The Lady in Waiting

By: 4eBitter

Disclaimer: As I have said before I own nothing for if I did things would have gone my way. ^_^

Summary: What if Anne was loyal to Katherine when she met her? What if she had refused Henry's advances and her father's orders and harbored respect and adoration for Katherine and saw her as a regal lady, as a true queen? How would things have changed, for the better or worse?

Chapter 1

It was one of those days again. It was a hot humid day that put people's nerves on edge, and their feelings uncomfortably close to the surface. In these types of days people seemed to act in the most unnatural of ways. Those who usually were active and energetic became languid and uncaring, hiding in their rooms and wasting the day away. Others who normally did nothing and liked to stay inside were awake and wandering the castle filled with unusual vitality.

Others became quite unpredictable and shifted from moods as much as a leaf blowing aimlessly in the wind would. Not surprisingly most of these people were the people in power. It was hard to tell how they were feeling and how they were reacting to the stimulus around them. These were the thoughts of Cardinal Wolsey as he walked through the crowds of nobles and courtiers, in his way to an audience with the king.

It was his job to keep the country running smoothly and keeping the king content. It wasn't an easy job but the reveled in it. He mostly reveled in his power, he who had come from nothing was now the second most important man in the kingdom of England, and too many, especially those from other countries, he was the most important. But those treacherous thoughts could not reach the kings ears now could they?

Who would have known that scheming came so natural to her? As she continued to ignore the king his advances became increasingly bolder. Showering her with gifts she returned, sending her letters with poems and sonnets that he had written with his own hand. How foolish the king had turned out to be like a love sick fool who was in procession of a crown. He behaved like an angry and spoiled prince who was bound to get tantrums at any given second.

He disgusted her, but no matter the obstacles, namely the king, she had made much progress. She had gained spies, money, and even a small group of allies, three of the most important things at court. Now she just needed power or more specifically allies with power and she had a perfect plan.

The mistake of many that seek power was that they usually allied with someone of power but in the process alienated themselves from everyone else. Wolsey for example favored the French and in because of that had strained relation with Spain and even some with some of the English people.
She would not make that fatal mistake, she would make sure to have allies in all of the three seats of power, those England, Spain, and France. With this plan she hoped to get all in one fell swoop. And no one would have ever seen it coming, especially from her, a woman.

French Ambassador

He has never really liked the English court. With its horrible wine and weird Englishmen and the many plain boring English roses, he has many times wanted to just run away. But in the end he knows that he could not, for he is the French ambassador and his duty is to keep good relations with England. Well at least he could console himself at the marvelous knowledge that he was not in Spain. And if he could be honest to himself there were some things he liked about England, even in not many.

But still, the worse feeling was the one of loneliness, he had so few of his own here, and so many Englishmen were uptight bores, and he found no solace in their friendship. Out of so many there was only one person at court who had approached him that he could call tolerable or even greatly important to his sanity.

It was a shame that she was a woman for they could not spend much time together for proprieties' sake but she would brighten his day with wit and entertainment when around. It was the lady Anne. He felt that she was looking for a compatriot, for even though English by blood she was French by upbringing. It was only natural that she would seek the company of one such as him for not only did she have to be in court, she was a lady of the queen, the Spanish queen of England.

They did not spend much time together but did every time they could. This was one of those times.

He was called to court for an audience with Wolsey, the great friend of France. They had to move their appointment because the king had called him for an important meeting which was understandable. He knew that for Wolsey there was nothing more important than the king of England and the king of France, and the fight against Spanish relations.

He knew this because France paid him enough to assure it. And since Spanish ambassadors were coming he knew that Wolsey had to work harder for France-England relations.

The lady Anne was to be at court attending the queen at the same time they had agreed to a game of cards when the queen gave her ladies permission to sit. He was filled with anticipation the lady Anne always had the greatest wit and knowledge much more than anyone else at court.

Spanish Ambassador

This was a very important meeting, his master the Emperor, wanted to reassure his ties with England so that with its help he could help his aunt, take care of France, well most specifically its king. It was to be tricky for all knew that the cardinal favored the French, and that even though the queen was Spanish it was well known fact that she did not poses much, if any, influence over political matters.

The English king had always claimed to have a right of rule over France, a greater one than that of the Valois, so this put him at an advantage.

The queen would help him as much as he could, this was already proven when one of her ladies had sent him a message telling him of when the French ambassador was to have a meeting with the cardinal. This had allowed him to intercept it and convince the cardinal to see him first, forcing the cardinal to make excuses to the French ambassador in order to not insult him. Thanks to that arrangement he was able to make the cardinal make promises without him knowing what the French would offer first, thus he got the better deals.

God bless the Queen and the lady who was called Anne for they had made the trip a success over the French, for even though of French background she had proved loyalty to her queen's country Spain.

Yes, she was just natural at scheming.

Anne Boleyn thought with a smile on her face as she followed the Queen and the other ladies. They were to attend the festivities of welcome to the Spanish ambassadors. She was also going to meet with the French ambassador for a game of cards; she had permission from her queen.

In that game she could relax, talk about fashions, politics, and tell a certain ambassador that he was put in second place by Wolsey. It amused her to wonder how Wolsey would get out of this one.

Should she help him…or not. Anne had to think this carefully, she wanted to build relationships with powerful people and none were more powerful than the cardinal, however, all good things were sure to end. And the cardinal had been in power too long as such an easily targeted man it would not do to be seen with him at all.

Also, he was against her lady which would not do. However she would not get rid of him for a simple reason, because, why would anyone want to get rid of Wolsey she didn't know because who would take the blame for everything gone wrong if not him? No she would leave him there as her scapegoat for now and would make sure that he made himself fall.

Wow that took me FOREVER, lol. I have been hella busy and sorry to not have updated but I finally got around to it. My other story is still cooking and will need some time but I am doing all I can. Thanks and hope you liked it.