Edward Seymour is seven years old when Anne Boleyn breaks his arm and it happens like this:
The skies are clear, the sun is high and the Seymour family is attending the wedding party of a well liked nobleman. The child guests have been herded into the garden to tire themselves out before the reception and Edward being the eldest of his siblings elected not to play with the 'little babies.'
He picks out a nice shady spot under the trees to sit and read and has just settled in when a mass of dark curls and cream petticoats fall out of the sky. The next couple hours pass in a haze of pain and vivid colours; he vaguely remembers tiny hands clutching at his shirt and high pitched cries ringing in his ear, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'
When he wakes up his arm is in a cast and there is a pale little girl beside his bed. Her face is red from crying and her hair is tangled but her eyes are bright and she jumps with excitement when she sees him wake.
"You're alive!" she cries and he recognizes her voice when she starts apologising to him.
"You fell from the sky," his arm is throbbing painfully and it hurt to move his head but he wanted to know what happened and he really really hoped he wouldn't cry in front of the pretty girl.
"I fell out of the tree," she says, "George climbed so high and I was just trying to catch him…I'm sorry," her chin is trembling and he thinks she might start crying again but she takes a deep breath to calm herself, "I'm going to tell the adults you're awake."
"Wait!" he calls before she can slip out of the room, "What's your name?"
She manages a wobbly smile (so so pretty), "I'm Anne."
(-)
"Does it hurt?" Anne asks, reaching out a finger to poke his elbow. Edward's cast had been removed two weeks ago and he celebrated by swinging at Thomas' head when his brother teased about his 'playing with little baby girls.' His arm was good as new but Anne didn't need to know that.
"Not a lot," he says, flinching appropriately to draw a look of concern from her, "It gets better every time you visit."
She grins at him and presses a kiss on his wrist, 'To heal you," she said, the first time she kissed his hand through the cast, 'like mama's kisses.'
Anne had convinced her father to let her visit him, 'Please! Papa, please!' and had come to Wolfhall once a week, 'To make sure you're not dead.' He was angry with her at first, his arm hurt and he couldn't practice his writing, but she refused to be turned away and proved to be a much more interesting companion than Thomas or Jane.
"You didn't come last week," he says, lying back on the picnic blanket. He crosses his arms behind his head and waits for her explanation. Anne looks down, tugging nervously on a dark curl.
"Papa says I can't visit anymore," her words dig sharply into his ears, "He says your arm is better now and you don't need me anymore..."
"But I do!" he cuts her off, jumping to his feet, "I do!" grasping for her hands. Anne looks at him ruefully and says, "Papa is sending me to the Netherlands, I am going to be a maid of honour to Archduchess Margaret."
"But," he's stuttering, brain scouring for ways to keep her, "But you're too little!" he finally shouts pathetically.
Anne glares at him, "Am not!" then sits down with a huff, "I told papa that I don't want to go," she says, toying with the hem of her skirts. Edward perks up, spirits lifted, Papa Boleyn always does what Anne wants.
"He didn't listen to me," she continues, "Last week the seamstress came to measure me for traveling clothes."
"You're leaving," voice hoarse, choking, "Going to another country," don't cry, don't cry, not in front of Anne.
She nods, fingers twisted in the grass, tearing it out in clumps, "I don't want to go Ed," she sniffles, "I don't know anyone there, I won't know what they're saying, and I…I…" she's crying now and Edward isn't sure what to do, he didn't spend enough time with Jane to learn. He holds her in the most comforting hug a little boy could give and pets her hair lightly.
"I don't want you to forget me Ed."
"I won't forget you Anne."
"Never?"
"Never."
(-)
Edward goes to Hever every time a ship docks from the Netherlands. He and George and Mary pour over Anne's letters and they laugh and cry and miss her so very much. She sends them stories and songs and her words woven in pretty poetry. He returns to Wolfhall with a smile on his face and a stack of parchment tucked under his arm.
(-)
"She's coming back! She's coming back!" he's barely walked through the door and George is already waving a letter in his face, "Anne's coming back!"
"She's coming back," he parrots, heart racing. Mary nods excitedly, "Yes! Yes!" and then all three of them are jumping and cheering and Thomas Boleyn is shaking with silent laughter.
"Calm down children," he says and they do, but they're so happy and he's so happy and they start cheering again.
And that's how it goes for the next couple years. Edward visits Hever and Anne returns for the holidays, they write each other letters and she kisses his wrist before she boards the ship.
His father doesn't like it, doesn't approve of the time he spends away from home.
"Boleyn is a bad influence," John says when he catches his son sneaking through the door. But he lets him go anyway because Edward is stubborn and clever and as much as he dislikes Boleyn he can't help but admit that the man's children are better companions for his son than Thomas (just a touch too arrogant) and Jane (much too timid).
(-)
"Anne and I are going to France," Mary tells him one day, "It's just going to be you and George now."
"When are you coming back?" he asks, looking up from Anne's latest letter.
"I'm not sure," she says, "Papa's going to be an ambassador there so it might be a long time. We won't be visiting for holidays," she adds solemnly
His movements are jerky and he nearly tears the letter in his hands. "It won't be that bad," George claps his shoulder, "They won't be gone forever."
(-)
Edward visits Hever and Anne doesn't come back for the holidays. He and George study literature and politics and they join the king's court with young Thomas following behind. Anne writes him letters and tells him all her secrets, he writes back and tells her he loves her.
Her next letter comes with a miniature portrait of herself, hidden in a locket.
He saves a year's worth of wages and buys her a pearl ring for Christmas.
(-)
"Edward!" he lifts her off her feet and swings her in his arms. "I've missed you so," she says and he grins into her hair.
"I've missed you too."
He spends the rest of the day helping her get reacquainted with London and she kisses him before he sends her carriage home. It's a real kiss this time, warm and soft and she bites his lower lip.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"Forever?"
"Forever."
(-)
They have great fun staring at each other from across the room. He's standing next to George with the rest of the Gentlemen and she's blowing him kisses behind Queen Catherine's throne.
"I think my sister fancies you," George snickers
(-)
"Let's get married," Anne's hair tickles his chin as she nestles closer to him
"Today?" Edward asks
"Yes."
(-)
They cause something of a scandal, John is furious and the king is equally concerned. He orders Anne's return to court and drags Thomas Boleyn to a private audience.
The old man sighs at the end of Henry's tirade, "No one could ever stop Anne from doing what she wanted to do."
(-)
Henry studies the couple in front of him, they are young and beautiful and in love and he turns away before anyone could notice the longing in his eyes. Catherine's nails press into his skin and it takes everything in him to suppress his rage.
He had been on his way to Wolsey to discuss the situation when they appeared, blinding him with their smiles, thanking him and the queen for lifting Edward's banishment. Catherine swooped in then, flocked by ladies, congratulating their marriage.
One of the ladies steps forward to embrace the newlyweds. So Edward has a sister…
(-)
Months pass and George marries Jane Parker and his father-in-law has finally welcomed Mary back home. The king is pursuing his sister and Thomas is urging her to accept, 'Think of how this could advance our careers brother!' Edward isn't sure he wants to, not after what happened to Mary, what almost happened to Anne.
"I'm pregnant," she tells him, cheeks flushed, eyes shining. He rests his hand on her still flat stomach and decides he was never really close to Jane anyways.
(-)
Jane becomes the king's mistress and he gains three titles and a rather large manor house before his daughter is born. They name her Elizabeth after Anne's mother and his sister who Anne was fond of and had moved in with them.
Edward looks into his daughter's eyes and falls in love all over again.
(-)
It's Elizabeth's seventh birthday and windswept Edward blows into the garden. He had just calmed a fight between Thomas and Jane and longed for his daughter's giggles and his wife's soothing embrace.
"Papa! Papa!" Elizabeth cries hysterically, eyes wild, hair tangled, "I broke Robert's arm!"
Edward locks eyes with Anne, and smiles.
fin