The Warrior Class
I have watched the first part of Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. I was looking for Kevin McKidd without the fake accents. He was hot in Journeyman (which is not the best show…) I absolutely fell in love with him in the pilot of Rome (as Veronius) a year ago and now I am mad at his character for being a pig headed man in the rest of the episodes!
I really got my wish with McKidd as Lord Bothwell in Gunpowder, Treason & Plot. I love the scene where Mary calls him back as he leads the cavalry and enters England without her orders. While Bothwell serves his Queen, he is still the dark knight to be reckoned with. At times, Gunpowder is a bit melodramatic but the characters are unhinged, the situations are raw and the dialogue is sometimes deliciously venomous. As it happens, it’s a story of Queens and Ladies.
For years I have gotten my strength from my court and army. What makes a warrior? Tempestuously manly and devoted but not “mine” in the same sense as those who are in my court. I fear that in my quest for order I may have tamed my Scottish warriors. I have addressed this with them separately but perhaps not efficiently enough. They used to make me want to slap them in the face. Now, not so much though we still see each other as much as time permits. My warriors are busy, they have trees to chop, camps to build and “wars” to fight so I do not distract them so much. I have entertainment closer to home…
I still have one warrior who will not be curbed. He is a seasoned coureur des bois and a Briton. He is multi-talented and can build a house all by himself; I admire that. He grew up on the same street I did, less than 10 houses away. My mom, who was still a nun at the time, was his high school religion teacher. She remembers him… not so fondly. Yet we did not know of each other until he captured and ravished me (in Abitibi-Témiscamingue of all places) when I was a teenager. I have always accepted his way and have not attempted to change it. I can control him with physical distance. For decades he was all over the World. That kept him busy. He’s sent letters and now e-mails. I travel to his kingdom on occasion but rarely tell him. Almost a decade ago I told him to go back to his dark lonely place. He did what I asked! But only because I was married. In fact being married was a safe cage that protected me from having to deal with him and his ways. When he realized I was single, he made me understand that things had not changed. After that I started pondering where he fits into my life. He is a brute. He’s a brigand. He is beneath me. He is a loose end that requires tying up. He hides behind his “I’m a cool laid-back French dude” attitude. He may be warm, polite and friendly but when it comes down to it he will not listen to me. He just crumples up what I say and throws it in the garbage. Originally, I fought him off (after a moment of truly fearing for my life) and made him wait for a proper and explicit permission. I did not tell him I was 18, he did not need to know that. He thought I was 25. That moment shaped me into a person who is not afraid of tempestuous men (like Scots and Klingons!) He has requested an audience, again… This time I want to say yes. I now live in a place where his impulsive behavior will not do. I have not shared much of my private life with him. He does not even know I rule. I do not want to lose his affection and his loyalty has been constant. When he returns to my castle, I have decided that he will have to obey my rules. He does not know or expect this. I am who I am today in large part because of him but I would rather explain this in person and in private. Will he get down on his knees? Or will I know the strap, again. No, that would not do, he will kneel.
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