AN: Thank you for the reviews, especially to my unnamed visitor – you will find some of your ideas in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned!


SIX – Carlos and me


Emperor Charles, no, Carlos, was one of those people you had heard so much about that you could picture him in a thousand different ways, but when you met him, he was completely different still. So when I figured that I would get to meet him in person, I tried to think nothing, to keep my mind free from any prejudice and thoughts, but I failed to do so. In truth, the prospect of meeting the Emperor in Castel St. Angelo terrified me. He had my life in his hands, and also that of my children, Simonetta, and Giulio. The Pope, too, was afraid of what Carlos could and would do, though neither of us dared to utter this fear. Instead, we pondered the question of what to do.

Giulio reasoned that Carlos, being so young and powerful, would be a formidable enemy for us, especially since we had nothing with which to bribe him. What could anyone offer to him that he didn't already have? He didn't need money or titles or political advantages – he had all of that. Giulio and I had nothing but our own wits. We were almost powerless in our state as prisoners. With every day that the Emperor was drawing nearer, our despair grew. We saw no way out.

Oddly, it was my little daughter Eleonora who saved us. Giulio should grow a beard, she insisted. She reminded us that despite the sack of Rome, Carlos was known as a very pious man, and that if Giulio humbled himself to appear like the miserable prisoner he was, Carlos's conscience would strike and free us all. She said that Pope Alexander, the Borgia Pope, had done the same when the French had threatened to remove him from power. She had read it in a book. I wasn't convinced, but Giulio accepted my daughter's words as our only chance and stuck to it. Today, I'm very glad he trusted in her, and I scold myself for ever doubting her. The idea was brilliant.

When I first saw Carlos after he left his audience with Giulio, I saw a face full of worries. As usual, my curiosity got the better of me, and I turned towards him to catch another glimpse of the most powerful man in the world. He was young, 8 years my minor, but by no means handsome. His large, protruding chin and gawky limps made him seem nothing like the man I had expected. But there was something sympathetic in his eyes that I knew I could like.

"He seems so… sad," Charlos whispered in Latin, and upon realising my presence, he added in the same low voice: "Forgive me, my Lady, I spoke without knowing I would be heard."

Surprised by his respectful address, I curtseyed before him. "There is no need to apologise, Your Majesty."

"May I inquire your name?"

"I am Elisabetta de' Medici, a cousin to His Holiness."

"King Henry's sister?" Carlos raised his eyebrows. "Forgive me, but I had not expected to find you here. I had assumed you fled to England."

There was little chance for that, your troops were too fast, I thought, but I knew better than to say so. "No, Your Majesty. My rightful place is with the family of my children, the Medici, and thus with His Holiness. He is in dire need of support these days. We all are. Family must stick together."

I had heard rumours about the fact that Carlos was very much a family man and shamelessly hoped to exploit that with my words. He nodded, which I took as a good sign and continued.

"You seem worried, if I may say so," I said in order to test whether Giulio's pathos had worked, and Carlos's face told me it had. He felt seen through, that much was clear, but I didn't want him to know I had manipulated him, so I added: "About your wife, I guess?"

"Yes," he replied almost relieved, "she is heavy with child and due to give birth any day."

"Then Your Majesty must be hoping and praying for a healthy son and for the safe delivery of your wife. I am sure you must miss her much."

Carlos nodded absent-mindedly. "You surely miss your husband as well."

"He is dead," I said matter-of-factly.

"Oh… I apologise, Lady Elisabetta, I had forgotten. I did not mean to inconvenience you."

I smiled gallantly. "You didn't. I have been a widow for eight years now and know how to live with the pain. It is true, I am lonely sometimes, but my children more than make up for that. They are my every joy."

Carlos, too, smiled now. "How many do you have?"

"Four, Your Majesty."

"Four," he nodded. There was something awkward in his gaze. "You are truly blessed, then. I… I should like to meet them, tomorrow, for supper. Do you assume this would be possible?"

"If Your Majesty wishes." I curtseyed, and while I knelt before him, a thought crossed my mind. Could it be that he was interested in me? Could his loneliness make him susceptible to romantic thoughts? It was a wild guess, but in this situation, it seemed my best hope for freedom and survival. I decided to play the cards I had been dealt and foster any kind of interest Carlos may have in me. I would bet everything I had, and even though I was never the prettiest Tudor girl – Mary was – I was no unpleasant sight and good with words. That, I knew, was sometimes worth more when trying to seduce a man. They always deny loving sharp tongues and witty minds, but secretly, they do. They love the challenge and they love the chase.

So did Carlos. I can't say what it was that he liked about me, but it was plain to see that he favoured me and my children. Even Giulio realised it and saw his chance for freedom. He heartened me to strengthen my relationship to the Emperor even though he acknowledged how immoral it was – "but this is war, and war has its own rules," he told me. In a way, he was right. It was Niccolò's thoughts put into practice: do whatever you must to preserve what you hold dear and accept that the end justifies the means.

So I encouraged Carlos's friendly attitude and allowed him to spend more time with me and my children. Whatever was going on inside his head I will never know, but it seemed to work in our favour. After only two weeks, Carlos agreed to allow Giulio to escape to Orvieto if I and my children stayed behind as hostages. Well-treated hostages, he added, and we all knew what he meant. Giulio agreed and fled, while I remained in Rome and moved to the palazzo Carlos inhabited during his stay.

I still wonder whether he actually meant to bed me as a real mistress, or if he only wished to admire me like a poet does his muse. Either way, he never urged me to know him carnally, although he sought my presence at all times. He seemed very worried about me and my well-being, even more than about his wife at home who had survived the birth. It was curious to me that a man could care for anything else but his sons, but Carlos obviously did. He cared for me. And very quickly, he found out how to read my face, which thankfully had nothing to hide anymore, for I mostly enjoyed his company. Now, he could almost see through me as I through him.

"What troubles you so, Prinzessin?" For some obscure reasons, he had come to refer to me by my old title, but in German. It was a joke between the two of us.

"It's my brother. He has written another letter and… no, you wouldn't understand."

"Test me. No, I mean it. What is there in the world that I could not understand?"

I sighed. "He… he no longer loves your aunt and she has failed to give him a son. Now he worries about his succession, for he only has Mary, and we all remember Empress Matilda and her civil war for the crown. That's not what my father fought for. Harry is desperate."

Carlos's sunny face had turned sour. "The English matter again."

"Harry cannot help the facts, either. It's a deplorable situation, but he needs a son. England needs a prince."

"So he wants to rid himself of my aunt? How?" Carlos asked, proving to me that he wasn't half as dumb as I had first thought. He saw troubles and their consequences quite clearly.

I hesitated to answer. "Since Catherine has refused to take the veil, the only option is annulment."

He shook his head. "No. Her marriage cannot be declared invalid! Don't you see what it would do to her, to the Princess, to our family? It would shame them in front of everyone! My aunt is no whore and my cousin not a bastard!"

"Do you think I like to entertain that idea? I care deeply for my little niece and I have begged Catherine to accept Harry's terms, but she refused me. She would rather live in the shambles of her marriage than… oh, Carlos."

I don't remember whether I was really desperate or if I was just playing along, but he obviously thought I was saddened and embraced me gently.

"Do not fret, Prinzessin. There must be a solution."

"I know. Harry wanted to ask His Holiness, but since Clement's still somehow your prisoner, he cannot act against you, and therefore against Catherine. But Harry is getting older, too, and he has little hopes now for a son." I deliberately hid the fact that Harry had also told me about his deep affections for a certain Lady Anne. "But you must also see how troubled our country was in the centuries past, and how dark the ages of civil war were. If my brother were to have but a daughter as his heir, England would plunge into the dark despair of warfare again. All my father's efforts would be null and void!"

"And still, I won't allow him to harm Catherine. She is my family. Surely you will understand?"

I nodded quietly. "Yes, Your Majesty, but something has to happen and I fear it will happen soon. Harry does not have your patience. He might overreact. And then… I fear for Mary."

"My poor worried Prinzessin… Would it please you if I put an end to this mess?" His voice was genuinely sweet.

"Only if you knew a way for everyone to come out as unscathed as possible. My brother may seem unkind to an outsider, but I know him well and I know that it is only despair and fear for our country that drives him to extreme measures. He does not wish harm upon Catherine, he is just disappointed and desperate. He is no unkind man. I do not wish to see him hurt, or my niece. Do you know such a way?" I asked hopefully. This time, it wasn't acting.

"If it pleases you so then I shall find a way. I could not bear to see you remain in your wretched, sorrowful state."

I smiled and told him how much I appreciated his kindness and generosity, none of which was truly a lie. I was grateful for his promise, but I had also overemphasized some things to influence him in my interest. Was that wrong? Are there times when I feel guilty for playing him like that? Sometimes, perhaps, but I always accepted that the ends were more important than the means. And besides, Carlos got all he wanted that year, so why bother feeling guilty? His wife bore him a son, he cleared his bad conscience by allowing Giulio to escape, he enjoyed many hours of conversing with me, and in the end, he also found a solution to my brother's Great Matter.

In November 1527, a papal letter left Orvieto stating that the marriage of Catherine and Harry was annulled. She was to receive a large sum of money, a title, and a pension. Mary would be considered a bastard, but since everyone agreed the marriage had been made in good faith, she would still be called Princess and remain in the line of succession right behind any legitimate children of future marriages. I knew Catherine would not like it, but it was the best solution. I don't know what would have happened to her if I had not intervened, but I was positive that any of the alternatives would have been worse. She might never see it that way, but I knew what I had done, and why.

Harry knew, too, and he showered me with gleeful words and invited me to England to witness his wedding in early 1528. If I had wondered for a second why he wasn't leaving more time between the annulment and his new wedding, the news that his chosen bride was secretly with child made that all too clear. I must admit that I was only mildly curious to meet the woman who had captured my brother's heart – others had done so before – but I was anxious to make sure my niece was well taken care of. So I set sail for England again in 1528 to meet a woman whose life would soon become inseparably entwined with mine: Anne.