I am a lion.

You cannot deny my ferocity.

I am a scholar.

You will not deny my mind and my prowess.

I am a general

You cannot but praise my warrior heart and admit my kingly courage.

I am a prince.

You cannot deny my father’s blood, sound, and fury.

I am a woman.

My guile and cunning will circumvent yours every time.

I am a serpent.

I know the poison that sits in and pervades the hearts of those in my court and will prove mine more deadly.

I am a savior.

I bring light and freedom to the lives of my people. I leave men’s hearts and souls to them and to God.

But those hearts shall love me, shall revere me, shall fight for me.

I have fought for my place, I have outlived those who would deny me, I have rid the world of those who would supplant me.

I know Who I am.

I am a Queen.

I am The Queen.

 

Author’s Note: This is the fourth piece in a series inspired by the ladies of the Tudor dynasty. The first, “A Smile for a Kiss”, was inspired by Mary Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VIII, who would become Queen Mary. The second, “Actions for a Lifetime (Love Me as a Verb)”, was inspired by the genteel Anne of Cleves, short time wife of King Harry (and many say the luckiest one). The third, “Will You Hear Me?”, was inspired by that lion of a woman, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who refused to be put away quietly, to recant her position as Henry VII’s “true wife”, or to give away her title as Queen and disinherit their daughter. 

This, the final piece in my Tudor Ladies Series, is written from the viewpoint of Elizabeth I, the final member of the Tudor Dynasty. Once declared a bastard, she outlived all of those who would deny, disinherit, and decry her, eventually ascending the throne. Titled the Virgin Queen for her refusal to marry, she ushered in an era of learning, art, and ceiling shattering in what is now known as the Golden Age of England.