Queen Mary stood on the fitting platform, in front of a mirror to try on her gown for the coronation. The dress was a deep crimson color with gold embroidery, to symbolize England and its power. Knowing that the coronation was so close felt odd enough, but something else was on her mind that was making the whole experience even more nerve-wracking. Who knew what Elizabeth was planning? For all of Lady Mary's spying efforts, Elizabeth had been stingy on the exact details. There was, of course, the possibility that Elizabeth herself did not even know the details. She was at the mercy of the Spanish after all, but Mary could not get it out of her head that her life was constantly in danger, now more so than ever, and there was also more to lose now more so than ever. "Can you loosen it a little?" Mary asked the tailor.
"Loosen it?" Lady Mary asked in confusion. The Queen had decided to let Lady Mary join her in the fitting, noticing that the girl always had an interest in clothes and fashion. Queen Mary was never so good at that, so having an expert eye around could surely come in handy. "But Your Majesty, this fitting was just for finishing touches, if we are still making significant alterations, it may not be ready in time. Besides, I thought we agreed on a tight fitting, it will look better on this gown."
The Queen shook her head, gently placing her hand on her stomach. She had read so much about it, that she did not want to risk it, even if it made her look a little worse. "Not a major alteration dear cousin, just enough so I can breathe," Mary laughed a little bit, "There is something more important than my looks to worry about anyways." Lady Mary raised her eyebrow, not sure if she understood. The Queen grinned happily and looked at her cousin, "You are the first to know, so do not tell a soul, but I think I am with child."
Lady Mary broke in to a large smile and went up to hug the Queen, abandoning any sense of protocol and formality. Oddly enough, that comforted the Queen even more. "Your secret is safe with me, I won't even tell Catherine, but you should tell Francis soon, I know he will be overjoyed." Lady Mary tried not to think about what a political weapon this child would be, but recently politics consumed her in a way it never had before, and she hated it. Nonetheless, the back of her mind also celebrated the fact that with an heir, Queen Mary's reign was even more secure against Elizabeth, meaning that Lady Mary's job as a spy could come to an end sooner.
As if reading her cousin's mind, the Queen stepped down from the fitting platform and looked at herself in the mirror, stating, "This child will have royal ties to Scotland, England, and France. I hate to say it, but this child just might be all of our savior. An heir will secure King Henri of France's support like never before, and it will make me look even more viable than Elizabeth. I just hope we make it that long."
Somewhere in the gardens, Lady Catherine Grey and Lady Elizabeth walked together, enjoying the nice cool air, unaware of the massive news that the two Marys were sharing inside. Lady Catherine despised Elizabeth with a burning passion. She hated feeling that way. Perhaps it wasn't that she despised Elizabeth as a person, after all, just a few months ago, the whole world, even themselves, saw Elizabeth and the Grey sisters as Protestant allies against the Catholic Mary. The trio of women was seen as a sort of Holy Trinity of Protestant heirs to the English throne, securing the faith after the death of Mary Tudor. However, no one could imagine how the political landscape would change after Mary Tudor's death. Even still, before all of this, Catherine thought she and Elizabeth could be friends, but those times were gone.
The Grey sisters were very religious, though not as much as their late sister Jane had been. At the end of the day, they felt that if they recognized the true God and Jesus Christ, that they were doing enough. All the other details and theological squabbles were very tiny in the presence of God. So, when Mary Stuart had all but secured the throne of England for herself, the Grey sisters followed where the wind blew, all but destroying their allegiance with Elizabeth and abandoning their protestant faith, at least in public. Except, Elizabeth did not know that. Not yet at least. Therefore, Elizabeth and her plans were now a danger to the Grey sisters. Catherine was old enough to remember what happened to her sister Jane when she opposed a Catholic Queen, and she would not fall to the same fate, more importantly, she would not let her sister fall to the same fate. The loss of Elizabeth's friendship and allegiance was but a small price to pay in order for Catherine to save her and her sister.
"Dear cousin," Elizabeth said, snapping Catherine out of her train of thought and back to reality, "Have you found someone worth marrying? You are one of the most eligible brides in England after all."
Catherine debated on bringing up the Earl of Hertford, but she decided no to. It was to early for any of that, besides, she wanted to keep him off Elizabeth's radar, who knew what she had planned? "No, not yet," she replied simply, shaking her head as she continued walking.
"That actually pleases me to hear," Elizabeth confessed as she plucked a rose from the garden and smelled it. "I have someone in mind for you that will both elevate your status and secure our rule. King Philip has a bastard brother, John, who is very influential in Spain and is a duke. He is wealthy and handsome, so I am told. I think he would be the perfect match for you."
Catherine was almost boiling with anger. This is what Elizabeth did. She plotted and schemed, not giving a damn what anyone else wanted. She has never asked Catherine what she wanted out of all of this. "It is not our rule Elizabeth, its yours, and I want no part in it," Catherine replied, probably a bit to impulsively, she had just admitted who's side she was on. "You get a king and I get a bastard? I am not your chess piece for you to move around at will."
"Catherine," Elizabeth pleaded, more gently than Catherine had ever seen her, almost like she was concerned for Catherine's feelings. "I know this is hard, but I promise it is whats best for us. Soon I will be Queen of England and Spain, with you as my second in command. We can restore the true faith while also having a built in alliance with Spain. Think of how that will benefit England." When Catherine said nothing, Elizabeth sighed, "You have two options, me, the one who has been by your side and understands the life of shame you were forced to live, or you have her, the chosen heir of the woman who killed your sister."
Catherine was ready to explode with anger, so much so that she almost felt sick. "You manipulative bitch," she jerked her hands out from Elizabeth's and backed up from her, "Thats all you Tudors do, is manipulate and lie, but who could blame you? Look at your parents. England is better off without you, and so am I." Before walking away, Catherine marched so close to Elizabeth that they were almost touching, "And if you ever mention my sister like that again, you won't have a head left to wear your crown on. I will make sure of that personally," then she marched away.
Later in the day, Lady Mary decided to take some time for herself. With all the plots and politics, she felt like she was going to explode. Therefore, she got a picnic blanket and a basket of food and brought them out to the meadow. She could enjoy the cool air, perhaps read a book, without thinking about everything that was going on. As she sat there, she noticed a group of boys, most of them older than her, but there were one and two around her age, that were kicking a ball back and forth. She picked up her book and rolled her eyes Boys can be occupied by the simplest of things she thought to herself, turning her back to them and blocking out the sounds they were making, as to not distract from her reading.
It all happened so fast, before she knew it she was face down on the blanket with her book flying about a foot away. She stood up in anger, picking up the ball that had just hit her in the back. It didn't hurt, but the shock and the lack of consideration from the boys angered her. One of them, closer to her age ran up to her to retrieve the ball, "Watch where you are kicking next time. Surely you do not need me to come over there and teach you, kicking a ball is not that hard."
"Sorry my Lady," he bowed in respect, unlikely that he knew who she was. Even if he did, it probably would not have changed his attitude. "I was not the one who kicked it, but I can tell the others you criticized their athletic abilities." He then raised his eyebrow at her, "You would play with us? But you're a girl, thats not very ladylike to play sports."
"Perhaps you just have not met a lady that can," She crossed her arms after tossing him back the ball, "And no, I do not want to play with you, but if I have to sit here in fear that another one of you will send this ball hurdling towards me again, then I might as well teach you boys how to actually play." He laughed a little at her, which only made her more mad, "I am glad you find this so amusing, but I am not joking."
He shook his head quickly, clearly guilty he had offended her, "No! No not a joke at all, I understand. I am sorry this ball hit you and I am sorry I called you unladylike. I have just never met a girl like you before."
"Like me?" She raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean a girl like me, you mean a girl with a voice?"
"Not one who uses it like that," He replied, kicking the ball back over to his friends so he could keep talking to her, "Actually, no one other than my mother and siblings talk to me like that."
"Happy to be the first," Mary replied, but admittedly there was something she found intriguing about this boy. It was why she was being so candid. At this point, she was interested to see how he'd react at some of the things she had said. "Who are you to not have someone yell at you, even when you kick balls at them?" She was breaking more in to a smile at this point.
"First of all, I would like to reiterate that I was not the one to kick the ball at you," He laughed a little bit, "My name is Charles Valois."
Her eyes widened and her face grew pale as she dropped in to a curtsy, "Your Highness, I am so sorry, I have no idea it was you."
"No no no, please do not do all of that," he told her offering his hand to signify she could raise from the curtsy, "What is your name?"
"I am Lady Mary Grey, I am the Queen's cousin," She said, still highly embarrassed from speaking to a prince that way. She was not used to being around royalty.
Before Charles could respond, a voice in the distance called out his name. He turned to see his mother, Catherine de Medici in the distance, waving him to come over to her. He quickly said bye to Mary before making his way to his mother. "I see you have met the Lady Mary Grey?" She told him with a sly smile.
"Yes I did," He told her, grinning as he looked back at Mary, who was packing up her picnic as it had begun to rain lightly, with indication that it would start to rain harder any minute now.
"You can talk with her later," Catherine said as she pulled out an umbrella and then handed Charles one as well. "I want to get you inside before you get sick in this cold English rain, is constantly raining here-" she droned on, complaining about England, but he turned to see Lady Mary, still packing up in the rain.
"Of course," She mumbled to herself as he put the food and blanket back in the basket, trying to ignore the almost freezing cold rain that almost had her drenched by now. "The only boy my age, and he's a prince, and I am a traitor's daughter." She huffed as she struggled to fit everything in the box. She then picked up her book and sighed, as the rain already ruined some of the pages. "Way to go Mary." She shoved the book back in the box before standing and turning around to see Charles right in front of her.
"I have to go," he said before handing her the umbrella, "But it was nice meeting you."
Mary took the umbrella in shock, and before she could say anything he ran off again, leaving Mary to wonder if she would ever get to talk to the French prince again.