Civilians are not considered absolutely. With the living standards of this era, ordinary civilians are all pale and extremely thin. After years of hardship, they will not even exceed 1.6 meters, let alone grow into this young man.
"Nothing, Your Majesty." The old sailor says in fear.
Mary Stuart lifts her skirt and squats beside the survivor, then spreads his fingers apart, exposing the thick calluses on them.
Mary Stuart says to Bothwell then, "What can you see?"
"He is good at using guns, swords, and spears. Maybe he has been practicing since the childhood." Bothwell thinks for a while and says, looking at it carefully, judging by the location of the calluses.
"It seems that I saved a guy with a mysterious identity. I can only wait until he wakes up to answer then." Mary Stuart says jokingly.
"Only if he can survive, Your Majesty. Generally speaking, with so much blood lost, a person with such injuries will go to heaven in a few hours. It's a waste of effort for you to have him treated... Sorry, Your Majesty." Bothwell realizes halfway through his words that this is not very respectful. He immediately stands up and takes a few steps back, bows slightly politely, and then stands up again.
The old sailor also secretly agrees with the words of Boswell in his heart, in fact.
Mary Stuart actually knows better than anyone present how unreliable the medical skills of this era are, far less than one ten-thousandth of those of later generations. But since this young man is still alive, she is supposed to not let him lie there waiting to die for the moral values of her other half of the soul, so she says to the old crew member,
"You are responsible for taking care of this survivor. Add some sugar and salt to the boiling water, and then feeds him continuously. If he has a fever, wipe his body repeatedly with Scotch whisky, and re-bandage his wounds with clean gauze every day... Take him away and take good care of him. If this person dies or wakes up again, come and report to me, get it?"
"Yes, yes, I am old Tom and I will follow your orders definitely, Your Majesty." The old crew member says excitedly, trying to remember the Queen of Scotland's request.
After speaking, Mary stands up and wants to leave. At this moment, the young man's fingers move slightly, and then half-opened his dilated pupils, and says in a weak and almost inaudible voice,
"...Are you the angel who comes to welcome my soul to the heaven?"
After the survivor finishes speaking, he closes his eyes again and faints in an instant.
When a person is unconscious, he will always use the language he is most familiar with, and what he said is not English or French, but Italian.
Mary Stuart speculates that this person is most likely an Italian noble.
After sailing for two days and one night, the fleet finally arrives at the small town of Leith on the east coast of Scotland.
It is the time when the sun is setting, and in the gradually dimming light, the empty port town could be seen at a glance. Civilians gather in groups of two or three in the crowded and narrow alleys, or fishermen who have just returned from fishing and are selling their pickled fish, or farmers dragging a few sheep and pigs and shouting loudly, and a few female workers who buy wool quarrel for some reason, rolling and tearing on the muddy streets, accompanied by ugly Scottish slang.
But as the fleet gradually approaches, in the whole town, everyone's attention is attracted. The gray people gather at the port or on the roof, watching with fear and curiosity, asking each other who has such a big scene?
In addition, there is no lord at all in aristocratic costumes in the port.
On the deck of the sailboat, as they gradually see the situation at the port, the four maids, two ministers, the guard commander Bothwell and many soldiers who are standing on the deck with the queen gradually cool down their excitement of expecting the journey to end and finally return home, and are replaced by looking at each other in bewilderment and anger.
"What's going on? Hasn't a letter been sent out long ago to explain the date and place of your majesty's return? Why is there no one to welcome us!"
Mary Seton is extremely shocked and angry, and is the first to shout out everyone's thoughts.
What else could it be?
Of course, it is the Scottish nobles who do not welcome the queen's return to the country that give their queen a warning at this moment.
Standing in the center of the deck surrounded by everyone, Mary Stuart answers in her heart.
She is so coldly ignored by the nobles of her own country. On the quiet ship, everyone is secretly looking at Mary Stuart's face, wondering how the majesty feels?
Furious? Or sad?
In the silence, Mary Stuart speaks, "Listen, Although these lords have done a very bad job, as the monarch of Scotland, when I return to my country, I need to announce my return and let my people feel my importance to them. Therefore, I can't just get off the ship like this."
After that, Mary Stuart turns around and begins to direct everyone.
First, Bothwell needs to take people off the ship, find the city's municipal officials and soldiers, find a house for Mary Stuart to stay tonight, and then try to prepare the welcoming team and ceremony. In view of the usual style of soldiers in this era, Mary Stuart specifically asks Boswell to bring some gold coins and tells him to remember to give them enough compensation if he expropriates the small landlord's house for living.
Second, the four maids also take the order and lead the ordinary maids to the cabin, and begin to open the boxes and cages to look for the coins that are prepared to be distributed to the people of Edinburgh.
As for the remaining two ministers and several knight friends from France, Mary Stuart kindly suggests that they continue to wait on the ship for a while, and wait until Captain Bothwell is fully prepared, and then set foot on the Scottish coast with her surrounded by soldiers.
When the night falls completely, everything is finally ready.
The crowded and muddy streets in the past have been urgently covered with large mud puddles by wooden boards and straw. Torches made of dry branches are burning every two meters on the street. The warm light illuminates the dark town, and soldiers in leather armor stand in two rows on the street, waving their spears symbolically to deter civilians, so as not to bump into the queen and a group of nobles.
Two or three hours are enough for the news that the queen has arrived here and intends to rest for a night to spread throughout the city. The civilians are blocked by soldiers on both sides of the street, whispering to each other, discussing what the queen who is about to arrive will look like?
Is she majestic and proud? Or beautiful?
"Boom-boom-boom-boom!"
Accompanied by several deafening noises, Mary Stuart leads everyone to the land of Scotland, and then walk into the Rhett.
Of course, there are no salutes prepared for the celebration in the city. The remedy is the real shells on the sailboats. Several experienced old sailors deliberately fire the cannons empty and bombarded the blue sea and sky to make noise.
In order to avoid unnecessary waste, Mary Stuart asks them to stop immediately after four shots.
The city gets quiet.
The civilians whispered before the arrival of the queen, but fall into a strange silence after the arrival of the queen.
People look at the gorgeous clothes of the queen and the knights and ladies behind her with curiosity, and are afraid of the spears and muskets in the hands of the soldiers, greedily staring at every detail, which would become their topic of conversation for many days to come.
Mary Stuart tilts her head slightly and winks at Fleming, the smartest and most clever one.
Fleming understands and immediately leads everyone to throw coins to the civilians on the street. At the same time, Bothwell, who has been guarding the queen, immediately raises his arms and shouts loudly, "Long live the queen!"
On both sides of the street, the soldiers who have been ordered in advance also raise their arms and repeat loudly, "Long live the queen!"
Those coins thrown high into the sky flash dazzling light in the firelight, and almost instantly catch the hearts of all civilians. People scramble to tiptoe to grab those coins, and listen to the soldiers around them shouting "Long live the queen" over and over again. Gradually, their hearts get hot and emotional, and they begin to shout "Long live the queen" loudly as well!
These calls are sporadic at first, and then they are repeated slowly, and finally merge with everyone's voices, turning into an impassioned cheer!
"Long live the queen!"