Authors Note: I know this has been a rather long waiting period for this chapter and I apologize! Real life just sort of caught up with me, unfortunately. Also, there is a sex scene. You have been warned. It's not too explicit, but there will be more...mature content in the future. There will also be some historical inaccuracies since it is AU and follow the show more than actual history. (And we all know how many liberties the show took, no?) Also, thanks so much for all of the reviews! I'll be replying to them at the end of the chapter.

Can you lie next to her and give her your heart?

Chapter One - Part Two

The dulcet tones of the flames crackling within the fireplace acted as the disarmingly peaceful soundtrack for the tension building within the small space between them. Neither the King nor Queen had spoken a word or moved an inch since Anne's declaration. Henry's blue eyes were clouded over as he stared down at his wife, and his full lips felt unbearably dry in their half opened state. The hands that she'd removed from her slender arms itched to grip her tightly once more and shake her with all the strength he possessed but his mind and body had not yet caught up with one another. Anne remained steady, unwilling to allow her gaze to falter as she waited in trepidation for Henry's reply, as time and experience had taught her better than to speak until the King had made his first move.

No matter how he looked at it, Henry had to concede that this was the best alternative to be rid of her for once and all. Yet, the fact that she was so willing to walk away upset something within him. Perhaps it hurt the heart most claimed he did not have, or perhaps her declaration wounded his pride. Who was she to ask for the divorce of a great man and monarch? Where were her words and her speeches of the devotion she held within her for her lord and master? Was it so easy to give up this great love she professed to have for him? Where was the passion and the emotion he was so used to and expected from her? Who was she, a mere woman, to walk out on a King as if she were the better of them? Why, the woman was mocking his very manhood!

"This marriage is not over until I say it is over!" Henry's fingers wrapped around the thick material of Anne's sleeves as he gripped her tightly in his hands and shook her as if his very life depended on it. "I am the fucking King of England! Who are you to make these decisions?"

No longer was the Queen's countenance calm. The entirety of her being shook with unbridled rage as she struggled against his demanding grasp. How dare he? Anne lifted her head high, tilting her chin regally as she willed all of the pain…every damned emotion he'd tormented her with into that one single glare. "I am the one who loves you most!" Her lips trembled with her declaration as her gripped onto the lapels of his doublet till her knuckles strained and turned white. "I am the mother of your child! It is my heart that you've spurned and my bed that you've forsaken, Henry! I am your Queen and the keeper of your heart! I've dragged my name through the mud, for you! I've allowed myself to be called the Great Whore of Christendom…for you!" The tears were finally streaming down her alabaster cheeks as she allowed the pain to rack her body.

"I am not finished!" She pushed him away roughly as he made to speak; countering the outrage in his glare with the torment in her own. "Yes, Henry, yes…I have lied to you," she waved her hands in her fury, "but never about the love I have held and continue to hold for you in my heart! I was forced into your arms, by my father and my uncle, but this heart…this wretched thing that beats within my bosom was given willingly and now I shall never have it back from its abuser. You possess me Henry; you consume me body and soul. Who am I, you ask? I am yours. I am broken, wretched and most unhappy, but I am yours…forever, I fear."

"Then why a divorce?" Henry slammed his hand harshly against the wall, barely flinching as flesh made impact with hard stone. "If you love me as you say you do, why ask for a divorce? This is another of your plots, witch! This is another ploy to further your favor!" There was something deep within his azure gaze that held a hint of sadness and an internalized need for the siren before him, but his own pride and vanity overpowered it.

"Because I cannot have you as you have me." The words were blunt and wretched as they escaped her stained lips. "You did belong to me once," she whispered regretfully, "when you were just my darling Henry. However, my Henry has become lost to the title of King and what an angry, demanding King you can be. You belong to your insecurities, Your Majesty. The fear of leaving England without an heir will drive you mad as it has managed to drive me to the brink, and though my love for you is indeed great…one thing overcomes it. I would die before I ever agreed to stop loving you…I would stand against every harlot and stand trial should I have to, but not at the cost of my daughter. I ask you for this divorce to save my Elizabeth from the same tortures I now see my actions forced upon Mary."

The King of England glared at his Queen; the muscles in his jaw tensing as he clenched his teeth together and fought against the rage building with each passing second she refused to look away from him. Anne's eyes had always unraveled him. Now, as they burned with a determined fire and froze him with the emotions she harbored within her; Henry wanted – no…needed her to look away. "You think I would harm my own daughter?" He reached forward, gripping her wrist as he pulled her harshly back into his arms. "Am I truly that much of a monster to you, Madam?" Henry's thumb pressed relentlessly against her throat as he maneuvered them so she was pressed against the wall and him against her.

"Never a monster, my love," Anne's deep eyes blazed as her fingers ripped at the material of his doublet and his tore at her bodice, "but a King. Always a King."

Henry's lips bruised hers as they crashed together in a flurry of eager hands and ripped clothing. Buttons and ribbon fell to the floor only to be followed by strips of torn fabric. Such was their need to touch – to feel one another that Anne found herself ignoring the biting pain of stone grinding against the flesh of her back and Henry only hissed in pleasure as her nails raked along the planes of his chest. He leaned back, ripping his damaged doublet the rest of the way off before pulling the white gauzy material of his shirt from his breeches to join it on the floor. Not sparing a moment, he leaned down to grab the dagger from his boot and went to work on his lover's dress.

The sharp edge of the small weapon glistened against the flickering firelight before burying itself in the thick fabric and ripping away at the corset that confined her. The glinting dagger scratched the valley between Anne's pale breasts as Henry laid waste to the ties of her chemise and she leaned forward to better tug at the heavy material of his trousers. Neither could move fast enough for the others liking as their hands ravaged and their lips sought each other punishingly. The Queen groaned as she hit the stone wall harshly once more and Henry lifted her legs about his waist where she latched onto him possessively.

"If I give you this divorce," he grunted the words before kissing the supple mounds of flesh beneath his lips, "you'll just walk away?"

Anne's nails clawed at the smooth expanse of his back; fingers dragging along the planes of his shoulders as she wordlessly nodded her head in agreement. "For Elizabeth," she ground out the words as he slid inside her, ignoring the preamble of foreplay in the face of their mutual need for possession. His hands gripped her hips roughly, bruising the tender flesh beneath as he impaled her - punishing them both for this moment of weakness and surrender. She tugged at the flesh of his lower lip till she could taste rust and salt while her fingers left deep welts of crimson that she prayed that milk and honey whore would have the pleasure of seeing. Together their passions merged and the bittersweet rapture of the great love they had once shared moved them to exaltation and the rest of the world went black with darkness.

When Henry woke in the morning, in his own bed, he had all but expected to see Anne resting beside him. Perhaps he'd even expected her to gloat or even demand the world to shine upon her and their 'rekindled love' as she would call it. Instead, he awoke to a bitter chill and a bed empty, except for one lone letter with a curling script he immediately recognized.

My beloved Henry,

The pain within my breast as I write this is most unbearable, but all the same there are certain things in life which must be done for the greater good. I beg of you and beseech that you find it within you and the affection you once felt for me to let me go. I will retire to Pembroke and relinquish the title of Queen as it pleases Your Majesty to bestow it upon someone else with the express wish that I may one day return to and from court at my own leisure. All I ask is that you look upon our daughter kindly and remember that she is the product of a time when we were most happy. Though she is not the son you wanted and I so foolishly promised; she is created in your image and I ask you never to doubt the strength and intelligence that burns so fiercely within her.

For all of the pain I have caused you and for any wrong I have committed against his Most Gracious Prince, I do humbly apologize. Simply know that I have loved you and will continue to love you with my every breath until that day in which the Lord shall see to take my unworthy soul into his blessed Kingdom. For all the wrongs I have committed in my life, loving you was not among them.

I have many regrets and hope that I may make up for them within this lifetime, but never will I apologize for placing my heart within your hands or finding sorrow in the knowledge that for you my heart was not enough. If it pleases you to find happiness with Mistress Seymour, I can only step aside for the sake of our precious jewel. Please know that the love I bear you was never so great nor so enduring as it is now that my hand trembles and I write these words that gift you with the freedom you have long hoped for since the loss of our son.

You may believe me also, when I say, your Guinevere will never be able to stand where I have stood, Henry. Where I gripped your heart tightly in these hands and close to my bosom, she will meekly hold it in her tiny palms. You and I are like two flames, my love. I cannot quell your passion; I can only join with you and help you reach new heights. Let her be the temper to your flame, as I no longer wish to be burned alive.

Your most faithful and ever loving servant,

Anne Boleyn

Marina Ka-Fai : First of all, thank you so much for being my first reviewer! I love Anne as the fiery independent type. I hope to capture that with this story.

Starfire201 : I'm glad you find it agreeable! 'What-ifs' are always my favorite to explore and expand upon. I really hope I live up to your expectations!

Lady Eleanor Boleyn : A mother's love for their child is something exceptional, I think. If Anne suspected something could happen to Elizabeth, I truly believe she would have done anything to keep it from happening.

Everyone Else : Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm glad you like it so far.