I suppose I’ll go back to Austria now,” says Gertrude, looking down at her hands, “I wasn’t a very good queen and now without a king I’m hardly Danish at all anymore so there’s no reason for me to stay – oh god, who would take me now that I’m used goods?”

“Who told you you’re not a good queen, because I will fight them in single combat,” he says at once, but they both know who it was and both know that in all his life Claudius never dared stand against his brother directly, even at the very end. “If – if you would be my wife,” he dares, “then no one could make you leave here, if staying is what you want.”