Even if there’s a delay, I’m sure the contrast helps in the court of public opinion.
An Heir To Rule
- Thread starter Tudorfan
- Start date
You know the most annoying thing about writing this chapter? Charles V is never in one spot long enough to lick a stamp. I had to use the nerd!brains in the Discord to find out where he was in July 1520! Turns out he was in Germany!
As for Beth - she's coming. She's not even 2 yet, so fear thee not.
Yes, indeed it may.
Henry: I’m gonna marry my dead brother’s widow
João: Amateur hour, Henrique! I’m marrying my dead father’s widow
Charles: You are both amateurs! I will marry my grandfather’s widow!
Christian II: Honestly you guys, what the f**k?
João: Amateur hour, Henrique! I’m marrying my dead father’s widow
Charles: You are both amateurs! I will marry my grandfather’s widow!
Christian II: Honestly you guys, what the f**k?
I'd forgotten about Christian II. Oh, god, what fun Denmark will be to write. That's a shit-storm waiting to implode...
Well, unless Christian straight up goes ahead and marries his own sister, I can’t imagine how much crazier it’ll get
But, knowing Christian, there’ll probably be a lot of bloodIt's Christian. You probably have a point. On the plus side, Hungary has a blood free (mainly) chapter coming up soon! I think it's 8 or 9, depending on where the next chapter goes.Well, unless Christian straight up goes ahead and marries his own sister, I can’t imagine how much crazier it’ll get
Indeed. Well, they already have a daughter, if you noticed it? IOTL Germaine had a daugher, Isabel. Now, I have officially made her Charles's and, if he gets his request, she's heiress to the Spanish thrones...
It’ll be interesting to see if common cause connects the Kings. Though technically, Henry is trying to get out of having married his brother’s widow which might end up setting him against John and Charles.
That would be one helluva conversation. Charles and João just being confused at Henry NOT wanting to be married to a family member
Though both were thinking a lot about sons in their POVs, so they decently understand wanting a male heir, which gives decent odd that they focus on the “get the Pope to give us what we want” part that they have in common.
"What do you mean you don't want to be married to a Hapsburg? *Le gasp!*"
Book The First: Katherine of Aragon - The Pomegranate Queen
Book The First: Katherine of Aragon - The Pomegranate Queen
Chapter VII: August 1520
Palace of Aachen,
Aachen, Germany,
15 August 1520
Aachen, Germany,
15 August 1520
Germaine watches as Charles and Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga, 2nd Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo, ride at the head of the forces. Charles is impossible to miss - clad in purple and red, the colour of royalty and martyrdom, not to mention the chin that could decapitate someone - as he sits atop his horse.
"If the Pope won't give us a dispensation, then I shall make him give us one," he had declared in a fury when Bierzo had returned without a dispensation from the Pope. He had been even more furious when he had discovered that the Pope had approved the marriage between his cousin, John, and his sister, Eleanor.
Germaine feels sick to her stomach as she holds a hand protectively over the heavily kicking child inside. Either Charles is going to win and get the dispensation, or he's going to die trying. She forces a smile and holds up a hand as he waves a flag at her and they ride off.
*~*~*~*~*
Ribiera Palace,
Lisbon, Portugal,
15 August 1520
Unlike his cousin, John is not displeased at the Pope at all: he has his dispensation. He and Eleanor are married quickly - she hasn't conceived yet, much to his displeasure - and their marriage is celebrated all across Portugal; even the note from Eleanor's brother, condemning them for bedding each other outside of wedlock and demanding help in the fight against the Pope, cannot ruin the occasion.Ribiera Palace,
Lisbon, Portugal,
15 August 1520
Eleanor lays in bed on their wedding night, her head on his muscular chest, tracing the dark chest hairs that tickle her cheeks. "What does my brother want?" she asks as he reaches down to wrap a strand of her hair around his finger.
"To be a hypocrite," says John, reading the letter. "He asks for help against the Pope, to force him to grant a dispensation for his marriage to Dowager Queen Germaine, but condemns us for bedding each other out of wedlock. Your brother already has a child by the Dowager Queen, so he, too, has dipped his wick pre-marriage."
"Will you help?"
"No," says John, throwing the letter onto the fireplace. "No. Once your brother blesses our marriage, perhaps, but until then, no. He can deal with the Pope - or die trying - himself. Now," he grins lustily down at her. "I do believe it's our wedding night, is it not?"
She smiles as he kisses her and flips her over in the bed.
"Conceive," he breaths, throwing the bed quilt over them.
*~*~*~*~*
Royal Château de Blois,
France,
16 August 1520
Royal Château de Blois,
France,
16 August 1520
Margaret's letter is, Mary has to admit, somewhat of a surprise.
"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?" Francis, Duke of Valois, sweeps into a bow.
Mary glances up from her letter. "Yes," she says. "My sister, the Dowager Queen of Scots, has written to me. She desires to renew the Auld Alliance between our two countries. You and I are join regents in my late husband's will, so I will need your thoughts on this. As you well know, given that he displaced you, I only have young Louis and my sister has no girls, so a marriage cannot occur there. You have a daughter, do you not? Little Charlotte?"
"I do, Marie," he says. He'd never use her name publicly, but it's the two of them alone, barring some of her ladies.
"Then we have our way of renewing the alliance," says Mary. "Your little Charlotte can be married to my nephew, James. You may not have become King, Francis, but your daughter can be Queen."
She knows he'll agree when she sees the ambition sparkling behind his eyes.
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Any particular reason for granting one but not the other?
This will be fun!