Rebirth

Chapter 9

Months past. Nothing changed.

"You have cheated on me, lied to me, why would you ever think i would take you as my husband, after that?!" she cried, walking away from him. He grabbed her forearm tightly, spinning her around. This was such a familiar dance, fighting and hatred. Although the engagement had started out promising, it had quickly gone into the mud when Henry had been unfaithful. It had gone like this for months, and barely anything had changed. The marriage couldn't be backed out of now, nothing could. 

"You cannot walk away from this marriage, Mary! You are giving up far more than England if you do. Removing the promise of empire, removing the only chance of an heir, stability, removing your catholic allies of the hope that you can do the one duty that is expected of you as a woman! You cannot walk away just to punish me!"

"Punish you? Punish you?!" she screamed. "This is going to be the worst mistake of my life, i know that well enough. I have no choice but to marry you, but it will an eternal amount of punishment for me, not you. I will marry you to give my people hope. The promise of England, stability of an heir, but nothing more. You will be my husband in name only, humiliating me at every turn as you drink and cheat. So, we will never be happy, shame on me for thinking we could! We're going to be plagued my misery, and it will be all because of your actions. I will never forgive you," she glared, starting to turn and walk away, before he caught her forearm, rougher this time. 

"Darnley, let go of me," she demanded, only for his fingers to get tighter.

She gasped as he flung her to the floor. Her head smacked against the stone, she cringed, curling up. Mary opened her mouth to scream, but he held it shut, throwing himself on top of her. The Queen cringed, smelling the familiar scent of ale and beer on his skin and breath. Sinking her fingers into Henry's wrists, she tried to pry his hand from her face, but it proved fruitless. Mary was forced on her back, thrashing and screaming, her fiancee on top of her, his weight over the top of her until she was silent. Her eyes were dead, his hands pressing down on her wrists, her body limply jerking back and forth and the assault went on again and again and again.

It had happened again.

She weds him. She has no choice, really. Surprisingly, his mother is in attendance, both knowing he is the wrong man to wed, but knowing he is the only man to wed. She helps her in every possible way.

Her country thrives. A fiery and tolerant Queen who's lands' riches grow every single day, more and more border towns of England and Scotland pledging loyalty to her every time she checked. Rizzio, Bothwell and James are fiercely loyal to her and help in every way they possibly can, Greer joining her and becoming a key part of her life again. Her people thrived with the promise of an heir through the taking of a king, but only a select few knew they exact reason she had wed Darnley.

He had gotten her pregnant.

The marriage, surprisingly worked well. They didn't talk much, granted, Darnley indulging in gambling, drink and females, but all together, they worked well. Granted, the nuisance of Knox still loomed every single day, but Mary managed him well and more and more of her people pledged loyalty to her and not Elizabeth, nor Knox.

When the time was right, Mary was standing tall in red, her drunken husband sitting next to her, her court standing in silence. She kept her eyes on her most nusence-like subjects, talking loud and proud to her court.

"This is a glorious day for all of Scotland, God has smiled upon us all. I am blessed and honoured to announce that within me, I carry an heir." she smiled. The court roared in appreciation, yelling things like 'Long Live The King' 'Long Live the Queen' and 'God save her Majesty'.

"A child with a claim to both the Scottish and English thrones." Mary announced, before turning to her husband. "It would please them very much to hear from the father." she turned to the drunken mess of a man, smiling wide, her eyes anything but.

"The Queen and I are pleased to share this blessed news with you all and look forward to the arrival of our child," he grinned. 

Mary forced another smile, calmed at her temporary victory, but anxious at the look that was shared by Knox and Ruthven. They walked out to the hallway. Mary stared after them, giving the nod to three of Greer's ladies and they followed slowly.

She made her way to Rizzio, who grinned happily.

"That was a brilliant move." he smirked.

"Wasn't it?" she smiled. She turned to Darnley, who relished in Court's love. "My husband is not a complex man. He simply wishes to be loved, adored. I simply gave the man a chance to feed his ego." she smirked. David chuckled.

"What is it?" he asked, watching how her eyes narrowed at the doorway closest to them.

"Knox. Knox and Ruthven. They're planning something, I'm sure of it. It cannot be good, both are thorns in my side. Now, with my stepson in Scotland, I must make sure they're neutralised. I cannot have them threatening my countries safety, my stepsons, my sons safety."

"They won't Mary." Rizzio placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will protect you, Scotland and the boys."

"Thank you, David. I don't know what I'd do without you,"