houseofbourbon197: ⚜️XIII⚜️: Chapter I. Part I. (Book II)Where would I be if I were not the king? Wh

houseofbourbon197:

⚜️XIII⚜️: Chapter I. Part I. (Book II)

Where would I be if I were not the king? What I became is a matter of destiny; who I became is a matter of will. I was determined to reach manhood from a very early age. There little else I could do but survive; I was my father’s son. It was expected of me.

My father was Henri de Bourbon, son of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre. He became the King of France shortly before my birth and I knew little else of the world beyond the French court until I was older. Even as I was heir to the throne of France you would have not known it if not for the title of “Le Dauphin”.

My earliest memories were as bright and promising as they were short and discontinuous. At the onset of child-like wonder, my innocence was shattered by the trappings of supposed duty far too early. What I took from the light would serve me well in the darkness I would come to know for years before my ascension to the throne.

My mother, Marie de Medici, gave me life on 27 September 1601 but little else except for my siblings. She was every bit a queen but far from motherly. I might have forgiven her as she had to tolerate the countless paramours of my father but her attention to me otherwise was as distant as the stars in the sky.

My formal education began before the age three—that was when the darkness descended at the end of whip. It was my father’s wish that I would take my lashes as he had as a child for any minor imperfections—all expectations unattainable for any child of that age. I knew it was wrong then as I do now but what could I do about it? I would spend my youth in conflict and my adulthood in conciliation with ghosts of the past.

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It began with my first memories in the court of my father. I was not his first born—there were others before me. Upon my arrival, I became his first legitimate heir and Le Dauphin. That, however, did not make my life any easier. My father put the onus on me to accept the children of his late mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées. 

It was a winter’s day when I was introduced to my half-brother Alexandre. My father entered every situation with such fanfare, you would thought each day was an urgency. This day was no different as he marched into my room with this boy—shocking even my governess, Françoise de Montglat, whom we called Mamagat.

“Your Majesty,” she said bowing with the other servants. “To what do we owe the privilege of your visit?”

“You know my son Alexandre,” father said. “It is my wish that Louis get to know his brother. He is old enough, I believe.”

She nodded as they led this boy toward me. My father placed my hand in the hand of this child.

“Louis, this is Alexandre Monsieur,” he began. “He is your brother as well as your servant.”

This boy said nothing—a look of awkward terror on his face. I was barely two years old but I remember that look as I would see it quite often as we grew up. We shook hands as to make an alliance if only at the pleasure of our father. 

“See, Madame,” father said. “They get along well, do you think?”

“Yes, Sire,” Mamagat said, cheerfully. “Quite well.”

I looked around the room. I did not understand their twisted expressions until was older but they did seem to agree with either my father or Mamagat. 

“Well then,” my father said. “I leave it you to help them become more acquainted.”

With that, the court bowed as my father left the room in the same manner in which he entered. Once he was gone, the tension in there seemed greater than when he entered.

“Mamagat,” Alexandre cried as ran to her. “Is he really my brother?”

“Yes,” she answered. “He will one day become the King of France.”

Needless to say, I did not care who I would become; I was still learning that being the son of Henri IV would be far harder than ruling a kingdom.–The Secret of the House of Bourbon–Prologue by Jaynaé Marie Miller. 07-26-2020

Life as Le Dauphin is not easy as you will soon learn. Little Louis, son of Henri IV, meets one of his older half siblings—a boy named Alexandre, son of his father’s late mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées.