Disclaimer: If I did I would be Goddess Supreme.
A/N:Thanks to all my reviewers and everyone who's been supportive. I know how hard it is to keep track of all the characters, and as sad as it may seem, well for me since this became a special project for me, this story is near its end and it will have more twist and turns and characters you thought were not important before will become important now.
I have reread more on the Tudors to brush up my knowledge of the Elizabethan period and the early Tudor age for this story and upcoming ones. There are many books I can recommend, you can PM if you want. I will say a few though because I think they are too important to be left out: "The Tudors" by GJ Meyers. "Tudors" by John Guy (great historian), "Henry VIII and his Court" by Alison Weir that has become, I am not joking, my special bible; and of course the recent book on Spanish dynasties of the two tragic sisters: "Sister Queens, the tragic lives of Katherine and Juana" by Julia Fox, and "Armada" a great classic by old 20th c. historian Garrett Mattingly. He wrote a biography on Catherine of Aragon which I also recommend.
Please read and review, I am always interested in your comments. Without further ado, enjoy:
~Carolina
Chapter #60: The Faithful Flock
"Dead as dead can be
My doctor tells me
But I just can't believe him
Ever the optimistic one
I'm sure of your ability
To become my perfect enemy
Wake up and face me
Don't play dead 'cause maybe
Someday I will walk away and say
You disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way
Leaning over you here
Cold and catatonic
I catch a brief reflection
Of what you could and might have been
It's your RIGHT and your ability
To become my perfect enemy
Wake up
(Why can't you?)
And face me
(Come on now)
Don't play dead
(Don't play dead)
'Cause maybe
(Because maybe)
Someday
(Someday)
I will walk away and say
You disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way
Maybe you're better off this way (×4)
You're better off this (×2)
Maybe you're better off...
Wake up
(Why can't you?)
And face me
(Come on now)
Don't play dead
(Don't play dead)
'Cause maybe
(Because maybe)
Someday
(Someday)
I will walk away and say
You fucking disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way!
Go ahead and play dead
(GO!)
I know that you can hear this
(GO!)
Go ahead and play dead
(GO!)
Why can't you turn and face me?
(WAKE UP!)
Why can't you turn against me?
(WAKE UP!)
Why can't you turn against me?
(WAKE UP!)
Why can't you turn against me?
(GO!)
You fucking disappoint me
Passive-aggressive bullshit..."
~"Passive" by Perfect Circle
1575, February 12th
England, London Borough
Greenwich Palace:
There was nothing to do at this palace except sulk and see the sun set and rise as another boring day passed. Margaret hated being part of the Queen's train. The Hungarian ladies all they did was giggle and gossip and when she pretended she was not hearing or distracted by her latest reading, they would whisper behind her back about her clothe or indulge in men's business -politics.
Why William stood for this kind of behavior? It was not like him or his newly created Secretary of State and Lord Treasurer to stand for this kind of lively hood but then again William always loved gay behavior in his courtiers. It cheered him and it was a slight departure from the austere lifestyle their father and his court followed before he married their mother.
William wanted everything to be ready for his heir's arrival and keeping with old Tudor tradition he wanted his firstborn to be born in Greenwich, the greatest palace that ever was and will be in his opinion -after Richmond's restoration- in England.
Ambassadors had been pouring from all their neighboring allies showing them with praises and gifts in honor of their upcoming Prince. Beth received them all with the grace and sweetness as was expected of any Queen. She was called a "remarkable" example for all women for her beauty and her intelligence and the eloquence and hospitality she showed to their guests. Personally she did not see why all that much scandal for that dark Hungarian girl? The appraisal was highly overrated.
Margaret came out of her thoughts when she heard a knock.
"Your Highness, it is the Lady Roxanna Chapuys" Her chamberlain announced stepping aside to let the Lady in.
"My Lady has the Queen sent you?" Margaret asked getting straight to the point.
Roxanna nodded "Indeed she has Your Highness. She requests that you come to His Majesty's chambers private study immediately. There is something he needs to discuss with you."
Margaret quirked an eyebrow. Just why would the dark Hungarian girl send another girl, the first lady of her bedchamber who was inconsequential as the new merchant daughters that had risen to fame thanks to the lands and titles William had sold of, was a mystery.
"Your Highness she says it is urgent." Roxanna said, softly but firmly in a way that reminded Margaret of her grandfather.
"Alright then, lead the way." She said standing, her ladies followed her but Roxanna halted them.
"Her Majesty told me that is should be you only."
"Why is that? What is so important my brother feels the need to dismiss all of my women?"
"Your Majesty I can not tell you but it is for your eyes only."
Margaret shrugged. She should know better by now. She was not going to get any answer from Lady Chapuys. She followed Roxanna to the corridor that led to her brother's office.
"Your Majesty, My Lords." Roxanna greeted her older nephew and her father and the Lord Treasurer.
William thanked her for her service and waved her off.
William's eyes met his sister. "Why have you called me?" She asked.
"Please sit, I have news. Parliament has debated on your marriage for far too long and in the view of recent events I have decided to propose another union, the credit is not all mine though, My Lord Burghley and Her Majesty helped me reach this conclusion-"
"You are not wedding me to her uncle the King of Poland are you?"
William shook his head and laughed. "Good Lord Maggie of course not. I am not so blind as to give my other half to a man old enough to be your father." Maggie sighed in relief. "The Tsar of Russia has been dead for some months and the issue of the succession has been a serious debate. The Tsarevich was for a very long time our aunt Bella's husband, Alexei Romanov who was nephew to Ivan III's wife and only remaining male heir of that branch of the family. The people did not see well the Romanov's influence on Ivan III or her nephew's coming and goings to England so it is very likely they will decide on their late monarch's son instead, Ivan."
Margaret did not like where this was going. Eustace tried to give her encouragement through a smile but no emotion came from his face as he steeled himself gripping both his canes, bracing himself for what was going to come next.
"He is only four years your senior and we have heard great tales of his prowess. You will have to convert to the religion of your adoptive country but you will have no trouble adjusting. You have always been very enthusiastic about learning about other peoples and cultures. Ivan Ivanovich of the house of Rurik will be happy to have you as a wife and what this alliance will bring us to flank the Cleves, Wittelsbach, La Mark, and other German houses and French offensive will be great" William boasted lost in his own little world of ambition.
She stopped hearing after the words Ivan and House of Rurik. Margaret Ivanovich of the "House" of Rurik ... It did not even sound right.
"Ivan what?" She nearly threw her chair at her brother when she jumped.
"Ivan Ivanovich, the heir apparent to the Tarsdom of Russia, heir to the Rurik house and only surviving heir of Ivan III, his late Majesty." Cecil explained, almost like the perfect school monkey he was. He seemed nothing like a manipulator when his smile was up. However when he was strictly threading on business a wider smile would grace his features and he would become the most hated man on England, second only after their grandfather, and William's most trusted adviser.
Eustace Chapuys highly resented that he'd been made Lord of the Privy seal and not his son as William promised him, and Bess' ambitions coming to high, she promised to protect Annie's grandson from all dangerous-lecherous-ambitious hands- foreign or domestic –including her own-, she put Cecil's name forward the same day. William went far beyond that and elevated the post of Master Secretary to Secretary of State incurring the wrath of the old nobility, whatever was left of them.
Margaret could almost laugh at them. She knew William would not disappoint her. He promised to take stronger reins of his government and ironically it had been the daughter of their grandmother's greatest enemy who helped him achieve it, thus ending the short-lived power of the super-ambitious Chapuys dynasty.
"Why sister, I thought you would have known better of the Rurik dynasty since they are all that is left now that their patriarch has died last month."
"Then why does he not take the throne or Sardome, whatever that is."
"There are complications and the country is in great instability after their late Tsar's merciless wars-" Cecil went on to explain but William cut him.
"But no matter, we have promised to recognize Ivan's claim thus proclaiming Ivan IV, he is coming in no time. Is this not great Maggie? You will be Tsaritsa of Russia, the second there has ever been. His old man held on to power for so long and there were always threats from his wife's family, the Romanovs and Alexei being made heir apparent, thank the good Lord and the goddess of victory Alexei has died and the people had the good common sense to pull their leader through and make him see his son as the true heir apparent, and not the late Romanov Duke and his late English wife, Isabella Tudor-Wittelsbach, sons."
Eustace Chapuys fell. He briefly let his guard down. He felt an immense sadness when he heard Alexei had died. The son of a staunch Reformist and one of the richest families in Russia had grown dearest to his heart and regarded him as his own son. He and Anthony had played together and Annie … he and Annie had loved each other … once … a very long time ago …
He sighed. His sigh went unheard of however by the twins, but Cecil heard it and looked coldly at his competitor seated next to him, because he was too weak to stand.
Nonetheless for respect to his good and one of the most intellectual women in England, Elizabeth Chapuys, he supported his hand on the older man's shoulder. It was his way of expressing his sympathies, and Eustace thanked him for it with his an assent from his head.
He watched the twins perform their terrible dance of words. He watched Margaret's face turn into an expression of horror, her features suddenly becoming older, and her mouth nearly dropping to the floor.
"No, I will not marry him. I would rather marry a blacksmith's son, a poor pauper than that lunatic's son."
"That lunatic's son is going to be the end of me. William please, I know you and I have had our differences, but you cannot let me marry that man. I will surely die." She believed she would. Ivan "the terrible" was the title that sang by the victims who lost their loved ones and of his taxes levied by the soldiers, in the streets he filled with blood of Russia.
Her brother had to be crazy.
"Who cares what this man did." She yelled. "A few conquests are not enough to undo what he did to his people. Do you know what they call him?"
Silence.
"Well do you?" She insisted.
William Cecil took the stand and pushed his staff against the floor, diverting her gaze from her brother to him. "Your Highness this is incomprehensible. The Eastern Orthodox Church, pagan as it may be in its worship is a most practical ally."
He advanced to Margaret who trembled.
"You would be highly welcome into their circle."
"No, no, please William I beg you I will do anything. I will even marry that oaf Rudolf, or Sebastian, I do not care just please don't do this to me. Please, I beg of you … William no!" She sobbed and dropped to the ground screaming at his feet when he neared her.
Eustace signaled to Fleming. He lifted sobbing Margaret wiping her tears with his handkerchief, and even helping to his sleeve, she cleaned the mucus from her nose.
She looked ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous and this was the woman who would be the future Tsaritsa. "Nice start" He said sarcastically.
Margaret glared at him and then to Cecil. "How can you do this to me? You promised you would not let him control me." Margaret said despite his servant had helped her to his feet. It no longer hurt Eustace, knowing she had the best intentions but nonetheless it bothered him.
"Nobody is controlling you. We can still write to each other, Jesus Margaret this is not the end of the world."
"Your Majesty" Cecil said warningly, the King was verging on blaspheme, best he not forget it.
"Oh right. Oh dear Lord forgive me." William muttered doing the sign of the cross (on purpose) just to displease Ceci and putting on a hand on his chest, with a mock expression of hurt and regretl. He looked away from the demonstration of paganism but he nonetheless recognized the good will in this monarch who was years ahead of his time and had given more power to parliament and to the lower lords and men like himself to rise higher than the men born to privilege as his enemies.
"Margaret look you are going to marry him regardless of what you me, Cecil, Chapuys, anyone says. If you want to, you and me can write to our mother I am sure she will give you good advise to prepare for your wedding or even our sister…"
But he did not get to finish as Margaret interrupted again. "No! I will not write to that old maid!"
Oh no, not again. "What do you got against our sister, the Infanta?"
Cecil could think of many good things to get against her but he remained silent, letting the child to her demonstration to further prove that she was her grandmother's granddaughter and her great grandmother's heir. All three women were likely to be remembered by their stubborn behavior, one an Infanta who had not let go of her marriage which everyone agreed was cursed and had ended years ago, and the other who had stuck to her old position calling herself "Princess" in private –his spies told him, even now- and now this Princess who was nothing more than a child, a spoiled brat.
"Alright does it seem like I care? Am I the only one here who thinks Diana is no longer a Tudor? She took the title of 'Infanta' and renounced her rights of inheritance and took up the last name of Hapsburg!"
"Not entirely, she is still Tudor von Hapsburg-"
"It does not matter. I am not going to write to that stuck up-"
"Margaret that is enough!" William said hitting his fists against the table, finally having enough of his sister's tantrums that were driving him up the fucking wall.
"You are going to marry the future Tsar, and guess what you are honey because he will be crowned by his pagan church in seven days time and you will be there a month after that he has turned things stable."
"One would think I am marrying a horse." She hissed under breath, from her brother's wording, crossing her arms against her chest and turning away from William and his top men.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. May I have permission to go?"
"May I have permission to go Your Majesty." William reminded her.
"May I have your sweet permission to go Your Most Gracious Majesty?" She asked in feigned sweetness, gritting her teeth..
"Yes go"
Margaret left, she gave the door a loud bang.
"That could have gone better." His Lord Treasurer and Secretary of State said. William nodded and sulked in his chair. He gave one tired sigh.
"The sooner she is out of this country the better." He said. "What more on the agenda for today gentlemen?"
"Nothing much sire, just a few treatises to sign, including the repeal of higher taxation to your people."
"Then what will finance these new wars then?" William asked going through the papers Cecil gave him. He passed them to his grandfather who shook his head, but still William signed them as he was under the completely influence of Cecil's silky voice.
"Your men are exhausted and the taxes against the tax collectors have only made the working class more anxious. Might I suggest you free the tax collectors of higher taxes and reduce taxation a forty percent to the higher classes?"
"They are poor I guess. It is the song rich men always sing but if you believe this will get me more money and more love from my people then do so." William said waving Cecil and Eustace off.
"I am the goat in the desert who blame must fall"
~Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Morton in Shadow of The Tower (1972)
"I know what you are doing." Eustace told Cecil when they were alone in a dark corridor out of ear and eyesight.
"Really, what is that?"
"You are transferring all the blame from the King unto you so you will be the most hated man on England." He gave a mock clap. "Brilliant for one minor flaw."
"And pray tell what is that My Lord?" Cecil asked a frown on his face that soon disappeared when Eustace's smile appeared on his face, replacing his serious demeanor. He did not like Cecil, his religion, his radical reforms, and his staunch behavior and greediness, but most of all he did not like his hold on William and the trust Bess put on this man and the way people treated him as he was some kind of savior or demon. Yet for William's sake and the security of his real, he understood.
"The people hate you Cecil, they hate you more than everyone and they are too dumb to realize that is all my grandson's fault and don't play dumb. At this point and age we know who we are talking about. They think he is the victim of your manipulation but they don't see that you are smarter than you look. You conned them just as you conned the entire court and you are not the first one to do so, but to hold on to so long a con … I think there has only been one men and that was during the first Tudor monarch."
"Cardinal Morton yes, a very interesting man despite his wronged beliefs but my deep respects to the man and his brain. One does what he can for his King, My Lord."
"Yes I am sure but you conned them and I am not sure whether to believe you and your so called reverence to William or wonder if this is more to yourself and to secure your family. No other Master Secretary has risen so high, the last one died in misery after his son refused to keep him."
Cecil did not need to be told whom Eustace meant, he merely grinned like a school-boy at the flower of his youth, pretending ignorance.
"That is the oldest excuse in the world. Envy, I thought you would be a greater man than to succumb to such pitiable behavior. One would think that you are not only envious of me. Ambitious has clouded your vision my friend, made it too narrow. I do what is needed."
Eustace laughed. "Just how long are we going to keep up this farce Lord Burghley? Someone is going to find out the King is the real mastermind behind all your secret plots to control him and you and your empire will crumble."
"Not quite my dear Lord Protector." Burghley said with his finger up in reminder to something important and so vital that Eustace, it seemed a wonder to William, he had forgotten. "There is something missing in your equation. The King depends on the good people to help him rule, but ultimately the decision lies in his word alone. His father was a very capable man but very slow, your grandson on the other hand is extremely intelligent, capable and not too slow. He knows what is needed to keep his kingdom, the love of his people to his person –but above all his power- safe but he does not have the stomach for it. That is where we come in My Lord. Kings are above all sacred; they are symbols and symbols need to clean, to be pure. Would you not say?"
The man was very self-absorbed but seemed normal and Eustace did not know what was worse? Be stuck in the middle of a dark hallway with the enemy you despise more than anything in the world, or, given a lecture by an upstart youngster who was anything but, but had the vitality that Eustace wished he had in his old days as Ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire?
He did not know the answer and was less likely to have one.
Cecil continued. "Officially I do not care what goes in your heart but if you need to know I care for your grandson more than you think and what I do is in his best interest, but above all his realm which is my first priority."
"And you call yourself man of God." Eusace said snorting.
"If you really want me to be blunt I will." He turned serious. "I love this kingdom and I will keep it safe from all enemies, foreign and domestic and if that includes keeping your son safe from his relatives then so be it. I know you are fond of your granddaughter and nothing would warm my heart than to see the twins together, such a sweet picture it would be –but useless."
"We need the alliance is that it? You have never been fond of the Eastern Orthodoxy and we know it, why suggest this to William? Why?" Eustace needed to know.
William pursed his lips as if in deep thought looking for the right answer, then it suddenly came to him. "The Princess is a liability. You did not do enough locking her grandmother up in her old state, Hundson. You should have put her in the Tower of London where others of her ancestors through her father's maternal side have stood, rot, or executed. It would have been the more logical course, perhaps not the most natural but logical."
I would not kill her. He would not have gone that far, in spite of all he still had some affection for the mother of his child and they had done enough damage to each other. He just wanted it to be over.
"The Dowager Duchess, Lady Mary, was placed under house arrest. She engineered the plot but she did not intend to do anyone any harm. The Lady Mary's only crime was stupidity."
Cecil gave a chilling laugh. "You can't believe that. The Lady Mary is as guilty as the others and the more time we demure in this talk, we waste valuable time issuing a warrant for her arrest."
"The Duchess Dowager has suffered enough."
"Contrary. She will suffer more once she hears of her grandson's defeat. I do intend to keep your grandson safe on this realm and his Lutheran-Calvinist wife is the key as well as your granddaughter's marriage." He took a step forward and hissed in his ear, "You of all men have talked of the sacrifices we must all make for the realm."
"So the Princess is to be another one of your sacrifices then?"
"You had no qualms about sacrificing Lady Mary's other daughters to higher bidders, what makes one child so different from the other? Is it the affection you have for her or is it your blood ties? " He asked. The man had grown soft. It disappointed Cecil, he expected more fight from the former Ambassador.
"I do not owe you an explanation. If you and my grandson want to play god then you are most welcome but remember that this will lay on your conscience, selling an innocent girl to a man who is likely to turn a tyrant like his father."
William's lips curled into a smile and said with a cynical tone. "In that you are wrong. All monarchs are tyrants. Some just happen to be luckier and more adored like your grandson."
Eustace squeezed his canes tighter.
Cecil gave a tight lipped smile. "Have a good night My Lord" and he left the obscure man. Fleming Aby his side helping him walk on his way home.
February 28th
The baby boy Beth expected took its toll on his mother. She hated being this sick and confined in this hot weather and then her husband had decided to go abroad in wars that did not concern him.
"That is your soldiers' affairs not yours" She told him but William did not listen. "It is my duty" He said "To serve my country and people need to see a dedicated King"
That was all very nice and sweet however William was a King and Kings were of no use when they were dead. She had told him so but he was always working and heckling his advisers to death. She wondered how was it the English were so blind that they did not realize that their King was the main architect of all the taxes, and rebellions that had only served to boost
Were they really that ignorant, or just self-blinded, by delusions of grandeur that they were Providence's chosen?
"It is not good for the child to fidget like that." Lettice said. Beth glared at her, Lettice looked away.
"I was just saying." She said.
It was pointless to remind her of adding Your Majesty at the beginning of every sentence. The girl had no sense of authority and could hardly distinguish between ranks. It was a miracle she had stayed married to an Earl for so long.
She gave the girl a sheepish grin and turned to her grand-Aunt-in-law. "How longer?" She asked.
"Four months." Bess said bluntly. "Then you can look after your son while we prepare to invest him once the physician confirms his health, to the principality of Wales, and Dukedom of Cornwall."
"So soon?" Beth asked nervously. "I thought you would wait until the King comes here."
"He may not come." Bess said bluntly again. There was no point lying to the young Queen, she was not a woman who would swallow lies so easily and there was a dark nature to her that appealed to William which demanded the truth from all her subjects, no matter how terrible and regrettable it would be for her or them. Her voice was however was low as her ladies-in-waiting stopped their music, dancing, and sowing when they heard.
"William is fighting a war and he needs to be seen as a King who is not absent not like his grand-uncle, Charles V and our Tudor forebears." She pat the girl's back. "You worry about the child"
It was all that mattered now. If William died the future of England would rest in her belly and if she succeeded like Annie in delivering a male heir, they would all be safe again, Bess thought.
She reassured Beth things were going to be fine. "You did not meet my grandson when he was a little boy. He would think twice before all the noblemen's children tried to trick him into a dare. He was very smart for his age but he never backed away from a fight and he never lost one."
"Do you think he has a chance of winning then?"
There was a lot Beth could learn from her husband's Grand-Aunt. Elizabeth looked her straight in the eye and smiled. "He has courage alright but he has a strong charisma which even my father lacked. Yes. I do think he will win this war and he will return to you and your child but … in the event things do not turn out as you expect" she sighed sitting down, pushing her chair closer to the Queen and putting her other hand on her free shoulder. "you must be prepared."
"I will play my part well My Lady"
"I know you will. William made a wise choice picking you. The game we are playing is very dangerous and you will need able men to help you. A woman cannot protect herself against the tyranny of men unless she has men than can surpass that tyranny."
March 1st.
English occupied Calais:
William intended to be the end of his cousin, one way or another. The troops of Northern France were fast approaching on Calais, the last English stronghold on French territory. William would not be the King who lost it.
"Fire!" The Captain of the archers yelled and a million arrows blazed with fire flew into the air at their enemies.
Screams resonated in the air, William covered his nose as he passed through the soldiers rank. They had to see their King otherwise they would not have courage to draw from. William pretended to be a symbol for his people. And symbols needed to be seen.
What kind of King would I be? –He thought as he recalled his wife's argument- If I do not do my part for my realm?
The fields were drenched in the blood of thousands. Today they had won a major battle but had it been all worth it? William looked at the huge pile of men, fathers, grandfathers, men so young their lips were still pink and their faces were still innocent despite the twisted expression on their open eyes as they looked lifelessly at him. It was almost as if it was intentional. A reminder of what he had done.
He ordered the bodies burned with no chance of burial but a minor blessing from one of the Lutheran priests that his wife had insisted he bring as a "good luck" token.
He accepted of course, with the condition, he would not be getting any ideas and try to convert his compatriots.
"The men think this is blasphemy already." Robert Dudley, recently elevated to Earl of Leicester, voiced his opinion to the King.
"Most of these men are of my stepfather's retinue and they can say whatever they want but it is their hands that will to be washed as they are the ones that pick the bodies and have to deal with heretics."
Robert let out a good-natured, long-lasting, laugh. "Your Majesty knows how to push these Spaniards buttons." He said.
William nodded. He was reluctant to say that if it was not for his stepfather's men they could have very well lost the offensive against the French armies. His wife's family's forces were of no good and spent more money transporting weapons than they did men and men is what he desperately needed. He thought of instituting a forceful draft but after the last rebellion in Kent by unpaid veterans, he thought it better.
"It is amazing how much they hate us" William said eying the Spaniards and Italians his stepfather brought from Milan and Naples, glare at them without caring it was the King they were glaring at. "Their monarch employed Lutherans from the Netherlands he's been fighting for years just to win this war and he even allowed for their personal chaplains. I do not understand these people."
"At least they are not their merchant neighbors from the East, I hear they are worst and hate being told what to do."
"Pity because the Portuguese would be much more preferable than these people." Oh God, he thought desperately, do not leave me alone with this people than I have to.
The Spaniards continued to carry the French bodies and stack them into a huge pile where they lighted up. Afterwards they proceeded to their tents with their physicians, some with their priests that were more experts in prayer and superstition and could not help them get the infection spreading on their bodies from the corpses they just handled.
Thousands of their enemies had fallen to the sword and others to disease, their armies had barely suffered any casualties for which he and the English were grateful and gave huge thanks to God, letting the Queen's personal chaplain direct their prayer session.
The Spaniards felt stronger discord. Overall a hundred and thirty three had died that day just by that. William felt no remorse. It was God's will, William said and in an age where cause and effect could be explain by the Almighty's will they had no reason but to accept William's simple explanation.
William coughed. His physicians looked at him in alarm, Dudley was there with him hitting his back hoping to get the sickness out of him. It was just one of few methods they used besides giving him a sleeping draught which he refused.
"I feel alright, it is just the stench. This is my first battle gentlemen but it surely will not be my last." He said.
"Your Majesty you should stay away from the bonfires and rest-"
"No, no, I have had enough rest, I wish to be present at my men's celebrations." The physicians moved away and let him pass. He moved with Dudley to join the men. Common, noble, high and low were one and they were ecstatic when their King joined them.
"Gentlemen a toast to our victory but I assure you this is not the end, it is only the beginning and we will win. Providence has already ruled in our favor."
"To the King" One soldier shouted. Others followed him and shouted more merry hymns at William. "To the King!"
"The King!"
"God Bless the King!"
"God Bless England!"
Soon the Spaniards who had been reluctant to join them, gathered around in a circle and shouted with the same fervor. "God Bless the King!"
The wind carried their voices to the southern camp near Bologne where the French soldiers could see the smoke coming from the bonfires and heard the voices of the King and his men causing them to tremble.
Hell was coming, was on their minds. The red dragon of Wales had awoken from slumber and it was coming to raid, pillage, lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground.