Author's Notes - This chapter was a bitch to write, especially the end where Anne is in the Tower. I don't have any ideas as to who Jane's lover is, so I'm open to suggestion. Also, I can see the Seymour's at least having a vague idea of Edward's ambition. Ambition like that is kinda hard to conceal, I'd think. As always, read, enjoy and review!


For long moments, Brandon stared in utter surprise at his friend. He couldn't have heard the king right, but clearly Henry was serious. "Jane?" he finally croaked out weakly, still not wanting to believe it. "Mistress Seymour, you mean?"

"OF COURSE THAT'S WHO I MEAN! WAS THERE ANOTHER JANE I WAS PAYING COURT TO AND MAKING A FOOL OF MYSELF FOR?!" Henry screamed, throwing his empty goblet in Charles' general direction. "What if...," he whispered, a sudden thought hitting him suddenly and bringing him to his knees as though the weight of his thoughts suddenly forced him to the ground. Anne was in good health and in the midst of her childbearing years, so why was it that she'd had two miscarriages in the past couple years? Could something - someone, perhaps? - be causing this to happen?

Ducking, Brandon narrowly dodged the shards of glass, long since used to his king's volatile temper. He'd never liked Anne, especially when Henry had forced everyone to sign the Act of Succession and good men like Thomas More had lost their lives to assure her daughter's place in the line of succession. He'd even gone so far as to encourage Henry's relationship with Jane, figuring that he'd simply set Anne aside as he had Katherine. He'd never once considered that Henry would go so far as to have her executed! Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear the king's whispered words."Henry?"

"God, Charles! What if... someone perhaps poisoned Anne and caused her to lose our boy?" He asked, the very thought sending shivers down his spine. If Jane could give herself to another man whilst pretending virtue and modesty for him, who was to say that it wouldn't occur to her or even her family to get rid of the obstacle standing between her and the throne?

The thought had occurred, if only briefly, to Charles but he'd chalked it up to an overactive imagination on his part. Now though... now he wasn't so sure anymore. It made sense in a way. After all, what better way to get to the throne than to eliminate the competition? The rivalry between the Seymour's and Boleyn's was no secret at court, especially when it became common knowledge that Henry was beginning to tire of Anne. Sir John didn't seem the type to do such a thing, but if he'd been wrong about Jane, maybe he could be wrong about that too. "It's probable, at the least," he finally agreed slowly, watching the king closely. "What do you want to do, Majesty?"

Henry's eyes had been wet with tears, but now they had dried and were slowly turning hard as stone. "I want answers, Charles," he finally stated quietly. "I'm putting you in charge of the investigation. You are to question anyone and everyone you see fit."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Brandon replied immediately before hesitating. He knew very well that his next questions could be met with worse than a thrown wine goblet. "What are you going to do about Mistress Seymour? Or the Queen?"

"Anne will stay in the Tower for the time being. If someone has been poisoning her, than she is likely safer there than in my own court," the king finally replied, having been silent for several moments as he pondered his friend's questions. "As for Jane... if they think they can play me the fool, I will play along with their charade for now, until the time is right." Noticing Brandon looked like he had more to say, Henry frowned at the duke. "What is it?"

"I can't help but wonder perhaps, if her Majesty may very well be innocent of the crimes for which she's been accused," Charles told him, tensing as though he was preparing to run if things turned bad. He'd never liked Anne, and knew all to well that Catherine would likely strangle him for speaking in the other woman's defense, but he'd never once expected his oldest friend to try and have his wife executed simply to remarry. When the king remained silent, he found the courage to continue his thoughts. "While it's true that Brereton confessed, perhaps he simply did so in order to avoid Master Kingston's interrogation methods. There is rumor about court that perhaps Master Cromwell simply told you what you wished to hear."

They wouldn't dare! was Henry's first thought before the truth of his friend's words sunk in. Was it possible, he wondered in silent horror, that they would tell him what it was apparent, or so they assumed, that the king wished to hear? After the loss of their son, Henry had begun considering taking another wife in the form of Jane Seymour in order to produce an heir. Days later, Cromwell had presented him with what he'd taken as facts that Anne had to do with over a hundred men. The only way to be sure, Henry realized, was to go to the Tower and confront the men accused of dallying with Anne himself. He supposed he should probably talk to Anne as well, but he didn't know if he could before making up his mind about what had really occurred. "Begin your investigation into Lady Jane, however you see fit. Confine her and her family to their chambers if you must. I will get to the bottom of this matter, even if I have to do it myself."

"Majesty," Brandon agreed, bowing low before turning on his heel at Henry's wave of dismissal. He'd failed to help one queen and he'd be damned if he failed to help another.


This had to stop, Jane told herself repeatedly as she hurriedly straightened her clothes and tried to fix her hair. Anne Boleyn and the rest of her wretched family were finally falling from power and she, plain Jane Seymour, was to be the next Queen of England! Edward had succeeded in his plan, whatever it was for he had not told her, and now her family would be the one to enjoy the king's favor. Humming to herself, she dropped a kiss on her sleeping lover's brow. This would the last time they met, she'd told him before they'd lost themselves in the throes of passion once again.

She only hoped that he would have the good sense to remain silent about their liaison once she was married to Henry. With a practiced ease, she slipped out of his chambers. Earlier they'd met in hers, where she'd intended to end it originally. Anyone could have seen him coming in there and reported back to the king, which was why she'd chosen to come to him to end it. Her ladies would keep her secrets, of that she was almost positive. Her lover had called her naive but she'd always believed the best of everyone and her ladies were sworn to her service after all. Why wouldn't they keep her secrets?

Her body still tingled in the most delicious way as she hurried along as quick as she dared. It wouldn't do for Henry to try and call on her and she not be in her chambers. Worse still, if her father or one of her brother's were to stop in to discuss the king's plans for her future. She'd find a way to send one of her ladies maids to a midwife later for the tea that would prevent her from becoming pregnant. It wouldn't do for the future queen to have a bastard in her belly after all! As she approached her chambers, a sudden dread washed over her at the sight of guards dressed in the king's livery standing outside her doors. Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, stood with them, looking utterly grave as though someone had just died. "Mistress Seymour, you are hereby ordered to remain in your chambers until further notice, at the express command of His Majesty."

Any protest died in her throat as her gaze moved from Suffolk to the guards. Clearly, something had happened but what she couldn't even begin to fathom. "If- if that is what his Majesty commands, I am but his humble servant," she finally managed to get out, curtsying low. Could Henry have found out about her and her lover? No, she thought even as the guards moved to allow her access to her rooms. She wouldn't be confined to chambers if that was the case, but would be instead be forever banned from court and all her prospects would be in tatters. No man would ever want to marry a woman that the king had discarded for being a wanton. The sound of her chamber door closing behind her sounded to her almost like that of a jail cell shutting behind her. What was happening?

The king must know what I've done, was Edward Seymour's first thought as the king's guards informed him coldly that he and his family were all being confined to their chambers. He'd been so careful to not be discovered, paying of one of the servants who was responsible for bringing Anne her dinner. He'd told the girl that it was just a simply spice that the Queen - and God, how he'd hated referring to her as 'Queen' - had professed a liking for. The girl had hesitated briefly before agreeing, recognizing that Edward was not going to let the girl continue without the proffered 'seasoning.' When the guards hadn't arrested him and promptly taken him to the Tower, he knew it had to be something else. Had Jane done something? If his sister had displeased the king and messed up their chances, he'd strangle the girl himself.

He started upon seeing his father and brother sitting before the lit fire in his presence chamber. "What did you do, Edward?" his father questioned, looking towards his son in dawning horror. "What did you do?"


Anne sat numb within her prison, her bible open in her hands. She'd tried distracting herself by reading from it but to no avail as her thoughts were in a constant whirl. Her own brother? she couldn't help but wonder, remembering earlier how she'd seen George amongst the prisoner's being escorted into the Tower. How in the world could they even being to THINK that she'd had relations with him? Smeaton she could almost see, as he was a comely enough young man, she supposed and she had been the one to introduce him to the king. Brereton she'd only seen a couple times, as he was groom of Henry's privy chamber. Sir Norris? The idea was almost laughable. He'd come to HER asking permission to court Madge, for Christ's sake! George and Sir Henry would be spared the torture chamber due to their status but poor Mark... he would not be so lucky. Her heart broke at the thought of the young musician being tortured for her, to try and get him to confess adultery with her. He'd always been so kind and full of joie de vivre, as though the world were nothing more than a passing amusement arranged for him.

Would their deaths and hers end this madness? Unbidden, one of her hands rose to her neck and an almost hysterical laugh escaped before she ruthlessly pushed it back down. The executioner who would take her head would undoubtedly be very good and after all, she only had a little neck. This was just Henry's way of punishing her, she couldn't help but hope. Hope was such a fragile thing and now with the arrest of the four men she'd been accused of having relations with, her hope for survival was slowly dissolving. Perhaps now, all she could hope for was a quick and painless death and that her daughter would know the truth of her innocence.