Wallace. They threw the bound man to the floor and at the feet of the King. Theodore turned to the soldiers and his courtiers, "Leave this room. I will deal with Wallace."
They did as they were told. The door shut and Scotland's fallen hero was left to face the King of England.
"Get to your feet," the seated King Theodore said gruffly.
A very weak William Wallace stood up in defiance of his enemy, "I will not swear fealty to you. Scotland will be free of the English menace eventually. Nothing you can do will stop this."
The King produced a knife from his robe pocket. Wallace braced for the killing blow, but instead was surprised to see Theodore cut his bonds. He walked over to the stained glass window near his throne, "You are a worthy adversary, Wallace. You sacrificed everything for the freedom of your people, fruitless as the attempt was. I respect a man who does that. The Scottish people yearn for their freedom, and I am the only one who can grant it…"
The Scot was shocked to hear these words from the King, "Is that why you spared me? Because you want to grant my country its rightful independence?"
"There's no sense in continuing this brutal war. The only thing it will accomplish is more lives lost and endless suffering. It is time for the two peoples to be allies and not enemies. I will allow Scotland to become free once again, but you have to give me something, or should I say someone, in return," King Theodore walked up to Wallace and stared at him right in the face. "And who exactly is that?" the former Scottish general didn't back down.
"I want your wife, Murron MacClannough…" Theodore stated firmly.
At that point, Wallace punched him and wrestled him to the ground. Screaming in rage, he hit the King repeatedly until Theodore choked him and unleashed a barrage of punches to Wallace's midsection. The thudding impacts sapped what remaining energy he had, and the monarch stood over him triumphantly.
Unable to get to his feet, Wallace gritted his teeth in anger, "My wife was murdered by one of your soldiers! I will kill you for mentioning her name!"
He tried to get up, but the King's boot kept him pinned down, "I could easily kill you right now, Wallace, but I have bigger plans for you. Guards!"
The soldiers came back in.
"Take him back to his cell. Perhaps some time there will cool him down," King Theodore ordered.
Wallace glared at him as the soldiers dragged him out of the throne room and back to his prison.
A young woman of about 25 years was planting a few crops on a farm a few miles outside London. She lived a quiet life and subsisted on her crops and sold the surplus for a profit. She lived alone and preferred it that way. Today, she couldn't help but feel that someone was watching her.
She turned around and saw her benefactor, "Hello, Theodore. What brings you out here?" "Haven't you heard? I'm the King now," Theodore smiled at her.
"News doesn't really travel fast out here. I like it that way," the woman replied.
"You seem to have adapted quite well, Murron. I hope the stipend I've provided you with is sufficient so far," the King looked into her eyes.
"It's more than generous, and I appreciate you for doing that," Murron MacClannough, William Wallace's wife, thanked the monarch.
"Then I assume you haven't heard about your husband's fate then…"
"Oh no! Please tell me you didn't execute him! I love him so much!"
"Then it's a good thing Edward died when he did. My first act as King was to spare his life. He'll be free soon enough, and I will grant Scotland independence. However, we did make a deal several months ago," Theodore reminded her.
"I remember it well. I would agree to marry you if you granted Scottish independence," Murron sighed.
"When I mentioned you to William, he attacked me. Understandable of course, but that made telling him that you're still alive difficult."
"You didn't tell him yet?"
"Do you think he'd believe me?" the King asked her.
"No, I suppose not. So you want me to come with you back to Westminster so I can tell him myself?" the Scot asked him.
"Yes, and I'll arrange for your things to be moved into the castle if you're ready."
"I guess this day had to come eventually. Okay, I'll move in, but don't get any ideas of bedding me," Murron allowed Theodore to take her hand and walk her back to Westminster Castle.
The King and Murron entered the throne room. She was amazed at its beauty with the stained-glass window, ornately carved wooden throne, and the mosaic tiles of the floor.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Your husband will be in for quite a shock once he sees you," Theodore looked into her brown eyes with genuine concern.
"It's been so long since I've seen him. I need to do this," Murron replied in a wavering voice.
King Theodore nodded to the royal guards, who went to fetch William Wallace. A few minutes later, he was brought in without restraints and surrounded by soldiers. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw Murron alive and well.
"It can't be! She was murdered by that garrison commander back in Scotland. This is some kind of trick, but what if it's not?" Wallace thought to himself as he and Murron locked eyes on each other for the first time in years.
With a nod from the monarch, William was allowed to approach his wife, "Murron, is that really you?"
She started to break down in tears, "Yes, William. I'm here…" They embraced, and all of the misery that had victimized them for so long seemed to melt in that one moment.
Theodore motioned for the soldiers to leave, with only two guards to protect him. The King sat back on his throne and couldn't help but smile a little at what was going on in front of him.
William finally asked Murron the fateful question, "How did you escape the garrison? Everyone told me that your throat was slit by the commander."
Murron hesitated, "It was the King who saved me. Well, he wasn't King at the time, but he was in our village for a sabbatical."
Wallace turned to face King Theodore, "You saved her? Why?"
Theodore put his hand on his forehead, "I always felt my brother's attempts to bring Scotland to its knees were wrong. The murders, burnings, and wanton destruction he inflicted on your people was barbaric. Of course, I could never do or say anything to oppose him, or he would have had me executed. I decided to visit your village to see if I couldn't ease the tensions there and maybe have a bit of relaxation. Once I got there, it wasn't long before I saw the garrison commander making some sort of proclamation against Murron. He was going to kill her for some made-up offense, I thought. So I made my presence known and ordered him to stop the execution. I untied Murron and took her into my care."
William looked at Murron for confirmation, and she nodded. "Why did you not release her outright and punish the garrison commander?" the Scottish hero demanded.
"I did relieve him of his command and had him placed under arrest, along with the soldier who tried to rape Murron. In regard to releasing her, I felt it was too dangerous to let her go when there was armed conflict across all of Scotland between Longshanks and your countrymen. I asked her if she wanted to come with me to safety in Leicester, and she agreed as long as I sent for you to come back to her when hostilities had ceased. I tried to contact you several times, but my messengers could not get through once you had taken up the leadership of Scotland's forces," the King answered calmly.
Wallace's steely expression softened a little, "I am grateful that you saved Murron's life, but I should have been told about it."
Theodore laughed, "Would you have entertained any messages from a noble who was Edward's brother?"
The Scotsman saw the logic in what the King said, "You have a point, but what about after Falkirk? What happened then?"
"If you don't mind, Theodore, I'll finish the story," Murron interjected.
The royal nodded and William's wife continued, "Theodore offered me a residence outside of London with a stipend. He promised that you could return to me once he could arrange it, so I accepted. I lived that way for a few years until yesterday, when he came and told me that he had been crowned King and spared your life. And now we're here…"
William was so happy to be reunited with his wife, but he dared to ask one more question of Theodore I, "I don't suppose I could convince you to release both of us…"
Much to his surprise, the King agreed, "I will release you, Wallace. As for your wife, she was never a prisoner to begin with. However, there is an arrangement that must be made." William remembered what Theodore had asked of him, "You want me to give up Murron in exchange for Scotland's freedom?"
Theodore sat up and approached the couple, "If you agree to divorce Murron and she consents to marry me, then Scotland will have its independence. She would be the Queen of England, but I would not object to the two of you still being lovers. All I ask is that she by my wife in name only."
"And if I should refuse?" Wallace stood firm.
The King sighed, "Then Scotland will not have independence. I will withdraw the troops, but there will be no formal recognition."
"Let me do this, William. We can still be together, and I will have all the power that comes with being Queen. Scotland can be ours again," Murron asked of him.
Her husband did not want to accept the King's offer, but he saw he had little choice. Theodore could bring more destruction to Scotland if he chose, even if his forces were beaten back. "I will assent to your offer, but only if you honor your word to allow Murron and I to be together and grant independence to my country," Wallace gave in.
The King nodded slowly, "I will do so, but only once Murron is my Queen."
King Theodore I was able to quickly process the divorce and married Murron MacClannough within a week. She was now known as Queen Murron I. The King had formally granted Scotland independence and released William Wallace. Everyone in England was shocked at what their King had done, but had little choice to accept it due to the strong military backing Theodore had. Over the course of the next forty years, King Theodore and Queen Murron ruled England with a fair and just hand, entering into peaceful and prosperous alliances with Scotland, Ireland, and even France. William Wallace served as Robert the Bruce's able Chancellor, getting Scotland back on its feet while continuing to see Murron. This era of peace and solidarity between the English and Scottish royal families became known as a true golden era.
"And that's the story of how William Wallace, King Theodore, and Queen Murron laid the foundation for the good relations with Scotland we have today in 2014. There was a lot of trouble between the end of their reign and today, but it created that precedent," the man sitting on a couch with his wife explained to their young adopted daughter, barely eight years of age.
The adorable girl smiled, "That's a wonderful story, daddy. I'm happy I finally know the tale. Mommy, what about you? You haven't said anything yet..."
Her mother laughed, "I think your father did a pretty good job of telling it. As for me, I think all three of them did something very special. Now young lady, it's time for someone to go to bed."
"Aww, already?" the child cooed as her mother gently took her by the hand. The girl's father followed them into the bedroom, smiling as she tucked their daughter in for the night. Both parents kissed her good night before shutting off the light and leaving their exhausted child to get some rest.
A few minutes later, while they were watching television, one of the two other people living with their little family, a man with a rugged complexion and long hair, came home from working overtime at the government offices on Downing Street. After settling in, he sat down across from the couple on a recliner and grinned, "You told Anna the story, didn't you?"
The girl's father nodded, "She kept asking us about it. I didn't think it would hurt to tell her. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not, Theodore. As long as you didn't tell her the whole truth..." the second man said.
"Oh William, stop it. You know very well he would never tell her that. Give my husband a little more credit than that," the mother rolled her eyes and laughed.
Her husband gave her a small kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for defending me. This is why I love this woman. My Murron..."
William Wallace smirked as he looked at two crowns resting on a nearby table, "It's amazing how we can still make this work. With you two together and me with Isabella, it's just surreal..."
King Theodore and Queen Murron smiled at his remark as a door opened and William's wife, Isabella, came in and joined them, "What did I miss?"
"Oh nothing, just rehashing old times a bit," Murron shrugged as she rested her head against Theodore's shoulder.
The French princess giggled as she looked over at her husband, "I think it was a little more than that..."
The two couples enjoyed the rest of the night in each other's company as the lights of their home in Buckingham Palace shined.