FRAGMENTS OF A DYNASTY
Summary: based on the final scene of Elizabeth film in 1998. Elizabeth declares herself married only to England before her Court. Pairings: implied Elizabeth/Robert Dudley/Thomas Seymour/Philip of Spain implied Henry/Wives, Mary/Philip of Spain, Jane Grey/Guilford Dudley, and Katherine Parr/Thomas Seymour. She sat there frozen as if she was a portrait and not a real being. It was similar to sitting for a portrait actually; she was motionless and expressionless, barely breathing, as she stared in her reflection. Her Kat, her beloved governess and now chief Lady in Waiting, was cutting through her thick hair. Her beautiful long mane of fiery red gold hair that she had been praised for in her youth. The hair that had been prove of her Tudor ancestry, that she was indeed Elizabeth of York's granddaughter, the true daughter of Henry VIII, a true princess of the blood no matter what people whispered. Kat was sobbing as she cut the silky mane she had lovingly brushed night and day for the past twenty or so years. Kat had always loved her hair. Every curl that fell off her head and onto the floor she thought about the married women who have suffered in their life. Katherine of Aragon who was so faithful and then suddenly banished upon sight, her daughter Mary whose husband left when he could and never looked back only glancing sideways at the pretty sister, Anne Boleyn, her own mother, who had her head chopped off and good name ruined, Jane Seymour who died in the effort of bringing a son in the world, Anne of Cleves who was thrown away because she was too ugly, Kitty Howard who died brutally and caused Elizabeth to vow never to marry, Jane Grey whose husband's father led her to the block, Katherine Parr whose husband preferred her little stepdaughter over herself, her grandmother Elizabeth who was said to be treated coldly, Princess Margret who died believing the man she married for love no longer loved her... The list becomes endless and soon her hair is nothing but short and plain. Her creamy skin is turned paler and whiter like the fairy tale of Snow White through the use of paste on her skin. Every gentle rub from her maid caused her to think about every time she had been treated wrongly – as the bastard daughter, the disgraceful ward, the Protestant sister, the Woman, the Lover of Robert Dudley. Every title that had either wrongfully or rightfully placed on her – Princess, Lady, Bastard, Queen, Woman, Unmarried, Redheaded Whore, Heretic...the shouting of so many men echo in her ear. She stands dressed plainly in her undergarments and stares at her reflection. She looks like how Joan of Arc had been described. A boy almost. A martyr for the flames. A saint. "I have become a virgin, Kat," she said quietly and calmly. She is then dressed in rich silver under dress followed by a white silk over dress, pearls and diamonds stiffening the soft material and making it heavy on her. A stiff round ruffled collar was placed round her neck, it was a new fashion and it made her look more royal and imperial and of course beautiful. A red curly wig is placed over her head hiding the boy cut droplets of pearls adorning the hair making her look more imperious than ever. Red lips, more jewels, and then the important ring that she never takes off had completed the look. She calls for an audience with her Court and has them all kneeled down before her as she slowly but surely glides into the room. She throws out her power, overwhelms them, enthrals them, and shows them a true Queen. She paused and holds her hand out to Cecil. "Observe Lord Burghley," she said using her rich voice, deeper than before for this is important, "I am married." Only she is the groom, not the bride though she shall be a wife of sorts. A husband is her ruination; he would have his own ambitions, his own bias, and his own male pride getting in the way. Yes he would give her a legitimate heir to continue the Tudor Dynasty but he would be horrible if there were only daughters and why should she want to pass over her eldest daughter (who would surely be beautiful, intelligent, graceful, witty, and strong) for a son (who might be weak and ill like poor Edward had been)? There is only one great person who deserves her full attention, her love, her devotion, her loyalty, her faithfulness, her heart, her soul, her whole self, and it was not a husband. It was her country. "To England," she said loudly. She passes over Robert Dudley who will always be the man she was in love with but it could never be. It would ruin them all if he was King, as much as she loved him she knew the scandal, the way he threw money around, his traitorous background, and what he could make her do through her love for him would ruin everything. And she owed it to herself, her family, and more importantly to her country to not let that happen. She sits on the throne by herself and she rules by herself and she remains the virginal queen. She is only married to England.
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