~𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌~
Born the youngest daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, Constance of Bourbon grows up amidst comfort and splendour on her powerful family's estates in France. A shy child, she prefers her...
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~To be Beloved~
May 1464, three years later, Westminster Palace....
Inside the beautiful Queen's rooms, silks and satins, velvets of every hue lay draped over chaises and chairs, accompanied by shining jewels that glimmered in the sunlight. The marble floored chambers had been finished only six months before, the final result of King Edward's first addition to Westminster Palace.
As a sign of respect, he bequeathed the Queen's rooms to his Mother, furnishing it with everything her heart could desire while he set about commissioning new apartments for his beloved. In the elegant style of her homeland, crafted from polished marble stone that glowed during night and day, Constance's rooms were by far the most beautiful in the entire palace and all who were invited there considered it a great honour.
Nineteen summers Constance had seen and, fast approaching, was her third as a Queen.
During those three years, she had not only settled into her new role but blossomed from a girl into a woman. Her love for Edward only grew stronger and, while he was not by her side every night, choosing instead to take to the brothels of London with his friends, she did not mind. To her, it was simply the nature of men and to not see was to not feel, leaving her quite untouched by his infidelities.
She quickly got to know the court, digging beneath its golden exterior to find the web of rumour and deceit that could strangle the life from even the highest noble. There was always a plot at hand, always intrigue to be had and she hated the way whispered tales floated from ear to ear on lips seeking only trouble!
Still, her confidence and intelligence flowered, the result of being pushed into the spotlight where she could only grow under the sun of power.
She was not just a Queen, a pretty symbol to stand beside a man, no, beside Edward she was the other half of the foundation upon which a new dynasty would be built and secured. She represented a new reign, a new court and she took on that sacred duty with all she had.
While Edward fought his battles in Parliament and quelled insurgencies against his reign, ever building his image of England's young warrior King, Constance built his court. With her retinue of ladies ever present at her side, she set a new tone for the royal court, dressing extravagantly in French fashions and becoming the figure the noblewomen of England styled themselves from.
She introduced new, vibrant dances from courts across Europe, encouraged growth of the arts, the practice of courtly love and, of course, organised masques and feasts only her homeland could rival. The court held its own mummers to entertain in the evening, a band of Italian musicians from the affluent Florence and poets the envy of many monarchs!
