Festina Lente

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Eleanor's Plight

12th of July 1534 - Palace of Alcázar of Seville

Holding her head high as she entered her brother's court, Eleanor of Austria could not deny the dread that filled her as she tried to ignore the whispers that surrounded her upon her disgraced return from France. 

It had been only a few years earlier that she had entered this very court to the news that she was to wed the King of France as part of a treaty that the man had been forced to agree to. 

Eleanor wished she could go back in time and warn herself to flee, to refuse her once beloved brother in hopes of sparing herself from the humiliation that she now suffered. 

Perhaps then she would have been able to see her daughter, it had been four years since she had last seen her Maria and she prayed every day for her health and happiness. 

Maria was a Princess of Portugal, she had lived at the Portuguese court of her half-brother King John since her mother had remarried and Eleanor had not been able to see her. 

Entering her brother's presence chamber, Eleanor felt her stomach turn as Charles came into view and she tried her best to unsee the look upon his face. 

Not even Isabella of Portugal's presence could ease her mind, her former step-daughter/sister-in-law could only offer Eleanor so much reassurance when Charles looked as angry as he did. 

"Your Imperial Majesties," Eleanor greeted sweeping down into an elegant curtsy before them both, her eyes lowered and she prayed that God could give her the strength to face her brother now. 

Rising back up, Eleanor spared a glance to Isabella who nodded her head towards her in greeting before she fully focused on Charles; her heart dropped a little at the cold look on his face. 

There was silence for a moment and even from her seat beside the fire, Isabella could not ignore the chill in the room; she had tried to calm Charles, to make him see that it was not Eleanor's fault that she was no longer the Queen of France. 

The peace was never going to last and Isabella had known that the moment their aunt had been declared mad that it was only a matter of time before Francis freed himself from the wife that had been forced upon him.

Now they were faced with such a thing and Isabella knew that Charles saw it as a slap to the face, he had never dreamed that Pope Clement would turn on him so. 

It seemed like not too long ago everything was in their favour, they had expanded their empire and they had everything they could have wanted. 

Now all because of the lies of one woman everything seemed to falling a part around them, it had caused Charles many sleepless nights and he had done all he could to support her when it was possible. 

He would have no part in her plotting now, leave her to rot in the nunnery where King Henry had sent her and let that be the end of it; he had no desires to fight a war on all fronts. 

"First you disgrace our family by carrying out a secret love affair with Frederick II, Elector Palatine," Charles stated, he arms crossed and he remembered when he had discovered that love letter and how furious he had been. 

Eleanor was a Princess of Castile and of Aragon, she should have known better than to act as such while Frederick had served as a counsellor and general for him. 

"And now you lose your crown in France, the one I got for you," Charles stated with a shake of his head, all Eleanor had to do was keep the peace and ensure that the French King would never rise up against him. 

Now he had no idea what to expect and he feared an alliance between England and France, he had nothing to offer either country or they spouted such tales of a madness that came from his mother's family.