Hello everyone! Given how no one is done with their round & I would love for those who want to return next season to actually finish their rounds, I wanna extend until tomorrow.

I’ll also post some snippets tomorrow, to give you a little bit more insight into my paper people

Let me know if you have any Qs or disagree with the extension:)

Contest Opened: 05/01/2020 at 15:08

Round 1 Should Have Closed By: 08/01/2020 at 15:08
Round 2 Should Have Closed By: 11/01/2020 at 15:08
Round 3 Should Have Closed By: 14/01/2020 at 15:08
Round 4 Should Have Closed By: 17/01/2020 at 15:08
Round 5 Should Have Closed By: 20/01/2020 at 15:08
Results Should Have Been Posted By: 21/01/2020 at 15:08

Thread Closed: 27/01/2020 at 02:46

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Zaralee's Results:

Snippets

You should see me in a crown: Anne, Philippe, Louis

The music played in the most cheerful way possible, with the new Queen danced gracefully with the French prince, light on her feet and with a surreal glow about her – the spring became her.

“I have forgotten how delightful of a dancer you are, Your Majesty,” Louis bowed as the song finished – the two of them had known each other for years now, ever since Anne became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude of France. She nodded, gracefully bowing to the man before her, reminiscent of the past times: there have been instances where she believed to be falling for the man himself and wished she had been of higher birth and the possibility of marrying the French prince was an option – such thoughts could be considered a treason at this point, she’s aware, dispersing that cloud off her mind instantly.

“His Majesty is far too kind,” she continues. –“You have always been,”
“You are the most deserving,”
“And the most happy,” she speaks softly, leading their way into her preferred seat – it was a decision not to sit away from her ladies during unofficial dances, getting close to them without separating their joys from hers. –“Have you gotten acquainted with my ladies yet?” she asked, with a glimpse of mischief in her eye, smirking subtly at Louis.
“Mistress Boleyn,”
“I do believe your Majesty is a more appropriate wording,” Philippe walks towards them, deeply bowing to the Queen and his prince, finding his place with them.
“Surely, I beg her majesty’s forgiveness,” Louis smiled. –“Pleasure to see you, Philippe,”
“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” Philippe took a cup of wine offered, taking a sip. –“Seeing so many Frenchmen on the court has made me feel more at home now than I have ever felt,” he continues in French, switching the language of the conversation entirely.
“Surely it has made certain people less content,” Louis replied in a short snark. –“If I may speak frankly—”
“And you always can, with us,” Anne replies in a heartbeat.
“Spanish will arm for a battle, I can assure you, to save the face of the Pope,”
“And masters of Italy seem to be comfortable here at the court,” Anne said. –“Reform is good for England, it’s good for us,”
“And courting the kin of the Roman Pope seems unlikely action for a French man,” Louis looked at Philippe, who let out an amused chuckle.
“As far as I remember, France is still living under the blessings of his Holiness,” Philippe snarks, remembering shortly he is out-ranked by far. Louis smirks shortly. –“Your Grace,”
“My lords,” Anne says with a lower tone. –“We are amongst friends here, I believe, and I do have to say neither of us without some mistake, but neither is without experience either,”
“Agreed, your Majesty,” Philippe replied similarly, watching Louis nod. –“Whatever my endeavour with the Florentine girl might me goes to my accords and I would never let those matters do much harm to our Queen…nor his Majesty, the King,”

Louis took a short look at the man, turning his attention to the Queen at a point.

“You will keep the aforementioned lady in your service?” he asked quite directly, and the Queen nodded, waving her arm at the servant girl who came with a pitcher of wine. He noticed, taking a swift glance at her.
“For the time being, Lady Vittoria seems harmless,” Anne replied, noticing the way he looked at her.
“Lady Vittoria is harmless,” Philippe nodded: she was a spoilt girl who knew nothing of a dangerous plot beyond the stories coming from her own family and he took pride in his assessment of men and women alike – the girl was no threat at all. –“And courting means very little, which is one of the things you have thought me, your Majesty,” he turns to Louis with a smile.
“Very well, my lord,” Louis nodded. –“Perhaps your next love could be a woman of a less formidable descent,” he added a smile to the end, with Philippe chuckling at him – he had a point, yes – he was intertwined with the Holy Roman Empire women: both Vittoria and Catalina seemed like the worst choices he could have done politically, yet he enjoyed both their companies and he had no plans on marrying any time soon – so why would he not enjoy his time at the court? Catalina was a lovely girl – why should he judge her upon her family? He gives a playful little shrug.
“But if love was easy, would it be entertaining?” he asked in the end.
“Love,” Louis scoffed lightly. –“Love and politics have nothing to do—”
“Until they do,” Anne smiles. –“On rare occasions, you can love the person who loves you back and the world might just fall into place.”

Louis looks at her shortly, exhaling a deep breath.

“For a right person, the world does that sometimes,” he smiled at her.
“You give me far too much credit, dear Louis,”
“Perhaps you deserve even more.”

My boy – he ain't a man and sure as hell ain't honest: Katherine, Maria, Blanca, Leo

The Moor was not the greatest place in the planet, but she did not expect such a gloomy place arriving. Perhaps the golden prince had some gold to his touch – he could make each place he visited just glow up with riches. Apparently, Catalina has decided to play along with the tune Henry played.

Perhaps years in England, drizzle and hail, have cooled off the hot Castilian blood of hers.

Blanca shuddered under her hood, unmounting her horse just a second before Leo.

“What is your rush?” he asked in their mother language, watching her walk a few steps before him,
“This place stinks of death,” she spits, walking into the house to stumble into Maria – platter of tea at her hands already. –“Maria—”
“She has limited help here,” she says immediately as Leo walked into the house and took the tray off her hands, walking towards the room, leaving Maria with Blanca at the entrance.
“Where is the princess?”
“Lady Mary,” Maria corrects her with some sound of disdain in her voice – she pushed through a curtain to see the yard: there was no one around to witness to this encounter and it was of the greatest matter. –“Mary is forbidden to see her mother, Blanca, and the Queen is forbidden to see anyone,”
“You are not supposed to be here either,” Blanca says, eye fixed on Maria as the woman turned to lead her into the Queen’s chambers.
“We are all someplace where we should not be,” she speaks and abruptly stops before they reach the bedchambers. –“I need to warn you, Blanca, the Queen is fasting—”
“I have seen many women suffering after their husbands have decided they are not enough,” she spat out, walking into the room – but she was, in the end, unprepared.

The Queen sat in the tall chair near the fireplace, cheeks sunken into her pale skin, hair falling on her back loosely. Blanca made her best attempt of not to seem surprised, managing a soft curtsy next to Catalina and smiles at her.

“Your Majesty,” she said in a soft voice. –“It is so good to see you,”
“And your company is appreciated, Blanca,” she said, waving her hand at Leo as he offered her the tea. –“We have no time for courtesies,” Catalina speaks. –“Perhaps now is as good as time as any, but we need to make some plans to help my daughter,”
“Princess Mary is safe, your majesty—” Leo begun, and she cuts him again.
“I am not a Majesty anymore, Leo,” Catalina hissed. –“And my Mary is no longer a princess,”
“Henry will surely—” Blanca starts.

“That whore is pregnant, that part of this is real,” Catalina said in a short breath. Leo leaned onto the fireplace – he knew this to be the truth, a lady who brought the news to him was a trusted woman he paid for information. Anne Boleyn did her bidding early on.
“The second she gives birth to an heir, Princess Mary will be removed from the line,” Maria says. Blanca looked at the queen and exchanged a glance with Leo: the understanding glance in his eyes was a familiar one. Blanca had known it from before – Leo has been a friendly figure in her life for ages now and in many other lives too – there was no religion, no nation, no belief that would make him judge a person – and she had thanked her god it was him who helped her escape. And he is going to do the same thing again. Yes, she is leaving some friends here, and all three of them would be missed by her, but Blanca had to leave.

“My poor child,” Catalina says out of nowhere. –“My poor Mary, I pray for her every night, but perhaps there is nothing our God can do anymore.”

Leo looked away as the queen caught his gaze – as much as he would have liked to pray with the queen, he could not say those words and mean it. His heart went to the princess, but his words would be untrue and it would have been unjust to the queen, to anyone – and Leo could not do that: he was aware people spoke badly of his ways, even those he considered to have gotten to know him, clearly have not. He was, in the end, leaving the country alone, although he had believed he would have had a company on this voyage. Lavinia had a change of hearts only moments after she had shown him kindness and affection: he couldn’t say what went wrong, but perhaps it was best to flee this place without being responsible for anyone’s but his own life.

“Perhaps we can do something,” Blanca replied shortly, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. – “Maybe we can allow the princess to have a better life.”
“Blanca,” Maria sighs the word out. –“Whatever you say beyond this might be—”
“We’re committing treason just by being here,” Blanca spits. –“But maybe some good can still come out of this.

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

Winner Announcements

Hi guys! Given I've had some RL stuff to deal with, this is a little bit late & since I have zero editing software on my laptop at this time, I am not at my top game with banners, but I would like to give credit where credit is due.

Thank you for being amazing contestants, for giving me something to work with and for allowing me to run wild with imagination. Thank you for the support and amazing stories.

Overall Winner: Jadis

Our late arrival, Lucrezia, started as a blank page for me and quickly turned into an enjoyable story, with intricately outlined words, phrases and nuanced way of threading around a very delicate period. I enjoyed all of the stories, loved how you made me think about things in detail with your question and how you wrote my paper people start to finish - looking forward to seeing where her brains take her next - not to mention now, with her brother at the court!

2nd Place Winner: Bambi

Colette turned out to be a wild card: I had no clue when to place her when she began, but then things quickly turned, well, hot. I enjoyed your stories, the subtle jumps between all the hot & heavy bits and real struggle behind her character. I'm looking forward to her upcoming adventures and coming to terms with her sexuality and power alike.

3rd Place Winner: Chayanne

Am I repeating myself if I say I had no idea where this could go? Maybe, but it is what it is: Catalina was fun to read and definitely an amusing personality to add into the mix. There was always an elevated spirit about her I enjoyed throughout the season. I am really looking forward to seeing her with Cristobal at the court next season.

Best dressed: Hhgurl

Easy choice for the category: I honestly loved each and every outfit Vittoria wore during her shenanigans at the court - I enjoyed her interactions with her brother, and other courtiers as well: I know those were not easy to make, took time and probably cost you some nerves. I liked the layers that started showing up with her as she opened up and I'm looking forward to see how you explore her in the next season.

The Most Intriguing Story: Tricole

Cat quickly grew on me, I have to say before anything else: I am hoping to have her back the next season, and given how things at court can sometimes turn out better than expected, I really hope you haven't given up on her - it would be a shame to abandon such a lovely character before we truly get to know her.

The Most Original Storyline: Dare

I honestly had no idea where you would go with Lavinia, and I liked that part of the experience. I love how she kept her personality until the very end, keeping in her own values and character easily, effortlessly and with her whole heart.

The Most Romantic Story: Schogo

Bubbly and stumbly Eleanor was sure to win a heart or two, but when I suggested Will would be a possible match, I had no idea it would turn into such a lovely, organic and intuitive romance - I am looking forward to seeing you explore them more!

The Wild Child: Nina

Perhaps it began better than it ended, but I would like to see you mend Scarlett's broken heart next season and not give up on her due to the slip-up, hopefully, there will be more time and inspiration in the next season!

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