December 25, 1559
Rome
A marvelous feast had been set out for this meeting. At the head of the table sat Cardinal de Medici, to his right sat Mary, and to Mary's right, sat Francis. Across from Mary was the empty seat where King Philip of Spain would sit. Her eyes remained glued to that empty chair, waiting for its occupant to arrive. Mary was snapped out of her trance when she heard the Cardinal say, "Is everything to your liking, your majesty?"
Mary smiled at him and nodded, "Indeed it is, thank you Cardinal, I just wonder where there King of Spain is that is all. It is not like him to be late to such an occasion." Saying that Philip was late was an understatement. He was supposed to be here hours ago, and the whole situation made Mary nervous. However, the most disturbing part was, no one else except for Francis seemed concerned by Philip's tardiness.
"I am sure all is well, he will be here soon," The Cardinal assured her, but it did not ease Mary's nerves at all. The way he said it, it seemed as if he knew something that Mary did not, and it did not sit well with her.
Then, the herald announced, "His Majesty, The King of Spain." Everyone at the table fell silent and stood up, including Mary. Watching this man swagger into the dining hall left a pit in Mary's stomach. He was so confident, he knew he had the Church's support and this meeting was just a formality. However, Mary knew she would not go down without a fight, if Philip in the Church tried to destroy her, she'd drag them down with her.
Philip bowed to the Cardinal and smiled, "Your eminence, my apologies for being late, I had a few stops to make on the way here." He then turned to Mary with a devilish grin before kissing her hand softly, "Your Majesty, allow me to apologize to you as well, I never wish to leave a beautiful Queen waiting."
Mary knew she had to charm the members of the Vatican, so despite her internal disgust at the sight of Philip, she smiled politely. "Your Majesty, it has been so long since I have seen you last. I do believe last time I saw you, you were divorcing my pregnant cousin in order to marry my other cousin. Yes?" She asked and raised her eyebrow, trying to find a sly way to remind the Cardinals that Philip was not as pious as he wanted everyone to believe.
"How times have changed," Philip replied, and Mary could sense the annoyance in his voice, which she counted as a personal victory. "Now, let us eat, and enjoy the holiday together."
France
After their feast the royal children were all put to bed and Catherine, Prince Charles, and Princess Mary were gathered in the nursery, looking after the twins. Mary looks at the infant prince and princess and her mind was consumed by the thought of her sister, who would be sending her child away. Soon Mary's niece or nephew would join them here, but at the cost of her sister's life. She knew her sister was trying to be strong, but it broke Mary's heart to know that when Philip found out, that Catherine would be executed. As she looked down at the twins she sighed, "Let us hope the next generation has an easier life than us. Maybe all of our struggles will say them of having any."
Catherine stood next to her daughter-in-law and hugged her slightly, "Alas child, that is not the fate of royals. Our life is destined to be filled with struggles of family, nations, and crowns. That is the price we pay."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. They all froze, as if all having the same feeling of uneasiness. A simple knock on the door was not common in the palace, especially since they had made it very clear they did not wish to be disturbed. Charles walked over and answered the door to see many soldiers crowded around the door. The lead soldier immediately pushed Charles sending him to the floor. "Charles!" Mary screamed and ran to kneel down next to her husband.
"What is the mea-" Catherine began but then she saw the coat of arms on the soldiers' uniforms. "So, our king is away, so the spaniards will play? Wanting to attack the palace while we are defenseless? Well I know a thing or two about how to survive a siege."
"We are not here to kill you, yet," the Spanish soldier growled at Catherine, "You are all under house arrest until The King gives us the word, then, we slaughter the whole family. However, if the Scottish brat signs the treaty, then you will all live. If you all do as you are told, you could make it out of this alive."
Rome
The festivities and conversations went on, not much business was discussed over the feast, mostly various other topics. Though it was very difficult, Mary was able to keep her composure around Philip. She knew that any lashing out on her part would deeply harm the negotiations. She laughed, and danced, and charmed all of the Cardinals. Her previous fears were being eased, as it seemed that most of the Cardinals, especially Cardinal de Medici, were quite fond of her. Perhaps she could do this after all. As the night went on, and the festivities died down, the Cardinal gathered Mary, Philip, and Francis around him. "See how much merriment we can have when we can all get along? This is how I want all of Europe to feel like!"
"As do I Cardinal," Mary replied with a smile, "Life is so much better when there is no conflict."
"Exactly, which is why the real issue needs to be discussed. The reason you are all here," He began as the table was being cleared of the food and dishes, Mary noticed one large box remained on the table, but she ignored it. "The increasing tensions amongst the Hapsburgs and the Valois is a threat to Europe. I suggest King Philip and King Francis step with me to the other room so we may discuss the issue without irrationality."
Mary's eyes widened, "Excuse me? Irrationality?"
"See? You are acting to emotional already, such heavy matters can be discussed amongst the men," The Cardinal said politely and looked at Francis, as if telling him to control his wife.
"My wife is the sovereign of two nations, she is more than qualified to be involved in the negotiations," Francis replied sternly to the Cardinal, his arms interlocked with Mary's to show she was not going anywhere.
"If you insist, but you will not like what is said here," The Cardinal began before sitting down to look at the three monarchs, "The Cardinals and I have been discussing the issue greatly and we have already come to a decisions we think will be the best. It is just and fair. We have decided that Queen Mary should abdicate the English throne in favor of her cousin Catherine. Ireland will bet given to Scotland, so you may keep it."
Mary filled with rage, her composure and grace being thrown at the window as she heard the Cardinal's so called solution. "You pompous pandering pig!" Mary snapped at the Cardinal, "How dare you shuffle my people between rulers as if they were nothing by playing cards! The people of England chose me to be their Queen, not to mention God chose me to be Queen. To give away my crown would be to betray God and my people, Cardinal, that is something I cannot do! Not to mention giving England to Catherine? I might as well hand Philip the British isles myself! I have never been so insulted."
"Perhaps your majesty should sit down," Philip said and began to guide Mary to a chair.
"Get your vile hands off of me!" Mary shot back and jerked away from Philip, "You are an evil man, you plotted this with the Vatican the whole time didn't you? And you Cardinal, you are a coward! After my extreme loyalty to this church, so much so that it endangered my life on multiple occasions, and you turn your back on me? This is no Church of mine!" Mary turns and begins to march out of the room.
"Wait your majesty, I apologize and I did not intend for this meeting to go so poorly," Philip called out and Mary stopped in her tracks, turning to face him with her arms crossed. "I have a peace offering, just see." Philip walked over to the mysterious box on the table before opening it. He pulled out something wrapped in elaborator clothe before dropping it on the table, "I picked it up just for you." He unwrapped the cloth and revealed the decapitated head of Mary's mother.
Mary's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She did not know whether to cry and got and smack Philip right then in there. Instead she closed her eyes, trying to get the horrid sight out of her head. She simply turn and ran out of the room to her quarters.
Spain
Agony. Probably some of the worst pain Queen Catherine of Spain had ever experienced. Her child was coming, perfect timing as well, seeing as King Philip was not in Spain. Gripping on to Elisabeth's hand tightly Catherine screamed in agony, until the sound of a baby's cries filled the room. The midwife gently handed the baby to Elisabeth who smiled happily, "Catherine, its a boy, you have a son!" Elisabeth smiled down at the infant before starting to hand him to his mother, but the pains came again. After more agony, Catherine gave birth to another son. "You have been blessed with twin boys." Elisabeth said and handed the child to Catherine before the midwife handed the second child to Elisabeth.
Catherine's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at her sons. She instantly loved them with all her heart, which only reinforced her plan. Parting from them this soon would be the hardest thing she ever had to do, but she knew she had to. "Their names will be Juan and Eduardo," she told her daughter-in-law. Juan was the Spanish form of John which was the male name of Jane, the name of Catherine's late sister, and Eduardo is the Spanish version of her lat husband Edward. Catherine wanted to honor two amazing people in her children's names.
"Catherine, there is another way," Elisabeth pleaded with the new mother. She did not like the idea of Catherine sending her kids away, and putting her life in danger.
"No, there is not," Catherine said, crying as she admired her sons, "With these boys having a claim to the English throne, Philip can use them to take over England. Not to mention your husband, Carlos, now hinders his plan for a unified Hapsburg empire. My plan saves them all. Now get the wet nurse and tell her to go to France and to find Mary Grey."
France
"What do we do now? Entire French royal family is imprisoned in here, and most of France's armies were used to escort Francis and Mary to Italy," Princess Mary cried out as she sat by her now injured husband. "I have survived my share palace siege's too Catherine, there is no way out of this one."
Catherine looked at the young princess, having finally considered all this poor child had been through in the past year alone. "Yes, you have," Catherine saw a lot of herself in the young girl, forced to grow up to fast due to politics. "Do you know what that tells me? You are a survivor. You are merely fourteen years old, yet you managed to play both sides in the conflict between Elizabeth and Mary, you did it so successfully that you lived without any punishment. You are one of the only people who can say that you fought in that war and came out unscathed. We need those instincts now. You will take the Dauphin of France and we will sneak you out of here."
Mary looked at her mother-in-law, surprised to be receiving such a high recommendation from Catherine de Medici. "Say all that works and I get out, where do I go? who would help us?"
"You will travel not far from here to speak to the Duke of Guise," Catherine replied to the teenager before going to make the proper preparations.
Rome
Mary stormed into her chambers, where Elizabeth was sitting on the chair eating some sweets that had been brought in. Upon seeing the infuriated Queen enter the room, Elizabeth stood up and curtsied. "I am assuming it did not go well?"
Mary marched and paced all throughout the room, working off her anger, as Francis closed the doors behind them. "Well you tell me, is slamming the head of my dead mother on the table something you would describe as well?!" Mary snapped back, still enraged by the entirety of the meeting. "Or perhaps telling me that since I am a woman I am not fit for negotiations, or maybe the part where the Cardinal wants me to abdicate the English throne to Catherine."
"There is the Church you are so loyal too, doing tricks for the country that gives them the most treats, like a show pony," Elizabeth said and walked over to Mary, 'You had ever right to storm out of there. They did not just disrespect you, but they disrespected Scotland and England as well. Catherine becoming Queen of England is practically handing England to Philip, that is not even close to a fair deal!"
"I am not here to talk religion with you, but believe me, if it would not cause a revolt in France, I would consider converting," Mary replied and sank into the chair, "I cannot believe it, after everything I have done! That is it, we have no more cards to play, we must invite Philip here, we must tell him that we know he killed Mary Tudor." Mary knew they would be bluffing, after all they did not know for sure that he killed her, but perhaps such an accusation would scare Philip enough to buy them some time.
I know this chapter is a hot mess but so much is going on, and so much is being set up, just trust me. As always thank you for reading and feel free t review or message me!