Rome
"Elizabeth, come on, we have to go!" She heard James shout at her as she stood frozen, looking at the dead man before her. The man she killed. The man she chose to shoot with her arrow. It all happened so quickly. He threatened to excommunicate Francis and Mary and all Elizabeth knew was that she needed to stop him. With one slight relaxation in her hand, she sent the arrow flying, and there was no stopping it. Elizabeth had killed the Pope. She could hear the commands of everyone around her, pleading her to come on, but they sounded muffled, as if they were miles away. Her vision was blurry, only focusing on the corpse in front of her. Her eyes snapped into focus as a figure stepped in front of her and gripped her shoulders. It was Mary, as clear as day.
"Elizabeth, I know what you are feeling, but we have to go," Mary told her cousin, keeping that same calm demeanor. She knew what it felt like to cause such death and destruction, but they did not have time for Elizabeth to process this now. The battle was raging on, and they needed to get out of Rome as soon as possible.
"I killed him," Elizabeth replied, tears forming in her eyes. "He was the Pope, your Holy Leader, and I killed him. This whole thing started because of me, my reach for the throne, the war i waged against you, my alliance with Philip. Mary, you should hate me." She had never thought through the long term consequences of her actions, everything she had caused, and for what? To prove something to her dead father? She was glad to be helping Mary, because she could mend the damage she'd caused, but it seemed she was just causing more.
"This is not your fault, this is your father's," Mary insisted, speaking quickly and frantically to Elizabeth, "He started all of this. I do not hate you, i hate Philip for waging war against us. I will not hold you responsible for the actions of the men in your life, but Elizabeth there is no time to argue now, only time to die, we have to go." Elizabeth looked at Mary's eyes, before nodding slowly. The party was able to make their way out of the room, and out of the palace.
Mary's entourage was prepared to navigate through the war torn city and make their way to the outskirts, but before they needed to, the Spanish Commanders sounded the sign of retreat and waved the white flag of surrender. Their soldiers all began to run back towards the Vatican, leaving Mary's forces alone in the city. "What the hell are they doing? Surrender? The battle has just nearly begun," Francis questioned.
"He knows he's lost," James responded as he waved their group to continue heading to the outskirts of the city, not willing to waste any time. "He wanted to trap Mary in the Vatican and have the Church force her hand, but the Pope is dead, and Mary is out of the palace. He is not willing to waste the lives of anymore troops, troops he could use in the war."
France
Princes Mary, with Prince Henry in her arms, rode in the carriage back to the palace. Earlier that day the Guises' army was able to storm the castle, and the Spanish troops surrendered soon after. There was only enough Spanish soldiers to ambush a nearly defenseless palace, not enough to withstand a full scale siege. In the end, Mary was glad that the palace was retaken, and that her husband and family was safe. However there was the daunting price that the Duke of Guise demanded in return for his assistance. She had figured that the Duke, as Queen Mary's uncle, would be more than happy to help, but instead, he had demanded a hefty price.
As the carriage arrived into the courtyard, Mary saw the French royal family and sighed in relief to see her husband, Charles, was ok. She was also happy to see that Charles's younger siblings were ok as well. Stepping out of the carriage, with the Dauphin in her arms, she looked across her family, but her smile faded when she met the icy stare of Catherine de Medici. Princess Mary knew very well by now that this cold demeanor was not directed at her, rather, it was a look of determination to protect her family. Catherine had told Mary to contract the Duke's help at whatever cost, but Mary knew that her mother-in-law would still hate the price she promised. Mary's worries were interrupted when she heard her husband say, "My love, i am glad you are safe." The young couple embraced, and Charles relieved Mary of the baby.
"I am glad to see you are safe as well, and the rest of the family of course," Mary said, put more at ease by the warmth and kindness of her husband. Mary then turned to the Dowager Queen, and frowned. The Queen gave an intense look, as if to ask what all Mary promised the Duke in exchange for his help. Mary gulped and said, "More than you're going to be willing to pay."
Italy
The carriage ride back to France was silent. There was still so much to process about their time in Italy, and it seemed everyone was doing it on their own. On one side, sat the Catholic power couple of the century, Queen Mary and King Francis. On the other side, sat two Protestant bastards, each of which have pledged their loyalties to Mary and her cause. Mary herself could not help but to note the irony of the situation. Mary couldn't stand the silence though. They did not have time for silence, besides, she wanted to help resolve any issues. She decided to start with biggest elephant in the room. "No one blames you for killing him," she blurted out.
Elizabeth, shocked by this sudden dive into conversation sighed, "There is the charm I keep hearing about," she remarked sarcastically. However, with her one moment of sarcasm out of the way, she looked out the window. "I not only killed someone, but he was unarmed, and old. Not to mention that this could gravely hurt your cause, knowing one of your supporters killed the Pope." Elizabeth shocked herself with her worry for Mary's cause, she really seemed to be coming around.
"He was not unarmed," James interjected. "He was armed by the belief of thousands of people that he controls the fate of their eternal souls. He was using the weapon to hurt Mary, and you protected your Queen, there is no shame in that." James was a fighter, and a Protestant at that. His concept of killing, and death, especially in this case, were very different from the rest of them.
"Settle down John Knox," Mary replied, with a hint of teasing at her brother, "Some of us in this carriage are still, in fact, Catholic. Regardless, Elizabeth, you reacted in the heat of the moment. Trust me, I understand the burden you are carrying, but that man was evil. To an extent, James was right, he was abusing his power. As far as the damage to my cause goes, well rest assured we were not going to have the Church's support anyway. We need to think of our next move."
January 3, 1560
France
The icy winter night raged on as the French royals stayed in the throne room, unsure of what to think about the rumors that were swirling around the Pope's Christmas Peace Conference. Stories varied, everything was questionable, even the list of survivors. There was one thing they knew for sure, the one thing that all of the rumors agreed on, the Pope was dead. Some say he hanged himself due to the stress of the peace conference. Other stories claim that Philip had him killed for failing to reign in the Scottish Queen. More frighteningly, there were even rumors that Mary ordered her troops to storm the Vatican and kill the Pope. "We will just have to wait until they get back to know the truth," Princess Mary finally said.
"If they get back," Catherine de Medici replied, and was met by an anger fueled look from her daughter-in-law. "Do not look at me like that. No one knows what happened, or who survived. Just this morning I heard a report that Mary was sacrificed at the altar. All I am saying is, we need to consider the possibility that they are not coming back, and that little Henry is our new king."
Mary's eyes narrowed at Catherine, "Let me guess, with you as his regent?" Mary was filled with anger and annoyance, but she had to admit, the Dowager Queen had a point. As time went on, the stories about what happened in Rome became more and more consistent. They were almost sure there was some kind of battle, and, with no word from Francis or Mary, it was possible that they died in that battle.
"Francis is my son, do not think for one second I relish in this, but we need to be prepared," Catherine snapped, but before her fit of rage could reach its boiling point, a servant burst in the door, "We ordered that we would not be disturbed!" Catherine snapped, taking out her anger on the poor servant.
"This is a matter of the upmost royal urgency," The servant replied in fear. Their faces all lit up. This was it, the moment they were all waiting for. The moment that Francis and Mary would burst through the door and prove that they had survived the attack. Catherine beckoned the servant to reveal the news, but instead the servant led in a poorly dressed woman, who was carrying a basket. "She said she is looking for Mary Grey, so I led her to you Princess."
"What is going on?" Princess Mary asked as she slowly approached the woman, who appeared to be some kind of servant, or perhaps midwife. The woman simply handed her a letter, and Mary noticed the seal of her sister Catherine, Queen of Spain. She read the letter aloud:
Dearest Sister, My little Mary,
You are an aunt! To two sweet boys. I only knew them for a moment, but they are my pride and joy. Juan, named in honor of our dear sister, is little, but stubborn, with eyes that explore everything around him. Eduardo, named after my later husband, is larger, with a smile that cannot be matched. The are the most handsome princes any queen was ever blessed with, which is why i am entrusting them to you.
My sons are too beautiful to be used as weapons against our beloved Queen, so I had to save them. Please raise them to be as smart, loyal, kind, and passionate as you are. Teach them about Jane, and her bravery. Tell them about how you served as a loyal spy and servant for their Queen. Please, teach them about me. Tell them that I too was a loyal servant to our Queen, and that is why I had to do this. I have sent a letter with them, please give it to them when they turn fifteen, but until then, it is up to you to teach them how much I love them. Mary, you are my one hope for them.
With All My Heart,
Catherine
Mary dropped the letter and stood frozen in her spot. "What has she done?" She whispered as tears began to roll down her cheek. She knew what this meant. Her sister had committed treason, and that was punishable by death. Once again, she was helpless to save her sister.
Meanwhile, Catherine and Charles went to the basket, and picked up the two infant children inside. They were quiet and still, as if they were aware of the tenderness of this moment. Charles gently rocked Eduardo as he looked to his wife, "Would you like to hold one of your nephews."
Mary looked over at Eduardo in her husband's arms, and the vision of Catherine being executed flashed through her mind. She turned to Juan, who was in Catherine's arms, and her mind went back to the beheading of her older sister Jane. Clenching her fists, the Princess then looked down, remembering when she heard the news of Marie de Guise's execution at Philip's hands. Her head swirled with memories of laughter with her sisters, followed by the horrible things that happened, the horrible things she had done, had to go through, all to end up still losing her last sister in the end. Without answering her husband, Mary stormed out the door, pushing the poor wet nurse so hard out of her way, that the poor woman almost fell.
She ran out into the brittle cold night and fell into the snow, getting numbed by the icy air. She could just lay down and die out here, and she may very well have, except in the distance, under the pale moonlight, she noticed a banner, the Scottish banner, the Queen was coming back, and Mary Grey knew this could be her way to save her sister.