Boy King

// royal hunt //

PART 1

                  FRANCE, 1571

CHARLES

Tell me, does a King really need a Queen? In my case, no.

  "I thought I was not  getting married?" I ask through my gritted teeth, glaring at my mother menacingly. 
"Yes you're not supposed to but the engagement when you were a babe has been renewed, and you're getting married to Elisabeth of Austria," She returns coolly. 
Renewed? Is there such a thing?

   I cannot believe this. I thought I have settled and discussed the fact that I have no interest in taking a wife with my councils, secretary, and especially with my own mother. I know that I can take care of my own country without somebody else on the throne with me. 

    "Ugh," I grunt, annoyed. "No. I will not marry. Not anyone. I won't allow someone to cooperate on what—"
   "Then they'll see you as a weak ruler. Young, innocent and wife-less," She shakes her head, "You're only 17."

  My chest starts to boil in irritation. "Yes, Mother, and I am the King of France. I will do and choose whatever what's best for me and my nation," I defend stubbornly. 

  Mother purses her lips tightly  in impatience, "And  I am your mother. You and Elisabeth have been engaged since you were a babe!"—She points a finger at me— "We have tried Madeline to be with you but she wasn't powerful enough and it took us awhile to discover that she was a protestant and our - your  country is weak at this moment so—"

  "Enough!" 

  She jumps. I pause for a moment, realizing that I had raised  my voice on my mother. I quickly look down at my shoes in shame, taking a deep breath to gather my calmness. 

  I take another breath. "Mother," I lower my voice. I reach out for her hand. She flinches at first but gives it to me.
  "We will discuss this later. Bash and I are going to a hunt right now, he must be waiting in the carriage. I will come back, " I give her a small smile at her and kiss her hand.

 "Charles, be careful," She says, reaching for my face. I nod curtly, letting go of her hand and exit  my study.
_____
I arrive at the courtyard to meet Bash, my half--brother. I planned to hunt with him this afternoon. Snow crunches loudly below my ankle-boots as I walk. I see him. The heavy weight on my chest suddenly lightens. He's tying one of the horses onto the carriage. I walk up to him and he catches my sight.

   "You have packed your hunting gear already?" He asks me, giving me a grin.  

   I nod, "Yeah. One of the man-servants carried it and put it behind our carriage." 

   He nods back, "Good. Okay, come on!"  We enter inside the carriage, the coach whips the horses and I can feel the carriage move as we leave my court. I lean back on my seat. Bash is on the opposite. "Hey Bash?"

     "Hm?" He mutters, looking out of the window

       "Why can't we just go in horseback?"

      "We are. We'll leave this carriage somewhere we can trace back, then we'll horseback to travel a little bit further."
      My mouth curves into a smile. I let out a chuckle, "I'm fond of hunting with you. It's better doing it physically than listening to my governess blab about hunting and such without trying it." I roll my eyes, recalling my former governess. He chuckles in response at my remark.

    I gingerly move to my left and, with my fingers, I lazily move the silk curtains to the side and look out of the window. My vision is almost blinded by the extreme paleness before me. Snow covers almost everything , yellow-leafed and evergreen trees. I inhale the scent and the cold air of the outside and exhale. My mind drifts off...