Maid of Norway, Queen of Scotland: A Plantagenet Britain Timeline
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
Great stuff!
I kinda see both sides. I see why she doesn’t want to get involved and I like that it shows she’s got a strong independent streak and won’t just be an English puppet. But it won’t look good to allow her future son and heir’s inheritance be taken away illegally and she does nothing about it. Maybe little Edward can convince her to send some troops, nothing crazy but enough that Scotland doesn’t lose face? That way she isn’t seen as weak by her lords, doesn’t look weak to the wider world, and little Edward looks good to his father!
I kinda see both sides. I see why she doesn’t want to get involved and I like that it shows she’s got a strong independent streak and won’t just be an English puppet. But it won’t look good to allow her future son and heir’s inheritance be taken away illegally and she does nothing about it. Maybe little Edward can convince her to send some troops, nothing crazy but enough that Scotland doesn’t lose face? That way she isn’t seen as weak by her lords, doesn’t look weak to the wider world, and little Edward looks good to his father!
Well, I think it's an eleven-year-old's crux to be somewhat shortsighted.
Chapter XXVII - Man's Work
August 1294. Beaumont Palace, England.
Edward watched as the children played from his window, the two blonde heads jumping and running under the close supervision of Egidia Stewart, the royal Scottish governess. Margaret was eleven whilst Prince Édouard had just turned ten in April, but the thirteen months separating them would seem less and less as they grew older. He wondered what would happen then, when his son was a man grown and married to a queen in her own right.
“She is just like her mother,” he murmured to no one in particular. It had been only hours since Queen Margaret rejected his suggestion of her calling his armies and he could not stop thinking about it. The thought reverberated in his mind, bouncing from one corner to another and driving him mad.
Edward remembered his niece. In the physical aspect, there remained nothing of her in her daughter. Margaret of Scotland had auburn hair and green eyes, with a lopsided smile and a gap between her front teeth. She was no great Scandinavian beauty like her daughter proved herself to be every passing day. Even if Edward had never met the King of Norway, he knew he’d find him to look very similar to the young Queen. It was obvious that his niece Margaret had left little of herself in her only child’s appearance.
She wasn’t a great beauty, but she was loved. Born in Windsor Castle and brought to Scotland at a young age, she frequently visited her royal uncle and sent numerous letters. Edward remembered her laugh and her witty remarks. How, no matter how she grew over the years, he still towered over her, to her great distress and anger. And by Jesu, she had anger. Stubbornness, pride and power. Strength too, sometimes.
Margaret had not wanted to marry the Norwegian king. Edward remembered thinking the match was perfectly suitable when he heard of it, but Margaret did not like that the King was younger than her and reportedly uncultured. Her father almost had to force into it and Edward nearly intervened to make her sail to her intended. When he heard that she had died, he thought how ironic it was that a fantastic creature like her should be felled by such common means.
And now, her daughter proved herself to be just as stubborn and obstinate. He’d been tricked by her passion for dresses and jewellery. It would’ve brought a smile to his face, if they were in any other situation. Now, he could only grimace. Who was she to stand against him? A maiden, a child. Were she his daughter, he’d have acted, but without the bonds of blood and marriage between them, he could do nearly nothing.
“My lord,” said a man behind him. Edward turned and saw that it was one of his grooms, bowing. “The Earl of Carrick is without and asks for an audience.”
“Send him in,” said Edward. His groom nodded and left for a brief moment to tell the Earl of Carrick to enter his solar.
Edward took his cup of wine in hand and sipped it as a tall, strapping youth entered. The boy was almost as tall as him, with broad shoulders and a head full of brown unruly hair, but there was still something childlike in him. Perhaps the slight pooling of fat in his cheeks, or maybe even the innocence in his eyes. Either way, his arrival had piqued the King’s interest, mostly because it was unexpected.
“Good afternoon, my lord of Carrick,” he said. “Robert, isn’t it?” He had fought with his father in the crusades, before he became king. Eleanor had been there and Robert Bruce the Elder always treated her with great respect. The memory was a sweet one.
“Yes, Your Grace,” said the boy.
“Like your father, and his father, and his father,” said Edward. “The name Robert is very common in your family.” He shook his head. “What is it that caused you to come to me, rather than to your Queen?” Clan Bruce held some lands in the north of England, and some in Essex, but most, if not all, of their power was derived from Scotland. And their ties to its Queen, especially now that their claim to the throne had been officially recognized by the government.
“I have heard about the war, Your Grace,” he said. “The men of my father’s English lands will fight, but I wish to join them.”
All at once, the King understood. There was a glint in the eye of Robert Bruce, a glint that Edward recognized from his own youth. Thirst for glory, a desire to prove himself.
“How old are you, Robert?” asked the King of England in a gentle, fatherly voice.
“Twenty, Your Grace,” said Robert.
For a moment, Edward didn’t speak or move. The boy in front of him, for he was a boy in truth, had the same age Alphonse would’ve had, if he lived. The thought was sombre and it made him ponder.
“If you wish to join the men, you’d have spoken about it to your father,” Edward pointed out. “The fact that you didn’t means you know he wouldn’t approve. So you come to me, possibly because you’ve already heard that Queen Margaret has no wish to see Scottish blood spilled in this war.” Robert lowered his head, ashamed at the quickness in which his intentions were understood. “You’re young, with no sons to carry on your legacy and no hope in sight for them, as your wife is barely fourteen.”
“I have younger brothers,” Robert said. “Many of them, in fact. The Bruce name will not die if I fall in battle.”
“What of children?” Edward asked. “Your marriage, like that of your sister Christina, was arranged to secure peace between your family and Clan Comyn. So that future generations would bear the blood of the two rival clans.” He placed a hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Do you wish to risk all of that?”
“The war could last many years and when it is finished, my wife may be of age to bear me heirs,” said Robert. “Father will permit it if Your Grace allows me to join his armies. He’ll give his blessing, even. He always held you in the highest regard, Your Grace. My brother Edward was named in your honour.”
Edward hesitated before he smiled. “You'll have to be careful, Robert. I do not wish to deprive your father of a son.” The boy's brown eyes turned up to look at him “But I cannot fault you for seeking to right what was wrong.”
“So His Grace will permit me to join the war?” Robert asked and Edward nodded.
“I will.” He nodded at the door. “You may go now, to write a letter to your father.” The Lord of Annandale had certainly remained in Scotland when his son rode south with the Queen's court.
Robert nodded and left with a deep bow. As he went, Edward began to think. And think. And think. Much like Robert Bruce, his son would marry a woman to bring peace and they were too young to produce children. And much like Robert, there were still things his son didn't know about the world. Things he had to learn.
For all he spoke, it was very rare for a noble such as Robert Bruce to be killed in battle. Most likely, he'd be held for ransom. And for princes and sons of kings to be felled… Well, that simply never happened and the few times it did resulted in great consequences for the two realms. To take a man's son from him was to incur his wrath for a lifetime and a king was more than capable of having his revenge.
He made a decision then. His son was ten. It was time he learned the price of ruling. Edward wouldn't allow him to fight in a battle himself, but to attend meetings, to see the army and meet the people could give him great knowledge about the world. Knowledge he'd never have whilst being pampered and spoiled at his father's castle. He'd soon travel to France with his men and Édouard would come with him.
This war would make a man out of Robert Bruce. And it would make a man out of his son as well.
“And here, my boy, *points to green field* is where we kill the French when we go to war with them yet again over 5 acres of land near Bordeaux”
Agreed. Him being reminded of Alphonso and his niece when dealing with Bruce and Maggie was a touching detail
I think you're misunderstanding the power of being humiliated by a man young enough to be your son.
I hate the idea that just because they were used to death (not really), they didn't feel any pain. Or forget their lost loved ones.
Casualties: 26 peasants, two horses, three cows and half a wooden stool.
Months later, Lord Howard Clapworth of Ditchbury will lead a force of 300 men to reclaim the other half of the wooden stool, setting off the Eighteen Years War.
And don’t forget the nobleman who died of some illness (either related to poor hygiene, poor drinking water, or the fact that they decided to have a rendezvous night with terrible consequences) they got before the battle!
How admirable of young Robert to want to fight with the English, perhaps he and Edouard will get to know each other better, perhaps become allies or friends..
Robert as a Big brother figure to Ned would be sweet and ironic
Good chapter, will Edouard be following around Robert the Bruce, will Robert teach him the ways of warfare while in France? It would be cool (and ironic) if the two became good friends, maybe TTL Edward II has Robert the Bruce as a royal favorite of his? It would certainly be much better than Piers Gaveston, though certain Scottish clans would object to the favoritism of the Bruce family.
Robert is 20 and Édouard is ten. Such a gap means they have to wait before (and even then, if) Robert gets access to the royal jewels.
Excellent work as always!
I hope Robert doesn’t get killed! Would be ironic and good for Edward if he and Robert had an older brother younger brother relationship or something! And hopefully help Edward grow up into a better man perhaps.
Kinda risky of Robert to go against his queen’s wishes? No?
I hope Robert doesn’t get killed! Would be ironic and good for Edward if he and Robert had an older brother younger brother relationship or something! And hopefully help Edward grow up into a better man perhaps.
Kinda risky of Robert to go against his queen’s wishes? No?