Royal Blood | Francis Valois

II. Old Times

Royal Court of England

"Future Queen of England and Ireland, as well as the newly announced succeeding Holy Roman Empress, Princess Arabella."

I took my first step down the stairs, practically feeling the vast amount of eyes that were glued to my frame. A few applauded, greeting me as I passed them.

"Your grace," I heard a manly accented voice speak to the right of me. My head tilted in the direction, meeting the familiar bright blue eyes of my good old friend since we were tikes. Francis Valois. Dauphin, future king of France. My goodness, I haven't seen him in years. His hair is much longer, his chin slightly stubbled.

My mother, father, and I used to visit French Court years ago. Sometimes, Francis would even come visit here at English court. At one point I was a possible prospect of marriage for Francis, although that eventually fell through when his power hungry father found out that the Queen of Scotland, Mary Stuart, who is actually a cousin and good friend of mine, although I have not seen her in ages, was open to marriage. At the time, England was not as strong as it is now. At this point in time, we could take over Scotland in a mere second.

"Prince Francis. Long time, no see." I nodded lightly, stopping in my tracks in front of the handsome prince. He cordially gave a respectful light kiss to my hand, bowing his head as I curtsied. We both looked at each other for a moment before laughing and wrapping each other in a tight embrace.

"Bella." Francis mumbled as he rested his chin on my shoulder. You could hear the bright smile in his voice.

"It's lovely to see you, old friend. We must catch up later on, but I must go now." I whispered into his ear, before pulling away from the grown boy.

"Yes, we must. It's quite nice to see you, Bella." Francis spoke sweetly, before I sent him a smile in return. I then turned around and walked to meet my parents again.

"I, the crowned Queen of England, would like to thank all of you for coming to English court for my sweet Arabella's seventeenth day of birth celebration. We know for many of you the journey was quite a long one. Please, know that we welcome you to spend the week here at English court." My mother smiled as she interlocked her arm with mine. "Now, may the festivities for my dearest daughter, Arabella, begin!" Trumpets began to sound once again as my father, mother and I made our way back into the castle, being followed by our many guests.

"Arabella, while all of the guests are settling into their chambers, come with me, so that we can assure that you are accepting to all of the decor and delicacies." My mother spoke, pulling me towards the throne room. Entering the room, my eyes trailed across the vast variety of food already placed around the room.

"I did not know so much food existed in this realm." I spoke, practically drooling over the delicious looking food.

"Only the best food for my wonderful Arabella.
Now, I'm sorry, my dear, but I must get to other business. I will see you later on." My mother quickly spoke, before kissing my forehead then running off in a rushed motion.

Deciding that I needed a bit of peace and quiet, considering the amount of hysteria that has been occurring because of my birthday, I made my way out to where I knew no guests would be at this moment. They were all caught up in the excitement of staying at English court, not even thinking to take in the magnificent views
England has to offer. My feet carried me to a small bridge that ran over a stream that was out in front of the castle. I rested my arms on the side of the bridge, feeling the light breeze, sending chills down my spine.

"Bella, I see you still come to our spot." The familiar voice of Francis Valois spoke behind me, making me jump a bit from being startled. I turned to the French prince as he pulled his hands out of his coat pockets, casually resting them onto the side of the bridge next to me.

"Of course I do. It helps me think. No one strays this far outside of the castle, and you never come to English court anymore, so it's come to be my own spot now." I spoke smartly, glancing up at the prince with a sly smirk.

"Don't be like that, Bella. You know if I could come visit you I would. Things have been hectic at French court and I haven't been able to escape. Elizabeth happens to be getting married soon and my life will be signed away quite soon as well." Francis spoke, his eyes never leaving the horizon before him.

"What do you mean by that, Francis?" My head tilted in confusion.

"Mary is coming soon. My father is still insistent that I marry her." Francis spoke with obvious annoyance in his voice.

"You may come to love her. You never know."

"I highly doubt that."

"Why do you doubt that?" I asked the unsure boy.

"I just don't see how I can come to love a woman that I am set up with. God forbid I find love on my own." Francis scoffed, his eyes trailing to mine.

"You and me both." I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Remember the time when you and I were supposed to marry?" Francis inquired, a bit of humor behind his voice.

"How could I forget?" I laughed, remembering back. "The tragic times of one missing front tooth and twigs for legs."

"Those were the good times." Francis spoke, causing us to fall into a comfortable silence. "Do you ever wonder what would happen if you and I actually were to get married?"

"It's a bizarre thought." I hummed, pushing a stray hair out of my face.

"I guess I just sometimes wish it was still you that I was being wed to because you and I are best friends. We are practically compatible. You hear the many fairytales of one marrying their best friend. But you surely never hear about a boy marrying a girl that he had play dates with as toddlers, but barely remember what she looks like now." Francis ranted. I've always had a special place in my heart for Francis. And I will not lie and say that I've never pondered these thoughts. The fairytale of the prince and the princess marrying and having multiple beautiful royal children. It's all just a beautiful dream that only happens in fairytales.

"Mary is a wonderful girl. You, Mary, and I used to play all of the time as children." It's quite true. That's how Mary and I become so close. But unfortunately, I have not seen her since she went to hideaway at the French convents. I truly miss her a lot. "Of course, maybe you and her weren't able to spend as much time together throughout your lives as you and I did, but that does not change anything. Everything will work out, Francis." I assured, probably trying to convince myself more than him. My eyes were still set on the horizon as I could feel Francis's eyes burning into the side of my face.

"I suppose." Francis muttered, suddenly becoming restless. "I must get back to my mother and father. They had someone they wanted me to meet. I will see you later, Arabella." Francis glanced at me for a few more moments before walking off of the bridge and back to the castle. I couldn't help but let a single tear slip from my eye. I've always had minor feelings for my dearest friend, Francis, although I never let myself act on the feelings. But now that he has expressed his feelings about this whole 'Mary Stuart' situation, is it wrong that it gives me slight hope?

Yes, it is because Mary is my friend. I must take these feelings and stuff them away where they won't come out and taunt me. 

I swiped away the tear that had run down my face. Knowing that I mustn't show any weaknesses to these other countries, I regained my usually high confidence. I flattened my dress, stood up tall, adjusting my tiara, and made my way back to the castle.