*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
Men surrounded the castle as Alexandra's army fought against the intruders from the top of the castle as the thousands of men stormed through the gates. Arrows flew through the air, the enemy shooting Alexandra's men and Alexandra's men shooting the enemy. Enemy men climbed up the castle to be met with their hands being cut off by swords or to have their throats slashed by the blade of the sword falling to the ground. Cannons rang out through the air on both lines as the enemy found their way into the castle. Greeted by inside guards and Roman the enemy fought with them to get further into the castle, servants ran to hide in their rooms. The sounds of swords clashing together in the hallway, angry voices of men, the cries of agony rang out in the castle halls as Emma and Henry hid in a secret passage way of the castle to stay safe as Alexandra stood over her babies' cradle watching them sleep peacefully through the chaos occurring inside and outside of the castle.
She knew Emma and Henry were safely hidden within the castle when the guards delivered the message to her. She was concerned deeply about Roman as he was out in the line of fire. It had been a while since he had left their bed chambers. She wasn't sure if he was injured or not. She didn't want to think if he was alive or dead. She stayed positive expecting and waiting for him to return to her and the babies any moment now. She ran her hands over each of their heads before she leaned down to kiss each of them. "Your Papa will return shortly," she promised them with a smile. They were precious as they slept together. Arthur sleeping with his hand covering part of his face and Vivian sleeping with her thumb in her mouth, small grunts coming from both of them as they slept and gently moved about. Alexandra wasn't sure how she could love two little creations as much as she did Vivian and Arthur. The sound of footsteps were heard outside their bedchamber. Alexandra smiled down at the babies as the door opened. "Finally you're ba…." She stopped mid-sentence when she saw it wasn't Roman that entered their chambers or one of their guards. "How did you get in here?" she asked the three men dressed in enemy colors.
"Queen Alexandra," said one of the men in their English accents, they were her own people that turned against her. "We've been waited for a moment like this," he said as they approached her. "You've made a mockery of our country," he said. "Marrying that non-believer, fortune teller, ragged gypsy boy and becoming impregnated with his bastard child. You don't deserve to be Queen and we are going to make sure you never take the throne," promised.
"How did you get in here?" she asked, her heart racing, her mouth going dry, her palms were sweating but she was not showing them an ounce of fear, that's what they wanted.
"Does it matter?" he asked stepping closer to her. "It's a shame you ruined yourself with that gypsy," he said as he reached out and grabbed a piece of her strawberry blonde hair playing with it between his fingers before he brushed her cheek with his hand. "You would have made a wonderful wife to me. You would have made a beautiful bride," he said moving closer to her, his hot breath on her neck. He smelled her hair and she smelled the bourbon on his breath. "Maybe I can take what I can't have, but make you have me," he said backing her up to the bed as the men walked with him.
"Don't," she commanded but she had fallen back onto the bed she shared with her husband. He dropped his sword to the ground and reached for his breeches.
"She's the Queen," said one of the men with him. "You could be hanged or beheaded," he warned.
"She takes any man that comes her way," he smiled as he undid his breeches. "You'll like this as much as I do."
"No," she begged tears blurring her eyes as she lay helplessly in the bed. She tried to get up but one of the men pushed her down and held her down. She tried to scream but the man covered her mouth with his hand as he pulled his erected cock out of his breeches and pulled up her nightgown. She tried to fight.
"Don't fight," he demanded, "or we will kill your babies," he said as the other man stood over the cradle holding his sword to her children. She cried and sobbed as he entered her roughly. His movements rough and hard as he took what he felt he deserved. She closed her eyes hoping it would all be over soon but he kept moving, raping her. The soreness from having the twins making it much worse, he grunted and laughed as he spilled his seed inside of her. "Very good," he said removing himself from inside of her. In anger he slapped her across the face as she cried and he fixed himself. "Your turn," he said to the man holding her down.
The man let out a laugh and they switched places as he reached for the top of his breeches and Roman stormed through the bedchamber door. The men drew their swords on him as Alexandra cried on the bed. She couldn't watch as they battled it out. Two guards came to Roman's aid as he had already been stabbed with one of the swords but he kept fighting. The swords clashed together, sparks flew as they hit. One man went down with one jab to the chest and the other man went down with a jab to the chest. The man that raped Alexandra stood toe to toe with Roman battling it out with their swords. The guards ran to Alexandra's aid and she pushed them away and sobbed as she curled up into a ball. Roman saw his wife and grew angry. His rage ripping through his body, he fought harder and stabbed the man that took advantage of his wife in the chest before he cried out in agony falling to the floor. Roman took the sword across his throat to finish him off before throwing his sword to the ground. Holding onto his side he made his way over to his sobbing wife. "Alexandra," he said through his pain.
"Roman," she sobbed as he took her into his arm.
"Shhh," he held her. "I'm here."
"Roman, he," she started to say but she couldn't get the words out. "Roman," she sobbed burying her head into his chest allowing his blood to mix with hers. The guards carried the men out of the bedchamber while he comforted his wife ignoring his wounds.
"You're hurt," she whispered touching his wounds.
"I'm okay," he said. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," she said. "You need a doctor."
"So do you," he said touching her face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you."
"I'm fine," she said more concerned about him. "You need a doctor," she said as she wiped his blood onto their counterpane.
"Alexandra, I should have been here. Are the babies okay?"
"They're unharmed," she said as she helped him out of his shirt. "You need a doctor." His wound was red and covered in blood. She took his shirt and wiped the blood away. It was a nasty wound.
"I'll be fine," he said. "I'm more concerned about you. Did he hurt you?"
"He raped me," she said calmly as she got out of their bed. "Don't worry about me. I will be fine. You need medical attention," she said before she called for a servant to bring her some water, cloths and alcohol to clean up his cuts. "Is it over?" she asked one of the guards.
"For now," he answered. "They were radicals that have joined forces with France. They will return with French armies. You need to gather an army," he said to her.
"I will take care of that," she said.
"No you won't," called out Roman as he winced in pain. "You will take it easy like the doctor instructed."
"I am the Queen of England. I need to defend my country and my home. I need a meeting with Prince Fernando and King Phillip," she said. "Bring them to the castle," she said to the guard. "Send a footman to them to bring them here."
"Yes, Your Majesty," he said as the servant came in with the water, cloths and ointment she requested.
"Thank-you," she said as she took them from her. "I need a tub and some water too please."
"Yes, Majesty," she curtsied before she left the chambers.
Alexandra made her way over to her husband. "Since you're stubborn and won't allow me to call you a doctor I will take care of you."
"You should be taking care of yourself," he said.
"I will be fine," she said as she stood next to him. "This needs cleaned up and treated before infection sets in." She dipped the cloth in water and then placed it onto his wound to clean it up. He winced in pain. "Emma and Henry were hidden in one of the secret passage ways. They are safe."
"I know," he said. "I made sure. I should have made sure that you were safe," he said as she dried the area of his wound. She took the ointment and put it onto his wound to keep it clean. "DAMN IT!" he cried out in agony. "That hurts."
"But it keeps you from getting an infection," she responded. "The last thing you want is an infection. I have to keep it clean."
"Where did you learn all this?" he asked.
"Why because I am a Queen?" she asked. "You think I don't know how to treat a wound?"
"I didn't expect it," he said as she wrapped it up in bandages.
"I have learned more than anyone will ever know. It is called survival," she said. "Just because I am a Queen doesn't mean I don't know how to take care of a man or his injuries."
"You should be worried about your own, Alexandra. I will never stop blaming myself for this."
"Don't," she said. "I will be fine," she said as her abigail entered the room with a tub and some water for Alexandra to bathe in before she met with the King and Prince of Spain. She needed this to contract signed and their army by her side as soon as possible because it was only a matter of time before the French Army and the Radicals returned back to finish what they started.
Alexandra bathed and cleaned herself up. She fed the babies before she dressed in a black gown with gold bead work. Her abigail brushed her hair up into a tight bun and placed her crown on her head. Alexandra filled herself with strength even though she was at her weakest point after being violated by the radical. She held her head high and walked out of her bedchamber when the King and Prince of Spain arrived.
Alexandra walked into the dining room of the castle following her guards. King Phillip and Prince Fernando rose to their feet to greet her. They each bowed and kissed her hand. "Queen Alexandra," said Phillip. "Congratulations on the arrival of your first child."
"Children," she corrected him with a smile. "There is a boy and a girl."
He smiled and said, "congratulations."
"Thank-you," she smiled.
"Congratulations," said Fernando with a wide smile. "We heard of the attack on the castle. We are pleased to see you doing so well and unharmed."
"I'm grateful," she said. "Please have a seat," she invited them to take a seat as she sat at the table. They took a seat on opposite sides of each other. "You heard of the attack," she began. "They were radicals that have teamed with the French. The French will be invading England any day now. We need Spain's help."
"Our assistance does not come free, Alexandra," said Phillip. "If I deploy my troops to England you will need to supply us with something in return."
"Fernando and I agreed that my first born child would marry his first born child joining Spain and England in an alliance."
"I see," he said rubbing his chin. "Your children will not marry for some time," he said, "I need something now to make me want to assist you. How about Gold?"
"How much gold?" she asked. He wrote a number down on a piece of paper and passed it to her. "That's a lot of gold," she said.
"I have a lot of men in my army," he said, "Alexandra, you're in need of my help. You're going to need supplies that your nobles are no longer providing for you and France is withholding from you. You need my assistance and your army is dropping in numbers. With a small army and no allies you're in danger of losing your country. I don't think any amount of gold is too large for my assistance."
"I will pay you the amount of gold you requested," she said. "And my daughter Vivian will be married to Prince Felipe when she is 10 and 6."
"Very good," said King Phillip with a smile. "Once I have my gold I will sign a contract to send my army to assist you in your fight and your daughter marrying my grandson is a tie that will link our countries together for a lifetime and we will also provide you with the goods you need."
"Thank-you," she said with a smile. She sent for the gold and when it was presented to King Phillip he smiled and let out a little joyous laugh. He signed the treaty between the two countries offering his army to Alexandra and offering to supply her with goods. Alexandra signed it too followed by the marital contract between Vivian and Felipe linking England and Spain in an alliance.
"Alexandra, I will send for my troops to be here in a couple days. I will also ship grain to England to help with the famine. Together we will take down France," he promised.
"Thank-you," she said with a smile. She felt a bit better knowing that she had an ally to fight against her enemy. She knew if it weren't for King Phillip that she would lose her country, her life and even her family. She could always get gold back but getting her country back or getting her life or the life of a loved one back wouldn't be so easy it wasn't even possible. She knew she did the right thing for her country and she kept her head held high despite her night and early morning. The only thing she wanted to do or needed to do was spend time with her husband, brother and her children.
*A/N: What did you think of the Radicals of England turning against the Queen? Should Alexandra be frightened they have aligned themselves with France? What did you think of the attack on Alexandra? What about Alexandra's strength after to take care of Roman's injuries instead of her own and acting as if the rape never happened? Do you think she will ever forget the rape like she wishes? Do you think she should still be taking it easy or going to war with France and the radicals? What are your thoughts on her treaty and alliance with Spain? Do you believe Spain will help her or harm her? Please review and thank-you for reading.