monarch

Edinburgh is in utter chaos, every road out of the city is full of people and animals, carts are pulling all their belongings, the wheels are stuck in the mud on the road, the master is rounding his arms and whipping Poor old horse pulling a cart.Cursing, crying, and the hissing of livestock were mixed together, and the air was filled with a foul smell, which made it almost impossible to breathe.

In the strong fortress on the castle hill, the performance of the dignitaries is not much better than that of the untouchables below, and the number of people left in the castle is decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye every day.The Queen Mother's maids had been half-run away that night after the news had come that the English army was within forty miles of Edinburgh two days before.Aristocrats are abandoning the sinking wreck of the royal family and returning to their manors or castles to wait out the drama.This kind of drama has been staged countless times throughout Europe in the past 1000 years, and this time will not be an exception.

The Earl of Arlen walked through the narrow corridors of the castle, which were full of all kinds of things, and the royal steward was evacuating the castle's collections.Sculptures, famous paintings and armor were wrapped in oilcloth and piled up in the corridor, making the originally narrow corridor look narrower.However, in the past, this place was always like a beehive, with countless people clamoring for power and wealth, but now it is quiet and scary.Those who remained looked depressed, as quiet as frost-beaten eggplants. Some women's eyes were still red, obviously they had cried before.

Earl Allen looked much older than before, and his well-maintained face also had many wrinkles, and his usually neatly combed hair became much messier.The army he had put together five days ago fell apart in a day, like a sandcastle built by a child on the beach, and disappeared when the tide passed.

The titular Lord Regent hastened his pace, and the Council of Regents no longer existed, with only the Earl of Arran and the Queen Mother remaining in the capital.In fact, not only the Regency Council, but also the Kingdom of Scotland ceased to exist.Numerous aristocrats are flattering London, and snowflake-like letters of allegiance are flying from manors and castles across the country to the camp of the Earl of Hertford, England's coach. Now the Earl of Allen can only mobilize the royal guard composed of 200 people guarding the castle. , and outside the castle, the mayor of Edinburgh's special envoys have shuttled between the city hall and the English army many times.

The count pushed open the door of the queen mother's bedroom, and the only remaining maid in the door gave a big jump, and she almost jumped out of her chair. "Your Excellency?" She looked very surprised, obviously very puzzled that the Earl was still here.

"Where did the others go?"

"They've all gone home." In fact, she was going to leave in two hours, but seeing the count's darkened face, she wisely decided to lower her head and shut her mouth.

The count snorted coldly, "The rats on board ran away before the ship sank." The maid's face turned red slightly, but the count didn't notice.

"Where is the Queen Mother? I have something to ask to see Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty is in St. Margaret's Chapel, and she is... praying." The maid flinched a little, "Your Majesty begged the merciful God to save her and her daughter."

The count snorted coldly, apparently disapproving, turned around and walked out of the room.

The maid let out a long sigh of relief, two hours later it was still too late, she decided to leave now.

……

Queen Marie de Guise kissed the crucifix.She looked up, and the stained-glass window was painted with the eleventh-century Queen of Scots, Margaret, canonized by the Pope.Built by her son King David, the church is the oldest part of the castle.When Robert the Bruce "Braveheart" captured the castle in 1314, he burned down the entire castle except for this chapel.

The sun shines in through the stained glass windows, and St. Margaret's face is bathed in a halo, like an angel.The last princess of England's Wessex dynasty fled to Scotland with her family after the Duke of Normandy's famous conquest in 1066 and married King Malcolm III of Scotland, but her husband and eldest son died in 1093. Killed in the war with England, she also died of a broken heart three days later.The Queen Mother laughed at herself, "She is really lucky. God gave her a sudden and irresistible death, so that she didn't have to clean up that mess." She said softly.The Queen Mother touched the icon on her chest. Her family members were all devout Catholics. Her elder brother, the Duke of Guise, might not be as scary as Satan in the hearts of French Huguenots, but at least he was comparable to him.This icon once belonged to Pope Ulysses II, the famous "Pope of Mars", she was a little girl when she got this gift, and now decades have passed, two marriages, three children, queen mother Sigh, and this mess.

The queen mother stood up, and her French dowry lady Heloise hurriedly stepped forward to support her. The queen mother showed a tired smile, "Thank you, dear."

The queen mother and her ladies-in-waiting came out of the chapel, and the courtyard outside was empty.It was already late autumn, and the courtyard was full of withered and yellow leaves, but no one came to clean it under the current circumstances.A gust of cold wind blew by, and the Queen Mother shivered. She quickened her pace and walked towards the entrance of the corridor not far ahead.

The queen mother walked into the veranda, and just met the Earl of Arlen who was coming.

"Your Majesty." The earl bowed deeply, even though it was an emergency, the earl still did not completely abandon etiquette.

"Your Excellency." The queen mother's voice was a little cold.When the news of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Pinchikru came, the Queen Mother almost completely lost trust in Earl Allen.

"Your Majesty, I have just received news that the forward of the English army has advanced ten miles away. You and Your Majesty must evacuate immediately." The earl was a little anxious.As if to prove his words, there was a low rumbling sound in the distance, and the sound of the English guns could already be heard faintly.

"Leave?" The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows, "Where do you suggest we go?" She looked coldly at the minister who fell out of favor.

"Go to the north first. I have already contacted the French. They will make corresponding arrangements. When the time comes, they will smuggle you and Her Majesty to France, where Her Majesty can marry the grandson of the French king."

The queen's face quickly turned black, "Are you going to smuggle me and my daughter out?" There was a hint of anger in her voice, "And then? Will you hand over the throne to others?" The queen mother's voice became louder. Octave.

"This can be left for future negotiations..." Earl Allen looked a little ashamed, "We will fight for the interests of Her Majesty the Queen." He lacked confidence.

The queen mother walked up to the earl, "You know that if Mary goes to France, the English will depose her." Obviously Henry VIII must not allow Scotland and France to unite in the future.

"If she stays, she will become a puppet of the English." The earl raised his head, facing the Queen Mother's cold gaze.

"What a dilemma," the queen mother sneered, "it's all thanks to you, isn't it? You are going to fight the English, and now you are running back in despair, and you expect me to obey you as before? "

"I have no choice." The earl murmured, "the nobles will not listen to me." If he really had the power to command the army, he would definitely not be able to hold out in Edinburgh.

"Then why do you think that I will definitely listen to you?" The queen mother raised her head proudly, "We are a royal family, Your Excellency the Earl, you may not understand, but we will never be silent like you when the enemy is in front of us." They hid in the hold of the ship like ballast and escaped for their lives."

"Then what are you going to do?" The count lost his composure, and fine beads of sweat had already appeared on the tip of his nose.He had expected that the Queen Mother would lose trust in him, but the situation before him was obviously more difficult than he had expected.

"We stay here." The Queen Mother looked at the black outer wall of the castle. "This is not the first time that this castle has been besieged. My daughter and I are very safe staying here."

"You only have the guards left," the count said anxiously, trying to bring the Queen Mother back to her senses, "200 people can't hold this castle at all."

"How will you know if you don't try it?"

"The English have artillery and gunpowder. It's not as good as it was 300 years ago!" The earl finally lost his composure, and he yelled along with the queen mother.

"Pay attention to your words, Your Excellency!" The Queen Mother turned and left.

The count seized the queen's arm.

"Sir, how dare you!" The Queen Mother was completely angry, "Please leave immediately, or I will call the guards!"

"The captain of the guard is mine, ma'am." The count let go of his hand, but still stared at the queen mother, "you have no one under your command except this French lady, and all your attendants have run away." The queen mother said His face was flushed with anger, "You must leave today to take refuge in the highlands, and so does Her Majesty the Queen."

"It's a coup d'état, sir!" roared the Queen Mother.

"For your safety, ma'am."

The queen mother looked him up and down as if she had seen Earl Allen for the first time.

"You took refuge with the French?" she asked coldly.

"You guessed right, ma'am." The earl bowed slightly, "Almost everyone in the Kingdom of Scotland is looking for a way out for themselves, and most of them are turning to London." He smiled slightly, "However, His Majesty Henry VIII can I will never be accepted, after all, I presided over the tearing up of the peace treaty, so I can only choose to cooperate with the French."

"But that's not a bad thing for you, is it?"

"Your family is the most powerful aristocrat in France. Your elder brother is in power, and you will be the mother-in-law of the French king in the future. What else can you be dissatisfied with?" The earl smiled, "And you and your ex-husband Your children are also in France, and you haven’t seen the little Duke of Langeville for a long time, have you? You can reunite with your children at the French court.”

"And if you should fall into the hands of the English, no doubt your daughter will be taken from you, you will be imprisoned in the Tower of London, and perhaps your brother will effect your release, but I am afraid you will never I won't see your daughter."

"So which scenario do you want to happen?"

The queen mother looked as if bird droppings had fallen into her mouth, and her face was purple, but she had clearly controlled her emotions.

"Are you sure?" said the Queen Mother.

The count secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "I will definitely help you and Her Majesty the Queen reach France safely."

The Queen Mother looked as if she had aged ten years, "Okay then, I'll go get ready." She slowly disappeared at the end of the corridor with the support of the female officer.

……

At three o'clock in the afternoon, in Edinburgh City Hall Square, the commander-in-chief of the English army, the Earl of Hertford, received the keys of the city from the mayor.

"Edinburgh is yours." The mayor was a fat middle-aged man, and he looked a little uneasy.

"I will protect the city and its people," said the Earl of Hertford solemnly.Members of the city council applauded and the crowd cheered their conqueror.

The Earl of Hertford mounted his horse, took off his hat to the mayor, and set off with his entourage to the top of Castle Hill.

Halfway up the mountain, the Earl met Robert Dudley who was coming down from the mountain.

"The queen and the queen mother left a few hours ago." Robert went to the castle to find out what was going on with the royal family under the earl's order. However, when he arrived, the castle was deserted, leaving only some loyal servants Still guarding the castle.

The Earl of Hertford shrugged his shoulders. He had expected this situation. "Send scouts to follow their tracks." He said calmly, and then proceeded to the top of the mountain.

Robert rode behind the Earl of Hertford, his face was still a little red, he had been riding down the mountain just now, so he was quite out of breath.

"What a pity." Lord Gray rode beside him and turned his head. "If you capture the Queen of Scots, you can at least get a viscount title, and maybe you can even be named an earl directly."

Robert smiled, noncommittal.In fact, when he found out that Queen Mary had left the castle, his first thought was that Edward would not need to marry her, and he even secretly hoped that Queen Mary could escape capture and go to France or wherever, as long as she was away from Edward. .He himself was taken aback by the thought.

"Sir Robert, what's the matter with you?" Lord Gray looked at him suspiciously, "Your face is so red that it's on fire."

Robert reached out and touched his face, only to find that his cheeks were hot.

"Maybe... maybe it's the sun, isn't it a bit hot, sir?" He smiled awkwardly, and rode his horse forward.

Lord Gray looked around. Yellow leaves fell on the yellow grass, and a gust of cold wind blew in. He couldn't help shivering, and wrapped his cloak even tighter. "Is this a little hot?" he said to himself.

The Earl of Hertford passed through the gate of the castle. In the spacious courtyard, the English soldiers had already lined up neatly. On the flagpole, the English flag of St. George had replaced the blue and white flag of St. Andrews.There are still a lot of luggage piled up in the corner of the courtyard, obviously they didn't have time to take it away when the Scottish royal family evacuated.

The count did not dismount. Under the gaze of everyone, he rode his horse into the hall of the castle, and did not dismount until he was in front of the throne.He looked at the throne in front of him, stretched out his hand, and gently touched the armrest of the throne, while his entourage stood quietly behind him.

After a long time, he finally turned around. "Report victory to Your Majesty, we have captured Edinburgh." He said calmly.