April 24, 1559

France

The Princess Elisabeth Valois of France got married to Carlos, The Prince of Astirus. She was nervous, she'd heard rumors that Carlos was mad, and prone to violent outbursts. Also she did not know if she was ready to leave her family in France. The only person she would even remotely know was the Queen of Spain, Catherine Grey, cousin to Elisabeth's sister-in-law Mary of Scots. They'd only met in passions but she'd seemed nice enough, and in reality, who else did she have?

However, despite her reservations, Elisabeth was not married to Carlos and is officially the Princess of Astrius. The wedding was not bad though. In fact many said it rivaled the wedding of Elisabeth's brother Francis to his wife Queen Mary. Not only that, but he whole family was there too, including Francis, who was her best friend, and she and Queen Mary were very close as well.

After dancing with he husband for the first time Elisabeth got to finally make her rounds to see her family. Naturally she first went to Francis." Brother I'm so glad you made it!" She said hugging him tightly. She left for Spain tomorrow, it was possible she'd never see her brother again." And Mary, I'd like to congratulate you in person, on everything!"

Mary smiled," Thank you, and congratulations on this marriage! You must be excited to go to Spain!" Mary knew very well Elisabeth was not excited. Francis has read Mary letter after letter about how much Elisabeth was dreading this day, but Mary wanted to make it slight exciting.

"It will be an adventure I must adjust to," she said trying to be civil in public," Besides, I am looking foreword to getting to know your cousin, The Queen." Elisabeth then caught her younger brother Charles dancing with a girl in the corner of her eye," If you excuse me I am going to speak to Charles."

Elisabeth walked up to Charles smiling widely. He'd told her so much about Lady Mary Grey, the girl who'd stolen his heart, and Elisabeth was anxious to meet her." Charles!" She said and smiled.

Charles spoke a few words to the girl and soon they both made their way to Elisabeth. As she saw the girl, Elisabeth could see why Charles likes her. She had light hair, fair skin, and striking blue eyes, not a Frenchwoman, but beautiful nonetheless." Hello dear sister, I have someone to introduce to you."

She smiled," Indeed you do! However, I am sure I already know who this is!"

Charles smiled and looked at Lady Mary, who was obviously nervous. She had never been around so much royalty before, and she wanted to impress Charles's family. If Elisabeth was anything like her mother, Catherine De Medici, Lady Mary had every reason to be nervous." Sister, this is my betrothed, Lady Mary Grey. Mary, this is my sister Princess of Elisabeth."

Lady Mary curtsied politely and smiled," I am honored to meet you your highness. Congratulations on your marriage, you and the prince will be very happy."

"No need for formality," Elisabeth said. She knew french court was strict with custom, however she knew when Francis would become that would stop, and Elisabeth wanted to lead the charge wi her future sister in law," Just call me Elisabeth. It is a pleasure to meet you as well! My brother has told me much about you!"

Scotland

Surprisingly enough, Lady Elizabeth did not hate Scotland near as much as she thought she did. However the fact that she'd grown incredible close to James Stewart may have been the reason behind her change of heart. She tried not to loose sight of her mission. Get James to fall in love with in order to save her life, however he made staying focused difficult.

This also was a surprise to Elizabeth, because even when he went on and on about Scottish politics, she never got tired of him talking. She had never felt that with anyone, not even Robert Dudley.

Ideally, she would've like James to be more ambitious in attempts to take the throne from his half sister. Elizabeth would bask in the irony that she stole Mary's throne in Scotland. However, James was undying loyal to his sister. This loyalty would have been admirable to Elizabeth, if his sister wasn't the power hungry, throne-stealing harpy, that was Mary Queen of Scots.

No, James would never take Mary's throne, but due to James sharing everything with Elizabeth, she knew their were candidates that would go after Mary's throne. Some of these being very popular.

But in all honesty, when Elizabeth was around James, she was not thinking about those things, she was thinking about them." Have you ever been betrothed to someone?" Elizabeth asked him one day as they walked in the garden.

He shook his head," No, I have been to busy protecting my sister's crown, but now that she is Queen of England, her throne is secure enough for me to start looking for a bride."

"Do you have any lucky ladies in mind?" She asked him curiously, her arm interlocked with his.

"As a matter of fact I do, but I fear no one would support the marriage, I may even loose the regency if I marry her," he replied as they walked together.

This made Elizabeth's stomach flip, good lord was he talking about her? She could not hide the small smile, but she forced it away. This is not about love, it was about revenge on Mary, and she needed to keep her eye on the prize." Well I suggest following your heart, after all, what is power without love?" She asked him and instantly she felt like a hypocrite. Her mind wandered to Robert Dudley, he'd offered himself to her many times and she refused. Recently Elizabeth had heard he remarried.

"I do not wish to do anything rash," he replied as they walked together," Part of me fears she only wishes to marry me for selfish reasons. I am not sure if I'll ever know for sure if she truly loves me.

Elizabeth listened and instantly felt guilty, she was playing with him. She did want him for selfish reasons. She banished these thoughts again, this was about more than love. She reminded herself once more. Lately she had to keep reminded herself of that. However, without thinking she said," She loves you, she wants to marry you as well."

Hello, I hope you enjoyed the intro of Elisabeth Valois, I plan on making her more crucial in the future. Also I hope you are enjoying the relationship between Elizabeth and James!