hi all! apologies for the lack of updates - i am in the middle of exam season and therefore updates will be slow. i wouldn't recommend expecting updates or anything until mid june but if i find time to write then i will publish :)
thank you for staying with me and reading - i am so shocked at the response i have gotten for this book and i am so grateful. thank u so much for 3.7k. i hope you enjoy this chapter. let me know your thoughts!
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word count; 1679
Alessandra
"You wouldn't dare." I spat, feeling the venom of the snake hiss out at my brother. "I am a dowager Queen and God knows I would have your head for marrying me to that.. that sycophant!"
Lorenzo's response was, thankfully, unhinged by an appearance that neither of us expected. Not hearing his indifference made me slightly more confident -- though I doubted it's longevity.
"What are you doing in here?" Mother asked, looking down at us both. She had entered the room without our knowing and had a frown upon her lips, curled downwards with a simple show of irritation with her children. "We have guests that need to be entertained, Lorenzo." She gestured towards the hall and I nodded, standing. Though she had not addressed me, I felt I had to take this oppurtuinity.
"Forgive me, Mother," I smiled weakly at her as I moved towards her. Her expression softened and I spoke again, "I simply wished to protest this proposed marriage."
I left with that, knowing Mother wouldn't allow Lorenzo to harass me again. I was, after all, her favourite -- or so I liked to believe. I'd been gone so long that, now, she found my company all the more refreshing. I was her eldest, after all.
As for Lorenzo? He.. he was a fool, in my belief. He was in way over his head with this matter and clearly believed me to be in his hand, like some harpy that he could control, to be moulded to whatever he wished. I, for one, would not go easily. Alas, no, it was neither in my husband's gift nor my brother's prerogative to steer me through the marriage market -- I would make my own choice, if it came to it. I refused to be sent to yet another country like some trophy, illuminating all those concerned as to the extent of the Medici wealth, Medici power. Perhaps in Florence. Perhaps over all Italy itself. But I had spent my years in French court; my brother's power was not global.
Thus, as I re-entered the chattering hall, I found my breath was unexpectedly rapid. I could feel the thin layer of sweat on my forehead: it had likely accumulated from the stress of Lorenzo and I's interaction. Nonetheless, I would stand my ground.
"You look like you've fought with a boar," Henry commented as he approached me, his lips curling into an all-too-familiar smirk. The French King never found a way to resist his sinful lusts: paticularly towards those he felt he could not have - those who presented a challenge. As his brother's widow, it was clear I was the greatest challenge he would face. My response was simple: I scoffed, sardonically arching my brow,
