𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗡
❝I would burn France to the ground before I even thought about letting anyone hurt you.❞
𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝
𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞?
𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
reign OC X OC
previously 'DORE...
◤ DORETHEA ◥ *.☽ .* :☆ act one, loving you ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎ CHAPTER 005—sincerely and fearlessly
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⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
✧☾.·:·.*chapter five now i need you, to tell me, that everything's okay.
SINCE THE HOURS SPENT picnicking with the girls on the grass that morning Dorethea hadn't done much. She'd been for a walk with Bash and they both appreciated the time together, being able to catch up with the ins and outs of each other's lives. She'd asked him to take her riding and he'd complied with her request only to have to cancel as his presence had been requested elsewhere. He was undoubtedly a busy man.
Daylight was wearing away when she met with Mary, the queen had been politely conversing with noblemen and noblewomen but by the look on her face the current conversation she was having was an interesting one.
Dorethea watched from afar as Mary's eyebrows raised in questioning and she said something inaudible. The young queen looked as if she wanted to laugh at whatever the round-faced, round-bodied, (he was all over quite a round, circular looking man) was tutting to her about. From the way that Mary's face would contort into a discreet look of disgust every now and then Dorethea guessed that this man was a spitter. And that the subtle flinches from the queen were in reaction to the warm droplets of saliva that kept hitting her in the face.
Dorethea took this as a warning sign to steer clear but she unintentionally locked eyes with a desperate Mary. Now that she'd been seen she couldn't just walk away so with a sigh she began to beeline towards the two.
"Lady Astley, what a lovely surprise." Mary beamed at her, pretending the two hadn't silently interacted a few moments ago, "Lord Fortescue, this is Dorethea Astley, you may have heard of her father?" She gestured between the man and the girl.
"Ah yes, Lord Astley, your family own the Lothian estates? Do they not?" The man truly did have too much saliva for him to keep hold of, she took a step back to gauge some distance between her and the old man.
"Yes, that would be us. The Lothian estates are ours and Mary recently gifted my mother and father the Ayreshire castle." She smiled lightly at her friend as she mentioned her name. The gift of the castle had been a strange and sudden one, Mary claimed that no one was living in it so they may as well take it.
"It's quite a wonderful place, i've heard." The man stepped closer so she once again took a step back. Her wide eyes flitting to Mary's, a silent and amused interaction taking place between the two of them.
"Yes, well my mother has a good eye for design, she keeps everything...nice. I live here now though-"
"Will the estates be going to you when your parents die?" He interrupted her with his blunt inquiry.
"Excuse me?" Dorethea's eyebrows raised and she cocked her head to the side, she wasn't offended nor upset by the mans question, just surprised at how openly rude he was.
"Now Lord Fortescue, i hardly think it's kind to question deaths that are far from happening..." Mary condemned him gently, trying to keep the peace.
"No Mary, it's okay." She smiled bitterly at the man, "So you're asking me this before you consider marrying me, taking my money and having me sign my land in your name. I'm right aren't i?" The man flushed with embarrassment, "If that was you trying to get in my good books then it didn't work."
Fortescue stumbled over his words, muttering something about her being disrespectful.
"I do believe that me and the queen have duties to attend to. Good day sir." She linked her arm through Mary's, whom was trying desperately to cover her rising smirk and the two walked away. "All men are the damn same. They all want the same bloody thing." She whispered into her ear.
"Dorethea Astley, you my friend, are going to get yourself in a lot of trouble one day." Mary shook her head with a hearty chuckle. "But you did well there, he needed putting in his place."
"I've been meaning to talk to you actually," Mary continued, her demeanour suddenly turning serious, "You know my uncle?"
Dorethea nodded and gestured for her to carry on.
"There's a small... crisis in Scotland... The English are amassing the boarder and every alliance i hoped for seems to be slipping out of my grasp."
Both women furrowed their eyebrows in thought, "Tomás offered Portugal's support..."
"Oh? That's great? Isn't it?"
"...If i marry him." Mary finished, a small grimace was present on her lips.
"Oh my goodness. What about Greer? Haven't they got something going on?" Dorethea gasped, before realising her priorities were perhaps in the wrong place, "I mean also the fact that you're meant to marry Francis?"
"Yes but France, as a nation, aren't willing to support Scotland through this."
"Does the marriage offer between you and Francis no longer stand?"
"I don't even know anymore, I mean, i believe there could still be an alliance in the foreseeable future. But right now France can't spare any men to defend Scotland." Mary closed her eyes for a moment, "Francis told me to marry Tomás."
"Oh Mary." Dorethea wrapped her arms around the crestfallen woman. Mary and Francis had known each other for most of their lives, France was Mary's home, which meant Francis was Mary's home, even if neither of them were ready to admit it.
They pulled out of their embrace but Dorethea kept her hands planted on her best friends shoulders as she mumbled. "I don't want to marry Tomás, i don't know him. And i don't want to hurt Greer. It's just that all my life i suppose i've been preparing to marry into an alliance with France and now there's a chance that i'm not going too, it doesn't feel right."
"Sometimes things don't go the way we plan Mary. When you got sent away to the covent, we were promised that i could visit at least once a month but i ended up not seeing you for years but it worked out didn't it? We got stronger from it, i mean, i missed you terribly but it was worth it once we saw each other again!" Dorethea tilted her head and smiled kindly, squeezing her shoulders.
"What's this got to do with my situation Thea?"
"I'm saying that neither of our lives have ever planned out in the way that we hoped but in the long run we were okay. It wasn't a bad thing, ya know? You know i think a lot of Francis, i believe he's a good person but perhaps Tomás will be good for you too."
"I love you Mary Stuart, you're my best friend and i know that you'll make the right decision. You'll do this as you do everything, sincerely and fearlessly. Everything will be okay. It has to be."
