The Reluctant Queen

Chapter 9

The first thing that Nanny did when she saw Marié was to hug her and call her an ungrateful child several times. Seeing what was done to the Princess brought tears to Nanny’s eyes and that resulted in a few thumps to Marié’s back. Even Prince Lucien who was usually quick to jump to Marié’s defences stood aside, arms crossed, as Nanny tore into Marié. Marié opened her mouth to defend herself and the older woman merely threw a stern gaze in Marié’s direction that could silence the King himself.

Marié’s saving grace came with the doctor’s arrival. For the thirty minutes that he was examining her, Prince Lucien and Nanny were quietly looking on with worried expressions on their faces. What little assurances that Marié gave of the injuries being worse than they looked went unheard. The Princess had a tendency of diminishing herself in front of others that Lucien stopped taking her at her wits. Other than giving Nanny bandages to apply after Marié’s bath and a concoction for the pain and another to help Marié sleep, the doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

“What do you mean she is fine? Can you not see the bruises on her face?” Nanny challenged.

The poor man stammered, looking at Prince Lucien. The Prince gave him the same stern look Nanny was giving him. “I would advise a week of bed rest…” Prince Lucien cleared his throat, facing up at the mosaic tiles on the ceiling as though he was seeing it for the first time. The doctor cleared his own throat. “…my mistake. Three weeks would be best. Get plenty of rest, Your Highness.”

Marié scoffed. “Is this your way of making sure I never leave this place?”

“Let Nanny take you in for a bath,” said Lucien. “I didn’t want to say this before but you reek like a sewer.”

“I ought to change the bedding after I give her a bath,” Nanny added. Lucien sniggered, his shoulders lighter than when he first found her.

Marié ignored the two of them and walked through to black doors where her bathing room was. The Alabaster tub was barely visible amidst the white steam. Inside, Marié didn’t have to pretend that she was okay and let her shoulders sink. She heard the door close and Nanny’s steps close behind her.

“You foolish girl!”

Marié sighed, lifting her arms to the buttons behind her neck. Nanny slapped her hands away and Marié was not too proud to hide her relief from having to do it herself. “I know I am naive, irrational and easily controlled.”

“Only your brother thinks such things of you,” Nanny said, pulling at the buttons roughly. Her small but deliberate movements, a mixture of pulling and pushing were meant to hurt as though this was her only way of punishing Marié. “They underestimate you and take your giving nature as a weakness.”

Marié scowled. “Isn’t that why you are angry with me?”

“I am angry because I have failed to protect you,” Nanny pat Marié across the shoulders, making her lift her arms. She removed the tattered dress and threw it across the room. Purple strikes went across her back in an ugly pattern. Nanny could barely look and turned Marié around, staring into her eyes. “Who protects you, Marié? You sweet child with a heart of gold!”

“And I thought I was a foolish girl who is no good.”

Nanny hardened her face and pointed to the bath. “Get in.”

The hot water was soothing and caused her injuries to ache. Marié gritted her teeth. This was neither her first injury nor the last. Her mistake was needing to be rescued. Nanny lightly manoeuvred around the injuries, gently dabbing the bruised skin with a cloth much to Marié’s surprise. She had imagined a violent scrapping of her skin under the guise of removing the stench of mould from Marié’s body. Nanny’s vengeance came in the way of dousing Marié with cups and cups of water over her head. At first, she breathed through it before the constant spray gave her little chance for a breath. The gasping sent her to a dark place where she never wanted to go.

Think of happy thoughts. Nanny is here. This is reality. This is just a bath, Marié said to herself. She pushed the cold and dark memories far behind her and held on to the present— things that she could still control.

“Okay!” Marié yelled. “I am sorry!”

Nanny stopped. She dropped the metal cup and let it sink to the bottom of the water. She kneeled beside the bath as Marié looked back at her, doe-eyed. “You might look like that little girl but you have not been her for a very long time.”

“What did I do now?”

Nanny’s gaze softened as her hand reached across the bath and onto Marié’s matted hair. She lightly brushed the golden locks with her fingers. “Do you really think this kingdom would be better off in the hands of those rebels?”

“I don’t think that.”

“Then why do you do this, Marié?”

Through her ups and downs Nanny was always there. It mattered very little whether she understood her actions or not. In Nanny, Marié had an ally and a mother, someone who always tried to understand her though she made little sense. “Those who want to rule don’t often make good rulers, they are filled with self-ambition. I want our kingdom to be united and women not to be punished for wanting a roof over their children’s heads. I want— I want to not have their blood on my hands.”

Nanny shook her head.“And I only wish that you do meet with Prince Wilhelm just once and you fall madly in love and he takes you away from here.”

Marié’s mind drifted to the rebel leader running into Wilhelm. Where did they cross paths? Marié couldn’t understand what a Crown Prince would be doing, straying too far from the palace. The gentry treated the dark sides of Avignon as though they didn’t exist. How had he wandered far from the fine lines of proper society? From her prior runs with him, Marié had a sense that Wilhelm had a tendency of being where he wasn’t wanted.

“Shall I take my vows tomorrow? This obsession that you have with Prince Wilhelm is worrisome.”

“He is your betrothed.”

Marié stood quickly. “Ow!” she exclaimed, holding a hand to her forehead.

Nanny was up on her feet within a second, holding on to Marié by the shoulders. “What is it? Are you dizzy? Step out of the bath and have a seat on the settee.”

Nanny dragged Marié to the small chair. She moved across the room and grabbed a glass of water, forcing it to Marié’s lips. Marié drank without protest. A moment later, Nanny was like a machine crossing things off a list. She towel dried and dressed Marié with fascinating precision. Before long, Marié was tucked into bed, made to take the bitter concoction and became oddly drowsy.

“You don’t have to stay…” Marié wanted to say but the words sounded foreign as though spoken by someone else. Her brother merely smiled, sitting on a chair beside her bed with a book in his hands. He looked so much like his younger version — just like the old times when he read to her far more than their father did. “…I miss you sometimes.”

Lucien reached for her hand and curled his fingers around hers. “I miss you all the time, Marié. I’m still here and I will be when you wake up.”

“You shouldn’t stay, my nightmares…” The words died on her lips and her eyes closed.

Lucien kept his hand there, holding her firmly. Despite every attempt to remain strong, her skin which was pale in nature was more ghostly than usual. The bath took the cold away and was replaced with a cold sweat. Marié had never been sickly and something so minuscule reminded Lucien of the invisible walls between him and his sister. Instead of letting go, he somehow got closer and held tighter.

“I thought the nightmares stopped,” Lucien said to the room. “Is there anything else that I don’t know?”

Nanny took a chair and sat on the other side of the bed, Marié between them. Nanny shrugged. “You know your sister.”

“I have failed her, haven’t I?”

“If there is a fire, she will run towards it. I am not sure you can change that about her.” Nanny cleared her throat. “I think I know how to fix this.”

Lucien Frowned. “What do you mean, Nanny?”

“She and Charles will never fundamentally agree on anything. He sees evil in everyone while she chooses to see the good in others, even those who don’t deserve it.”

“I am well aware what his policies nearly cost us today,” Lucien said, jaw clenched. “I will address it with him once I know that she is well.”

“Only a struggle will come from that. Charles listens to no one but himself. Marié needs someone who can laugh through misery, someone who can laugh at himself.”

Lucien crossed his arms against his chest and narrowed those tranquil blue eyes. “Unless my brother has had a change in personality, I think you have someone else in mind.”

“Crown Prince Wilhelm,” Nanny said with a conspiratorial smile. “The maids say that despite the outward charm, he seems heartbroken.”

“Heartbroken?”

Nanny groaned. “I wondered why his father sent him here. A woman makes perfect sense and if he is heartbroken then they may find healing in each other. He seems like the good sort.”

“I suppose,” Lucien said, thinking back to his interactions with the Prince. He was a man who didn’t take himself seriously, that much was clear. “I thought the church made Marié happy.”

Nanny crossed her arms this time. “Does she look happy?”

“I don’t know, Nanny.”

“I am not saying that we ship her away. That girl has not been happy for a long time. Perhaps she doesn’t agree to marry him in the end but there has to be more to life than servitude. She won’t consider herself in this life so it is up to you and I.”

“We can try, I don’t know how successful we will be. My sister is vehemently against marriage, especially to a prince.”

Nanny grinned. “Sometimes all it takes is a spark, leave the rest to me.”

For the next couple of days Nanny fed Marié the sleeping concoction that the doctor had given her, keeping Marié in bed and protected. It was the most that her heart had been assured while watching over Marié. Much like her mother, Marié had strong beliefs and lived every second in reckless abandon trying to see those dreams through. The few days where Nanny bathed, fed and tendered to Marié’s injuries was the most that she breathed easily since Marié returned to the palace without her parents. But there was always that gnawing eventuality at the back of Nanny’s mind— Marié would wake at some point and the world outside was still unchanged. Those few days were a temporary reprieve. Yet one that Marié would have never taken willingly.

When Marié woke up, she was the most rested that she ever had been. Perhaps, it was a gross exaggeration. However, Marié was up before the sun and sometimes it came up again before she was in bed. There always seemed to be too few hours in the day for all that she had to do. The stale taste in her mouth said that she had been sleeping for longer than just a few hours. Her head did not ache. The injuries on her back and torso were not so raw anymore, but definitely looked uglier. Nanny. Just like after her parents’ burial, Nanny had given her a tea that was supposed to help her sleep and the next thing she knew Marié had missed two weeks of her life. How long had she missed this time?

Marié pushed the blanket off her body. She was dressed in a white chiffon dress with a bright ruby on her breast unlike anything that Marié had ever worn. The dress was well suited for the queen and her ladies who wanted to be put on a shelf and looked at. It was impractical for everything that Marié wanted to do like finding Sofia, speaking to the Bishop, Bernard and somehow getting her brother to release the women he captured.

“Nanny!” Mariè called out in horror. “What in God’s name have you—” Marié paused as two young women ran into the room, startled but alert. “Who are you?”

The two women, both dark haired and somewhat plain, but with friendly dispositions smiled warily. One of them stepped forward, while the other left the room. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”

“Who are you?” repeated Marié.

The girl, a few years younger than the Princess, curtsied. It seemed like an unnatural act to her. One that she practised over and over again but was still not confident. “I am Lilibet, Your Highness.”

“Not your name,” Marié said, pushing her legs off the bed. So many questions formed at the back of Marié’s mind. What games was Nanny playing? “What are you doing in my rooms? And where is Nanny?”

“We are your new servants, Princess.”

“Appointed by whom?”

“The Queen, Your Highness.”

It was an obvious answer to an obvious question. The Queen was the head of the household, she was in charge of all appointments. However, she did very little to interfere with Marié. Whether that was neglect or revenge against Charles, it would never be clear.

“I did not ask for more servants—”

“You needn’t ask,” the Queen retorted, entering the room with the other girl behind her. “Your brother made it clear that if I was taking better care of you, your accident wouldn’t have happened.”

Thoughts of finding Nanny and leaving the palace left Marié’s mind and the feeling of acceptance took over as the Queen dismissed the two girls. The Queen, adorned in shimmering jewels from the tiara on her head, bracelets on her wrists and rings on her fingers, looked around the room, which was more a library than the bedroom of a Princess, with her nose turned upwards.

Her cold eyes settled on Marié. Her hatred was obvious. She hated being queen, loathed Charles and everything to do with him and Marié was just an added bonus. As Marié bit her tongue, she reminded herself of why she never fought back. Better forgotten and people disinterested in her life than to have everyone paying attention. Marié’s run-ins with Prince Wilhelm were more than enough to make her lose sleep, they always seemed to run into each other at the most inopportune.

“The girls are plain enough,” the Queen uttered, walking around the room and picking up books. She put them back down just as quickly as though they shocked her. “They will fit in with the aesthetic of your apartments.”

She looked at Marié. Sometimes it felt like the Queen’s words were meant to elicit some sort of fight. Marié never knew what. Harm would come to the Queen, if Charles knew of her behaviour. Marié assumed that her actions came because the Queen knew Marié would neither answer back or tell her brother.

“I hear that the constables like to dip the rebels in water until they think they are drowning. Well, the rumours say that some drown.” The Queen asked somewhat amused. “In their confusion, did you have to endure it? I know how you feel about water. Did it take you back to when the King drowned?”

The door opened and Nanny entered, as short as the woman was, took up the entire room. Her face glistened when she looked upon Marié and then her eyes narrowed at the Queen. “You may be queen but do not forget yourself, you are nothing more than a consort. You will mind your words when you speak to the Fille de France.”

The Queen chuckled. “You are so protective, Nanny. I have not forgotten what and who she is. I was merely finding out about her injuries.”

“She’s received all of your care, you may go.”

“One of these days, Nanny…”

“You will do what?”

The Queen smirked, unbothered. “I will remind you of the difference in our positions.”

At that the Queen strolled towards the door. Nanny’s eyes were burning like fire and brimstone as she lectured Marié on not taking up the challenge against the Queen. It was always the same argument and Marié had the same response: I’ll not stoop to her level. Being married to Charles was a challenge enough and there were far too many more important things that she was concerned about. First was getting rid of the two extra servants. No, she couldn’t get rid of them because it was a command from the King. That was not the worst. Two guards were posted outside to follow her wherever she went. Marié groaned loudly, frustrated and annoyed. Even more so when she found out that she had been asleep for a week.

Never had Marié lost seven days at such a critical moment. Nerves danced off her skin like electricity. Nanny helped her brush the golden hair and made her presentable.“Has Lucien seen the King?”

“I believe so,” Nanny causally answered.

Marié scowled. “What happened? Did they fight?”

“Hmm,” Nanny muttered, taking her time with her thoughts. Dread filled Marié. “No, I don’t suppose they fought. I might have made Prince Lucien see sense.”

Marié lifted a brow with disbelief. “What did you do?”

“I have learnt a few tricks over the years and picked up a secret or two.”

“After this, I would like to know what you have on Lucien.”

“If I share it with you, it will no longer be a secret now, will it?”

“Nanny,” Marié groaned out her name but the older woman merely laughed.

“You do not listen to me, so I did what I had to do.”

“What did you do?”

“Oh nothing!” Yet Marié did not believe a single word out of her mouth.