Early One Morning
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2003 3:10 am
Early One Morning
By: the Engrish Spy
Rating: (Undecided)
Authors Notes: Ok so I took some poetic license and I would like to say that there really only a couple periods in history that I love and Elizabethan is one of them. My other favorites are Russia before the Bolshevik revolt and Asian History period. So I thought why not right a Gundam Wing Fan Fiction set in the early days of the Elizabethan era.
Just to give you a brief run down of what I need help with is this: I do not know if there was a Duke of York in the late 1500?s.
If there are any other inconstancies then let me know. I will try and fix them to the best of my ability.
Toddles
~The Engrish Spy~
Relena sighed and held on to the book as she began to twist in her position in the very uncomfortable leather chair in the office of the Lord of the Manor. Around her, the normally peaceful and tranquil Peacecraft manor, on the coast of Northwest England, was thrown to the wind with the arrival of the newly crowned queen and her entourage for what Relena had gathered as much from her mother was to last until the large party was to head somewhere else, most likely to the south as it was warmer then during the winter. Scarborough was a cold town when the winter winds whipped in from the north and across the North Sea.
?My Lady,? a breathless voice rasped from the door.
Relena did not lift her eyes from the book that she held close in her hands. She knew the raspy voice belonged to her long time caretaker and as she aged her own maid, Margaret Pagan.
?Yes, Margaret?? Relena replied.
?You mother, she calls for you,? the woman said as she swept back some of the hair that had come lose from her caul.
Relena tired to ignore the fact that Margaret had asked her to abandon her reading to take up more gossip with a woman who in fact, was just a pretence of a mother and cared more about jewels and feasting then she did her husbands own children. Margaret coughed again as if to woo Relena away from the book she had been reading.
Relena sighed and then closed the book. She swung her legs from their un-lady like position over the arm of the high winged chair. If her step-mother or her father had seen this she would have had the switching of a lifetime. Luckily Margaret never told them of their daughters misbehaving.
Standing up Relena proceed to brush the wrinkles from her modest Vientiane style dress in a burgundy and rose pink with pearls embroidered to the bodice in a crisscross pattern. She then crossed her hands in front of her and made her way out of the study. Margaret followed after her as Relena made for the room that she new that her step mother occupied on the second floor of the normally quiet manor.
She reached the mahogany door and knocked slowly. There was a muffled come in from the other side. Relena sighed and pushed on the heavy door to open what she once knew as her mother?s room.
The room was nothing like it used to be. All the tapestries her mother had brought from the French court were all gone and replaced with the ugly Spanish paintings. The lovely soft and un-carved cheery wood furniture had been replaced with the huge and bulky Tudor style furniture that the Lady Noventa preferred. Relena stepped in and shut the door closed.
?You called my lady mother,? Relena said in a calm and quiet voice that she used when around people and curtsied to the back of a very large looking woman dressed in gold and black velvet.
?Yes,? The Lady Noventa said with a wave of her hand and continued to weave at the loom she had set up in the room.
?The Queen will be here on her tour of the country and holdings. There are a great many things that will be expected of you as she is in attendance at the manor,? the Lady continued in her shrill yet muddled English accent.
?Yes my lady mother,? Relena replied.
?The Queen has also asked for you to join her at court as one of her ladies in waiting seeing as some of them have already been married off, to gentlemen of the court. Her Royal Highness could find you a suitable match while you are there, and as the Daughter of the Duke of York it is only right that you serve your queen,? she continued ignoring Relena?s reply.
?Is that all my lady mother?? Relena asked trying to stare out the window to the left of her onto the huge estates.
Lady Noventa turned to face her step-daughter; her face was contorted in a look of utter disgust and horror at Relena.
?Is that all you can say you insolent child?? her shrill voice resonating off the dark wood walls of the Lady?s chambers.
Relena did not flinch as her step-mother continued to stare at her in disgust, ?You should watch your tong and remember not to act this disrespectful when the Queen is here or you might come under the axe like many who disobey the queen.?
?Yes lady mother,? Relena replied but continued to stare off into the distance.
?You may go now,? Lady Noventa said with a casual wave of her hand.
Relena sighed and then curtsied and then left the same way she had entered. Sighing to herself she slowly made her way back to the study to retrieve the book she had left on the large rough wood desk. Along the way she began to think back to what her mother had just told her.
She had heard of the court intrigues from her father and brother on a monthly basis in the letters they sent her about court life. An unnamed lady in waiting had died in an attempt on the Queen herself. She had donned a white dress that had been sent to the Queen from the French and of course the dress was intentionally poisoned for Her Royal Majesty. Relena remember tuting when she had read the gossip her father had sent her. Her stepmother as illiterate as many half-Spaniards were (her stepmother not caring for an education much like the one Relena had received.) had sputtered out a few derogatory phrases about the girl and then began to gossip about court and court intrigues with her waiting ladies. To this Relena had taken the letter and moved to the shared room with her half-sister and read it to her.
?What is bothering you sister?? a small voice called out to her from a door way.
Relena turned her head to see her half-sister, Mariemaia, standing in the door way. It was apparent that she had just come from her music lessons with Master William Huge for her face appeared blotchy and red. Her nanny Amelia followed her close behind with a pitting look on her face for the youngest Peacecraft. Relena slowly made her way to her youngest sibling.
?Nothing my dear little sister,? she replied and then stopped in front of her.
?Was Master Huge that much of a monster?? Relena asked the
red headed girl.
The little girl nodded her head, her caul and hairnet bouncing, almost from her head. She then closed her eyes against the onslaught of more tears.
?He is rough when you are not correct in your measurements. My only hindrance is I did not inherit the long skilled hands of the English Peacecraft, but the stubby hands of the Spanish Noventa,? Mariemaia said with a soft sigh.
Relena took her sisters hands in hers and looked into the girls light blue eyes, ?I was not all that good in the lute when I was your age dear little sister.?
Mariemaia hung her head and then muttered and I know and then looked up into her sisters eyes again.
?Well be happy you inherited something from Father, the Tudor Red Hair and not your mother?s coarse Spanish black,? Relena said with a small smile.
Mariemaia smiled and then turned to look at a portrait of their father which hung in the dark paneled gallery.
?I hear that our Cousin Elizabeth will be making a visit to the manor?? Mariemaia replied with wide eyed wonder changing the subject.
Relena let go of her half-sisters hands and then began to walk towards the study. Mariemaia and her nurse followed behind.
?Yes it is true, dear little sister. Her royal highness will be making a stop at the manor for a short stay,? Relena said with a sigh.
Mariemaia detected the sadness in her voice and then caught up to Relena, ?What is the matter??
?I will be leaving when the Queen leaves the manor. I am to go to court and serve as a maid of honor for the Queen,? Relena said forlornly to her small sister.
?You cannot go, I will be the only one left in this house with that woman we call a mother,? at this mention of the hatred of her mother, Mariemaia felt a sharp tug at her ear and her caul fell to the ground. Amelia had taken the liberty of reprimanding her and her disrespect of her mother.
Tears began in her eyes again, but the small smile that Relena gave her stopped the tears from coming out. She then picked her white and black caul and hairnet from the floor and then did her best to secure it to her head again. Relena adjusted the caul and hair net on her head and then headed to the study.
?Do not worry little sister, your time will come when you will leave this house and the arms of your mother,? She said over her shoulder and then disappeared into the study again.
~*~
?I hear that the relations with the French have taken a turn for the worst,? A pale blond haired youth, dressed in a black and white doublet and black hose commented to an older man with graying yet still shockingly red hair that peeked out from the black velvet flat cap he wore.
The older man nodded, ?Yes after Her Majesty found their Duc frolicking around in a dress, she was more then pleased to send them on their way. Lord Burghly told me yesterday at the council?
The younger man just shook his head and held back a laugh of merriment from his lips. They never noticed the arrival of the Queen and her ladies.
?Good morrow Beloved Uncle and cousin Milliardo,? the queen said with a curtsy to the two men. Her maids followed suit.
?Your Highness,? both replied performing the customary bow that befitted a man of their ranks.
?It is rather funny that the French Duke had to take off as fast as he did,? Elizabeth said coyly and then turned and gestured to her one of her ladies to step forward. Dressed in a brown bodice and a blue skirt and sleeves was a woman with the darkest hair and bluest eyes stepped forward. Elizabeth smiled and then turned towards the younger Peacecraft.
?Cousin I would like you to meet, the Lady Lucrezia the daughter of the Earl of Pembroke,? Elizabeth said with a sly smile.
?It is an honor to meet you Lady Lucrezia,? Milliardo said with a bow.
?The pleasure is mine, Lord Peacecraft,? Lucrezia said with a curtsy and the other ladies around then began to giggle and blush as the two exchanged pleasantries.
?Your highness you must not push your maids into marriage so fast,? The elder Peacecraft murmured to the Queen.
?Hush Uncle, I do this for their own good. You do not want your own daughters to end up spinsters would you know,? Elizabeth replied with a happy sigh as she continued to watch the budding exchange between her cousin and her lady.
?Before you know it you will have all the ladies at court married and will not have anybody to serve you and you will have to do everything yourself,? the elder Peacecraft said with a hearty chuckle.
Elizabeth hit him lightly with her gilded fan and joined him as they continued to watch the budding romance.
The Elder Peacecraft and Elizabeth moved away from the group but not far away that the ladies and Milliardo would be considered indecent.
?I cannot wait to see the Peacecraft estate. It has been long while since I visited the estates. I think I was Relena?s age when I visited last,? the Queen said with a soft laugh.
?I know she will be anxious to see you to Your Highness,? The Duke of York replied.
?I know for I am anxious to see her as well,? the Queen said and then returned to the crowd.
~*~
?So how fares our elder sister?? Mariemaia asked Relena as they strolled in the gardens off the house the next day.
Relena was reading a letter as they walked in the morning sunlight of the warm August day.
?She is expecting her child any day, now,? Relena replied as she continued to examine the contents of the letter.
?Oh I wish Anne could be here with us to see your cousin in the house again. Do you remember when she would visit before Mary imprisoned her?? Mariemaia said looking off to the great moor to the right of them.
?Anne says that Gemmanies are cold for this time of year,? Relena said almost ignoring her younger sister.
?Fie me and I thought Scarborough was cold,? Mariemaia said not really caring that her sister was not listening to her.
?She also says that her husband is to inherit the title Margrave of Krushenda as his father has died,? she said solemnly.
?We must send our respects and wish the two well wishes into their new status,? Mariemaia said looking up into the sky.
?That we shall,? Relena replied with a smile.
?Did father send you his weekly letter?? Mariemaia questioned her sister.
Relena shook her head and then turned to look behind here to make sure that Amelia and Margaret were keeping up with the younger Peacecrafts.
?Are you afraid of going to court?? Mariemaia asked her sister.
Relena turned to face her sister and then shook her head, ?No, I do not like the idea of going there but I am never afraid. Would you be afraid??
Mariemaia shook her head and then looked towards the manor, ?I would never be afraid, for I would have God and the lord Jesus on my side.?
Relena smiled and then took a little leather bound book from the chain it hung from on her dress and then placed it into Mariemaia?s hand.
?I want you to have this before I leave,? Relena whispered with love and then kissed the top of Mariemaia?s forehead.
Mariemaia examined the book and then opened it up to reveal it was the bible that Relena?s mother had given to Relena?s father for her when she reached the age of thirteen.
?I cannot take this gift sister??
?Shhh, you deserve this gift, and every time you read and study from this, it will remind you of me,? she interrupted her sister.
Mariemaia nodded and then placed the bible on the little green bag that hung at her side and matched the plain green Venetian dress she wore. She gave her sister a little hug and the two continued their walk in the gardens.
TBC?
By: the Engrish Spy
Rating: (Undecided)
Authors Notes: Ok so I took some poetic license and I would like to say that there really only a couple periods in history that I love and Elizabethan is one of them. My other favorites are Russia before the Bolshevik revolt and Asian History period. So I thought why not right a Gundam Wing Fan Fiction set in the early days of the Elizabethan era.
Just to give you a brief run down of what I need help with is this: I do not know if there was a Duke of York in the late 1500?s.
If there are any other inconstancies then let me know. I will try and fix them to the best of my ability.
Toddles
~The Engrish Spy~
Relena sighed and held on to the book as she began to twist in her position in the very uncomfortable leather chair in the office of the Lord of the Manor. Around her, the normally peaceful and tranquil Peacecraft manor, on the coast of Northwest England, was thrown to the wind with the arrival of the newly crowned queen and her entourage for what Relena had gathered as much from her mother was to last until the large party was to head somewhere else, most likely to the south as it was warmer then during the winter. Scarborough was a cold town when the winter winds whipped in from the north and across the North Sea.
?My Lady,? a breathless voice rasped from the door.
Relena did not lift her eyes from the book that she held close in her hands. She knew the raspy voice belonged to her long time caretaker and as she aged her own maid, Margaret Pagan.
?Yes, Margaret?? Relena replied.
?You mother, she calls for you,? the woman said as she swept back some of the hair that had come lose from her caul.
Relena tired to ignore the fact that Margaret had asked her to abandon her reading to take up more gossip with a woman who in fact, was just a pretence of a mother and cared more about jewels and feasting then she did her husbands own children. Margaret coughed again as if to woo Relena away from the book she had been reading.
Relena sighed and then closed the book. She swung her legs from their un-lady like position over the arm of the high winged chair. If her step-mother or her father had seen this she would have had the switching of a lifetime. Luckily Margaret never told them of their daughters misbehaving.
Standing up Relena proceed to brush the wrinkles from her modest Vientiane style dress in a burgundy and rose pink with pearls embroidered to the bodice in a crisscross pattern. She then crossed her hands in front of her and made her way out of the study. Margaret followed after her as Relena made for the room that she new that her step mother occupied on the second floor of the normally quiet manor.
She reached the mahogany door and knocked slowly. There was a muffled come in from the other side. Relena sighed and pushed on the heavy door to open what she once knew as her mother?s room.
The room was nothing like it used to be. All the tapestries her mother had brought from the French court were all gone and replaced with the ugly Spanish paintings. The lovely soft and un-carved cheery wood furniture had been replaced with the huge and bulky Tudor style furniture that the Lady Noventa preferred. Relena stepped in and shut the door closed.
?You called my lady mother,? Relena said in a calm and quiet voice that she used when around people and curtsied to the back of a very large looking woman dressed in gold and black velvet.
?Yes,? The Lady Noventa said with a wave of her hand and continued to weave at the loom she had set up in the room.
?The Queen will be here on her tour of the country and holdings. There are a great many things that will be expected of you as she is in attendance at the manor,? the Lady continued in her shrill yet muddled English accent.
?Yes my lady mother,? Relena replied.
?The Queen has also asked for you to join her at court as one of her ladies in waiting seeing as some of them have already been married off, to gentlemen of the court. Her Royal Highness could find you a suitable match while you are there, and as the Daughter of the Duke of York it is only right that you serve your queen,? she continued ignoring Relena?s reply.
?Is that all my lady mother?? Relena asked trying to stare out the window to the left of her onto the huge estates.
Lady Noventa turned to face her step-daughter; her face was contorted in a look of utter disgust and horror at Relena.
?Is that all you can say you insolent child?? her shrill voice resonating off the dark wood walls of the Lady?s chambers.
Relena did not flinch as her step-mother continued to stare at her in disgust, ?You should watch your tong and remember not to act this disrespectful when the Queen is here or you might come under the axe like many who disobey the queen.?
?Yes lady mother,? Relena replied but continued to stare off into the distance.
?You may go now,? Lady Noventa said with a casual wave of her hand.
Relena sighed and then curtsied and then left the same way she had entered. Sighing to herself she slowly made her way back to the study to retrieve the book she had left on the large rough wood desk. Along the way she began to think back to what her mother had just told her.
She had heard of the court intrigues from her father and brother on a monthly basis in the letters they sent her about court life. An unnamed lady in waiting had died in an attempt on the Queen herself. She had donned a white dress that had been sent to the Queen from the French and of course the dress was intentionally poisoned for Her Royal Majesty. Relena remember tuting when she had read the gossip her father had sent her. Her stepmother as illiterate as many half-Spaniards were (her stepmother not caring for an education much like the one Relena had received.) had sputtered out a few derogatory phrases about the girl and then began to gossip about court and court intrigues with her waiting ladies. To this Relena had taken the letter and moved to the shared room with her half-sister and read it to her.
?What is bothering you sister?? a small voice called out to her from a door way.
Relena turned her head to see her half-sister, Mariemaia, standing in the door way. It was apparent that she had just come from her music lessons with Master William Huge for her face appeared blotchy and red. Her nanny Amelia followed her close behind with a pitting look on her face for the youngest Peacecraft. Relena slowly made her way to her youngest sibling.
?Nothing my dear little sister,? she replied and then stopped in front of her.
?Was Master Huge that much of a monster?? Relena asked the
red headed girl.
The little girl nodded her head, her caul and hairnet bouncing, almost from her head. She then closed her eyes against the onslaught of more tears.
?He is rough when you are not correct in your measurements. My only hindrance is I did not inherit the long skilled hands of the English Peacecraft, but the stubby hands of the Spanish Noventa,? Mariemaia said with a soft sigh.
Relena took her sisters hands in hers and looked into the girls light blue eyes, ?I was not all that good in the lute when I was your age dear little sister.?
Mariemaia hung her head and then muttered and I know and then looked up into her sisters eyes again.
?Well be happy you inherited something from Father, the Tudor Red Hair and not your mother?s coarse Spanish black,? Relena said with a small smile.
Mariemaia smiled and then turned to look at a portrait of their father which hung in the dark paneled gallery.
?I hear that our Cousin Elizabeth will be making a visit to the manor?? Mariemaia replied with wide eyed wonder changing the subject.
Relena let go of her half-sisters hands and then began to walk towards the study. Mariemaia and her nurse followed behind.
?Yes it is true, dear little sister. Her royal highness will be making a stop at the manor for a short stay,? Relena said with a sigh.
Mariemaia detected the sadness in her voice and then caught up to Relena, ?What is the matter??
?I will be leaving when the Queen leaves the manor. I am to go to court and serve as a maid of honor for the Queen,? Relena said forlornly to her small sister.
?You cannot go, I will be the only one left in this house with that woman we call a mother,? at this mention of the hatred of her mother, Mariemaia felt a sharp tug at her ear and her caul fell to the ground. Amelia had taken the liberty of reprimanding her and her disrespect of her mother.
Tears began in her eyes again, but the small smile that Relena gave her stopped the tears from coming out. She then picked her white and black caul and hairnet from the floor and then did her best to secure it to her head again. Relena adjusted the caul and hair net on her head and then headed to the study.
?Do not worry little sister, your time will come when you will leave this house and the arms of your mother,? She said over her shoulder and then disappeared into the study again.
~*~
?I hear that the relations with the French have taken a turn for the worst,? A pale blond haired youth, dressed in a black and white doublet and black hose commented to an older man with graying yet still shockingly red hair that peeked out from the black velvet flat cap he wore.
The older man nodded, ?Yes after Her Majesty found their Duc frolicking around in a dress, she was more then pleased to send them on their way. Lord Burghly told me yesterday at the council?
The younger man just shook his head and held back a laugh of merriment from his lips. They never noticed the arrival of the Queen and her ladies.
?Good morrow Beloved Uncle and cousin Milliardo,? the queen said with a curtsy to the two men. Her maids followed suit.
?Your Highness,? both replied performing the customary bow that befitted a man of their ranks.
?It is rather funny that the French Duke had to take off as fast as he did,? Elizabeth said coyly and then turned and gestured to her one of her ladies to step forward. Dressed in a brown bodice and a blue skirt and sleeves was a woman with the darkest hair and bluest eyes stepped forward. Elizabeth smiled and then turned towards the younger Peacecraft.
?Cousin I would like you to meet, the Lady Lucrezia the daughter of the Earl of Pembroke,? Elizabeth said with a sly smile.
?It is an honor to meet you Lady Lucrezia,? Milliardo said with a bow.
?The pleasure is mine, Lord Peacecraft,? Lucrezia said with a curtsy and the other ladies around then began to giggle and blush as the two exchanged pleasantries.
?Your highness you must not push your maids into marriage so fast,? The elder Peacecraft murmured to the Queen.
?Hush Uncle, I do this for their own good. You do not want your own daughters to end up spinsters would you know,? Elizabeth replied with a happy sigh as she continued to watch the budding exchange between her cousin and her lady.
?Before you know it you will have all the ladies at court married and will not have anybody to serve you and you will have to do everything yourself,? the elder Peacecraft said with a hearty chuckle.
Elizabeth hit him lightly with her gilded fan and joined him as they continued to watch the budding romance.
The Elder Peacecraft and Elizabeth moved away from the group but not far away that the ladies and Milliardo would be considered indecent.
?I cannot wait to see the Peacecraft estate. It has been long while since I visited the estates. I think I was Relena?s age when I visited last,? the Queen said with a soft laugh.
?I know she will be anxious to see you to Your Highness,? The Duke of York replied.
?I know for I am anxious to see her as well,? the Queen said and then returned to the crowd.
~*~
?So how fares our elder sister?? Mariemaia asked Relena as they strolled in the gardens off the house the next day.
Relena was reading a letter as they walked in the morning sunlight of the warm August day.
?She is expecting her child any day, now,? Relena replied as she continued to examine the contents of the letter.
?Oh I wish Anne could be here with us to see your cousin in the house again. Do you remember when she would visit before Mary imprisoned her?? Mariemaia said looking off to the great moor to the right of them.
?Anne says that Gemmanies are cold for this time of year,? Relena said almost ignoring her younger sister.
?Fie me and I thought Scarborough was cold,? Mariemaia said not really caring that her sister was not listening to her.
?She also says that her husband is to inherit the title Margrave of Krushenda as his father has died,? she said solemnly.
?We must send our respects and wish the two well wishes into their new status,? Mariemaia said looking up into the sky.
?That we shall,? Relena replied with a smile.
?Did father send you his weekly letter?? Mariemaia questioned her sister.
Relena shook her head and then turned to look behind here to make sure that Amelia and Margaret were keeping up with the younger Peacecrafts.
?Are you afraid of going to court?? Mariemaia asked her sister.
Relena turned to face her sister and then shook her head, ?No, I do not like the idea of going there but I am never afraid. Would you be afraid??
Mariemaia shook her head and then looked towards the manor, ?I would never be afraid, for I would have God and the lord Jesus on my side.?
Relena smiled and then took a little leather bound book from the chain it hung from on her dress and then placed it into Mariemaia?s hand.
?I want you to have this before I leave,? Relena whispered with love and then kissed the top of Mariemaia?s forehead.
Mariemaia examined the book and then opened it up to reveal it was the bible that Relena?s mother had given to Relena?s father for her when she reached the age of thirteen.
?I cannot take this gift sister??
?Shhh, you deserve this gift, and every time you read and study from this, it will remind you of me,? she interrupted her sister.
Mariemaia nodded and then placed the bible on the little green bag that hung at her side and matched the plain green Venetian dress she wore. She gave her sister a little hug and the two continued their walk in the gardens.
TBC?
