The Serpent Queen

31. The Wedding Night

16th of January, 1536, Paris

Madeleine looked at herself in the full-length mirror of her room. She was dressed in a satin nightgown lined with lace. Over it she wore a heavy fur robe that would keep her warm on the way from her chambers to her husband's.

Queen Eleanor ran a brush through her dark locks, then placed it over her shoulders.

Catherine watched Madeleine from the chair. "My virgin sister, do not be afraid of what is about to befall you. You will feel a pain for a short while that would soon be replaced by passion, joy and happiness."

"That may be so, I wouldn't care much, I just want to get pregnant right away so I can put all this behind me," Madeleine said emotionlessly. She dripped a few drops of perfume oil on her neck and dabbed it off.  "I'm ready, we shouldn't let them wait any longer."

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"Accept this blessing." said the archbishop as he sprinkled the holy water over the bridal couple, who were already covered with a blanket on the bed. Madeleine pulled the blanket up to her hips a little higher.

Catherine and the Queen had placed dried flowers and herbs on the bed, which were said to promote fertility.

Madeleine made the sign of the cross as did James and murmured a soft Amen.  She looked up to her father, stepmother, older brothers, and sister-in-law, then to the Duke of Albany, her husband's cousin and his heir.

The archbishop turned to the king and nodded. "We will leave the bride and groom alone." announced the king. He looked annoyed at his two sons who had been standing in the back of the room all the time, loud and drunk.

Catherine, seeing the king's gaze, decided to take the reins into her own hands. She quickly walked over to Madeleine and kissed her cheek, then curtsied to the royal couple and walked over to the two princes.

"Francis,Henri, you are both drunk." said Catherine accusingly. "Sister dear, don't be such a fun-killer, drink with us." Francis said, clinging to Catherine's neck. Due to the height difference, he almost took Catherine down with him.

"Francis!" Catherine whispered loudly.  "Behave yourself, I'm with child, in case you forgot." She removed his arm from her neck and took his hand. She grabbed Henri with the other hand and pulled them into the hallway anyway.

"Dauphin, Duke and Duchess of Orleans."  was called from behind them. Henri turned to the Duke of Albany who stood behind them.

"Duke?" he asked questioningly, with a double tongue. Catherine had also turned around by now.

"I wanted to formally introduce myself to my niece, the lady Catherine di'Medici," he smiled at Catherine. "As you may know, I was married to your aunt Anne until just over a decade ago, may she rest in peace."

Catherine smiled at the Duke of Albany.  "It's nice of you to take the time to introduce yourself to me. I didn't get to know my poor aunt in my life, and neither you.  I am glad that I have been able to make your acquaintance, duke or shall I say uncle?"

She grasped the duke's hand briefly.  "We'll have to take the time to talk to each other someday, I have a lot of questions about my aunt and I'm sure you could answer them. Now, if you'll excuse me, uncle, my husband and I seek our rest, and so does the Dauphin."

She didn't wait for his answer and dragged the princes further along the corridor.

"Open the doors." she said to the guards guarding the Dauphin's doors. The guards obeyed and immediately opened the doors, curiously watching the little duchess dragging the two drunken princes with her.

"Make sure the Dauphin detoxes himself from the wine he's been drinking. He has a busy day tomorrow." she said sternly to his chamberlain as she pushed Francis into the room.

Without giving him another glance, she continued to her own bedrooms.

Her ladies-in-waiting, who were waiting for her in her room, immediately got up from the couch. "You may take your leave. Laura, wait here until I'm done." She said without looking at them, she dragged Henri into the bedroom and stripped him of his clothes and put on his nightgown.

She washed Henri's face with ice-cold water and then tucked them into the bed where she covered him tightly.

"You may come in now, Laura." She called through the door. She started loosening her hair and when Laura came in she started taking off her dress.

"You have exhausted yourself." Laura commented as she helped Catherine put on her nightgown.

Catherine sighed. "I couldn't help it, if Francis and Henri went on like this they would have put us all to shame. The king was already annoyed, if they made any more mistakes he would surely have punished them both."

Catherine sat behind her dressing table and brushed her hair. "For now, you have to be careful. You still have a few months to go before you give birth and it is very important that you don't tire yourself out."  Laura warned her.

Catherine nodded. "You also need to rest.  Tomorrow we have the tournament and the party in the evening, I also have the visit to Anne Boleyn."

Catherine got into the bed and watched as Laura covered her and then left the room where a maid came in and slid a mattress from under the bed and lay on it.