Hey guys, i didn't thought that you guys would like this first chapter as much as you all die. So really thank you and I hope you will enjoy this second chapter as well.
Disclaimer: i don't own "Reign" and I don't make profit with this Story.
Enjoy the reading :)
Chapter two
She couldn't sleep
Those eyes… they were so beautiful that she never wanted to look away from him. His hair was fluffy and soft, she wanted to touch it all the time. She wanted to touch him. All over. His arms and legs, his shoulders, his face… everywhere. Her hands craved his soft skin. The rising and falling of his chest, and his sleeping body—she couldn't stop staring; Catherine and Henry where only married for a few months and with each passing day the love they had for each other grew bigger and bigger. Catherine hated having to blink, because she could miss a millisecond of him, she didn't want him to leave her like everyone she loved so dearly left her. She still thought she was in some sort of dream... a very beautiful dream. She wanted to take in every moment. And his lips… she didn't knew why, but her eyes kept trailing back to them. She wanted to do something… no, She needed to do something. But she didn't knew what…
Henry.
I can't stop thinking about you.
"Henry? Are you awake?" She said,her soft voice merely a whisper.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? She thought, her mind racing.
She didn't realize what she was doing until she already did it. Without any thought, her hand was on Henry's shoulder , shaking him gently.
"Mm…" Henry grabbed onto her nightgown. Her chest suddenly felt warm and fuzzy. He shifted around, trying to wake up; his legs moved to entangle into hers, and she stiffened up. She held her breath. Silently watching her husband wake up.
Henry usually got cuddly like this when he was asleep or really tired. It seemed out of character for him, but she wasn't complaining. She really liked this side of him.
"Caterina…?" He breathed through his parted lips, and she couldn't help but get all flustered. She didn't understand why she was feeling like this. It was going on for a while, but tonight, those feelings intensified 200% more.
"What's wrong?" His tired voice made her heart skip a beat. She thought she couldn't breathe for a second or forgot how to properly do it.
"I—uh…" she stammered, suddenly very aware that she didn't had a real reason why she woke him up.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱? She thought, silently cursing herself that she woke him up.
Henry opened his eyes halfway, and the moonlight from a nearby window bounced off them, making his eyes appear more sparkly, brighter...no darker… prettier...
He moved his head onto her shoulder, and Catherine immediately flinched and tensed up again. Her face felt boiling hot.
"I-I! Uhh… c-can't sleep…" She tried to swallow down the tiniest bit of saliva she had left in her dry mouth.
"Something on your mind?" Henry lifted his head to look at her properly, sudden worry in his pretty face.
He moved his body closer to hers. She could feel his bare chest rubbing against her left arm.
𝘏-𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦!
"I-I guess…" She was barely able to get out the words. What the hell was he doing to her?
"Wanna talk—" He yawned, and she felt something explode in her chest. It felt like her heart.
"—about it…?"
She knew what he said, but it took her a few moments to process it. Her mind racing, her cheeks felt even hotter now.
"I, uh…eheh…" she wasn't that good at keeping anything from him. And he knew it.
"You seem nervous. Are you alright?" He asked, worry written in his face. His right hand moved to her cheek.
"Y-yes—!" Her voice cracked. She wasn't a good liar either. At least not in his presence.
She didn't have to look at Henry to know he was now glaring at her. She felt it in her skin, and she felt the hairs rise on the left side of her body and nape.
"Caterina."
She felt scared hearing her name. Was Henry really using her birth name on her? Oh god she shouldn't have decided to wake him
"M-mm…" she replied, she couldn't hide it anymore.
She let her body take control: she felt herself placing her hands on either side of Henry, her body getting up and looming over him. She saw Henry widen his eyes as she straddle his hips, sitting on his lower stomach, with the bed covers barely keeping hold on her back.
Henry was speechless, his deep dark eyes staring up at her, wide with surprise. He never experienced someone doing this with him, and he never thought that his wife, his Caterina, would do something like that.
"Caterina…" he said once again, his voice gentle but full of surprise.
"I feel like… I need to touch you. I keep having all these thoughts and feelings like I need to touch you. Like I need to be closer to you. I keep getting all warm and even a little nauseous when I'm around you, and I don't understand it. My throat gets dry, I feel all sweaty, and every time I get this need to touch you, I feel my heart ache because I'm not touching you. I don't know why… but I know it has to be you. I feel like I have to act on these feelings, to get rid of this burning ache in my chest. To figure out what this weird feeling is. To figure out why I feel the need to touch you so bad." She suddenly said, surprised by her own words. She couldn't believe that she just said that to him, he surely would never speak nor touch her ever again.
Henry didn't say a word the whole time, though she noticed his cheeks getting pink the more she talked. She could see in his eyes that he was thinking and still looked very surprised. He still didn't say anything for a few moments, which kind of scared her. It worried her if she was being honest, what if she scared him away and he was thinking about a way to get out of their bed.
"Touch me." He suddenly replied. Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. She began to feel her heart pound. She was sure even her husband could hear every pound of her heart now.
"Go ahead." Henry spread his arms out, a slight smile on his face.
"I want to help you out as much as I can. Do whatever you want with me, I don't care. If I can help your desires, then I'll do anything to make sure you're satisfied. Touch me all you want." He said, leaving her surprised and nervous. Her heart still pounding wildly.
She swallowed again nervously and stared up and down Henry. Did he seriously say she could touch him? This must be a dream… where did she start?
𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵… she thought, trying so hard to shut up her own thoughts, they just made everything worse at this point.
Her hands first went to Henry's right arm. She ran her hands up and down his arm, feeling his muscles, pressing her thumbs into his soft skin. He had such soft skin, it's just what her hands have been looking for. She leaned her head closer to his face, though her eyes are glued to that perfect, soft arm of his. Her left hand soon trailed up Henry's forearm, and she rubbed two fingers, then a thumb into his palm before grasping his hand. Henry grasped her hand as well, his fingers grazing her knuckles gently, and she felt her heart flutter. She headed him exhale, then inhale. She temporarily focus on the rising and falling of both their chests, and noticed that they were perfectly in sync. The thought made her heart pound even faster.
Catherine let out a sharp yelp as she woke, very confused and not in the slightest relaxed, from her dream. She felt her heart still pounding as if everything she just dreamed was real, of course it wasn't though. Besides that her headache from the morning prior didn't go away either which made thinking straight a harder task than usual. She sat upright in her bed, her eyes in shock as her body tried to calm itself from that unexpected dream. She took one or two sharp breathes as she tried to calm herself even more. It certainly wasn't a situation she experienced often in her life which made calming her body a way harder than usual.
She heard some birds chirping as she focused on where exactly she was and looked out of the window, still sitting in bed, and seeing that the early morning sun hadn't risen fully yet.
Making a undefined sound, Catherine placed both hands beneath her and heaved her body out of the bed..she had a whole day before her and even though it started rather unexpectedly strange, she couldn't just stay in bed.
Normally, if a situation like this were to occur, Catherine would just forget about it during the day and wouldn't waste another thought why she dreamed about such a weird situation, it wasn't the first time it happened to her and usually she knew how to deal with her feelings in such a situation but the circumstances she was in this time didn't allow her to think very rational at this point—she hadn't dealt with this kind of situation since years...probably more than 10. However, she knew she would have just ignore this man like he was any other conniving, narcissistic, asshole.
At least, she would have… if it hadn't knocked on her door and he hadn't entered her chambers and actually said something to her without shouting at her as he does so often.
"I hope you're alright, Catherine. I didn't want to disturb you or make you feel uncomfortable but I...we need to talk. I know we could have spoken later in the day but I wanted to have a real and actual conversation with you without you avoiding me and trying to put so much work and meetings on your plate that you don't even have time. I just wanted to talk to you about...us" He said, his voice so soft and gentle that Catherine was actually asking herself if she was dreaming again.
Catherine's spine stiffened and—for some reason—her cheeks reddened a bit. Her temper was still rather calm—even more so than normal, which was unusual considering how she typically acted around her irritating husband , which was basically cold and disdainful. Instead, she planted her feet in the ground and twirled on her morning slippers. Her vision spun for a moment but stilled once she stopped moving.
Catherine's eyes widened and she nearly burst out laughing.
Not at her husband himself, no… there was nothing remotely humorous about him now; it was what strange facial expression he made for seeing her still in her nightgown, morning slippers, hair down and without any make-up or accessories except her wedding ring instead in her usual style which he gotten so used to over the years that nearly made her giggle outrageously.
It was a strange one. A mix of shock, pure surprise and maybe even a bit nostalgia. The type of facial expression that she had only seen once on him before and this was more than ten years ago. It made Catherine want to go to him and say 'that's what a normal person looks like it the morning, Henry. It's completely normal.'
She had to adjust her thinking for a moment before cocking her head to the side and studying him further. He wasn't that shocked, he was just surprised to see her in such a normal style, his face was getting softer and he seemed to get used to how she looked… still there was something different in his expression that she couldn't define.
Catherine blinked at him and watched as he took a few more steps into her chambers, he stopped a few feet before her—giving her enough space and even room to go away if she wanted to. Slowly, her mind was getting over how he looked—which was, in one word, weird—and reverting back to what he had said.
"Excuse me?" Catherine suddenly blurted, her thoughts finally wrapping around what he had said and what she needed to say in response. Her eyes narrowed and she set her jaw in a firm line—for some reason it had gone slack while she examined him. She folded her arms over her chest, ignoring the pain of her returning headache and the dizziness, and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "What did you say?" She demanded, glaring at the man before her.
He finally looked up and Catherine had to fight the urge not to let her mouth drop… again. His eyes were literally begging her to let him stay for just a moment longer, his usual dark brown eyes got lighter with the early morning light shimmering through the windows. They even seemed to fluctuate in the shimmering morning light. She was at least five feet from him but even from there she could see the delicate chocolate tones mixed in with honey and brown sugar.
She would have been completely stunned by them had she not watched those magnificent eyes hurt her as much as his words did in the last two decades. He turned towards her, his entire, masculine body facing her much smaller one. She had to fight the urge to sat down since her dizziness grew worse with each passing second. However, she remained standing, crossing her arms over her chest. Asking herself if she also dreamed this confrontation.
That was, until he spoke.
"I said," her husband responded, still sounding not a bit annoyed, "I want to have a actual conversation with you about us...without you running away from it." He took another step to her.
Catherine's eyes widened and she could feel her temper rising with each word he spoke, "I'm sorry," she responded to him, using her most calming but still demanding voice, "But I can't talk to you now, Henry. We both have a lot to do today and I know it's early in the morning but I need to get ready and you need that certainly too,"she said while taking another, longer, look over his entire body.
Her husband took one step forward and said nothing, waiting for her to finish. "We have a entire country waiting for us. We can't waste our time with some small talk now. Henry, can we just please make this conversation another time?," she said, only noticing now how tired her voice really sounded.
"Catherine, are you okay? You sound everything but okay. What's wrong?" Her husband said all of the sudden, probably finally noticing her tired voice.
For the first time in a very long while Catherine let her façade of cooled indifference slip away. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes seethed from her head. "What?" She cried furiously. She took three quick steps forward and raised her hand. It wasn't like she was really angry at the words he said, more that he didn't care for her for nearly two decades, and now...out of the sudden he cared? If he wanted to have sex with her he could just ask her instead of giving her false hope once again. She stood right before him, looked into his eyes and snapped, "I was minding my own business and you walked into my chambers, asking me to have a real conversation with you and then out of the sudden you worry about me! What's wrong with you Henry? If you want to have sex with me than just ask and stop pretending like you actually care about me or your children. Because you don't, you only care about you and what you want. No, I'm not okay because I'm tired of believing that you care when you actually don't. I- I'm tired of...I'm tired of falling for you over and over again. Just stop, Henry, just stop!" She emphasized the last five words with sharp jabs to his chest and fought the ever-loving urge to stomp her foot on the ground.
Catherine gritted her teeth together and channeled all of her frustration and irritation into believing that she was six foot ten, towering over her husband, glaring at him with her full strength. This normally worked when she dealt with the noblemen who believed all women should be barefoot and pregnant at home and not doing a man's job in a world ruled by men.
Her husband stood still for a moment and stared down at her, something similar to incredulity was plastered over his face. Catherine watched him as he blinked once, twice, and then wrinkled his eyes into a large frown. His slightly askew expression was replaced with a cold sneer and he took a menacing step forward.
"You...I," he began with a shaking and probably also getting angrier voice. He stood there for a moment, sorting his words, controlling his emotions and then he began again, calmer this time, "I'm sorry Catherine. I didn't want to make you angry and I didn't want to fight with you, not this time. I'm sorry I caused you such a mess. But really, Catherine, I worry about you. I care about you and our children and their well-being. I always have."
"Really?" Catherine spat, crossing her arms over her chest and sending him a withering glare, "where did you showed me or our children one sign that you really care in the last two decades? Where?! When was the last time you spent actual time with our children, with Francis, Charles, Henri, Margot, Hercule or Elisabeth? When did you wrote her a letter to Spain? Did you, just once, stay up late at night until our children were asleep because they had a nightmare?! No you didn't so don't come with you care about them or me, or did you once consider what your constant humiliation causes to.."
"I did, more than just once," he interrupted her.
Catherine just continued as if she couldn't hear him, "me. Did you just once care about our children's education or if they want to spent time with you. I have to keep telling them that you care about them and that you are just busy because you rule a kingdom. Do you even consider what your constant absence does to them?!" She scoffed and solidified her stance, "oh and I forgot, you have your mistresses to care about. Even they are more important to you than your family is."
She glared at him, and noticed his watery eyes, like he'd cry any second, she probably only saw him cry once or twice. It did shock her to see him like this, but she didn't care enough to stop yet. There were so many unspoken words between them. For once, she didn't care how much it was hurting him or even her to say that. "Catherine, I'm sorry. I really am. I should've shown you and our children that I care. I'm so, so sorry for how bad of a husband and father I am. I didn't came her to have sex with you. I just wanted to talk to you about us and what happened yesterday and the one time before if you remember, but I suppose I should go now. I love you and our children and again, I'm so sorry."
Catherine was shocked, probably more than she ever was in her entire life.
She could not remember the last time she heard him say sorry or that he loved her or that he just came to talk. Hell, she couldn't even remember when she had last been this furious with another human being! This man had a thing to make her furious from one second to the other and then make her feel bad at the same freaking time.
"I grow weary of you and your words!" She screeched, completely forgetting her surroundings.
Silence filled the room. Catherine could feel her cheeks heating in anger and embarrassment —she hadn't had talked to her husband like this since..since when actually? It was probably the first time she ever did—only to have her humiliation increased even more because she knew he could see her blush.
"Catherine, I-," he stammered, "I'm really so sorry. I'll try to be a better husband and father. I promise"
To the side of her face, his hand flicked out and in the next second Catherine felt his long fingers come dangerously close to her waist. Her eyes widened exponentially when she felt his fingers on her waist. His face was so close to hers… she could almost feel the heat radiating from him.
Catherine only vaguely realized that she was leaning backwards. She was sure that her cheeks were a flaming shade of scarlet. Good God, even her breathing was getting quicker. What the fuck was going on here?
Suddenly he was gone; in less than a second he had stepped well over six feet away from her. Catherine blinked several times before she could come to grips with the fact that she was just standing in her chambers, leaning back like an idiot, after shouting to the man she still loved and confessing him things she didn't say to him since decades.
Catherine shook her head and felt her jaw drop. What in the world just happened? She blinked several times before quickly turning her body and walking to her study. He was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes simply kept expanding as she swiveled, searching for some trace of that ridiculously husband of hers. It was only until she had spent a full two minutes blinking and aimlessly turning that she realized she must look like a sputtering fish, left out of the water too long. Her mind was so fuddled; she didn't know what to do other than look for the man who had made her feel like a three year old sneaking a cookie from the forbidden cookie jar.
After a few more minutes of simply swiveling like an idiot, Catherine swallowed and began walking towards her dressing table without noticing how her headaches had increased over the last minutes.
It was only after she had gotten to her dressing table and started pinning her hair up that she registered something small, light, and very flexible inside the pocket of her nightgown. Catherine frowned, it was the same place Henry had touched her when he had been so close. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out… a note?
Catherine opened it and read the message:
I'm sorry for everything Catherine. I know I'm an asshole and I know I was a terrible husband and father for a way too long. But I want to change. I really want to.
Besides, you looked very beautiful with your hair down. A bit like the young girl which arrived in France all this time ago.
Henry.
After a few moments her fingers began to grip the damn thing tight; her mind went blank and she only remembered the day when she first arrived to France. that the secret door to the tunnels was opened a bit, only a little gap, she probably hadn't noticed it if she hadn't looked that way, but now she did
"Is he going to like me? I'm Italian and a Medici, he's going to hate me! Will he think pretty?" Catherine kept asking her uncle Pope Clement, her voice was more like a whisper, she looked with a nervous face in her uncles eyes and just kept going on and on because she knew how important it was to impress the royal family. She was wearing heels so, so high and her corset was so very tight that she was afraid She'd trip or start hyperventilating. Her whole body was shaking with nerves and Her uncle took Catherine's hands in his and said, " Caterina, you are the bravest, the most stunning, and the most gorgeous girl I have ever met. The man would be a fool not to fall head over heels in love with you just by a single glance, and if he doesn't then your impeccable charm will have him falling at your feet." Just those few words her uncle said made Catherine calm down a bit even though she was still very nervous, until the carriage stopped and She began to freak out even more. Her uncle kissed Catherine on the cheek and spoke some comforting Italian words to her before She had to step out of the carriage. Catherine stepped out of the carriage and looked at Henry for the first time. He looked so handsome and dapper. He had hair back then, it was dark brown and about Francis's length, he was golden tan, and he had dark eyes like the night time sky. Catherine kept on her small smile because he was so handsome she didn't even think she compared and didn't want to seem too eager to meet such a handsome prince. Catherine saw him look at his brother and say something and then he surprised her and broke formation and walked over to her. Catherine dipped into a low curtsey and he bowed down to take her hand and gave it a kiss.
Why couldn't she stop thinking about those moments? What the hell is happening? Catherine thought, still unsure what exactly was happening to her. She still held the note from her husband in her fingers, but it felt hot, as If it would burn her if she kept it any longer in her hands.
So she folded her husbands note again and placed it on her dressing table, trying to forget about everything that had happened between her and her husband in those past 24 hours.
She dressed herself with a rather comfortable dress, it did have a corset and even though she knew she hadn't to leave her chambers for the next hours, she wanted to be dressed acceptable if some really urgent situation would come up which needed her help.
After she got ready for the day, Catherine went to her study, her footsteps were quick and to the point. The familiarity of her large study met her with its usual chilled welcome. The morning sunlight poured onto the dark wooden floor underneath her feet and her heels gave a few silent clipping sounds as she moved towards her large desk. Her hazel eyes were searching over the room and just then she noticed the small gap by the secret door to the tunnels, and then she knew exactly where her husband had disappeared through...god this man would be the death of her, she thought while she walked straight to the door and closed it, not once looking if there was still a person in the tunnels.
She approached her study table and only then she noticed the mountain of documents which lay on her table. Most of them correspondences and documents regarding Margots 6th birthday, her little girl wanted a big and pink party and of course Catherine did everything to plan the perfect party for her baby girl.
She sat down and started writing the correspondences and filling out the documents. Her mind drifted back to Henry and his strange behavior. It drifted to their conversation from the day before, her dream and the thing they had just a few hours ago. And only while doing this she noticed her growing headache once again. Her fingers slowly moved to her temples and started massaging them in a desperate try to sooth them, unfortunately it didn't really work a lot and so she just continued the task she did just a few moments before. Ignoring her headache and her treacherous mind.
The moment she finished planning the party. She sat back in her chair and just took the moment in. She sat there, breathing deeply, feeling the air come in and out of her lungs at a pleasant pace. Her hands gently smoothed over the sides of her chair and she smiled at the softness under her fingers. She leaned her head back just a bit and had to fight the yawn that was threatening her tired body. So much had happened in only 24 hours and she certainly needed a break now.— She suddenly felt her fingers curling into a fist before she angrily brought them down hard on the top of her desk.
"That irritating fool!" She shouted into the empty air. Catherine raised a hand to her face and felt her cheeks—they were still flushed. She scowled and wrinkled her nose in anger. She shouldn't be feeling like this. She was Catherine de'Medici for god's sake! She knew how to control her temper—and the rest of her emotions—better than anyone!
Still fuming—but what else was new?—Catherine made her way over to the edge of her study and began to think, and once again her headache became even worse. She went back to her desk and sat in her squishy chair. She sighed as her body seemed to sink down into its leathery softness. She always loved this chair; the day seemed to go by so much faster when she was inside it. Her hands move mechanically over the tiny paper filters and her fingers casually gripped a picture her youngest son Hercule had made for her.
Gently, she raised the picture and studied it. The picture had her, her husband, Francis, Elisabeth, Charles, Henri, Margot and him standing all next to each other and holding hands. Beside Henry was Catherine standing in a very model - like posture and right in between them was little Hercule holding his father and his mothers hand.
Catherine smiled gentle at the toddlers painted picture and thought, just for a second, how their family would look like if all of her and Henry's children would be alive. She missed each of the ones gone so much every single day and especially in moments like these, she missed them even more.
As she placed the picture back from where she had it from, she stood up from her all too relaxing chair and decided to go to the throne room. She knew - even if she hoped she'd be wrong- that Henry was there. But she didn't mind that yet. She had a country to care about and she was good at ignoring him after all.
Catherine blinked for a moment before she straightened. A rueful grin crept over her features and she glanced quickly towards the door she'd go through in just a few minutes. Perhaps this mornings' encounter wasn't completely bad. It had, after all, gotten her mind off of that stupid conversation from the day before.
Catherine rose from her chair and went on her way to the throne room.
As she entered the room Henry sat on his throne, listening to the problems from several peasants and some noblemen's, one of them was complaining that his neighbour stole a goat, and now he refused to give it back. Another one said that he wanted to arrange a marriage between his daughter and the son of a other nobleman, but now he found out that this nobleman, he wanted to give his daughter to is nearly broke so he wanted to take this marriage arrangement back but the other nobleman didn't want that. Catherine slowly came in, her chin high up, she didn't dared to look at her husband.
She sat down at her throne and helped Henry to deal with all of those complaining noblemen's and peasants but only so many that in retrospect she didn't have to talk to her husband about yesterdays conversation or this mornings encounter. She couldn't stand that now.
When she finished helping Henry, she gave her husband a rejecting glare, not because she wanted to reject him or what he had said to her, more likely because his eyes were still begging her to have another conversation with him. She knew she had to do it at some point but certainly not now. There were more important things to do than talking, that's at least what she told herself.
Usually she would've stood up by now and would've gone back to her chambers or to surprise her children with a visit but when she lifted herself to stand, the drums were going on to signalise that a new person arrived at court, so she just sat back down. Expecting yet another nobleman coming in to complain about whatever things he wanted to complain about.
In the throne room came an older, but very stunning looking man and introduced himself as Stephane Narcisse. He was there to talk about his passed son and accused Mary, Queen of Scots of murdering his passed son. Of course there weren't any clues if or if not Mary killed the lords son. But besides that, the Lord still seemed suspicious, at least Catherine thought that way while being focused to listen how the conversation between the lord and her husband was going and if she needed to intervene or not. Preferably she didn't want to because men in general tended to just oversee her and wouldn't listen anyway, and she really didn't want to have a unnecessary fight with a stupid man-thing now.
However, she did notice that this suspicious looking man - or rather Lord Narcisse as he preferred to got called- gave her a few, not very hard to not notice, glances. She couldn't stop to wonder if he was suspicious or just tried to be nice. After all he just lost his son and it was never a easy situation to go through and surely not one she wished for someone to go through.
After a while of discussing and accusing the two came to an agreement, which satisfied the both of them, at least it seemed like it did. And with this situation dealt Lord Narcisse left the room, throwing one last glance at the kings wife.
Catherine ignored the lords glance this time and decided to go to her chambers herself too. She gave her husband one last glance, who was still begging her to have a conversation with her, and since she knew she couldn't let this going on for long, or she'd be surprised each day with a begging Henry in her chambers, so she gave him a look which said "later" and a small smile came across her face.
Her husbands face shone with enthusiasm and happiness - more than she ever expected to see from him in this situation - after getting this glance from his wife and seeing her gentle smile. It wasn't very often that he got to see her smile like this at him, which made the situation even more special to him. And for her, she for once asked herself if she did made the right decision to gave him this look of hers. She didn't know and her body tensed at the thought of what could happen when the two of them were able to speak freely to each other. It never worked out the way she planned things so this conversation which she had before, her wouldn't turn out amazing, that was for sure. But this tiny bit of hope which sneaked through her body that maybe, only maybe this could be her chance of a Happy end, made her curse herself even more.
She mentally ran through a list of situations which could occur when her husband and she would have this conversation. None of them were overtly surprising or would end very well, she merely thought they would end in a fight anyway. She also ran through the possibility that she had done something wrong concerning the look she gave him and the smile. After a moment she immediately dismissed the idea. She hadn't made a mistake. She was sure of it.
Catherine then turned around the corner to her chambers, her mind still elsewhere so she didn't see that someone was waiting at her chamber door.
Only after this person greeted her with a "Good Afternoon your majesty, I was waiting for you because I want to talk with you a bit more private. We, as two parents who lost children have surely a natural understanding of each other,"
His words brought the Queen out of her thoughts and she replied with a gentle but yet determined tone "Good Afternoon Lord Narcisse, couldn't this conversation have waited, I can understand you, really good I think but I have to disappoint you. I tied to a very strict plan today which doesn't give me a lot of free time to just sit and talk all day. I'm sorry. Could I go to my chambers now? As I said I still have a lot to do."
The Lord took a step forward and said with gentle eyes and a small smile on his face, " of course I understand this my Queen. I didn't expect to be able to talk with you now but maybe a picnic? Yeah what about a picnic where we can actually sit and talk in private?" He looked into her eyes in hope to find any reaction of her, he didn't think she would agree anyways, she was the queen of France and she had so much to do. Lord Narcisse didn't thought in a hundred years that she would actually agree to go to a picnic with him. But what she said in response to his question made him forget his thoughts and words for a moment.
"Oh..., well I think I could make it. Which time did you had in mind. Late afternoon?" She replied in a gentle tone, sounding quite surprised by her own words and perhaps even a bit confused by the lords strange question.
"That would be wonderful! I think late afternoon would be good. So we will see each other soon. Goodbye my queen." He said and kissed slowly Catherine's hand.
"Goodbye Lord Narcisse." Catherine answered, quite surprised but she hid her surprise well so he couldn't have seen it even if he had tried to.
Then Lord Narcisse went quite pleased with himself to his rooms, he decided to live in for the next couple of weeks and left a utterly surprised and even a bit confused Catherine behind.
AN: A special thank you to my best friend Kirstin, my angel Meline, my catcisse and craig lover Aoife and my amazing supporter Elle Rose Maltz, .fan and Cattuesmountain! You are amazing guys 3
i hope you all liked this second chapter and feel free to leave a review :)