Work Text:
June 28, 1406
“Isabella, here’s your sister Katherine come to your wedding,” called Alice as she gently pushed a tiny dark-haired girl into the room. “Katherine, talk to Isabella while I look for the rest of the…” her voice trailed off as she trotted down the hall.
Isabella examined her sister with interest. She looks like ma mére, she thought. Katherine’s eyes were wide and she stood still where Alice had left her. How old is she? Six? No, five? Well, almost five anyway. Suddenly, she felt nauseous. Her stomach remembered that trip to England when she was six and going to marry a king. She didn’t want to panic Katherine, so she turned away and moved to the window seat, fighting to make sure her face was smooth and her eyes tear-free. She sat and motioned to Katherine, “Have you seen the bird’s nest outside my window? Come and look.”
“A bird’s nest? Are there babies in it?” Katherine asked, without moving from her spot.
“Yes, and they are so wriggly.” Isabella stared resolutely at the nest. She hated gardens now, but she wanted Katherine looking anywhere but her face. She heard Katherine take a hesitant step, then another, then she ran for the window and jumped on the seat. Isabella reached for her quickly before she launched herself out the window and suddenly found her arms full of warm, squirming child.
“Oh, I see them,” Katherine exclaimed. “There are three, no, look, look, there’s a tiny one that was hiding. Oh, they are so cute. Look, that one’s trying to get out. Can they fly? How old are they? What do they eat? Can we catch one? Have you named them? I think we should name them. Oh, can we feed them?”
Isabella laughed. “Yes, they are cute. I don’t think they can fly yet.”
“Look, Isabella, is that the mother?” She pointed at a large bird, flying back towards the nest. The bird landed and looked around. Katherine was jumping up and down as much as she could in Isabella’s arms. The mother bird watched for a moment, then flew straight at the window, squawking her loudest. Isabella jumped up, holding Katherine, and slid along the wall, away from the window.
“Shh,” she whispered in Katherine’s ear. “We made the mother bird angry. We don’t want her to abandon her babies.” Katherine put her arms around Isabella’s neck and clung tightly. She clamped her lips together, but giggles kept escaping. Isabella couldn’t help but giggle, too. The mother bird made several loud diving passes past the window, then it was quiet.
Isabella whispered, “Let’s peek” and tiptoed back in front of the window. The mother bird was sitting on her nest, spreading her wings over the babies, and inspecting them, chattering softly. “Oooh,” breathed Katherine. “She loves them.”
Isabella looked from the mother bird to the sister in her arms. We didn’t grow up with our mother, she thought. Will my children grow up with me? “Let’s leave them alone,” she whispered and carried Katherine to a seat by the fireplace. She settled there with Katherine on her lap.
“I like you,” Katherine announced. “You’re a sister but all grown up!”
Isabella chuckled. “I like you too. You make me laugh and I think you’re the first person to call me grown up.”
“Oh, but you are. You’re as tall as a grown-up and you’re getting married, and you were a Queen! And you can carry me just like a grown-up.”
“You don’t have to be a grown-up to be a queen.” Isabella reminded her.
“You were queen when you were six,” announced Katherine. She studied Isabella closely, then leaned close. “Was it scary?” she whispered.
Isabella hugged her. “You’re the first person to ask me that.”
“Did you have to run the council like ma mére?”
“Oh, no, little one. Most queens aren’t like ma mére. It was scary going to England but my sweet Richard was so kind and beautiful and sweet. I loved being his queen. Until that evil Brolingbroke deposed him. I wanted to stay with him even if he wasn’t king, but Brolingbroke refused. And now, Richard is dead. My sweet Richard.” Despite her best efforts, tears rolled down her cheeks.
Katherine knelt on the seat and wrapped her arms around Isabella’s neck. She gently rocked and hummed, then began to sing softly:
Lullay, lullay, little child, why do you weep so sadly?
By necessity must you weep:
It was prepared for you long ago,
That you should ever live in sorrow,
And sigh and mourn ever,
As your elders did before now,
While they were alive.
Lullay, lullay, little child,
Child lullay, lullow;
You have come into an alien world.
Isabella wept. She had wept for Richard before but now, she wept for the babes she never bore him, and the sisters whom she didn’t know, and everything in this alien world. These tears seemed to dissolve the hard knot that had formed in her chest that day she said good-bye to Richard.
Her tears slowed and then stopped. Katherine handed her a kerchief. “Wipe your eyes,” she said. “Princesses cry but they don’t look like it.”
Isabella laughed through the thickness in her throat, took the kerchief, and wiped her face. “I think you are the grown-up,” she said when she could speak. “Where did you learn that song?”
“Nurse,” replied Katherine matter-of-factly. “Isabella, I thought you wanted to marry Charles.”
“To please the king I did. And if the king is content, I also must be content. He seems kind. He loves poetry like Richard did.”
“He will love you,” Katherine stated confidently. “Everyone will love you like I do.”
Isabella hugged her again. “Thank you sister. I love you, too. I hope you can come visit once I am married.”
Katherine’s face lit up. “Oh, yes, please. I want to visit you and explore your new palace and”
“Isabella,” Alice bustled in. “Isabella, you must come to the queen your mother right away. She wants you now. Quickly, my dear. Katherine, are you still here? Where is your nurse? I guess I’ll have to find her. Wait here, Katherine. Isabella, come now.”
Isabella rose, then turned to Katherine. “Katherine, I hope you can come visit. But until then when you marry, remember these things: If it contents the king mon pére, it must content you. The tongues of men are full of deceits. Do not trust them. If you go to England, learn their Anglish or you will know nothing. And pray your husband is a lion so that he may keep his throne.”
Katherine threw her arms around Isabella’s waist. “I promise. I love you.”
“Now, Isabella,” cried Alice.
“I love you, too, sister,” whispered Isabella. She straightened her back, lifted her head, and followed Alice like a queen.