"Twins, I hear?"
The Mistress to the King of France jumps, an audible gasp leaving her lips as she lays in the royal bed, the midwives leaving her for a while to take dinner with the rest of court, as they drink to their joy of having two more children sired by who many believe to be the real Queen of France. She looks up in the dim candlelight, the oversized bed where she birthed all of her children covered in sheets and blankets and pillows, finally not a horrid, bloody scene. Two babies rest in one arm each, their eyes closed, and she feels nerves she hasn't ever felt before while looking at the younger woman. After all this time, Mary has always felt so confident and secure when looking at Lola, because after all, she was the mother of the Kings' children, she was the woman the King loved, and if their plans went the way they hoped, she would be his wife on the one thing Lola was. But now? Laying in their shared bed absolutely exhausted by a brutal, almost three day labour, in which she lost far more blood than ever before, only to end up with two sons at the end of it, she felt unnerved at the sight of this woman. Mary couldn't defend herself, what would this woman do?
"Yes." Mary whispers. "Two sons." She straightens up in alertness, holding her sleeping sons a little tighter in response to Lola coming closer.
"Names?"
"Nikolai. And Alexei."
"Russian." she nods, her brows high upon her head. "Why is that?"
"The King is in talks with Russia, alliance with his eldest two girls marrying our sons."
"And why ever would the Tsar agree to wed two of the most powerful girls in the world to two bastards sired by my husband and his whore?" Lola chuckles. "Could it be that he'd get more out of it than you're saying?"
Mary chuckles in response, mindful of the blade underneath her pillow. Should this woman get too close, they won't need the Tsar's help in persuading the Vatican for annulment. She'll do the damn job herself if this woman dared harm her sons.
"If you want the truth, your husband is planning annulment." Mary responds in kind, enjoying the way Lola freezes mid step. "That's right, it's not just rumour. My brother and he have been working on it for months, and in truth, far longer than you've been around. They fought to end the betrothal, but he had no choice when the nobles decided your youth would be beneficial, even though there's only a year and a half between us. And now, they're joining with the Western world to sweep away the marriage entirely. Our sons are promised in marriage to England and Spain, and these ones are promised to Russia in under the table deals, waiting only on the green light from the Pope. Isn't that what you wanted to hear, the truth, Lady Lola?"
"I am a Queen!"
"No, you're not. You're the King's paper wife, I am the Queen in all but name. The people love me, the nobles are behind me, I have a dowry ten times your size, I have the King's heart and four healthy sons behind me. For the love of God, I have the Serpent Medici Queen on side, what do you have? An old, withered father under the control of my brother, who will soon welcome you back home to the news you haven't managed to take the King from me and haven't managed even a girl into your womb. Lady Lola, do not fight a sinking ship, hmm? Take your loss with grace, and leave while you still can."