I refused to talk to Philip for two days, also resorting to simply clicking my fingers and gesturing for Cécile to leave the room whenever she walked in. I was furious. I did not tell my children either, once I had thought about it in the morning I decided that Philip was right -as much as I was sour about admitting it- and it was pointless to involve them.
“I cannot believe this!” I was pacing again, alone with Agate and Giselle. “Is he going to execute her? I mean, at least she is actually guilty of being with him unlike poor Senor Vargas. You know what makes me so irate about all of this? It is that his death is now a mockery. A complete joke. He was my friend and now he is nothing. And that is Philip and that filthy disgusting WHORE’S fault!” I finished going a bit manic.
“Have no fear Anna,” Giselle spoke quietly from her seat. “She will have to answer to God for her great sins.”
“Like she cares, the woman is riddled with the devil.” Giselle and even Agate gasped at that. “She has torn my entire world into pathetic pieces and there is nothing I can do about it. Why is God punishing me with this?”
“The Lord has blessed you with a great deal,” Agate muttered.
I turned my attention abruptly to her, “you dare get sarcastic and almighty with me. After everything I sacrificed and have done for you. I need you now Agate and you dare abandon me.”
“Sorry.” She mumbled. “I know. This bitch has wronged you highly and deserves to be punished.”
I nodded, “I am glad you agree. I do not think that I could allow someone like that to single handedly ruin my life. So what shall we do?”
Giselle got to her feet, “Madame there is nothing that you can do, she is the King’s mistress and to wrong her would be to-”
“Stop your sentence.” I insisted. “You honestly think I care about any of that? Philip is my one true love, he is mine and only mine and I refuse to share him.”
“We should just be done with it and poison her.” Agate sighed. It should have worried me that her idea of revenge always jumped straight to death.
“Too obvious.”
“Exile?”
“Won’t be allowed. The King has taken a shine to her, he would simply punish me for disobeying him and summon her back.”
“Is it not blatant?” Giselle was staring from Agate to me eagerly. “It is rumours that are the true poison. Almost always untraceable too.”
“Oh,” Agate cocked her head to the side giving her a condescending look, “and what rumor would we spread Giselle? That she is lying with the King? That she is a whore? I am pretty certain that everyone in court are already well aware of those facts. The simple truth is that they all dislike Anna so much they are going to be in favour of anything that makes her unhappy. How exactly do you undo that with a bit of gossip?”
“Well it is better than killing her!” She snapped back defensively.
“First of all,” I spoke quietly, “I do not want her to be my lady in waiting anymore. That is too much to be expected.”
“You have to keep her,” Giselle interjected. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
“Oh what is she going to do, she is merely a harlot. It is not as if she plots against Anna, she is simply lying with the King.” Agate was being rather snappy towards Giselle today. “Why do you not slight her? To publicly put her out of the Queen’s favour?”
I snorted, “so that all two of my supporters can dislike her too?”
“I know a lot of people are against you but you would be surprised how many still root for you, Anna.” Agate said, Giselle was nodding along as well. “Just do it. When we are mingling amongst the other courtiers today, Giselle and I will arrange it so that she will come up to you to ask you something or to talk and because most people will be aware of her disgusting ways they will be watching for your reaction.”
“But you must also start acting a lot more religious; wear your big cross necklace. You have to physically show them that you are the one in the right and the one that God favours.”
I was nodding along as well by then, completely sucked up into their scheme. “It sounds like a good plan. Let us go try it out now.” So they went off to set it all up and into motion while I went to simplify my accessories, removing a lot of rings and such, only wearing my big wooden cross that had been blessed by his Holiness the Pope himself.
I smoothed my hand over my large stomach, pondering over my baby and how it was doing in there. I couldn’t wait to meet the latest addition to our ever growing family. Although by the way things were between Philip and I this little infant may be my last child.
I mingled at court as one should, especially one who stood at the very top of the food chain as it were. I made a point of being friendly and nice to a lot of the courtiers, even those that I loathed beyond measure for their evil gossiping ways. Even they were slightly astonished by my approachableness, maybe it really was that simple to change their views on me?
I was stood with Agate overlooking the scene when she came barrelling up to us stopping before me. Her hair was not entirely held back, flyaway strands fluttered as she breathed, my eyes went down to her hands and my stomach knotted in anger and hurt as I saw the real, the all too and very much real ring that Philip must’ve given to her. She curtsied then opened her mouth to speak but I held a hand up cutting Cécile off. I strode forward giving her a painful shoulder barge which sent a flurry of ferocious mutterings throughout the court. Then I fiddled absently with my cross.
“I think I will go to chapel now,” I told Agate purposefully so that the courtiers would hear. “I need God to purify me from being around that.”
I was in the library later on, much later and was simply trying to find a new interesting book to submerge myself in when someone cleared their throat making me start. It was Cécile. “Madame.” She bobbed her head, dropping into a deep curtsy.
“Go away.” I snapped although I sort of wanted her to stay so I could scream at her.
“No, Anna-Your Highness,” she amended, “I would like to talk to you.”
“You betrayed your Queen Cécile. You have been around me long enough to realise my feelings for my husband. If nothing else.” My voice hitched, not wanting to behave weak in front of her I swallowed and slapped on a bitter smile. “But have no fear, I will not punish you. God will judge you and your harlot ways will condemn you and I will have all of eternity in Heaven with my husband while you rot in Hell.” Those were strong cruel words to have said yet I would happily repeat them over and over a thousand times in her ear if that would make me feel slightly better. “There, talk over. Now leave.”
She blinked, obviously my words had gotten to her but she cleared her throat, stomping her ground. “I am sorry for the way that I have made you feel. I know that you have never liked me-”
“And you can see why.” I snorted. “You look like a fresh, new, younger version of me Cécile, do not think you were brought to court for anything other than that. I never liked you because you were a threat and well,” I huffed, “well look at what you are. Look what you have done!”
“Look at it from my point of view,” she told me in her brash, commanding ways. “I was sent here to tantalise the King. When asked to court you cannot refuse. When the King takes a shine to you and requests for you to go to him do you refuse? Can you say no to the King? If you were me, My Queen, would you think you would have a life if you told the King no?”
My eyes had welled with tears yet I refused to let them shed in front of her, “so you are telling me he forced your hand? You do not wish to lie with him or accept his gifts and attention?”
“No,” she allowed, “I was more than happy to oblige. I am just trying to show you that even if I did not like the King-”
I snorted, pulling a cruel face, “he does not like you. He will tell you that you are the world but I am his world. You are nothing but a bit on the side, something to satisfy him while am I heavy with his child.”
“Madame, please, I am not trying to be against you.” She whined. “I want us to work something out so that we can all progress forward.”
“I want you dead.” I spat and for a moment that cocky exterior tensed and her eyes displayed a really satisfying kind of fear. “But apparently I cannot have that. So you will not accept any of his gifts anymore, do you hear me?”
“Yes.” She was lying but I was going to take that.
I sighed heavily and lent against the bookcase. “Everything just gets worse as the years go by. You have no idea how much I have lost, how much pain and hurt I have gone through just to be standing here in front of you now.” At least Cécile did not try to console me, I would not have been able to handle that. “But Agate is right, I have been blessed as well. God has given me my beautiful children although he has also taken babies from me as well. I am a Queen, I have no worries of poverty, that in itself is a gift. I did have an adoring loyal husband who I thought was truly my other half. He was all mine. That shows a blessed woman right?”
“Yes My Lady.”
“Although maybe not. You would not believe how much money I give to charities in Paris and yet they still hate me. I care about them. I-I actually care about these people and their problems. Senor Vargas was accused of doing exactly the same thing as what you are actually doing and yet he was guiltless and murdered. You are as guilty as Satan himself and yet you walk free. I will never forgive you for turning his death into a mockery.” And with that I swept out of the room, concluding that enough was enough and I should just leave before I ended up killing her.