𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝕺𝖋 𝕰𝖓𝖌𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉 | 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘 𝖁𝖆𝖑𝖔𝖎𝖘

XVIII | 𝖀𝖓𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓

Royal Court Of France

"I must have a word with Princess Josette. This instance" The demanding voice of King Henry called from the doorway of my chambers as my maid brushed through my brunette locks "How can I be of your service, Your Majesty?" I smirked at the reflection of him that stood in the mirror "Word had gotten around that you plan on questioning the old envoy. Which, I highly suggest you do not" He spoke, walking closer to me "And why is that?" I questioned, waving for the maid to leave my chambers as I turned to Henry "Princess, do you remember that you are staying at my Court. And if you dare to make a bad name for my Court, I will not hesitate to give you the necessary consequence" "Whether this is your Court or not, Simon is my subject, and I am allowed to do whatever I please when it comes to my subjects" I squinted, angled at the man standing before me "I will not beg you or get down on my knees, but highly suggest that you do not-" "I already did" I smirked. Yes, earlier this morning, right after the incident in Mary's chambers, I stalked off straight for the envoy. The dreadful man had an alibi for everything. Which I am genuinely not surprised about about "What?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, making me smirk more "I already questioned him" "And you didn't think to ask me?" He spoke, shifting on his legs "King Henry" I laughed throatily "Last time I checked, you have no authority over me. And again, Simon is my subject. If I want to question him I will, and I will most definitely not ask for your permission" King Henry stared at me flatly, knowing that he could do absolutely nothing. For once, the infamous King Henry of France was speechless "Well, I suppose there is nothing to do about this, now" He gritted his teeth together "But Princess, Mary would appreciate it if you respected my rules. After all, you're the one who wants to marry my son" "That is all true, but you know that you'd rather my country as an alliance over any other. So, don't even try to pretend that the only reason you helped me get here was for mine and Francis' happiness" I stood up confidently "Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do. Things that do not involve your company" I sassily spoke, gesturing for him to leave "The girl's got fire. I better warn my son" Henry spoke, before exiting the room. I rolled my eyes out of annoyance before making sure that all of the doors were locked and that no maids were still in my room. Yea, I had prior plans before that old stubborn King barged into chambers. I walked over to where I knew the passageway entrance was and opened the door before grabbing a small lit candlestick and a bag of marbles that sat on my bedside table "Clarissa?" I called out as I entered the dark passageway "We can play if you want" I knelt to the ground, setting down the candlestick and dropping the marbles into my hand and setting them on the ground, as well "I really need your hep. If you can hear me, come and find me" I stood up before beginning to walk towards my chambers until I heard one of the marbles rolling. I spun around to see that it had rolled all the way to where I now stood "Does this mean you will speak to me? I have a guessing game for you. I'm going to guess something, and if I guess right, you roll the marble back to me. If I guess wrong, you keep it, it's yours" I took a deep breath "I think you know who is trying to hurt Mary" I rolled the marble into the darkness, to see it roll right back to me moments later. I smiled, before rolling it back "Who is it? Is it my mother? Or is it Queen Catherine? Mary suspected it; but I don't know. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'll ask one at a time" Two marbles rolled back "Is it my mother?" All I heard next was glass shatter "Clarissa? Clarissa? No! I-" I shouldn't have confused her. Now, I won't get the answers I heard glass crunch under my foot to see the previously broken marble. And next to it, a golden key sat on the cement. I picked up the mysterious key before standing up, dusting myself off, and making my way back to my chambers. I sat on the love seat in my room continuously staring at the key. What is this for? And why would Clarissa give it to me? I didn't want to believe it; but Mary thinking that this was all coming from Queen Catherine couldn't have just sprouted from nothing. There had to be a reason why Mary is speculating this. Before I could think, I stood up, the key still in my hand, and strut all the way to Queen Catherine's chambers. Something just kept telling me that I needed to see if this is really Catherine. Part of me hopes it it because then that makes my mother just a little bit less of a horrible person, but then against I hope it's not because Catherine and I used to have such a good relationship. I would hate for that to be ruined. I attempted to put the key in her chamber's door, but before I could, I was interrupted "Your Highness" A guard called and I spun around, hiding the key behind my back "Are you here to see Queen Catherine?" Oh, god "Well, I actually was, but it's really not important now. I will just come back later" I smiled before beginning to walk in the opposite direction of the guard and hid behind the wall. Once he was out of sight, I quietly made my way back to Catherine door's, making sure that the coast was clear. With the hallway now empty, I tried the key in the keyhole, and to my relief, it did not work. I took a deep breath before making my way to the next room. Simon's. If the key isn't Queen Catherine's than it has to be his. Who's else's key would Clarissa plant in the passageway anyway. I successfully unlocked the doors to his chambers coming face to face with a topless Simon and a bare woman, the only thing covering her being silk bed sheets. And to my surprise, that woman looked oddly familiar. Oh! She was the woman who was in Mary's chambers, wearing Mary's gown when I walked in "It's you" I hissed "Last time I checked, you were poisoned" I glared at the girl as she grabbed a robe and ran out of Simon's chambers "Her carriage back to Orleans was delayed" Simon spoke "My Hope was to keep her out of sight" "So you admit it" I spoke through gritted teeth "That you staged her poisoning to terrorize Mary? And don't forget that the stupid wench performed the poisoning in front of me instead of Mary. Or was that on purpose?" "Princess, yes, there was a bit of a mix up. It was supposed to happen in front of the Queen of Scots, and when I found out that it happened in front of you I was not pleased with her" "You sure looked pleased with her to me when she was naked in your bed moments ago" I hissed, crossing my arms and stepping closer to the man "Oh, and I just wanted to make sure that you realize that I could have your head for this. I may be on tough terms with my mother right now, but if she heard that you stupidly set it down a plot of hers that ended up terrorizing her dear, sweet Josette, oh, let's just say I would not want to be in your position" I smiled ever so sweetly "Your Highness, I do understand. I made a mistake, but I am just here doing what your mother is ordering me too" He spoke, defending himself "Give me a reason" I spoke sharply "A reason for what?" He spoke rather confused "For why my mother is choosing to terrorize Mary" "I guess you haven't heard" Simon held his head in distress before looking up at me "Heard what?" I questioned and he stayed silent "Simon, I order you to tell me what you are talking about!" I rose my voice "As you know, you're mother wants to secure the Tudor name" He spoke slowly and I nodded "Yes, go on" "We'll, she is trying to secure it now more than ever" He took a deep breath "You're mother is very, very ill" I would lie if I said I didn't feel a slight bit of pain in my heart at that statement "And the heir to the throne is you, but so is Mary, Queen of Scots" "I know that, if anything, wouldn't my Aunt Elizabeth have more pull for the crown than Mary?" "You Aunt is illegitimate and there is no assurance that she would be accepted by the country as the rightful heir" He spoke "You're mother has her different reasons that may not make sense to some of us, but that does not mean I can't not follow her orders. She wants the Queen of Scots completely out of the running. Alive or dead, your mother does not want to see Mary take our nation" "I understand that, but what makes her think that Mary is after my crown?" I struck "All Mary wants is for England to leave Scotland alone. All she wants is a little peace for her poor country" I spoke. This is all Mary ever talks about "You do realize if England stopped torturing her and her country that she would be able to safety go home and rule there whether she is wed or not and he absolutely no threat to England. At this point, she'd do anything to have some peace" "Again, Your Highness, I do not question the Queen. I simply take her orders" I huffed "That's all I expect you to do" I stood silently for a moment "Is there anything else you would like to share with me? Because if I find out that there is something that you were hiding, I will have your head" Perk of being his future Queen. He has no choice but to confess to anything and everything "Well, Princess, if you must know, Catherine De Medici may or may not have had a piece in this plot"
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"Catherine De Medici!" I yelled angrily as I charged into the Queen's chambers after viciously banging on her door that she so kindly opened "Dear, must you be so inelegant?" She spoke, looking at me as I paced back and forth in the room "Catherine, did you or did you not team up with that stupid envoy to try and get Mary out of the castle?" I hissed as I stopped pacing and turned towards her "Josette, I-" She looked shaken "Answer me truthfully. For I have spoken to the envoy and he has told me everything. I am disappointed. Even before I found out what my mother did to secure the Tudor name, I looked to you as some sort of mother figure, Catherine. And to find out that you have stooped down to my mother's level just as much makes my skin crawl"  I spoke, my voice shaken, as tears threatened to spill over my eyes. I pushed them back, not letting weakness overtake me "Josette, I truly don't know what to say" Catherine looked at me with a hurt expression "Well, I do. Stop terrorizing Mary" I hissed and shook my head "Why did you do it anyway? It's not like she's threatening anything that you built up" Catherine looked down in guilt "To be truthfully honest I did it for you" The Medici woman then looked up to meet my gaze "How?" I cocked my head sideways "Well, for you and Francis. I saw the love that the two of you have for each other. And I just wanted to make sure that you both get it indefinitely. Love like you're doesn't come cheap" As much as I would normally smile and thank and praise the person who would say these words, all I could do was laugh "You and my mother both" I laughed throatily "Both of you saying you were just trying to help. If in order to help me, my best friend has to get hurt, then I really don't want any help from anyone. It's not worth it" "Josette-" "No" I stopped her, shutting my eyes tightly to hold back any tears that were tempted to spill over my eyelids "I really don't want to hear it. If you really care about Francis and I, you will leave Mary alone" I flattened out my gown and composed myself before exiting Catherine De Medici's chambers.