A World Of Fiction

Revelations Part 2: Facing obstacles

Hello, people. Thanks so much for your reviews, I wasn't expecting such positive reactions to this part of this story, since it's not focused on Winx. I'm glad you're enjoying it and if you're curious about just how historically accurate this is, you can search for Catherine de Medicci, Diane de Poitiers and other characters you'll see.

So this is the second revelation chapter and the second part of Catherine and Henry's story. Here we have Catherine's plan on how to become queen. These chapters are turning out to be smaller, so I'll be posting them twice a week. Therefore, we'll be done with the revelations by next week or the other one.:

So, that's it. Happy reading!

Paris, January, 8th of 1524...

It was a cold winter night and many richly dressed citizens were seen walking around the city, most of them heading to the royal palace. It had been almost two months since the death of King Francis and France was still suffering, though its new king was bringing joy to all as he lead with strength and confidence. On this night there was a celebration at the palace of the birthday of Queen Claude, Francis' wife. The Queen would be turning 35 that night and so her son prepared a beautiful party for her with the help of his wife.

Said wife was Diane De Poitiers, daughter of a rich nobleman of Paris and the new Queen of France. The arranged marriage between herself and Henry had not been going so well due to his affections for another woman, Catherine Blanchet. Having been a simple maid for about four months, Catherine was now known as the king's official mistress and so she was granted vast territories, chateaus and a small fortune. She was glad to have some of her fortune back, but it wasn't enough. With her mind set on becoming queen, she needed to get rid of Diane.

That was why she had come to Queen Claude's birthday, a woman who hated her and definitely wouldn't wish she was there. Catherine was seeking an alliance with someone she knew could help her and that someone would be at the palace that night. So she dressed in her finest clothes, wished that Henry would be too busy with his mother and new wife to notice that she was there, and waited.

It was late at night when he finally came to the party. He greeted both queens with a respectful bow and chatted for a while with Claude. Soon, he excused himself and that was when Catherine followed him. She was very discreet, but the man sensed that she was following him and he stopped before he reached outside. He gave her a suspicious look.

"Good night, Nostradamus." Catherine told him as she smiled. His expression didn't change.

"Good night, milady. Might I know why the king's mistress seems to be following me." He questioned.

"You knew that I was following you." Catherine stated and she moved closer to him. "Which makes me believe that the queen might be wrong and you actually are... something special." Catherine said as she gave him a warm smile. The fact that both Queen Claude and Diane's father thought that Nostradamus was a fraud made her plan even easier.

"What is it that you want with me?" He questioned her, a wary look on his face. A young couple passed by them and Catherine shook her head.

"Not here." She told him firmly as she signaled for him to follow her. What she didn't know was that there was someone who had followed her there as well. A man named Richard Delacroix, a count that had lived his entire life in Paris. He was already 20 and unmarried, as none would expect for such a rich and powerful man. The reason for his loneliness was his mental instability that distanced him from the other counts and made every woman afraid to near him. He was okay with that, though, because he already had a woman in mind.

Catherine Blanchet, the king's mistress, was his target. He had become obsessed with her ever since the prince's birthday the year before and his feelings for her had only grown. He restrained himself, though, not wanting the king to know of his feelings. He seeked a moment alone with her so he could tell her, but he didn't find it. She was always accompanied either by the king or her loyal friend, Leonardo da Vinci. He had thought that tonight would be perfect, since she left the ball alone for once, but now she was in the company of another man, Nostradamus.