Edited 12/14

It has been years since I've updated this story. My writing style has changed over the years so I am going back and editing chapters 1-4. The story is still the same if you don't want to read it again, but the writing may be a little different. Chapter 5 will be up soon.

Thank you all for your never ending patience.

All Anne had ever wanted was to be married to a man who respected her, and perhaps even loved her. She wanted a family, children who would be loved and cherished, not used as political advancement as she and her siblings had.

She thought that she had gotten it. A husband who teared apart England just to call her his wife, and the promise of children who would rule kingdoms.

And then a daughter was born and her world burned to ash.

All Anne Boleyn had ever wanted was a family.

She had never guessed that it would almost kill her.

The halls of Whitehall palace were empty at this time of night. The only sound that could be heard was the clicking of the Queen's shoes on the stone floor as she walked determinedly to her husband's quarters.

It was an unusual sight to behold. To see the Queen without her ladies present was rare, but to see her striding through the halls at an hour well past midnight with her dark curls falling down her back and her elegant features twisted in anger was an unusual occurrence.

Had the guard outside the King's door been a braver man he would never have let her in, but seeing the expression on her face and hearing the barely concealed rage quivering in her voice when she uttered the word, "Move," the guard stepped aside without further thought about the consequences for letting in the Queen into her husband's rooms.

He was sitting in a chair staring into the fire, quietly drinking the goblet of wine in his hand when she entered. He barely acknowledged her presence save for his brow furrowing and clenching his jaw. Minutes passed in tense silence as Anne glared at her husband.

His face was barely recognisable to her now. This was not the man she fell in love with ten years ago. The man across from her was somebody who had been consumed by too much power, power she had encouraged him to embrace when it suited her.

No, the man who would sacrifice his country to spend an hour in her arms disappeared a long time ago, and part of it was her fault.

If she had not told him to read 'The Obedience of the Christian Man' making him see just how much more power could be his, then none of this would ever have happened. She may never have been Queen of England, but she would still have her Henry which meant more to her than being Queen ever could.

"Why are you here?" Henry asked with impatience leaking into his voice. He did not bother to look at her and it angered Anne all the more. For three years she had tried to act like a dignified Queen, as was expected of her at the time. But now her time as Queen was coming to an end one way or another. She had nothing to lose, no amount of pleading would ever save her. The man in front of her was a callous beast with a black heart.

For the first time in years, Anne happily embraced her anger.

"Am I not allowed to pay my husband a visit anymore?" Anne asked.

Henry sighed in annoyance. "It is after midnight, you should not be here."

"No, you are right, I should not be here. But I have just heard something very distressing, my love, and I had to come here at once to talk to you."

Her words caught his attention and his head snapped round to look at her. She stood tall with her chin tilted in defiance. She looked ready for a fight and once upon a time she had never looked more beautiful to him than when she was in a passion, even when he was the one she was arguing with.

Now it irritated Henry more than anything in this world.

"I do not have time to listen to-"

"When I was first told that you were having your lap dogs investigate allegations of adultery against me, I thought that you could never possibly do that, not to me," Anne said softly. Her words chilled him to the bone but before he could open his mouth she continued. "I know that you do not love me anymore, but not for one moment did I think that you hated me enough to do this," she whispered. "After everything that we were, after what we used to mean to one another, I never thought that you would desire my death."

Henry stared at her with emotionless eyes. Despite everything that had happened between them, it still broke her heart to see him looking at her that way.

"I will not speak of this with you," was Henry's only response. "Go back to your rooms-"

"No!" she cried out in outrage. "I want to know why you wish to see me a head shorter." Noticing the anger creeping into his eyes, Anne made an effort to lower her voice. "I know that you want to annul our marriage. You see my miscarriages as a sign from God that our marriage was never true. I would have gone away quietly, for Elizabeth's sake, and let you marry your wench. You know that I am an intelligent woman, I would not have had a choice. I have few supporters and no allies. I would not be able to hold onto our dying marriage like Katherine had. So why Henry? Why do you wish to see me dead?"

He lifted his hand and said, "That is enough." The memory of him saying the exact same thing when Anne had questioned him about his mistresses made her eyes narrow in anger.

"You cannot expect me to hold my tongue when you wish to see my head on a chopping block!" she exclaimed, her voice rising in anger once again. "Is it not enough that you want to make our daughter a bastard that you wish to take her mother away from her as well?"

Henry slammed his goblet onto the table in front of him and stood towering over Anne's petite frame. "Do not use our daughter to make yourself appear innocent madam! This is your own doing! You lied about being a virgin when we met! You slept with other men in hope of conceiving a son and that is the reason why Elizabeth will be growing up without a mother!"

Anne snorted. "Lies! Where is your proof? I have only ever loved you, even my enemies cannot deny that. I have never been with any other man but you! You took my maidenhead up against a tree and you know it.

"You want to kill me so I cannot argue against an annulment! With Katherine and I dead nobody will ever be able to doubt the validity of your marriage to your pale girl." Anne paused and raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Or do you wish to punish me for not giving you a son? Katherine had many miscarriages, why am I to be punished for having two?"

"You promised me a son," sneered Henry. Anne rolled her eyes in impatience. Henry's obsession with having a male heir had tormented Anne for two years. Under the pressure that Henry, her father and the country to produce a son it was not surprising that she could not bear a child to term. She had been desperate to give him a son, even thinking that God would never give her a boy while Katherine and Mary were alive.

"You have broken promises as well," Anne said, thinking about the many nights she had spent awake wondering what whore he was with this time. "You promised that you would always love me, that I would only ever be the one in your heart. You promised to always be truthful and loyal-"

"I have every right to take a mistress-"

"Do you not understand what it did to me to see you with another? When I argued with you it was not because of my pride, it hurts to see you love another. It broke my heart Henry! How could I ever give you a son if you chose to spend your night in another's bed?"

"God has spoken, surely you realise that madam?" Henry said coldly, disregarding her comments on how he hurt her. "God will never bless us with a son just as he never gave Katherine one! I must look for one elsewhere."

"No woman can guarantee you a son Henry," scoffed Anne. "Not even your precious Jane Seymour can choose the sex of a child! You blame me for giving you a wonderful daughter, a daughter smarter than any boy in England twice her age. If Elizabeth had been a boy you would never have considered getting rid of me, no matter how you felt."

Henry clenched his fists and stepped closer to her. "How do I know that she is my daughter? Cromwell said that you could have had over one hundred men!"

"I should have known Cromwell would have something to say, I bet the Duke of Suffolk has been whispering in your ear as well!" she stated bitterly.

From the moment she had become Queen, Brandon had never supported her. He may have allied himself with her family to bring down Wolsey, but after that he made it known to everyone at court he was a supporter to Katherine, not Anne. Cromwell on the other hand had once been a close ally to her and the Boleyn family. Cromwell was a Reformer like herself and had helped to secure her position as Queen. Now however he saw Anne as a threat to his much desired Imperial Alliance and his work in dissolving the monasteries. It was not a surprise to know that Cromwell would go as far as making false allegations against her just to be rid of her. "Those men are my enemies, they want to see me fall! Do you think I am foolish, Your Majesty? I am far too intelligent to think that I could even have one lover, let alone one hundred."

"There is no more to say on the matter-"

"You believe them then?" Anne interrupted. "You believe that I had lovers to try to bear a son?"

Henry clenched his jaw tightly giving it the appearance of chiselled ice. "I said enough!"

"This isn't about the truth is it?" Anne continued, ignoring his warning. "It's about your pride! To annul our marriage you would have to tell the world that you were wrong about me, that your marriage to Katherine was true and lawful." Anne let out a disbelieving laugh. "You want me dead to save your pride!"

"That is not true-"

"Or is it just the thought of it," Anne whispered moving her face closer to his. She revelled in delight at the fury in his eyes, it had been a long time since he had looked at her with anything but indifference and their anger towards one another made her feel alive for the first time in a long time. She longed to goad him into a passion, to make him furious. His anger showed that he still cared, even if it was only a little.

"The thought of another man touching me? Being inside of me? Claiming what used to be yours alone?"

"Anne-"

"Or do you hate me so much that the thought of me baring another man's child makes you feel nothing?" Anne smiled wickedly. "Or is it the fact that you are the only man that I've ever been with? Does it arouse you, my King, that you are the only man to truly possess me?" Anne laughed softly when Henry's breath hitched in her ear. "But then again, if the allegations are true, then I suppose that I must have had better lovers than you, Your Majesty."

Her words seemed to do the trick. Henry had her pinned against the wall with one hand around her throat before she realised what had happened. A memory of when he held her like this once ten years ago, only then it was in lust, not anger, passed through her mind but she pushed it aside. She had never seen him this angry, not even when she miscarried the second child. In a normal time, Anne would have been terrified, now his anger only seemed to amuse her.

"Be careful what you say, sweetheart. I do not want to see you in anymore trouble than you already are. I am willing to be lenient with you, if you tell me the truth. Give me what I desire and I will spare your life, you will be sent to a nunnery for the rest of your days. We wouldn't want you to lose your neck would we? It's such a pretty neck after all," his husky voice whispered. He trailed his fingers down Anne's neck gently. "I have always loved your neck." The words were whispered against her ear, his soft breath hissing almost seductively in his anger caused a shiver to run up her spine. It reminded her of a time when he was still her Henry. How she missed him…

How easy it would make things to utter a few words saying that she was guilty, it would save her life as well as the innocent men who would be accused of having carnal knowledge of her.

But she would be lying.

Her pride would not allow her to do so. What kind of life would she have in a nunnery? Elizabeth would be taught that she was a daughter of traitor and a whore by the wretched Seymour family and her enemies. Her sweet daughter was innocent in all of this. She did not deserve this life. Anne could admit there had been times when she had acted inappropriately with regards to her station, such as her reactions to Henry's infidelities when she acted vocally, but she had only acted because of her love for him. It hurt to see him lusting after other women, how could he expect her to shut her eyes like Katherine had when she loved him so much more? If she was to be put to death, she would go to the scaffold making it be known to the people that she was innocent. If Elizabeth could remember her when she was an adult, then Anne wanted her to think fondly of her and to know the truth.

"I will not admit something that I have not done."

Henry curled his mouth in disgust. "Why deny it any longer?" he shouted, closing the distance between their bodies. "You have nothing to hide anymore! The world will see you as the whore that you are as soon as a trial takes place," he spat.

"You want to believe that I have had lovers. You are eager to listen to allegations made by men who you know are my enemies because you wish to be rid of me as quickly and as easily as possible," Anne spat, her voice rising in indignation. "You have no evidence! You know that as soon as this goes to trial not one of those men would judge me fairly. Those who were loyal to me would never dare to cross you when they know what verdict you want. And what of those who are accused to have been my lovers? You are condemning innocent people Henry, because you want to punish me. When this goes to trial everybody will see these ludicrous lies for what they are! No court has the right to try a Queen. They will never stand to see their Queen killed."

"I am the King! No peasant or courtier would ever go against me whether they think the trial is unjust or not. What makes you think that the people will protest in your favour? They barely tolerate you even when threatened with death!"

Anne smiled in delight. "If the Queen of England cannot hope to receive a fair trial, then what hope does anyone else have?" Her words had affected him just as she had hoped. Henry's grip on her throat slackened as she saw the colour drain from his face. "You see our marriage as invalid, so how can I have committed adultery, my love?" Anne lifted her hand and placed it against his cheek. The anger in her voice had been replaced by sadness. "Even if I had been with hundreds of men, you would have been just one amongst many." Her thumb brushed the panes of his familiar face as she smiled sadly at him.

"It could have been so simple, Henry. If only you had decided to annul our marriage." She pulled her hand away from his face and shook her head sadly. "I would have gone quietly, but now you leave me no choice. I will go to my death declaring my innocence, ceremony be damned. Not one person in this country will dare to doubt my innocence once I am dead." Anne permitted herself a smug smile. "Do you know what the best part is?" She let out a peal of laughter. "If I die, then you cannot annul our marriage without causing a public outrage. Elizabeth will be your legitimate daughter. With my death, Elizabeth can become Queen!"

Henry tightened his grip around her slender throat and roared in fury, "Your daughter will never be Queen! My son will be the future King of England!"

Anne smiled viciously. "You have your sons with your Seymour girl, if she gives you any, but they will never live up to our daughter. The children she bears you will not be able to govern kitchen, let alone a kingdom. She is the brightest child, my Elizabeth, child of Anne the Whore! My blood will have been well spent if it makes her Queen. So you go ahead my dear husband, you have me put to death and we will see what happens."

Anne thought that Henry might actually strike her for her words if it had not been for the hurried footsteps outside the door. His grip did not slacken as the Duke of Suffolk barged into the room with the words, "Your Majesty I could hear-" dying on his tongue once he took in the scene before him. The royal couple did not spare the Duke a glance keeping their eyes on each other. Anne thought that it must look a bizarre scene to have entered upon, the King of England almost strangling his wife and Queen who was known to be out of favour. The thought almost made Anne laugh if it had not been for the tense atmosphere, so she permitted herself to widen her vicious smile as Henry let go of her neck. She leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Remember my words, my love," before brushing past him and walking gracefully out of the room not sparing Charles Brandon a glance.

The term of endearment was not lost on Henry, although the words sounded more of a threat and a mockery of the times she had called him her love these past years. He stood staring at the place where she had been standing contemplating her words. They brought a shiver up his spine at just the thought of Elizabeth becoming Queen. Surely that would never happen. After all, it had taken the death penalty for the people to accept Anne as his Queen and Elizabeth as his legitimate heir ahead of Mary, why would they suddenly support a woman they had never truly accepted as their Queen and a child they viewed as a bastard? Henry knew the answer. Anne would have their sympathy, and she would make sure everyone knew that she was innocent before she left the world.

What person would love a King who had sent his wife to the scaffold when they believed she was innocent?

But what if she was innocent? What if she was being truthful? It angered him to think of her with another man, the thought that she had a lover who she thought was better than him was unbearable. Henry had never liked it when people took things he considered his, and Anne would always be his, even in her death.

Her words haunted him swirling around in his mind. The look in her eyes said it all, she was angry and hurt, not fearful. Her words were confident, not pleading for her life, as if she knew how events would turn out after her death. Henry could not take that chance, even if she was guilty. He would not let Elizabeth be Queen.

"Your Majesty?" Brandon asked tentatively. He had been reluctant to break the silence afraid that his friend would turn his anger on him.

"Leave me, Charles." His tone deemed it wise not to argue. Brandon bowed and left without a word thinking about the words he had overheard.

Henry returned to his chair and stared at the flickering flames of the fire. No, while he did not love her anymore, Henry could not contemplate a world without Anne Boleyn gracing it with her presence.