Lady Catherine de Valois's marriage to King Henry V of England is much more complicated than she had ever imagined. How will she navigate her loyalties, her life in a strange new land, and her blossoming feelings for a man she is supposed to hate?
...
The Queen and her ladies were taken to the drawing-room with increased security at all the entrances of the palace. A doctor was called to tend to the ladies as some were suffering from shock from the attack.
Catherine couldn't help but worry about the King as the time passed until each of the ladies had been examined and helped by the doctor.
"Catherine," Maribel stood and walked to her friend, "if you don't mind I think I will retire for the day and rest."
For the first time since the attack, Catherine looked at her friend, who seemed exhausted and terrified. "Of course, would you like me to send any servants to your room?"
"No, I just need to rest." She did a small bow of her head and left the room.
As her friend retreated, Catherine couldn't help but think about what a setback this would be between England and France relations. Not even two hours ago, she had been planning to use this trip to help show her friend the benefits of their two countries coming to a peaceful conclusion. How could she convince her friend that England wanted peace when a mob of Englishmen attacked them on her second day here?
Catherine was silently trying to plan how she would handle this situation while the rest of her ladies and handmaids worked on various activities when there was a sound from within the palace. Catherine and everyone else in the room couldn't help but tense as King Henry entered into the room, looking as if he was fresh from battle.
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Some of the ladies gasped at the sight of him, his face darkened with dirt, the sword at his hip with dried blood on it, and the stern look on his face.
"Catherine." He strode across the room in a couple of steps and grabbed both of her arms, "Are you ok?" He asked gravely.
Catherine stole a look at the ladies in her room, some had stood at the King's arrival while others looked as if they were about to faint.
"I am fine, your majesty, let's talk in the hallway." She grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. Once they reached the hallway she scolded him, "You almost gave the women in their a heart attack coming in looking like this, what were you thinking?"
"I don't give a damn about any of them. I needed to see you make sure you were alright. Are you, truly?"
Catherine was so relieved to see that he was ok, he was the one with dirt and blood all over him, and here he was asking about her. A couple of tears filled her eyes and she put her hand on his face, "Truly." She looked into his eyes so he could see her honesty.
Hal exhaled and his entire demeanor seemed to fall as he touched his forehead to hers, "Catherine, I thought... if they had hurt you..." He couldn't even put into words the worst-case scenario.
"Go upstairs," she said in a calm voice while stealing a look at the sword at his hip, "Clean yourself. I will come up soon."
He nodded silently and stole a kiss on her forehead before turning to leave.
