The Serpent Queen

38. Diane

25th of February 1536, Chateau de Blois

A week passed. The wedding festivities were over and there was no longer any reason for the royal family to stay in Paris, especially after all the bad things they'd been through. The court had left Paris for Blois where they would stay for the next few months.

Madeleine and her husband had also moved into the Chateau de Blois, instead of returning to Scotland, the king had decided to spend the first few months of his marriage in France.

Henry Tudor and Anne Boleyn had returned to England and there Bishop Cranmer had been executed for his crime against the English and French queen.

Henry Tudor had not valued the man, the man had been disgraced in front of all London before he was killed.

Before leaving, Henri and Catherine had brought their son together to the Saint Denis basilica and had him buried there next to his two older sisters.

Catherine had then retired to her quarters. She didn't need the looks of pity the court gave her. She wanted to be alone and only mourn her son who never saw the light of day.

She had even distanced herself from Henri. She didn't want Henri to share her grief, he had to be happy, he had to be happy for them both .

When Catherine was not in her chambers, she sat in the chapel where she prayed for her son and for her loved ones.

She was afraid of losing more loved ones. She was sure she couldn't handle any more grief.

Henri also grieved for his son, and also for his wife, whom he saw overcome with grief.

He visited her every day, if only for a few minutes, to see how she was doing and to see if she finally let him in to comfort her.

Henri also visited her today. When he entered the audience room he saw that it was empty, which was strange considering that Catherine had five ladies-in-waiting.

Henri continued to the bedroom where Catherine and Laura sat in silence. Henri looked at Catherine, who was kneeling in her dark green dress on her prie-dieu, with Laura beside her, and slowly backed out of the room. He didn't want to disturb her.

It hurt him to see her so sad, but every time he tried to comfort her, she seemed to push him away.

He feared that Catherine was accusing him of everything that had happened, and that she distanced herself from him because of it.

Henri walked to the ground floor where he walked towards the large garden doors. At this time of day, in the middle of winter, the yard was virtually empty except for a few sentries standing guard.

He went to the back of the small garden and looked out over the city. The chateau of Blois was located on a hill overlooking the city and the river Loire.

The cold wind made Henri shiver, who had gone out without a cloak. And he cursed to himself for not bringing a cloak to keep himself warm.

He leaned forward against the stone railing. And let the cold wind blow over him.

"Your Highness." He heard a familiar voice behind him. Henri turned to Diane de Poitiers. She had wrapped herself in a cloak of red velvet and tied it tightly around her.

Diane curtsied and held something forward in her hand. In her hand was a bundle of brown fur.

"I saw from the window that you had gone out without a cloak and feared that you would be cold." she explained as Henri put on the cloak.

Henry smiled gratefully. "That's thoughtful of you, thank you."

"It has always been my duty to protect you." Diane sat down on one of the stone benches. She motioned for Henri to sit next to her.

"You promised my mother, didn't you?" Henri asked as he took a seat

"Yes indeed. Your mother was so sad when you and your brother were sent to Spain. It is a shame that your mother did not get to see your safe return and see that you are now married and well."

Henry shrugged. "Perhaps it's better that she's dead, then she couldn't see how Catherine and I are almost dying of grief."

"Your mother would be glad that you and your wife could comfort each other on the loss of your child. After all, she had your father comforting her at the loss of your older sister Margaret." Diane said.

She remembered well how sad her mistress had been when her eldest daughter died at the age of three. She had been pregnant by Henri at the time and everyone had feared that she would have a miscarriage out of grief.

Fortunately, that was not the case and Henri was born healthy and well six months later.

Henry sighed. "I try to comfort my wife with her grief but she keeps pushing me away. I grieve for my son as much as she does and we process it on our own, no one to comfort us. My father tells me not to be sad: he says we are going to have many more children and that this was just an accident."

Diana placed her soft hand on Henri's. "I can comfort you, my little prince. I am still here to take care of you, to protect you and to assist you." she said tenderly. She looked at that prince with her dark eyes.

Henry smiled briefly. "And I am grateful for that."

༺༻

Catherine, who had meanwhile finished praying, returned to her audience room. She sat down next to the fireplace with a book.

Laura sat quietly across from her. She knew that Catherine wanted to sit in silence, but she was still worried about her mistress.

Catherine had sent all her ladies-in-waiting away except Laura.

"Laura, could you get the locket I got from Alessandro?" Catherine asked after a while, looking up from her book.

Laura nodded and walked into the bedroom, returning after a few minutes with the necklace she gave to Catherine.

Catherine opened the locket, which she still hadn't filled. She closed her book and placed the locket on the cover.

It was only now that Laura had the chance to read the cover title: A Book on the Effects of Herbs.

"Don't you find it ironic that I, the person who always read books about poisons, was poisoned myself without realizing it?" She asked Laura.

"You hadn't read about it in a long time." Laura explained. "You were overflowing with happiness and didn't think to protect yourself just in case. After all, poison is not common for the French to use compared to us Italians."

"Alessandro gave me this locket to protect myself. He said I could put poison in it, and I didn't. I regret that." She looked at Laura with a look that Laura knew all too well. It was a determined look.

"It will never happen again that someone will hurt me, or someone I love. No one will ever be able to poison me. Because there is one person who knows poison better than anyone here and that is me!"