18th of February 1535 - Bar-le-Duc
Standing on the steps of her home, Renée of Bourbon could not help but frown as her eyes focused on the approaching carriage that held the charge that her husband had sent from the front line to her care.
The Duchess of Lorraine knew it was a great honour that King Francis was entrusting their family with such a task, the niece of the Emperor had no place in a war camp and she had been sent here for that reason.
As a hostage taken during the Battle of Milan, Christina of Denmark was an important hostage and could not be allowed to slip through their fingers.
Every care had been taken to ensure the alliance remained undetected but they all knew that the fall of Milan to the alliance would reach the Emperor sooner or later.
Squaring her shoulders, Renée of Bourbon tried to ease her thoughts and prepare herself for what was to come; from what she had been told in her husband's letter, Christina was a handful.
There were several guards in the company of the carriage and from what Renée had been told, she had attempted to escape from the guards including attacking several of them.
Once the carriage had pulled to a stop, guards moving forward to open the carriage doors before allowing Christina of Denmark to step out and down the steps onto the carriage driveway.
Her long black dress seeming far too big for her and the dark colouring making her look paler than was necessary; she was clearly dressed in mourning for her late husband.
"Welcome to Bar-le-Duc, Your Grace," Renée of Bourbon greeted stepping forward, her eyes tracing over the young girl that looked nothing more than a child compared to what she had expected.
There was no way that she was with child, the Duke of Milan would have been a fool to try and get a child from a young bride; there were too many stories of it ending badly.
Alas it was her King's order that Christina was to be watched carefully for any sign that she might be with child, a child that would have a claim to the throne of Milan that might be a contender for the French hold.
"I am Renée of Bourbon, the Duchess of Lorraine," she continued ignoring the disgusted look on Christina's face that appeared when she learnt that she was from the house of Bourbon.
It would not do her any good to start trouble especially when the girl was clearly ready to hold a grudge especially after all that she had been through.
"And this is my son, Francis," Renée stated moving to look at her eldest boy, he was her pride and joy; she had been blessed with him nearly a year into her marriage and had never looked back.
In the twenty years that she had been married, she had been blessed with three healthy children; Francis, Anna and Nicolas had all survived their infancy.
Her youngest three had all been taken from her too soon, Jean, Antoine and Elisabeth had not made it past the age of six years old.
"Welcome to our home," Francis greeted with a slight bow, a kind smile that made Christina's stomach twist a little and she could not take her eyes away from him.
Francis straightened back up and glanced at Christina, taking in her wary appearance and had no doubts that the trip had been an exhausting one.
"We have a room all set up for you, I have assigned some of my ladies to serve you and I am sure you would like to clean up before dinner," Renée stated breaking the silence.
She did not miss the look that Christina gave her son and she would not allow the girl to get any ideas, she had been given instructions by her husband in how to deal with Christina.
The last thing that they needed to deal with was her making an escape attempt or informing someone from the Habsburg line where she was being held.
Christina did not reply, she would not waste her breath on the French not when they were the ones in the wrong here; she had been content with her life in Milan and they had taken that from her.
With her husband dead she would have ruled Milan in her own right, instead it now belonged to the French King and she had been hidden away so that no one would be able to come and rescue her.
***
18th of February 1535 - Location, Unknown
Riding upon his war horse, Charles V Holy Roman Emperor could not quite wrap his head around how the last few years and how it had come to this.
When he had first come to his grandfather's throne, he had so many hopes and dreams for his reign and how he would bring about peace to Europe.
It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment that things started to spiral out of his control, a part of him did wonder how his reign would have gone if he had not sided with his aunt.
He cursed Katherine to the high-heavens for the trouble that she had brought him, when he had travelled to England in 1521 to meet with her and King Henry, he had never imagined that aiding her would lead to his humiliation.
By making her and making sure that her marriage to King Henry could not be dissolved it had led to the problems that now plagued him and threatened his rule.
Never did he imagine when he had denied King Henry the annulment that he had so desired, he would cause the man that he had seen as his uncle to side with his greatest enemy.
King Francis was a pest at the best of times and now he was partnered with King Henry, they had stormed Milan and taken it from his control; he did not wish to consider what else they had planned against him.
The whole alliance was a great concern for him, he feared that they might use it to launch an attack against the territories that he ruled; he doubted they would be kind to any of his relatives if they disposed of him.
There had been no news on the niece that they had taken hostage when they had captured Milan, though he had no doubts she was being treated as he had treated King Francis and his sons.
His sister, Isabella's girl had been the key that he had needed in Italy and now that her husband was dead, Milan would have fallen under Habsburg control.
Clenching his jaw, Charles would not forget the slight against him nor would he forgive any of them for conspiring against him; he would not allow his dreams of uniting Europe under one banner, one family and one faith.
He wanted peace across Europe, one only he could bring in and he did not understand why others could not see it.
Charles was finishing the work that his grandfather and grandmother had started, the Great Catholic Monarchs that had united Spain and he intended to go even further.
He would bring peace and stability to his empire, he would make sure that the true faith would no longer be threatened by the heresy that was corrupting the other countries.
The Spanish Inquisition were doing their jobs in making sure that the heresy would not grow further in his domain and he was working on the German states but it was not easy.
Trying to push away the negative thoughts, Charles turned his thoughts to his pregnant wife and their children at home.
Felipe and Maria, were everything to him and he wished that Ferdinand had survived longer; he hated that they had lost their second son so soon after his birth.
Thankfully it seemed like God had sent him another, Isabella's pregnancy had been a blessing and Charles was eager for their newest arrival in the Habsburg line to arrive.
Then there was his daughter, Margaret, who he had betrothed to Alessandro de' Medici who had been the ruler of Florence for a few years now.
His recent elevation to Duke of Florence was due to Charles influence and his bastard daughter would be set up for life if all went well.
Of course, that had been before the attack on Milan and he could only guess that Florence would be their next move especially considering Henry would want to place his own Medici son-in-law on the Florentine throne.
Anger filled him, he had planned this perfectly and he wanted the vision that he'd had when he was crowned; he wanted peace for his people and to secure the true religion against the heresy that was growing.
A sudden shout snapped Charles from his thoughts, his horse jerking in response and he turned around to see what the commotion was about.
The shouting grew louder and Charles strained to see what was happening, tension grew and he could hear the whispers that surrounded him.
His heart pounding in his chest as the panicked whispers started to reach him, soldiers shuffled around him waiting for something to happen.
"Protect the Emperor," came a call from across the crowd, as men started to part like the red sea for Moses and soon all out panic broke out as the soldiers started to run in different directions trying to flee.
There was screaming and shouting, people pushing and shoving to get out of the way even to the point of clambering over each other to get away from whatever was fast approaching them.
Charles could not see what was happening but he could see one of his most trusted commanders racing towards him; a look of pure panic on his face as he fast approached him leaving soldiers that were around him to dive out of the way.
The shouting seemed to slowly be drowned out by the roar of something fast approaching, a roar that made the men around Charles panic and start to flee forgetting the order.
"Your Majesty, you must flee... we are outnumbered," Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo cried, his horse rearing up and he nearly fell from the saddle as he approached the emperor.
His eyes wide with panic and he looked pale, never had the Duke of Alba imagined that this was what would happen when they had left Spain to march against the unholy alliance between the French, English and Scottish.
"They dare come against us now!" Charles roared furious at the nerve of those who would seek to stop him correcting the wrong committed against him.
His hand reaching for his blade and he refused to flee from the French, he would show them what it was to lose everything that they cared about.
One by one, their countries would fall to him and he would make them watch as he brought about a peace that they could have only dreamt of.
"Nay your Majesty, it is far worse," Fernando told him, he did not think that the Emperor would believe him but he had seen the royal standards for himself that led the army.
If they thought that taking on France, England and Scotland was going to be easy then they were going to have their hands full with what had just landed on their doorstep.
Charles stared at his commander before turning in the direction of the army that was now routing his own, he could only watch and stare at the three standards that faced him knowing that this was not what he had planned for.
***
Sitting upon his horse up on a hill watching the carnage below, King Christian III of Denmark could not hide the smile that formed on his face as he watched the Emperor flee from the battle before him.
If Charles had thought he could steal his throne, then he had another thing coming, he had spies watching his cousin for this very reason and he would not allow anyone to displace him as had happened to the other Christian.
"Who would have thought he'd flee like a coward," King Gustav I of Sweden murmured, he was sure many would like to hear how the Emperor had fled with his tail between his legs.
He would have to gift his wife something extra nice when he returned home, it was because of her that he was here now watching such a seen.
His brother by marriage could only laugh and nod, when they had decided to act when they had heard about the alliance against the Emperor, they could not have imagined something so sweet.
On the third horse beside the two men, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse sat watching the scene and knowing that this was just the beginning.
For far too long, they had lived in fear of what the Emperor might do and how he would try to take control of their lands.
The fact that he had decided to attempt to reinstate his former brother-in-law to the throne of Denmark, it was that which had given them the perfect opportunity to strike against him.
"My messenger shall arrive in Milan in a few days and then the fun can really begin," Philip murmured, no longer would they fear a man that had slowly taken control of much of Europe.
They had feared him for long enough and Philip knew it would not be long before Charles would have turned his attentions to conquering their lands in his attempt to control everything.
The Habsburg empire needed to be stopped and this was how they would do it, they would join with the French, English, and Scottish alliance to put an end to the expansion that Charles had planned.
The three men watched the fighting below, this was their first strike against the Emperor and it would not be the last; the time of the Habsburg empire was coming to an end.