October 21st, 1533
Marseille, France
Hours later, Catherine looked at herself in the large mirror of her dressing table. Camilla had just finished putting her long hair up.
They had spent hours dressing and haircutting Catherine to perfection. She was dressed in a ruby red dress decorated with gold thread. Around her neck she wore a gold chain with a cross on it. Pearl studs hung in her ears and pearls were tucked into her updo for decoration.
Camilla standing right behind Catherine looked at her admiringly. "You look beautiful my Lady." She complimented her mistress.
"And so do you." Catherine said with a smile. Camilla herself was dressed in an emerald green dress. Her hair was put up in a half updo, leaving her straight red hair falling down her back.
Camilla looked beautiful and Catherine was assured that many eyes would be on her tonight. At the age of sixteen, she would be a sought-after marriage partner.
"Thank you, Your Grace."
"Please Camilla, how many times do I have to tell you. I see you as a friend, one of my confidantes. I hope you will see me in this way too: as a friend. Friends don't call each other by titles but by their first names; so Catherine it shall be or else I will send you back to Italy." She grinned.
Camilla grinned too. "Very well then..Catherine."
Laura walked into the room and looked across the room. The maids were busy cleaning up the mess they'd created while preparing Catherine.
"Laura, should we go?" Catherine asked who saw Laura standing at the doorway from her mirror.
"His holiness calls you to himself." Laura announced. Catherine sighed but got up from her chair and went to her uncle's rooms, followed by Laura and Catherine, who was a little further down the hall.
"Uncle, you summoned me?" she said as she walked into the room. Her uncle was sitting on a large chair next to the fire, one of his grooms putting on his velvet slippers on his feet.
The Holy Father looked up at Catherine and narrowed his eyes briefly. "Come closer, let me see you well." He said. Catherine stepped forward and turned on her ashes to give that holy father a good look at her attire.
"The Marquise of Mantua has done her job well; your wardrobe is made with utmost perfection." he said with satisfaction. "I'm grateful to her grace for it too, uncle." said Catherine with slight suspicion. The holy father wouldn't call her just to compliment her on her dress, he wanted something from her.
"The king and the prince will certainly compliment you on it." The Holy Father continued.
Catherine sighed. "Uncle, you want to tell me something I assume?"
Clement chuckled at his cousin's impatience. "Your marriage to the Prince will bind you to the House of Valois and thereby the Royal Family of France and France itself. You will be the Duchess of Angouleme next to the Princess of France and your children will one day take that title... "
"'Yes, what about it, uncle?"
"You will have to be loyal to your new home: the house of Valois, and your husband and children. At least that is the intention, in reality you will be loyal to the Medicis, you will be my eyes and ears at the French court. I want to know everything that is said by the king, all the decisions he makes and the alliances he secretly tries to form. We must protect ourselves from everything and everyone, Caterina, Festina lente, always and forever."
Festina Lente: Hurry slowly, their family motto.
What the holy father asked of her was high treason, how could he voluntarily endanger his own niece for his own cause?
"Of course. You need not doubt my loyalty to our house." Catherine said softly.
The holy father nodded in satisfaction. "All right, then we'll make our entrance together into the great hall." he said as he stood up. He turned to his chamberlain. "Fetch the Duke of Florence."
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Catherine looked admiringly through the great hall, decorated for the occasion with tapestries.
She walked beside Alessandro behind the Holy Father.
At the front of the hall, the king stood behind the long table placed on the platform. The king was accompanied by his family who were lined up next to him.
As the Pope and his retinue approached, he dismounted from his seat on the dais and approached them, followed by the two eldest princes, Francis and Henri.
"Your holiness." He bowed deeply and so did the princes. Catherine and Alessandro bowed to the king.
"Majesty." The Pope greeted him with a nod.
"Your holiness, may I introduce my family: My wife, the Queen Eleanor, My daughters, the Princesses Madeleine and Louise, and my youngest son Prince Charles." King Francis introduced his family. Catherine sank in a curtsy again.
The queen stepped from the dais and went to the holy father where she knelt on the floor and kissed the hem of his robe.
Clement looked at the woman with disgust; she was the younger sister of Emperor Charles, the man who had captured him. though she herself had nothing to do with it, Clement couldn't help but feel anger at the sight of the queen. nevertheless he gave his hand to her so that she might have the chance to kiss his ring.
"God bless you, your holiness." said Eleanor as she got up again. she looked past the Holy Father to the Duke of Florence and Catherine, her future stepdaughter-in-law.
The holy father motioned for the two to step forward.
"Your majesty, you look beautiful." said Alessandro, stepping forward to kiss her hand. "You are too kind, Your Grace." She smiled. Alessandro looked at the queen in her dark brown eyes and gave a short grin.
He had to admit that, despite her age of thirty-five, the Queen still looked beautiful. although he could see the sadness in her eyes, and much more in fact, her eyes spoke volumes.
She walked over to catherine. "Your portrait did you no good; you are much more beautiful in reality." she said with admiration, looking at her. She had made up her mind to take the young Catherine under her wing; she herself knew very well what it was like to be a stranger in the French court, especially if that same court looked down on you.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. You too are truly beautiful. I hope one day to resemble your beauty and goodness." said Catherine with a smile.
Eleanor nodded in satisfaction and walked back to stand next to the king.
"please, take a seat." said the king, gesturing to the table on the platform. He had ordered the servants to set up two thrones: one for the king and one for the pope.
The king had devised a sharp plan to make sure nothing could break his alliance with the pope. No one from posing parties would interfere with the other party. He couldn't bear them making an alliance among themselves.
Next to the king would sit the queen and next to her the princesses and the youngest prince. Next to the Pope would sit the Duke of Florence next to whom would sit his sister and his two eldest sons.
The holy father nodded and took his seat to which the rest of the group also took their seats. Both the guests who were still in the hall took their seats and the food was served.
While they all enjoyed their meal, the king and the holy father discussed the most important matrimonial matters.
"The dowry will be 100,000 gold ecus, as your ambassadors told me?" King Francis asked the Holy Father who was cutting the piece of meat on his plate.
Clement narrowed his eyes briefly. "Indeed. You will receive the first 50,000 ecus after the wedding ceremony and the next 50,000 ecus in installments. I hope my ambassador has also explained the conditions under which the dowry falls?"
"What conditions, holiness? I believe your ambassador forgot to share that with me." Francis said, the ambassador hadn't said anything about terms.
"That's no problem, I'd like to tell you. Should the marriage of Caterina and your zion be annulled for any reason, Caterina will get her entire dowry back, this also applies to her claim on Italian land, you can keep her French titles for yourself. Also Caterina will always, whatever the situation is, may petition me, the Pope, to annul her marriage. Do you agree with the conditions? Because if that isn't the case, I'm afraid the marriage could not go on." Clement looked at the king with a questioning look.
He had seen for himself what had happened to Henry Tudor and his wife Catherine d'aragon. He wouldn't see Caterina ever in the same situation and losing everything she had. God knew how much Clement had to do to collect the dowry, he wouldn't just lose it.
The king sniffed his nose. Looks like Clement had already thought through everything. He would do anything he could not to lose his wealth and that of his family. "Well, I'm sure they won't get to the point where they get divorced, so I accept the terms and the marriage can continue as planned."
Clement smiled with satisfaction. "Then the marriage can indeed continue."