It had taken Arthur three hours to reach London and a further hour to gain access to the palace. Reaching a dainty hand to pull her hat onto her head, Arthur stood before the queen's chambers. Ignoring the snakes of worry that coiled in her stomach Arthur raised her hand and rapped lightly on the door.
"Enter" a regal voice toned through the doors. Swallowing, Arthur opened the door and kept her eyes to the floor in a show of respect. Once inside she closed the door and knelt with her head bowed.
"Who is the one whom disturbs us" a firm voice rang through the room sending a jolt through Arthur.
"My name is Arthur Kirkland your majesty" a rustling of fabric informed Arthur that the Queen had moved towards her.
"And what pray tell does Sir Kirkland wish to see one about"
"I have matter's of imperative importance to discus with her majesty, if her majesty may allow me to speak" Arthur's voice was soft but respectful.
"You may" the tone of Mary's voice was hard and cold, leaving nothing but the obligation to obey in Arthur's body.
"I thank her majesty"
"If the matter's you wish to speak of are as important as you make them to be then one feels that they should be discussed with both party's being in comfort, would you agree Sir Kirkland"
"I would be deeply honoured that her majesty would let me sit with her"
"Excellent then rise Sir Kirkland and join me" Arthur stood and raised her head to look in the Queen's direction, before walking gracefully to the chair placed opposite Mary's own.
The Queen was a woman who held a traditional beauty; her hair dark and skin a light tan from her Spanish heritage, her lips were slightly too thin, but her nose was well proportioned and her cheek bones defined. Yet it was her eye's that over shadowed every other aspect of her face. They were lined with long thick lashes and the pupils a rich colour crossed between green and brown, she was a very beautiful woman, despite her age.
"What is it that Sir Kirkland wishes to talk to one about"
"I wish to tell her majesty a matter that only those on the throne may know" Mary took a more serious look upon her face.
"Then I supposed that the matter ought to be said Sir Kirkland"
Taking a deep breath Arthur prepared herself for the trial about to be undertook.
"It is my duty to inform her majesty that while she has been crowned the undoubted ruler of England her majesty has yet to meet the spirit of England.
"I wish her majesty to not doubt my word's for they are true and pose no threat to her majesty's reign or safety.
"It is my duty to introduce my self not as Sir Arthur Kirkland but as the embodiment of England"
"What nonsense is this!" Mary's voice cut through the air.
"I assure her majesty that this is no nonsense, and that I am not a madman, if her majesty wishes for proof then I am able to provide her majesty with evidence" Mary nodded, her eye's as hard as ice. She wanted this proof.
"Then may I ask her majesty to accompany me to the locked room on the fourth floor"
"One will accompany Sir Kirkland as long as one has guards accompanying us"
"Of course your majesty" standing and bowing at the waist, Arthur waited till the queen had called for her men and given her permission to head towards to fourth floor.
Once there Arthur reached for the key that hung round her neck and unlocked the door, but did not open it instead turning and bowing once more to the queen.
"I must ask her majesty to leave her guard's and enter the room alone"
"And why Sir Kirkland is this necessary"
"There are secrets within that room that only her majesty and those on the throne aside from myself are privy to"
"I see and if one should be harmed in any way once one has entered the room what shall Sir Kirkland do"
"If any harm came to her majesty I would willingly impale my self upon a pike and let the rats feast upon my flesh" this seemed to satisfy Mary as she let him stand straight, then entered the room leaving her guards and Arthur outside.
Time slipped past and a few of the guards grew restless as nothing was heard from the strange room. The minutes ticked by and nothing happened. The silence was clearly getting to the guardsmen but Arthur stood still her breath barely noticeable, eye's closed mind adrift.
"Sir Kirkland would you join me" the Queen's voice finally cut through the silence. Silently Arthur turned and entered the room bowing as she came across the form of her queen.
"You appear in many portraits some many centuries old yet in each one you have not aged, many crests bare your name all in the exact same hand.
"How can this be? No man can live forever, but I see no evil about you and there is a portrait with both you and my mother.
"What are you Sir Kirkland?" Mary turned to face the still bowing Arthur.
"What in the name of god are you?"
Arthur stood to her full height eyes shining, her form proud.
"I would like to re-introduce myself. To her Majesty Queen Mary Tudor of the kingdom of England, I am Arthur Kirkland the embodied spirit of the soil of England and its people" she bowed, hand over heart but her eyes never leaving Mary's face.
"I have been beside each and every King since the beginning, I have watched the rise and fall of empires and felt each invaders blade carve into the body of my people and just as the blood of my people has spilled, so has mine.
"And now that her majesty has been crowned I bow before her and show my presence that is to be beside her highness till her dying day" Arthur stood straight and calmly waited for Mary to say something.
The Queen stood still her expression thoughtful, till finally she spoke.
"I find it hard to believe but I will except it, but I will have you know I will not treat you differently from my subjects" Arthur felt a cold breeze through her blood, Mary's father had said the same thing. The man had viewed the people as lower than him, as lesser beings and that had lead to Arthur's imprisonment in the tower of London and torture at the hands of the soldiers and if the King was frustrated then by royal hand.
"I understand your majesty" Mary nodded then swept from the room leaving Arthur standing amidst memories of the past.
"I can only hope that the people will not suffer the wrath of her highness" her gaze shifted to the portrait of herself as a man standing next to the young and healthy Edward VI approaching the painting, Arthur ran her fingers over the young boys face.
"Long live the Queen"