Work Text
Montjoy never had a family. He was busy serving as the chief herald of Charles VI of France and was always on the road or at court. But he had several children that he loved dearly. He’d seen some of them grow up. Some of them went to other kingdoms, others were lost early. And of those he saw enter royal adulthood, he could not have been prouder. These were the children of the royal family—the progeny of King Charles and his queen Isabeau, and of Louis of Orléans, the King’s only brother. He remembered the births of each child of this family (and several illegitimate children too) and, while in France, had been something of an extra father to all of them. This was most important with the King’s children, as Charles was called “the Mad” for a reason. Sometimes he didn’t even recognize his own children—and that’s when Montjoy was extra important. He also watched the children of Orléans, just as much his children as their royal cousins.Montjoy’s heart broke so many times he was surprised it was ever repaired. It shattered with the loss of so many children. There would be four Dauphins before the fifth would be king. He watched as Isabel, precious Isabel, left for England to be queen, only six years old. He was overjoyed to learn that King Richard loved her just as much as he did, and treated her as his own child. Then Richard was deposed and murdered and Isabel returned home to another splintering country.And Charles, son of Orléans… he was twelve when he was married to Isabel in a strange match. She was a few years older than him and yet in a few years a baby was born—a daughter. Isabel didn’t make it, though, and Charles was left with tiny little Joan. Montjoy held Joan of Orléans, remembering holding both her mother and her father when they were babies. In just a few years Orléans would be gone too—not dead, but imprisoned after Agincourt. Why did these things have to happen to Montjoy’s children?But there was joy for him too in watching his children grow up—Charles of Orléans went on to fight to avenge his father’s murder. One of the Dauphins did grow up to be King. Catherine married Henry V of England to seal his conquest of France and the terms of the Treaty of Troyes, which made him heir to the throne when Charles finally died.“I’ll miss you, Montjoy,” Catherine said on the day of her wedding. Montjoy was amazed at the beautiful, clever woman who now stood in the place of a precocious little girl who had just been there seemingly a second ago. “I’ll miss you too,” Montjoy had said, taking her hands. “Henry is a good man, I think, under his warrior’s skin. He should treat you well.”“You’ve been so kind to me,” Catherine said, looking him in the eye. “So kind to all of us. I don’t know what we would have done were it not for you.”Montjoy embraced her, holding the new queen—yes, she was always meant to be a queen—close as if he would never let go of her. He remembered Isabel leaving to be married to another English king, though the relationship was to be much different. He remembered the scared, tiny queen and how Richard had picked her up and said that he thought they’d be good friends. Maybe Henry would understand what Catherine needed from a family. Now that Montjoy could no longer provide it.Montjoy met the King of England in the first year of his reign. Catherine, now a widow, put baby Henry VI of England, claimant to the throne of France in his arms. He was a sweet, helpless thing entering a terrible world he didn’t deserve, and, just like his mother had, needed a father. “Henry,” he whispered to the baby, “my name is Montjoy. I knew your mama when she was little. I’ll help take care of you.”