Epilogue
With the death of Juan Borgia and the election of a new Pope in Rome, Europe was finally at peace. Many of Europe's commoners knew who was responsible for this Golden Age of prosperity, England's Gloriana, the Queen Mary. When she intervened, she had brought France and the Holy Roman Empire out of many years of war. She had brought three of Europe's strong players, France Spain and England together against one common enemy.
Not only did she bring a Golden Age to Europe, but also to her own country. England, or as it now called Britain, was prosperous under her reign. She encouraged the arts, such as literature and theatre, as well as the sciences. She encouraged colonization and gave many of the poor a new beginning in the New World. She ruled England for a full thirty years, and did England sure blossom under her care. Those who doubted the capability of a woman to be sovereign found themselves ashamed of how wrong they really were.
She was happy until her last days at the ripe old age of sixty. She died surrounded by family. James had died ten days before her and it is believed that in the end, it was a broken heart that killed her. The two of them had many happy years together, she sometimes feared that it was all just a dream and she would return to her life of misery back in Rome. Mary had a total of six children. Her two eldest Phillip and Alexandria were by Juan. By James she had, William, James, Katherine and Isobel. Her children were royalty all over Europe, each of them marrying into European royalty. Her sisters were happy as well. Margaret was happily Queen of Portugal, beloved by the people. Then there was Elizabeth, who reconciled herself with her sister, yet chose to stay in the convent. She had let go of her vanity and found herself content in her servitude to God.
She often thought of Juan, and how she owed much of her strength to him. The three years that she spent miserable in Rome made her the strong woman she was. She had been made weak from his abuse for many years until she had the strength she to get up off of her feet and return to her true home in England. She had had the courage to get up and say "That's enough for now".
There it is! Finally, over! Wow three year of writing this story and it's over. I know that some of you might be disappointed in the ending as well as the ship that happened, but as the story progressed I found that I could not write a story about a woman going back to an abusive and cheating partner. I find myself often frustrated by that in cinema and literature, that I could not romanticize an abusive relationship. So instead I gave you a story where a woman went from a man who did nothing but hurt her, to a man who cherished her and respected her as his equal. I could not write a story where the man took the power that was meant to be Mary's, so I wrote one where the man she loved stood by her side and let her rule. I hope that you liked this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. In earlier chapters I used lyrics from Happiness by the Fray (I also got the title from this song. The inspiration for the story was from a video for Juan and Mary with the song.) and Skin by Natalie Merchant. The Tudors and the Borgias are both property of Showtime. Farewell, my readers thank you for your loyalty and support.
With Love,
Megan