Disclaimer: I have decided to make this chapter in a trio. Still don't own Reign. Still not historically accurate. But still a whole lot of drama. Enjoy Part II!
Chapter 8: The Littlest Broken Crown of Lee, Part II
The couple fell asleep after such a tiring day and opening up to each other. Just as their sleep was about to be in deep, a knock on the door wrecked the silence of the room.
"Papa?" A small muffled voice could be heard. It was followed by a woman's voice. "My goodness, Damien! Your parents are sleeping. Let's go back before the guards come back!" Then another knock on the door. "Papa!"
Finally, the couple awakened. Narcisse groggily was about to sit up when Catherine halted him. "Rest further. You need it more than I do." He was about to protest but Catherine was already walking towards the door, mumbling. He easily went back to sleep.
"Who in their right mind would disturb anyone's," She didn't finish her sentence because she had reached the door and her son immediately hugged her. Lucille and Catherine shared a look that made the queen pull the nun inside while the child continued to embrace.
"Maman!" His voice was muffled on his mother's garment. Catherine was shaken as she pushed back Damien to look at him. Oh my God. This is not my toddler son. He was already almost as tall as Catherine. His features developed to be more like his father's. The blue orbs were. more distinct, his brunette locks were fuller.
"Damien?!" Catherine didn't mean to sound so surprised since Lucille warned her before the meeting. But she couldn't wrap it around her head. "Oh my dear, how you've grown! It's remarkable and scary." She embraced him once more in hesitation.
As she did, Lucille gave her a timid look from Damien's background. "What are you both doing here at this hour? You're lucky the guards took a break." Just as Catherine mentioned, they heard them going back to their post. The ruckus of their armors was the one that woke up Narcisse. With his still closed eyes and sleepy voice, he called out for his wife. "Catherine?"
But his son was the one to run by his bed to the ladies' surprise. "Papa!" His eyes snapped open as Damien jumped into the bed to hug his father. "Dear Lord. He also became faster." Catherine was still very sleepy and just followed her son. Lucille stayed by the door.
"Damien? Damien!?" Narcisse sat up to hug him properly while presenting a lot of questions on his face. Catherine joined them in bed and laid her back on the headboard. "Oh my, you are," He gently pushed back his son. "Incredibly big so quickly. How did this happen?" Damien was just sitting on the bed while his father searched for answers in his wife and the nun.
"I've written to you both about this a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea why it has not reached you but all of this suddenly happened. I'm so sorry for the sudden disturbance tonight, Majesty. But he jumped off his bed and went looking for his father." The nun shyly answered.
"Papa. Hurt." The adults watched Damien place his hand on Narcisse's forehead. "Did you feel Papa's pain, my angel? Is that why you ran tonight?" The child nodded to Catherine and hugged Narcisse tighter. "I'm sorry to hear that, my boy. But Papa is alright now and you being here has helped so much." He kissed his son's head. Catherine's heart melted. Lucille's mind kept running.
If Damien can feel the pain of his father, is it possible the poisoning is also connected to the witch? I wish I could ask now but the family seemed tired. Maybe this could wait until tomorrow. Lucille tenderly looked at them. Narcisse and Damien were now within Catherine's arms. "Majesty, I don't like to break your reunion but it's getting late. Damien, we need to go back. Your parents need to rest." The nun shared her wisdom.
"Maman? Papa?" The child was pleading to stay. The couple looked at each other into consideration. Catherine captured his son. "Come by the first light tomorrow, Lucille. He'll be sleeping here." The boys smiled wildly in joy at each other. Catherine instructed Lucille to use the secret passageway to which the nun followed.
After Lucille left, the mother and son laid back on the bed while the father sat up, looking down at them and tucking them in. Just as he was about to hit the hay with them, he saw Henry across the room by the door. He froze.
"Enjoy your little family while you can 'cause you won't have much time left."
"Stéphane? Why don't you come to lie down now?" Catherine observed her husband. He had that fear in his eye again. But she was not the only one looking at him. "Papa, no."
The gentle hand of the child reached for him. Damien pulled himself up, then looked in Henry's direction. The child pointed his finger and crinkled his face to dismay. "No! No hurt Papa! No!"
Catherine sat up and looked in that direction as well. Stéphane was looking at his son now. Do you see him too? Are you telling him to stay away? It seemed the child heard his thoughts as Damien turned back at him to nod.
"Is it Henry? Do you still see him?" Catherine tried to suppress her worry. "Yes, he's back again. But Damien seems to see him too... and can read my mind?" Narcisse was quite uncomfortable with the last fact. Catherine held his face as Damien held his hand. "Stay with us, mon amour. He is not real. The poison is still in your system. By tomorrow, you'll start cleansing.
Stéphane closed his eyes and started to calm down. He embraced his son tighter. Catherine lightly brought her husband and son to bed without breaking them apart. Once down, Damien naturally stopped his humming and looked at his Papa. He had nothing but a pure smile and love for him.
"Papa no hurt?" Asked the child. "No more hurt, my boy, no more hurt," said his father. Stéphane captured his son to the warmest embrace and provided him a security blanket. "Hey, how about Maman? Can't I have a hug?" Catherine pouted to which the boys giggled. Stéphane extended his arm as Catherine excitedly meshed in with her boys. She kissed them both on the cheek.
"Thank you for calming down Papa, my angel. You did a good job, but you will be better once you start having your lessons so you may express yourself better. Would you like that?" Damien squealed in happiness. He's a smart toddler trapped in a very grown kid. The best thing they could do now was to deal with it and find out what came about this phenomenon.
"I love you both. No one's gonna harm you. Not while I'm around. Remember that." Narcisse kissed his little family. "And we will always save you whatever happens." Catherine kissed him on the lips, hoping they could live up to their words. Their angel snuggled between his parents and wished that everything would be alright.
Just as ordered, Lucille came by the room at first light. The queen was already awake and was sitting by the window looking at her sleeping husband and son. Catherine acknowledged the nun and invited her to come to sit by the window. "I wonder until when I could cling on to this kind of peace. I just want the people that I love to be safe." She held Lucille's hand. "We did everything you said. Did it not work? Why is all of this happening?"
As expected, a vision came through. A blurred scenario, way too vague to decipher. But she heard screams, she saw taint bloodshed all over. In a blink, the clear skies appeared over Chenonceau. A wedding was being held. The king was standing with his fiancé. Catherine, Narcisse, and her other children were present. But so was the black-purple glowing glows over the place. The energy of those glows was sharper to feel, heavy to haha, and crispier to see. She felt that she was closer to something she had been searching for.
"Lucille? What is it? What did you see?" Catherine was anxious. Lucille hesitated to speak. Then shifted her attention to Narcisse and Damien. "The cure was directed to protect your children. I believe it was not meant to protect the two of you. It did strengthen your devotion for one another but it didn't mean your safety." She honestly responded to her previous question then faced her queen.
"The vision that came through was unclear, your Grace. The clearest I got was the glows that were bothering me for the past nights now, the same one that surrounded you both. I believe we shall find answers at the upcoming wedding. The lord chancellor must recover safely or else, more insidiousness will be cast upon us. We should be ready, Queen Catherine."
The queen faintly smiled. "I'm grateful, Lucille. Yes, I agree with you. We need him to fully recover from this. He needs to wash off all the poison in his system to get him back. Just until we have grave evidence of who perpetrated this vial act. I was thinking to situate him in the nursery where no one would suspect the lord chancellor to be in. I want Jean and Damien to be with him. The boys will help him to calm down. Especially Damien." The queen hinted that Damien helped tremendously.
"Last night, he saw Henry again. But surprisingly, Damien saw him too. He panicked but our son hummed a lullaby to calm him." It was all adding up for Lucille, making her idea very probable. Just as she was about to voice it out, Narcisse stirred to consciousness. Catherine went to his side. "Stéphane, I'm here. Lucille needs to take Damien now." He struggled to open his eyes as they blink in weariness but his arms were involuntarily moving in cooperation. Together, they woke up their son. "My angel, it's time to wake up." Damien finally woke up and kissed his parents.
Lucille finally got a hold of him. But before leaving, she finally got the word out. "Your Grace, my lord, I think the witch is behind all this." The couple sat on the bed and waited for what the nun meant. "Damien was affected by your pain and seemed to see what you see" They considered. "Yes, that seems possible. He could also read my mind." Everyone looked at the sleepy Damien. The child just yawned and scratched his head.
"We will take that into account. We'll talk about it later but I think you should get going now. I'll have breakfast served at your chambers. Update me if something comes up. Lessons will start for him later." The queen then shifted back at Narcisse. "After your breakfast, I think it will be best if you stayed in the nursery with the boys. Damien has helped deal with this and it would do you good to spend some time with them while you heal. I'll instruct the physician to also go there and start your treatment."
"I see. That's indeed a good plan. But hmmm, I do have a question. Can I be his instructor for his lessons? Just to distract me and lessen his interaction with others." He smiled at his wife's wisdom and his request. "But don't overexert yourself, Narcisse. I need you back in your one hundred percent." Catherine captured his face. Narcisse kissed her palms. "I promise to take it easy. I love you."
Catherine blushed but held her composure. She kissed her husband's crown. "For sure, Luc and my other children will check up on you this morning. So after that, you will secretly go there. I don't want them to know where you are going to be situated for everyone's safety." Her companions agreed. Then she spoke to her son. "Papa will be with you later, my angel. He will teach you all that you need. But he needs rest to heal. So you must behave well, alright?" Then she lowered her head and closed her eyes to prepare herself for her unfortunately impending words.
"But I want you to keep this in mind, you can't be heard by anyone else calling us Maman or Papa for your safety. Especially by the nanny or the servants in the nursery. I'm sorry, my angel, we can't risk anything at this point. Do you understand, my love?" She was down to see him eye to eye. Damien painted a certain sadness but nodded to his mother. Narcisse comforted his son.
"For sure, he will behave well. Won't you, my boy?" Damien's face lit up. "But in closed doors, whatever happens, we will always be your Maman and Papa. We love you so much." He promised and kissed Damien goodbye before the two left.
The couple was left in silence for a few minutes until she went by the window again. "We have to protect Damien from everyone. No one must know that he is our son." Catherine reiterated. "I know, mon amour. But no one will believe that he is our son even if we proclaimed to the world." Narcisse did have a point but his wife was always a step ahead of him.
"For now, yes. No one will suspect he is our child. But once he grows up, seemingly at a very fast rate, people might believe that I had him with you, in secret when I was still married to Henry. We can't let that kind of gossip fire the castle." She welcomed the sunrise in trance.
Stéphane encapsulated her from behind. "Alright. I will do my best to instill that in him." He turned his wife to face him. "I know you have so much on your plate right now and you are a strong independent woman. But you don't have to do it all, Catherine. Delegate what needs to be done. You did not sleep well last night and you woke up so early this morning. Give yourself a break, mon amour." He gave a peck of security on her crown.
She rested her tired mind on his chest. "But how will I do that? The man that I love was being poisoned under my nose, yet again! Someone made a fool out of all of us like some kind of sick game and I don't like it one bit. So whoever did this will feel my wrath." She hugged him tighter.
He lifted her face by the chin and still embraced, their eyes were locked. "I know, mon amour. I know we need to move quickly about resolving my poisoning. But we can't jump to conclusions just to hasten the process and quell our wrath." He kissed her and opened his suggestion on her mouth.
"We truly need to consider that witch. We don't know the full extent of her capabilities but one of her many extraordinary powers gave us a son who could feel my pain and infiltrate my mind. So it's not impossible she could have done this." Narcisse reasoned with her.
"It's also not impossible that Elizabeth did. So we will keep all options open. I'll see what they found in your room. In the meantime, we need to get ready for today." They kissed once again and prepared for the day.
True enough, after their breakfast, all their legitimate children showed up to check up on Narcisse. The lord chancellor and the queen mother informed them of his healing process. She was hesitant to share her hunch that the English were involved in the poisoning, given Charles' radical reaction to them months ago. Until I find the evidence, they must not know. She thought.
"We need to postpone the wedding, at most for a week. We could reason the arrival of your siblings and other foreign dignitaries. I will be back as soon as I fully recover and in time for the royal wedding. If I may, with your permission, I hope Luc could join the privy council to serve as my voice while I'm away. For now, we can't tell them what happened. It might incite civil unrest."
The king and the dauphin agreed to this appointment. Luc assured everyone. "I will personally oversee the investigation on your belongings, father. So that the queen mother could focus on the wedding." Claude stepped forward. "And I, with Elisa, will oversee the arrival of Margot and Hercule. Oh, I'm so excited to be with them again and for you to meet them." She smiled at the future queen.
The couple was touched by their efforts. "Thank you, Luc. But do update me with whatever you'll find. And I appreciate that helping hand, Claude. I did miss your siblings as well. I shall welcome them too." The mother and daughter exchanged hopeful glances knowing what Margot's arrival will entail.
After that, everyone was busy with their tasks. As planned, they didn't know that Narcisse had just stayed in the nursery and not in his estate. Jean's nanny was ordered to get out and Lucille took over Jean while Narcisse spent time with Damien. The physician noted every symptom that passed by.
After drinking the herbs the doctor prepared, he vomited and micturated the whole day. But Damien appeared to have the healing hand as Stéphane could tolerate the pain and discomfort whenever his son held him.
That night, Catherine discreetly and briefly visited to check upon them. The boys and Lucille were already sleeping when she arrived. Narcisse assured her that he was feeling better and had not seen Henry the entire day. He urged her to take a rest already 'cause her children will be returning the next day.
"Mon amour, please rest. Margot and Hercule will be arriving tomorrow." She rested her tired head on his shoulder. "I know. I wish you could welcome them with me. Hercule is a delight and Margot is," She halted to consider what to say. "A bit more audacious than all my other children."
"I bet she got that from you." He kissed her head. "Or her father. I'm quite certain she will like you." Catherine faced him with all the worry in the world. "Isn't that a good thing? Although your face says otherwise." Stéphane must have not heard Margot's apparent discretions with older men. In the most frustrating tone, she answered, "She will like you the way that I want you." Narcisse realized what she meant.
"Oh. What could I say? My appeal runs through Medici-Valois women." Catherine lightly thumped his chest in annoyance at his joke. "Must you remind me?" Stéphane chuckled. "I'm just kidding, mon amour. But you have nothing to worry about. You know my love and marriage for you is stronger than any upcoming temptations."
She looked blankly at him. "Again, Margot is my boldest child. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants." Her husband just knew how to make her calm. "And you will stop at nothing to do what needs to be done." She smirked to which he returned with a wide grin.
"Alright. I trust you. Don't break that trust. Speedy recovery, mon amour." They kissed like second nature to everything. "I won't break it, I promise. I love you, Catherine. See you tomorrow." Then the queen left and Stéphane went to Damien's side.
The next morning, Narcisse felt tired upon waking up. What the hell was wrong with that sleep? Why does it feel cramped all of a sudden? Upon opening his eyes, he noticed that Damien's feet were already out of the duvet he placed on him the night before.
But the boy's head was at level with Narcisse. He sat up straight to discover that Damien grew twice in height overnight. Good lord. Before he could decipher where to put his panic, horns were heard. Under his breath, he addressed his sleeping son. "Your sister and brother have arrived."
The rest of the castle was in a frenzy. Everybody was excited to meet the princess and the prince of the Crown. Just as Catherine went out of her chambers, Luc was waiting in front of her door. "Your Majesty, I have to show you something."
Down at the gardens, where the welcome party was set up, the king, his fiancée, and siblings waited for the royal arrivals. A messenger of Catherine went to Charles' ear. "Oh dear Lord," was heard from the king. "What is it?" Claude asked. But Henri and Elisa were also in attendance. "Luc and mother won't be able to welcome Margot and Hercule. They found out who poisoned Narcisse."
Just as Charles was about to retreat, the carriage of Margot and Hercule finally arrived in front of them. The princess went out first then the prince. Margot was a vision in crimson that matches her auburn locks. She was true beauty in a smart stance. Hercule was an adolescent prince in blue. He was equally charming and all smiles to the crowd.
"Margot! Hercule! Oh, how I've missed you both!" Claude hugged her siblings. They broke their embrace so that Margot could address the rest. "Henri, Claude, King Charles. And you must be Princess Elisabeth." She gave them all bows and brief hugs before she let her inherited tongue lashing skills from her mother put them into use.
"Thank you so much for graciously welcoming us. Especially the princess of the Holy Roman Empire. I commend you for taking your time. I hope you could teach that time managing skills to the Queen Mother of France who didn't have time to show up to welcome her own blood." Margot smiled sarcastically.
"Grande soeur, mother will surely meet us later. Just be patient." Hercule gently smiled at her then went to Claude's side. "Margot, mother just attended something for our wedding. Hercule is right, she will see you both later. We are so glad you both could make it to our wedding. Now shall we move inside?" They all went in. Charles was hand in hand with Elisa, Claude with Hercule, and Henri with Margot. "Whatever did she do to you that is different from the rest of us that made you ire her so much?"
The dauphin asked the newly arrived princess. "What do you mean? I'm being a good daughter by returning the favor. She dislikes me the most. She doesn't even try to hide it." Henri faced Margot. "She is Catherine de Medici. She all made us feel unwanted and incredibly loved at the same time. We just need to follow what she wants and surely we will be under her graces or safe from foreign harm."
Margot smirked at her brother. "But not from her tortuous inflictions. Of course, you could say that. Everything will fall in favor of you. You're the next king. While we, princesses, must live our lives out of our own hands. And everything is thanks to our dear,"
As they entered, Hercule finished his sister's whispered sentence to Henri. "Mother!" Catherine and Luc were walking towards the throne room. Hercule ran to his mother's open arms. He was still a child at heart although a foot taller than his mother. "My dear, how I've missed you. I'm sorry I was not there to welcome you. I had pressing matters to attend to."
The queen immediately went to her daughter. "Margot. Welcome back, my dear." They hugged as Catherine whispered to her ears. "I'm truly glad you're here. I have missed you." Margot froze to her mother's words. She was taken aback. Her mother gave her the warmest smile and sincerest eyes. A face so foreign to her it made her speechless.
"As much as I want a grander welcome for you both in the throne room, I would need you all in my study. Luc and I have something to say." Everybody followed the queen mother who was still on Margot's side. Once they entered, the princess detached herself from Catherine and approached Luc to say hi. The queen mother was briefly saddened but Claude took over the empty side and guided her to her designated place.
"Give her time. That's what you gave me." She winked and kissed her mother's cheek then went to her husband. "Well done, Claude. You bagged yourself a duke! A very handsome duke. Do you have a brother as dashing as you?" Margot winked at him. Luc became uncomfortable and held Claude tighter. Claude just giggled, knowing her sister's charming antics. "Don't worry, love. She doesn't bite. But I'll keep you safe from her, don't worry." The couple exchanged a sweet assurance.
"He doesn't have a brother here but for sure you have heard a lot about his father. Unfortunately, he is off-limits." Henri whispered in Margot's ear as he handed her wine. "Oh, yes, the lord chancellor. I heard he's a fine man for his age." Henri agreed to her. "But you say off-limits? Isn't he a bachelor?" Henri did his best to feed her sister's curiosity just to see how everything will play out. "Yes. But his loyalty is already set for a surprisingly formidable lover." He didn't mean to describe his mother as such but the memory of finding out they were lovers was still engraved on the prince's brain.
"Is that so? Don't you know by now, brother? No one is off-limits to Princess Margot de Valois, even if that is the father of my brother-in-law. So from whom will I unchain the lord chancellor of France?" The princess eagerly asked. "In the wedding. For sure, you'll know by that time." Henri winked at her then offered a toast which she gladly accepted. Margot started to fantasize about the conversation she just had. Can't wait to meet you, Lord Narcisse. You don't know what is coming at you.
Sorry, this took so long. Part III will be crazier. Thank you for all the support :)