February-April

1506

In the following months, Margaret assumed the role of a diligent and doting mother. Everyone was surprized how much enthusiasm Margaret had for the little Prince. It had been assumed, that as a seventeen year old woman, she would hand over the Prince to the governess and beget more children. Not so for Margaret who wanted to be involved with her first born as much as she could. That included breast feeding. Margaret and James argued constantly about this particular action, but James who was ecstatic that he finally had a legitimate male heir to succeed him, finally gave in to his young Queen.

The Queen lavished attention on her son, as he was hers for a great part of the day. Within days he recognized his mother and stretched his chubby short arms out to her. When he cried, he would not stop until he saw Margaret. He also began to recognize James and Alice who had been appointed his godmother. Alice was with him almost as much as Margaret was and Little J, as he was affectionately now known as, smiled whenever he saw his godmother.

April would mark Margaret's eighteenth birthday. The court would celebrate with a masque designed by Margaret herself. The masque would be a variation of "Sleeping Beauty." One lady would be the sleeping beauty-though everyone knew this would be the Queen. Several ladies would be the briar patch guarding beauty in the castle and other ladies would be the ring of fire. Margaret took special care with the gowns. The fire would be a mixture of orange, red and yellow while the briar patch would be various shades of brown. However the Sleeping Beauty's gown colour was undecided. Margaret had designed it so the sleeves would hang off her shoulders and the neckline would be square with the skirt reaching the floor. Margaret debated with herself what the colour should be. Should it be pink? No, too close to the fire. Should it be brown? No, she was the beauty, not shrubbery. When she was suckling Little J, the answer came to her. Her gown would be robin's egg blue.

Weeks before the masque was set to take place, Margaret called her ladies and had them measured. Each lady was given a different shade of red, orange, yellow or green to compliment their complexion. The ladies were all excited for this would be the first masque of the year. But most of them didn't know the fairy tale of La Belle au Bois Dormant. As they were fitted, Margaret read it to them and they were far too excited now.

As the ladies were being taken care of, Margaret turned her attention to her husband's courtiers. She had decided they would wear silver satin, to stimulate armour. James loved the idea and he expressed it in overwhelming affection for Margaret. While his men were measured, he kissed her hands, cheeks, and lips. Margaret could only giggle and blush in the proximity of the men.

"How did you come up with this idea?" James asked Margaret as he kissed her in between. "Light entertainment my Grandmother forbid me to read." Margaret replied scathingly. "She wished for me to be as scholarly as she is. Except I don't have the wish to be like her in anyway. "James watched Margaret's expression change from joyful to anger. Margaret was quite a person, James observed. She didn't wish to be like her grandmother, who enabled Margaret to be with James. He noticed too that she was fidgety in her prayers. He had a slight suspicion that his Queen was a pagan. This was the first sign to James that Margaret wished to be different in every way from her grandmother; Even if it meant rejecting the Church.


Evening arrived and with it, an amorous Margaret curled up to James as he pulled the covers over his legs and up to his stomach. She placed her hand on his broad chest and looked up at him. It was as if she were asking him for permission to something they both wanted. Her fingers crawled up to the strings of his nightgown and untied the strings, resting her hand inside the nightgown. This was the most intimate they had ever been, without thoughts of procreation. Then it was James who began. Now it was Margaret who instigated and it took a sensual twist.

James watched as her hand glided over his chest, occasionally twisting a strand of hair around her finger. She studied every muscle, looking up at James every so often for his reaction. As she looked up at him again, she saw the desire and lust in his eyes. Abandoning all inhibition, she rolled on top of him and began to kiss fiercely, her hands entangling themselves in his hair. James was momentarily stunned by this but recovered quickly, kissing Margaret with equal intensity.

This went on for several minutes before Margaret climbed off him and stretched her arms to the sky. James smiled widely as she was finally giving herself to him willingly. His fingers traced the hem of her chemise before he began to push the undergarment up, revealing more bare skin by the moment.

The chemise was thrown to the side of the bed. James gazed at his Aphrodite in human form. How could he have gotten so very lucky? He took a hold of her hand and pulled her to him as close as possible. He wrapped his hands in her russet coloured tresses as he bit her lip lightly, eliciting a soft moan from Margaret. James smiled at this but his eyes opened widely when he felt Margaret's fingers on the inside of his thigh. He looked at her only to receive a self satisfied smirk from his Queen.

James let Margaret push his own nightgown up past his thighs, where she saw his engorged member, once again grinning at her handiwork before slipping it over his head. They were now free of clothing. Margaret lay on her back while James climbed on top of her. He leaned over her and gazed into her hazel eyes framed by voluminous ebony eyelashes. James moved closer to Margaret and whispered in her ear, "I love you." The King kissed behind her earlobe, under her jaw line before looking at her again. Margaret gazed at him and smiled, in love with her husband. "I love you." The Queen barely said it above a whisper but to James, it was like she was screaming her love to the entire world. He was ecstatic that they were finally in love. It was a rarity for an arranged marriage to consist of love but they had one. Proclaiming their love for each other, they made love.


April 30, 1506

Margaret's eighteenth birthday finally came. At dawn, James woke Margaret with a kiss behind her earlobe. James and Margaret had been sharing her bed for over a year, quite unusual for European royalty. The Queen's eyes fluttered and a sleepy smile overtook her calm appearance. She moved closer to James and rested her head on his chest. "Happy birthday Margey. " James whispered, running his hands through Margaret's freed locks. Margaret snuggled closer to him as a response. "If you want the masque to go on as planned, we have to get up, as much as I would love to lay here with you all day. And our little boy will want to see you too on your day." With that said, Margaret slowly began to get out of bed and let her ladies dress her for the masque. "James you know it's not proper for a man to watch a woman dress." Margaret said slyly as her ladies moved her behind a dressing screen erected for Margaret. "Ah, but it is proper for a man to watch his wife dress." James countered mischievously. Margaret only shook her head and smiled, knowing when to acknowledge defeat. "But if it pleases you, I will leave for my own bedchambers where I myself need to prepare for our masque. I shall see you at the masque, my sleeping beauty."

The set, players, and musicians were ready. The dragon ladies were being draped with a dark green curtain among other things. Margaret herself stepped up to the highest part of the make-believe tower and waited for the music to start.

The narrator cleared his throat and the throng that had gathered to watch quieted. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a King and his Queen." The groom and lady who were chosen to play the King and Queen waved and once again there was quiet. "They had been trying for years to have a child. Finally their prayers were answered and a little girl was brought to them. Four fairies were invited as godmothers and they offered gifts, such as the gift of beauty, wit, and charm. However a wicked fairy was overlooked and so placed an enchantment on the Princess, that when she reached adulthood, she would prick her finger on a spindle and die." The herald paused to let the crowd gasp at the injustice. "But the last good fairy hadn't given the Princess a gift. Though unable to reverse the curse, said the Princess would only sleep until the kiss of a prince and true loves kiss." The ladies all swooned at this point and looked at their husband or suitor as to say, 'Why can't you do that?'

"The King forbade spinning and had every spindle burned. But alas, it was all in vain. For upon reaching adulthood, the poor Princess came upon a poor woman spinning in one of the towers and asked to try the unfamiliar task. The wicked fairies curse was fulfilled. At the moment the Princess fell asleep, everyone else in the kingdom fell asleep. A forest of briar shielded the kingdom from the outside world, along with a ring of fire. "At this, the ladies surrounded the make shift castle dancing like savages around it.

"One hundred years past and while several knights had tried to rescue the beautiful Princess, they all perished. A prince from a far off country had heard of the unfortunate story and wanted to see if he could succeed where so many had failed." At this, James appeared looking very much the part of a knightly Prince in the silver 'armour'. "Once he approached the enchanted castle, the fire glowed to embers and the patch parted ways for him," The ladies moved out of the way for the King, "He trembled at the beauty of the Princess, and sank to his knees. With one kiss, the Princess woke up," James knelt in front of Margaret who was sleeping and she smiled at him, "And with that, the whole kingdom woke up and resumed what they were doing. The Princess and the Prince were married and lived happily ever after." The crowd cheered wildly as Margaret and James kissed to celebrate her 18th birthday.


"I think everyone enjoyed your masque, my love."James announced to Margaret as she nuzzled little James. The baby was giggling madly with the attention and tried to grab Margaret's hair. She only laughed and allowed him to do so, watching with a smile as the baby sucked his mother's hair. "Do you think they will remember it and tell it to their children?"

"Yes, I do. You planned everything to perfection." Margaret blushed and leaned over to kiss James. The Prince looked up at his parents, puckering his lips and making loud smacking noises with his lips. The King and Queen laughed at their sons' actions before kissing his cheeks. "I think we created a monster."


-Author's Note-

Sorry for the three week wait! I got my new computer two weeks ago and I wasn't in the mood to write much. But I buckled down today and finished the rest of the chapter. You probably won't recognize Sleeping Beauty as it's mostly the original story with a twist of Brother's Grimm and none of Disney. Though the Disney version was quite lovely, I must say. As always, review and tell me what you liked, or didn't like!