monarch

By order of King Philip II, the passports of Robert, along with other officials at the embassy, ​​were returned to them the next day by the usual inefficient Spanish bureaucracy.At the same time, a diplomatic express was sent to London, asking Britain to send several warships to send the Spanish ambassador in London back to Spain, and then pick up the British diplomats in Spain along the way.

The operation to close the embassy lasted for a week. During this week, the chimney of the British embassy was emitting white smoke. The acrid smoke gathered in the sky above the block, which even caused dissatisfaction among the surrounding residents.Apparently, the British were burning documents.There is no doubt that when the British embassy is closed, the Spanish police detectives will turn the house upside down, and according to Robert's order, no piece of paper with writing in the house can be left to the Spaniards .

On August [-]st, under the escort of fifty cavalrymen, the British ambassador Robert Dudley and other British officials of the embassy left Madrid in a stagecoach and marched southwest along the road leading to Seville. It will pass through Seville and Granada, and finally arrive at the port of Cadiz, which is located in the southeast corner of Spain and faces the Atlantic Ocean, where it is waiting for the arrival of the British warship.

The convoy was moving fast, but not uncomfortably fast.The British mission arrived in Seville on August [-]th and Granada on the afternoon of August [-]th. It is only two days away from Cadiz. They will rest here for a few days before going on the road.

More than one poet and traveler have praised the former capital of the Kingdom of Granada and the Alhambra Palace, which is known as the wonderland on the heights of the city, in various languages.Those red walls, courtyards with gurgling water and lush pomegranate trees together build a pagan-style paradise.As the last vestige of the expansion of the Arab Empire in the Iberian Peninsula, the city did not open its doors to the founders of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, until 1491. The symbol of the "Reconquista" that lasted for hundreds of years.

For this old capital that has been quiet for a long time, the arrival of the British mission is undoubtedly a rare and new thing. The citizens on both sides of the street are all curious, standing on the side of the road or looking out from their windows. A convoy passing in front of them.To the great disappointment of these spectators, the British were no different from other people they saw on a daily basis, and after understanding this truth, the citizens quickly lost interest in these British people.

The best hotel in the city was completely booked out. All the rooms on the top floor were used by Robert, including an elegantly decorated living room, a study, two bedrooms and a Turkish-style smoking room. The citizens of Granada Still maintaining the habit of the oriental people, using water pipes as a pastime after dinner.

Robert had a sumptuous tea, and just as he was about to try the shisha and take a nap, the cavalry captain who had been escorting him here from Madrid knocked on the door and handed him a letter of audience, informing him Queen Mary, who is now recuperating in the Alhambra, wants to see him.

"I don't know when the queen came here." Robert said while reading the audience letter.

"She arrived about half a month ago, Your Excellency, the queen wishes to keep quiet, so this trip has not been made with much fanfare." The cavalry captain replied, "She is very insistent on coming here to live, and the doctors also think that the sunshine and Fresh air will do her good."

"I don't understand why she wants to see me." Robert folded the interview letter again, "Frankly speaking, I played a lot of roles in her falling to where she is today."

"I don't know, Your Excellency." The cavalry captain replied coldly, "I cannot and should not speculate on Her Majesty's thoughts."

"If I want to see her, when should I go?"

"Go now, a carriage is waiting for you downstairs, ready to take you to the Alhambra."

Robert thought for a moment, then nodded, "I'm leaving now."

"Then please follow me." The cavalry captain took Robert downstairs.

A four-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses was parked outside the door of the hotel. A split red pomegranate was painted on the door, and a blooming red rose was wrapped around it.No sooner had Robert stepped into the car than the wheels began to turn.

The carriage briskly drove up the hill to the east of the city, and drove all the way into the gate of the Alhambra Palace known as the "Red Fort".Compared with the splendor of her golden age, this palace is already a bit deserted. Weeds grow in some courtyards, and spiders also leave fine webs on the corners of rooms that have not been used for a long time, but like pearls on the Just as dirt does not mar the beauty of pearls, so the splendor and elegance of this palace never fades, and a little maintenance is sure to restore its splendor.

One of Queen Mary's maids led Robert up a cobbled path shaded by sweet orange trees, through gardens ringing courtyard after courtyard, where the veiled kings of the Nasrid dynasty who ruled in the past It seems that the fragrance of the powder and powder of the female relatives and concubines has not completely dissipated in those courtyards until today. A hundred years ago, when the weather was fine, the Moorish women, in their brightly colored gowns and embroidered silk slippers, wandered these gardens, accompanied by black slaves holding parasols.

The maid led Robert to the entrance of the Myrtle Court, and through the marble entrance and the colorful silk curtains one after another, they finally entered the marble atrium, surrounded by a circle of marble pillars This earthly Eden.In the center of the courtyard is a large pool also made of marble. The cool mountain spring water is flowing out from the outlet of the fountain. Two rows of myrtle hedges are planted on both sides of the pool. The blooming flowers are more beautiful than the golden ones of the palace. The roof is even more dazzling.

By the sink, facing the myrtle flowers, is a small table and two armchairs, on which lies a peeled pomegranate on a silver plate with blood-red seeds like Like rubies.

A frail woman was sitting on a chair. Her hair was almost completely white. Although it was midsummer, her body was still covered with a thick wolf fur mattress.Robert recognized that it was the former princess of England and now Queen Mary Tudor of Spain.

It didn't take much medical knowledge to see that Queen Mary was dying.She is like a ship with a broken bottom, and her life force is draining out of the huge hole every moment.A year ago, she could still stay awake for four hours a day, but today this time has been shortened to two hours. During the rest of the time, she is either sleeping or looking at the blue sky and the endless sky in the distance. The mountains are in a daze.The myrtle is in bloom, and the red rose is withered.

Queen Mary leaned on the back of the chair, her eyes were closed, and she seemed to have fallen asleep again. The maid came to her side with ease, and straightened the mattress that was about to slip off the queen. Her actions made Queen Mary open it again. eyes.

"Your Majesty, the British ambassador has arrived." The maid's voice was soft, like the breeze blowing through the garden.

Robert walked up to Queen Mary and bent slightly with a blank expression.

Queen Mary narrowed her eyes slightly, as if to confirm the identity of the person standing in front of her.

"Is it my hallucination?" She murmured, "I saw...he, why is that person here?"

"If by 'he' you mean me," Robert looked into the other's eyes, "you sent me here."

Confused mist rose in Queen Mary's pupils, and after a while, the mist finally gradually dissipated.

"Ah, yes, I remember." She weakly tried to sit up straight, and the maid standing beside her quickly stepped forward to support her back.

"Go, Eugenie, let me stay alone with Your Excellency the Ambassador." Queen Mary waved her hand lightly, and the maid retreated under the command and disappeared into the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard.

"Your Majesty invited me here, what can I tell you?" After the maid left the room, Robert asked Queen Mary bluntly, "We are far from being friends, I'm afraid you don't want to chat with me, do you? "

There was a smile on Queen Mary's face, the muscles on that face were out of shape, this smile looked more like a meaningless twitch in Robert's eyes, "Yeah, we really are not friends, since a certain To some extent, we are still enemies... If it weren't for me, your father wouldn't have died."

Robert bit his lips slightly, "Even if you don't defeat him, Your Majesty will. At that time, he will still seek refuge with Princess Elizabeth, and as long as he goes to Princess Elizabeth, he will surely die... Sometimes alone Destiny has already been written, but only when the last scene is played, will I know what my ending will be."

"You are right." Queen Mary nodded lightly, "but everyone will have some thoughts at some point, if the river of fate forks at a certain point, what will happen to you Would it be completely different?"

"'Whatif' is the most meaningless word in the world," Robert said.

"But it's the most fascinating," said Queen Mary.

Suddenly, without warning, she coughed violently. Robert quickly picked up the kettle on the table and poured her a glass of water.

"Thank you." Queen Mary drank the water and her cough stopped.

"Where did I just say that? Oh, by the way, if... I want to say, if I was a boy, it would be completely different, wouldn't it? Or, if I did get pregnant, if I If I really have a child with Philip..." Her voice became a little choked up, "Then my life will not become a complete joke."

"I'm afraid so." Robert said coldly, "but those things are in the hands of fate, and they are beyond the control of mortal will."

"Yes, how many people in the world can escape the clutches of fate?" Queen Mary sighed, "My greatest fear is to repeat my mother's mistakes, but it seems that my daughter will always repeat her mother's fate, look I am now, like my mother, barren of heirs, aged and discolored, a widow waiting to die in the palace where she spent her childhood."

"I haven't heard that King Philip intends to divorce you. He is a devout Catholic. Although he is a bit fanatical, this also guarantees that he will never seek a divorce."

"It's just because I'm dying." Princess Mary sneered, "He knows I won't be an obstacle, he just needs to endure it for a few more months... If my father knew that my mother was dying He can live for a few years, and he will endure it for a few years."

"You have no reason to be dissatisfied with where you are. It's all your choice, and you've got almost everything you want. You live in your mother's place where you've never set foot before you are queen of the country you love, you are the most eminent woman in all Christendom, and what can you not be content with?"

"It's not free to get these things." Queen Mary's voice became even hoarse.

"Everything comes with a price."

"For example, my brother?" Princess Mary said mockingly, "You paid a lot to get him. Your father died, your brother died, and your mother and sister-in-law died early because of heartbreak. And you and he will have to pay more in the future, after all, this is an excellent reason for rebellion... This is only the earthly price, I haven't counted the fire of hell, you and he will be together one day You will be burned forever there, but I’m afraid that you will probably still suffer together by then, so it’s probably not an unacceptable thing for you.”

"I don't know if it's worth it, I just know that if I had to choose again, I'd still be willing to pay such a price." Robert said firmly.

Queen Mary closed her eyes slightly, and the sound of the fountain came from the other side of the courtyard, but it sounded like it was coming from the sky.

"You haven't answered my question yet," asked Robert. "What on earth do you want me to do here?"

"Maybe you can't believe it, but I really just want to meet you." Princess Mary's voice became as ethereal as the sound of water, "You know I'm going to die, right?"

Robert didn't nod, didn't shake his head, didn't admit it, didn't deny it.

Queen Mary didn't care about his silence, and said to herself:

"You're probably the last Englishman I'll see before I die, and for some reason I suddenly want to see you... You're the last person I've ever had in my past life, which meant a lot to me Gone forever, like a water spot evaporated in the sun."

"I thought you hated that life. I thought you hated England."

"I used to think so, but now I'm not sure." Queen Mary looked at the golden hills in the distance again, "When I was in England, I always thought that my mother once asked me The golden courtyard of the Alhambra Palace has been depicted, the cool spring water flows in the marble pools, reflecting the reflection of the cloister like a mirror, the windows are decorated with intricate carvings, and the juicy pomegranates and peaches, During the fruiting season, the whole palace is filled with a sweet and fruity fragrance."

"But now I sit in this courtyard with the pool my mother and her sisters used to play in, and the Spanish pomegranates my mother loves on the table before me, and I'm always thinking of the leaden skies of England , and the moist, earthy air in the garden in the morning... I used to think that Spain was where I belonged, but maybe England is my real home, maybe I belong to neither Spain nor England , just like Persephone, the queen of the underworld, who neither belongs to the world nor to the underworld, is trapped in the gap, and can never get out."

Queen Mary coughed violently again, and the grayness on her face became more and more obvious every second.

"But now, it's too late to say anything, isn't it?" She gave a soft smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Robert, "the play is over, and at least it is time for you to call the curtain."

"I wanted you to say a few words to my brother, but seeing you with my own eyes, I don't know what to say." Queen Mary sighed again, "It's just like what you said, you can say anything. It was too late. We had a chance to become allies, but in the end we turned against each other. Those people said that we are an Atridai family, used to killing each other, and it seems that they are right."

"The royal family in this country is used to killing each other. Didn't my grandfather take the throne from the usurper who killed his nephew? My grandmother also had blood on her hands. She wanted her son to marry me. My mother, to reassure my grandmother, consented to the execution of her own cousin, the Earl of Warwick, to rid the Tudors of a possible claimant to the throne. I need not speak of my father, who died by his hands There are countless people."

"The blood piles up more and more, and the corpses pile up higher and higher. This is the curse of the crown. Whoever is closest to it will suffer!" Princess Mary shook her head, "I wish you good luck, and my brother too Good luck, I won't ask for his forgiveness, I just want you to tell him that today's ending is not what I hoped to see."

"I'll convey it." Robert stood up from his chair and bowed again, this time his range of motion was significantly larger than last time.

"I asked someone to pick some pomegranates from the palace." Princess Mary reached out to pick up the silver bell on the table and shook it gently, her voice became softer and softer, "Please bring them to Edward, I didn't take the pomegranates he handed me... and now I give them to him..."

She looked around, and her eyes finally fell on the myrtle branch beside her.

Queen Mary broke off the nearest branch from the myrtle hedge with all her strength.

"You take this flower branch again." She stuffed the flower branch into Robert's hand.

"What pomegranate?" Robert asked in bewilderment, but Queen Mary stopped answering his question, as if all her strength had been exhausted by the action just now, and she fell asleep again. It slipped and landed on the marble floor with a crisp sound.

The maid from just now walked back into the room, and the two servants behind her carried a huge wicker basket together, and the sweet aroma of pomegranates radiated from the gap.

"I'll ask someone to help you carry these pomegranates back to the hotel." The maid said to Robert, "Your Majesty chooses the ones that haven't been opened yet, and they can be stored for several months without spoiling."

"Is there really no hope for Her Majesty's illness?" There was a hint of sadness in Robert's voice that he didn't notice.

"I'm afraid it is." The maid shook her head, "The tumor is already too big, she won't be able to survive this winter."

She walked up to Queen Mary and was about to ask someone to carry her back to her room.

Robert turned and slowly backed out of the courtyard.He held the myrtle branch in his hand with the solemnity of a deacon holding a sacristy.