I don't own 'The Tudors' or anything related to them.

Whitehall Palace, 1530

The wind blew againt the girl's flushed face as she ran hastily, evading the larger bodies of attendants and courtiers as she weaved her way through the royal court. She had to get to her papa, there was some grave news to tell and urgent things to do. But the man guarding the Privy office would not let her in, not even when she gave the man her full name. "Please, sir. I have to talk to papa." the fifteen year old insisted.

Shaking his burly head, the guard stayed put, his spear menacingly clutched in his fists. Alice cursed her twin brother Greg, if he had come the guards would let him in for he was a boy and she was just a silly girl to them. "The King is in council." was all the guard said and turned away but his spear still glinted threatiningly in front of her.

Then an idea struck the girl. Her eyes went wide as if in astonishment and she gasped, "The Queen!" she exclaimed pointing at the empty corridor. The trick worked as bothe the guards lost focus and the girl pushed past them and into the room.

Alice Cromwell would have giggled at her own ingenious had she not felt the eyes staring at her. Men in dark robes sat around in a large table, gold chains hung around their neck and most glared at her while a few gave her a pitying look. Immediately she forze on her steps and realized how simple she had dressed today compared to the expensive fabrics and intricate furs these men wore.

"Who is this girl?" a harsh voice made her furious. Yes, she was a girl but the man had spat it like being female was a curse, as if she were the biggest burden on earth. She was about to retort about men's fickle nature when she really saw who it was. 'Why is it always me?' Alice quizzed in her mind.

"Forgive me, your majesty for the rather rude interruption from this young woman." she heard her papa's voice from the end of the table, near where the king sat. The chastising glare that Thomas Cromwell gave his daughter assured that there would be a long talk when they got home that night. "She is but a foolish child who has forgotten the civil propriety that her mother and I had tried to teach her." seeing her papa bow his head in shame sparked guilt and hurt inside Alice. Her father never bowed down to anyone.

"Hmm. Am I right to believe that this is your daughter, Master Cromwell?" Henry Tudor asked uninterestedly. At his newly appointed counsellor's nod, Henry thought of the young girl in front of him again. 'T'is only a honest mistake from a child.' he negated with his conscious. "There must be a valid reason for interrupting such an important meeting."

Remembering the reason she was here, Alice looked pleading at her father. "It's Nana Mercy. A messenger arrived from Hartford not an hour ago, she asks for my presence." she relayed her news and noted that many men in the room looked at her, shocked.

"Then I shall send for my pageboy to fetch a litter." Alice's brows crinkled in confusion when the king said that, she was sure he would be angry with her. From the corner of her eye she saw two men share a wary look, the Boleyns, Alice recognized them from the last Christmas feast she had been dragged to by her father. "Now, Mistress Cromwell, if that's all you are dismissed." King Henry waved lazily and sat on his cushioned chair, his mind already focused on how to covet an annulment from Rome.

Alice curtsied deeply, "Your majesty." she murmured before walking out of the chamber, avoiding eye contact with her father. When she had reached the litter that the King had arranged for her, Alice thought of the foolish act she had committed. 'Why couldn't I have just waited for father to come out of the room?' she repeated the same question over and over again as they rode to Hartford for her aunt's house.

Cromwell House, November 1531

The house was in chaos when Alice came from the markets, her maid Rebecca, an older woman with a kind face, told her that there was to be a feast for her birthday. She knew the celebration was not for her and for the welcoming of her elder brother but she put a smile and went to her room to get ready. If this had been a few years ago, Alice would be in the kitchen with her mother helping her to prepare the meal while her little sisters, Annie and Grace, would be pulling at each other's hair or playing with their dolls. She felt tears brim in her blue eyes and wiped it before it could topple over. Losing her mother and sisters to sweat had been too hard for Alice to cope for the first year but eventually life moved on and the hurt and pain subsided.

That night she smiled through dinner as her father and brother discussed texts, only contributing when the two men seemed to notice she was with them. Her father had taught all her children well, even the girls. The most brightest of his pupils had always been Alice but unlike Greg, there was no university that accepted women in England and her father did not deem it necessary for her to have a private tutor which resulted in her stunted education. She had her father's gift for language, having adapted Italian, French, Latin, Spanish and German since childhood. Greg said it was enough that she knew so much, what else could a woman learn and to what end?

"They say the King wishes to divorce the good Queen Katharine and take that Boleyn whore as wife." Greg pretended to not notice the sudden stiffness in their father's body as he continued, "It is not for simple men like us to meddle in their business, that's what I said to Richard." my poor twin brother tried to brush the comment off but father had a strange glint in his eyes.

"You should also tell you simple-minded cousin that those are dangerous words and to not repeat them again. As for naming Lady Anne Boleyn a whore, would you like it if it had been Alice in her place? The only crime Lady Anne had committed is that she caught the King's eye when things were... changing." Thomas' tone was somewhat sympathetic as he defended the Lady Boleyn. "Now that we are on this matter, I should inform you that the King has created me Lord Chancellor since the position had been vacated not a while ago." Alice brightened immediately.

"That is great news, papa." she enthused and smiled along her twin.

"That's not all, I have also managed to secure a position in the Princess Mary's household for you Alice. You shall be her companion in Ludlow Castle." Alice felt like her father had just slapped her. She knew that she would soon be given away to either the Queen or the Duchess of Suffolk but Princess Mary? She was sure the other girl would not like her at all.

"Papa, I don't think-" her protest was cut short as Thomas spoke over her.

"Alice, I have already given my word to the king, I cannot take it back, dear." he said, almost regrettingly. Alice knew her father would do anything in his power to keep her away from politics like he had done for Greg until now. The King must have insisted on it for her father to not be able to refuse but why did the king want her as a companion to his daughter? She was not a lady born to nobility nor did she possess any great fortune other than her gift for language. The only encounter she had with the King had not been a good one either for him to ask for her services.

"But why me?" she could not stop herself from asking.

"You are closer to the princess' age and he knows of your gift with language. The princess' tutor will also welcome your input in teaching her highness Italian and some German, instead he will teach you Greek." there was a notable spark to Alice's eyes when Thomas said that. In the end she reluctantly agreed, if not for the chance of learning a new language, she would not have agreed so soon.

"Good, you have until New Year to prepare everything." her father planted a soft kiss on her forehead before he left for her to catch up wwith her older twin. Gregory knew it would not be wise to covet out infromation from his sister right now. She needed time to think for herself so he instead inquired after what news London had to offer. The two siblings jested and argued fiercely until their old nurse Rebecca came to usher them to bed.

"I have missed you, brother." Alice told her best friend and only family after her father. Her brother smiled sadly at her before leaving her to her own devices.

All night the female Cromwell thought of her future. Was her father trying to rid of her? Or did the King really did insist on her appointment? How would Alice befriend the Princess Mary given her lowly status as a lawyer's daughter? Even if her father was rising, he was not popular with the present Queen and her daughter for the work he did in Anne Boleyn's favour. 'This should be interesting.' she thought as her eyelids drooped in sleep. 'Sleep well.' she told herself and dreamed peacefully.