„Anne, not so fast my dear." Cathrine did her best to keep up with the little girl. „Your Mamie is to old to run."
Anne spun around, sending the snow around her flying off in all direction and her giggles filled the air. She continued twirling on the spot, her arms raised at either side. Once she lost her balance and tipped over, the thick layer of snow covering the gardens caught her falling body, which erupted in a fountain of snow.
Cathrine hurried her direction, the snow making it marginally harder to move forward. In all honesty she disliked snow, it was too cold and always in the way. It covered her precious flowers and though it might look nice from the distance, she definitely preferred the warmer summers. After all, she had grown up in sunny Florence and constantly longed for the warm Italian sun.
When she at last reached Anne, who still remained lying in the snow, she was panting and her chest was rising and falling with every breath of icy cold air. Her heart raced in her chest, accelerated by the exertion of fighting her way through the thigh high snow. She had feared that her grand child might have hurt herself with the fall but when her eyes fell on Anne, the girl was simply grinning back at her.
„Look, Mamie." she moved both her arms and legs outwards, pushing aside some of the snow in the process.
„Anne dear, come and stand up, the cold snow wont do you good." she tried her best to reason with the child.
„I'm an angel, look. I have wings." Anne proudly flapped her arms again.
Cathrine couldn't hold back the smile that slowly spread over her lips. The sight was just too precious to behold and Anne looked exceptionally happy with the snow messily covering her clothes and hair. She reminded her of another little girl, head strong and always out seeking adventures in the gardens. That had been years ago and still she could see little Mary, dancing through the snow, before her. The little queen had always been the more outgoing one and would pull her eldest and reluctant son after her, until they would fall in a tangle of arms and legs, giggling all the while.
She fondly remembered those days, when all her children had still been actual children and her husband had been at her side. But for better or for worse those days had long passed and circumstances with them. The little boy with the bouncy blond curls was now the one atop the throne and the wild spirited girl and her long unruly brown hair, the queen at his side. It had taken Cathrine some time getting used to her presence at court.
The girl had loved her like a mother before she had been taken to the convent for her own safety. After, all had changed and the fear for her son's life had driven a wedge between them. She was now thankful that she had in the end allowed her son to marry the love of his life, even if she herself couldn't stand the young Scottish queen at the time. The prophecy had been wrong, completely unfounded, and with it all her fears and reservations against Mary. Francis was still alive and in good health, a kind ad wise king for his young years, and the child they should have never had, was happily playing in the snow before her.
Anne looked at her expectantly as if she was waiting for another command. She looked so much like him. The hair, although a shade darker than his, was still uncanny and the deep blue eyes were only disturbed by several sparks of gold around the pupil. All the memories welling though her head mixed with the image before her eyes nearly brought tears to her eyes. In her golden shimmering coat, lined with white bits of fur at the edges, Anne recovered from the ground and shook the snow from her hair and clothing.
„When can we open the presents yet?" Anne pleaded with her and put on her most heart warming face.
„You will have to be patient. Your Maman has not yet finished with the tree." Cathrine mused and smiled at the disappointed face before her.
It had become somewhat of a Christmas tradition. Mary and her ladies would use the morning to decorate the tree and she would spent the hours looking after the little princess. It was definitely one of her favorite parts of the day as it wasn't often that she got to be alone with Anne.
„Can we see Papa? I want to show him the angel." Anne reached for her hand.
„I think your Papa still has some things to do, darling." Cathrine tried to calm the girl.
„But I want to see him, now. He promised we would spent the afternoon together." she stomped her little foot into the snow and defiantly crossed her arms.
Cathrine sighed. She knew that Francis normally liked to spend the hours, while Mary would get ready fro the festivities, with Anne. But Mary had told her that he was exceptionally busy this year. It wasn't like him to put state before family on such an important day but she supposed his reasons must be valid to excuse his absence.
„I want to see Papa." Anne exclaimed, retracing her steps through the snow leading back to the castle.
„Wait, Anne." Cathrine picked up the hem of her skirts trying her best to hurry after the much faster girl.
But her grand child simply increased her speed and she could do little to keep up.
„I will take you to your Maman and we can ask her if you can go see Papa." she finally gave in.
Anne momentarily spun around and her whole face suddenly seemed to light up with joy.
„You promise?"
„Yes, I promise." Cathrine tried to calm her racing breaths and smiled.
Mary was twisting the thin stem of her champagne glass between her fingers at her place by the window, overlooking the beautifully frozen lake. They had finished decorating the tree and were now perched around the window enjoying their well earned refreshments. Kenna was just in the middle of telling another of her stories, concerning Bash and his mysterious adventures in the woods when an exited cry broke the calm.
All of them spun around only to find a very exhausted and red faced Cathrine chasing after a little girl. The snow fell from her dress, littering the ground beneath her and Mary couldn't help but smile at the scene unfolding before her. It wasn't often that once could see Cathrine in such an unkempt and disheveled state. Her normally neatly combed hair was falling from its confinements and the cold air had drastically altered the tone of her normally evenly pale skin.
„Maman" Anne squealed as she hurried towards her. „I made a snow angel."
Her eyes were alight with joy and the excitement bursted from every word. Without any warning she flung her arms around Mary and covered them both in the remainders of snow, still on her little figure. She buried her head against Mary's belly and tightly clung to the fabric of her dress.
„I have missed you, my little angel." Mary smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.
Around them, her ladies had quieted down and watched the little princess shake her head to free it from the snow. Little flaked fell all around them and Kenna let out a small squeal of surprise. But the laughter overtook them and Anne stared at them in astonishment.
„I wanna see Papa." she exclaimed determinately and shook Mary's arm.
The fire in her daughter blue eyes felt very familiar and she could see her younger self angrily stomping her feet before an also much younger Cathrine. She smiled but the mention of Francis made her heart heavy.
„I tried to tell her that he's busy. But she wouldn't listen." Cathrine had finally caught up with them and was now wheezing before them.
„He promised." Anne stomped her feet and looked quite upset at her mother's hesitance.
„Darling, I don't know if Papa has time." Mary bit her lip, trying to hide her own disappointment.
„No, no, no, I want to see Papa." Anne cried out again and Mary could hear one of the ladies behind her snickering.
„Okay, okay." she finally sighed and gave in. „We will go ask Papa if he has time for you."
„He will, he promised." Anne shot up and already made her way to the doors leading from the hall.
Mary smiled to herself, the sight of her determined little daughter, too precious. After quickly excusing herself from her ladies and Cathrine, she hurried after Anne. Her body still felt weirdly tired and she couldn't think of a reason for her exhaustion. She figured, it must simply be from all the stress and planning she had invested into their annual Christmas festivities.
They rounded multiple corners and when they had finally reached the hallway leading to Francis' working chamber, Mary was visibly out of breath while Anne seemed to bounce with energy. Mary straightened out her skirts, feeling weirdly nervous, before knocking against the thick wooden door.
There was a moment of silence and both Mary and Anne strained their ears to catch any sound from the other side of the door. Was he not here? Mary was unsure what to think and just before she was about to turn, she could hear shuffling from the other side.
„Who is this?" his voice was muffled by the thick wood.
„It's me. Francis, what in god's name are you doing in there?" she tried to make her annoyance with him heard.
„Don't come in!" he exclaimed and she took her hand, which had already rested on the hands, away.
She was stunned, what on earth could he be doing in there? He had never before prohibited her from entering his chambers. She was about to retort with some equally infuriated comment when the door opened just a crack.
His head appeared and he looked somewhat disheveled. He met her eyes and a sheepish grin flew over his lips. Mary felt taken aback by his reaction. He didn't seem specifically angry or annoyed with her, judging by the smile on his lips, but he was set on keeping the door as shut as possible, covering the open part with his body. His doublet was missing, as he must haven taken it off, and the white shirt he wore underneath was wide open.
„Francis" she gaped at him, the confusion mirroring in her eyes.
Anne, who was now clinging to her hand and had hid behind her skirts, was almost jumping with excitement. „Papa" she squealed.
„What are you doing in there." Mary inquired, still suspicious of his behavior.
„Nothing" he bit his lip, trying his best to remain serious.
„You better tell me right now." she huffed, crossing her arms before her chest. „You promised Anne, you'd play with her."
„I know." he shifted his weight to the other foot.
„Yes Papa, will you?" Anne glowed up at him.
„Of course. I've been waiting for you, my darling." he winked at her and Anne quickly shuffled past him into the room.
„Can I come in?" Mary felt the uneasy feeling tightening in her stomach again.
„No darling, I'm afraid you can't." the impish tone in his voice only helped raise her anger.
„Francis" she took a step towards the door, intending to force her way past him.
He caught her by her hand and pushed both of them out into the corridor. She glared at him, a hint of danger dancing in her dark eyes. When he rose his hadn't to cup her face, her heart screamed at her to give into his touch and she could feel a familiar warmth spreading through her body. But she held herself back and tried to push his hand away, without any success. He held her in place and his other arm drew her body closer to his, the fabric of her dress ruffling against his scratchy breeches.
„What on earth is the matter with you." she protested against his insistent grip and he only smiled knowingly in response.
„I can't tell you, my love." he was close enough for his breaths to tickle the skin on her face.
She furrowed her brow in confusion, not wanting to put up with whatever silly game he was playing. Before she could make her anger heard, his finger gently pressed against her lips, quieting her. His lips hovered inches from hers and her eyes fluttered close in anticipation but nothing happened. He pulled back and a quickly as he had appeared, he vanished behind the door, leaving his wife speechless and alone in the empty corridor.
Thank you for reading! Part three (the last part) should already be up :)