September 18, 1559

Spain

As Catherine sat down at the dinner table waiting for her husband to join her, her heart pounded in her chest. They had not eaten dinner together in a while, and she wandered why tonight of all nights he wanted to. To make matters worse, the plan has already been set in motion. When she handed the poison the servant she had never imagined she would have to be here to watch Philip die. Its medicine from the physician, his majesty refuses to take it. Just take it to the kitchen and tell the chef to put it in his food, it will be fine. She had told her maid this morning. This was Marie's idea. In all honesty it all seemed like it could so easily be traced back to Catherine and that left her uneasy. However, call her a fool, but she trusted Marie de Guise.

She placed her hands on her belly, feeling her baby kick slightly. This baby was almost a curse to her, knowing that if this child was a boy, it would give Philip what he needed to destroy everything Queen Mary had worked so hard to build. That is why this plan must work. Philip dies, then Carlos becomes king of Spain and ends the Hapsburg/Valois war before it began. For a second Catherine could not even believe she was actually thinking about these things. A year ago she was the sister of a traitor, but now here she was, involved in an unofficial conflict with Spain, and she was on the side of France.

Moments later the door opened and her husband, King Philip, entered the dining room. Catherine stood and curtsied before the couple took their seats at the table. Catherine was almost shaking as she sat across from her husband. As she looked at him, she thought, if all goes well he will be dead by the end of the hour. "How are you Catherine? How is our baby?" He asked her.

She did not know how he was not noticing her nervousness, atleast, she prayed he was not noticing. " I am doing well dear husband. Our baby has been making me a bit ill lately, so do forgive me if I act strange," she replied hoping to give a reason for her strange behavior. As their food was set down in front of them, Catherine clenched her fists, knowing the moment was coming, and she could barely stand it.

Philip picked up his fork, with Catherine eyes it the whole time, hoping in just a matter of seconds this would all be over. He picked up a small piece of the food and lifted his fork. 'What is he doing?' she thought to herself as she noticed him examining the food. "My dear, you must try this, doesn't it look delicious?" he said to her and raised his eyebrow slightly.

"Oh, um, with all due respect I do not think am feeling well enough to eat tonight actually, if its all the same to you I think I need to retire for the night," She said and stood up from her chair quickly, hoping to quickly make it out the door.

"Well, that is a pity, I am sure it is just amazing," he replied to her, not acknowledging her request to leave. "Do you know what else is amazing? The loyalty of one's own kitchen staff. So loyal as to tell their king that his wife's maid wanted their chef to pour something into the king's food." He then stood up, making his way to Catherine, grabbing her arm.

Catherine's heart dropped and she began shaking, and almost crying. Marie de Guise had told her in the chance she gets caught to maintain her innocence to the end, so that is what she would do." I have no idea what you are talking about," she told him, trying her best to meet his eyes, "Do you think someone was trying to poison you?"

"Its over Catherine, I know it was you," he said, squeezing her arm so tightly that it would most likely leave a bruise, "You will be imprisoned and when our child is born, you will be executed." He then turned to the guards, "take the queen down to the dungeons immediately and do not let her see the light of day."

France

Lady Elizabeth was out in the French gardens, enjoying the nice weather. It was not very warm, but it was surely warmer than Scotland, which was good enough for her. She almost could not believe she was here. She always dreamed a different life for herself. One day to become queen and become the greatest ruler this world has ever seen. However, she knew very well the chances of that happening were now gone. She now struggled to figure out her place in this world. For the first time ever, she now felt like she was an outcast among the royals who were now her allies. She felt as if she did not belong amongst their ranks. With her hopes of being 'Queen Elizabeth' now crushed, she struggled to figure out what purpose 'Lady Elizabeth' served in international politics. Its clear she served some purpose or Mary would not have called her here in the first place.

She hoped that sooner rather than later she can escape this world of deciding the fate of nations, since she now felt like an outcast. Perhaps retire to the countryside and raise her daughter to be queen one day. Let Mary and her entourage decide how to defeat Philip, for now, the first time in her life, Elizabeth could be free of the burden of deciding the fate of nations. As she walked alone in the gardens, she then heard the voice of the one thing calling her back to the world of the royals call out and say, "Lady Elizabeth? Can we speak for a moment?"

She stopped in her tracks and sighed a bit to herself. She had hoped to distance herself from him once they arrived in France, but it was clear he had no intentions of allowing that to happen. She turned around to see him walking toward her, handsome as ever. 'Leave it to me to fall for a Scot, and not just any Scot, the brother of Mary of all men' she thought to herself before politely saying, "good day Lord James, how may I help you?"

"I have missed spending time with you, our daily strolls through the gardens were my favorite parts of the day," He said to her before offering her his arm. She reluctantly looped her arm through his as they walked together. "I was hoping now that your beautiful princess was born, that perhaps you could reconsider my proposal?"

Elizabeth stopped walking with him and pulled away so she could face him square on. "James, I cannot marry you. I do not want to marry you. I will not marry you," she said to him. She was lying, she wanted nothing more than to marry him. However, she could not risk provoking Mary now that Elizabeth's daughter is set to be queen one day. In addition, she knew that marrying James meant being married to the regent of Scotland, something she did not want. "I do not know why you cannot let this go."

He grabbed her hand in his and he looked her in the eyes, "Because I am no fool Elizabeth. It would be a great mistake for me to let a woman like you get away. I feel something for you and I know you feel it for me too. Why can you not just say yes, take a leap of faith and marry me?"

She pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms, almost fighting back tears. She looked him dead in the eyes, "Because I don't want to," she lied to him." I do not understand how I can be anymore clearer. I do not love you, and I never will. I can't love you, just accept it."

Before James could reply, the conversation was interrupted when Queen Mary walked up to them and said, " Oh James, I was looking everywhere for you, we need to discuss something. Were you two talking of anything important or can I steal my brother for a bit?" Mary was trying to be warm to Elizabeth, but after everything they had been through, it was hard.

"Actually, I was just leaving, he is all yours," Elizabeth replied to Mary, for once she thanked God for Mary's presence. Elizabeth paused for a moment and deeply contemplated her next action before curtsying and saying, "Good day your majesty." Elizabeth then quickly rushed away.

Mary then turned to her brother and eyed him up and down. "What were you doing with her?" Mary asked. She was no fool. She had picked up on the hints when she read James' letters and when she saw them together. Something was happening, and she did not like it one bit.

"You of all people know how hard it is being a foreigner in France, I was just giving her some company, that is all," James replied to his sister, trying his best to sound convincing, but he was always such a horrible liar.

Mary filled with rage as her suspicions were concerned. "Do you... love her?" She asked barely able to get the last couple words out. James was silent and Mary took that as a yes. "How could you? After all she has done?! She wants me dead! She wants Scotland destroyed! She is a vile person."

"She does not want those things any more Mary. She is different, just listen to me," He pleaded with his sister, trying to get her to understand.

As he tried to defend her, Mary was filled with disgust and became repulsed by her own brother. Without even thinking, she raised her hand and struck him across the face. As he stepped back a bit and rubbed his hand across his face, Mary's jaw dropped, in horror of what she had done. She crossed her arms over her chest and backed away from him slowly, "James, I'm-" her eyes filled with tears. She never ever dreamed of harming her own family in anyway, especially her brother, but what had she just done? She immediately turned from him and ran inside.

"Mary wait, its fine, I'm not even hurt!" He called after her, knowing what she must be thinking. Mary was always such an advocate for peace, so he knew she must feel so guilty.

However, Mary did not stop running. She ran quickly into her bedchambers and closed the doors. She had hit her own brother in her anger. How could she? A year ago she would have never done such a thing. In fact, a year ago she would have never done a lot of things. She sat there, silently, as Catherine enacted the plan to kill a king. A year ago, Mary would have never allowed that. Had being queen changed her so quickly? She'd been corrupted without even realizing it. She fell to the floor and held her head as she began crying.

As Mary sat there crying, Catherine De Medici entered her room, "Mary someone said they saw you run in here. Is everything in alright?" She asked then noticed her daughter-in-law on the floor sobbing. She knelt down next to her and hugged her tightly. "Whats wrong my dear?"

Barely able to speak through her crying, Mary mumbled, "I cannot do this anymore Catherine. I can't be queen anymore."

Still hugging the crying Queen, Catherine stayed there silently, even now she was contemplating how much she had seen Mary go through in the past year. "You will be Queen from now on until the day you die. If you do not like what is happening, then change it. If you do not feel strong enough, then fake strength until you feel strong again. If you feel alone, lean on your family. If you are going through hell, keep going."

It is gunna pick up soon! I have a lot of ideas now and I really think you all will like them! Thanks for reading!