AN: Welcome to a new chapter of 'Sink Or Swim'! I am so sorry for the delay in updating the story, I have actually had this chapter on stand-by for awhile but I just never got around to posting it. May I say, thank you for all the positive responses I have received so far for this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well but I will say that this chapter is much more of a filler in chapter until the next one, which gets the story rolling more. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same.
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Tudors, never have I never will.
Chapter Two: His Majesty's Favour
4 April 1552
Her fourteenth birthday had gone as quickly as any other but the exception to this one was that she was not just Lady Alberta but was actually Alberta, Queen of England. Many more people had paid respect to her on such a day and many more people gave her gifts but she was smart enough to realize that many of these were not from the heart but given so that they might gain favour with her and then with the King.
Her favourite gift by far had been the puppy spaniel that the King gave her. She had not yet found a proper name for it but she had decided that she would sleep on it before she made a final decision on the dogs lifelong name.
It was now nighttime and Lady Fitzroy was reading Alberta for bed, brushing her long brown locks to reduce the chance of them being knotty in the morning. She doubted if the King would come and visit her tonight, there was no reason her should and if he would, she would have already have been informed by someone surely.
She was sure that many people were wondering when they could expect the next royal heir to England but she knew that she could not tell them that this was coming soon. It was not like she had not tried to become pregnant, she knew that to have her position in his majesty's favour depended on her being able to provide a living male heir.
She could not fail her duty, it would be too much of an embarrassment if she did not.
Mary placed the brush down on the vanity and smiled at the young Queen. "I believe you are now ready for bed milady," she said still smiling, though Alberta could see that the lady was tired. "I shall be just outside in the adjoining chamber should you need anything."
Alberta nodded and smiled. She was glad to finally be alone after a day when every eye had been on her. It was the tough part of being Queen, letting everyone watch you and to never be able to have a private life again. Everything she did would be scrutinized by the court and then by the common people.
She wanted to make them proud to have her as their Queen and to also make her family proud.
As Mary closed the door between the bedchamber and the presence chamber, Alberta got up from her chair and went into the bed, hoping that the fire and the heavy covers would make her warm as the night air was unexpectedly chilly.
Pulling the night covers up to her chin, Alberta settled into bed and was ready to fall asleep when a surprised Lady Fitzroy came back into the room, bursting the doors open as if there was an emergency.
Alberta sat up but holding the sheets over her chest for modesty's sake. She was bewildered at what was going on before Lady Fitzroy came and whispered in to her mistress's ear. "My lady, the King is here."
Alberta looked shocked and frantic, getting helped into her robe which had been taken off prior to getting into bed as the Lady Fitzroy helped fix her long brown locks which had been messed up with laying in bed for those few moments.
Once she was readied, she nodded to Lady Fitzroy. "You may let his majesty in."
Mary nodded and went back out of the bedchamber and within a few moments Edward entered alone, looking as nervous as Alberta was. Whilst they had already consummated their marriage, it was still awkward for them to be together as man and wife.
"My lady," Edward said bowing his head towards his wife. "I hope that I am not intruding," he added shyly. "If I am I shall leave and not bother you."
Alberta shook her head and smiled. "I am not bothered your majesty," she said, hoping she got the words right, still a bit wary of how her English was pronounced. She had been given a tutor to help perfect her English while Edward was at his studies and she felt she had greatly improved but knew there was much more she could learn.
"Please, Edward remember," he said smiling before rubbing his lips together. "Shall we sit?" he asked, pointing towards the two chairs that were being warmed by the fire. Alberta nodded her approval and they both moved the way over to the chairs.
"I must inform you that plans are underway for your coronation," Edward said, looking at Alberta vaguely as he was thinking. "You, of course, may chose the gown you are to wear, one is too be made for you so it may be to your liking."
Alberta smiled. "Thank you your… Edward. You are most generous and I am most grateful."
"I am glad that you are happy Alberta," said Edward quietly as he stared into the fire. He snapped out of his daze and looked at Alberta again. "Shall we be to bed now?" he asked.
Alberta nodded and as they both got into the bed, Alberta laid there looking up at ceiling waiting for Edward to do what was his conjugal right. Edward looked over to her and sighed. She seemed terrified at the idea of lying with him. He put his hand out and touched her arm. "We don't have to do that tonight."
Alberta looked more shocked at the comment that at him making a gesture of kindness. "But we must," she said urgently, sitting up to look down at Edward. "I must become with child so I can give you a son and heir."
Edward forced a smile. He knew that it was important that Alberta and he have a son and heir but he did not want Alberta to feel pressure to have a child straight away. They were both young and he knew that in time God would grant them many healthy fine sons but he had not yet even reached his majority so an heir was hardly needed just yet, and in any case, if something, God forbid, were to happen to him, his half-sisters were his heirs.
"No, you don't to have my child, not yet anyway. I am happy with the way things are, aren't you?" he asked, hoping that this would appease Alberta for the time being.
Alberta nodded and leaned back under the covers and then spontaneously kissed Edward on the cheek. "Thank you," she quietly said, surprisingly snuggling up to Edward, resting her head on his chest and it was only when she closed her eyes that Edward looked down on her and smiled.
In time, he felt that he could truly love his Queen.
10 April 1552
Alberta was concentrating on her sewing whilst her ladies worked on small tasks when Lady Fitzroy walked in. Mary liked being able to help and guide the young Queen, and her ladies, but sometimes, the younger maids were so frivolous and only wanted to look at the Queen's dresses and jewels, it was only then that she wanted to hit them over the head but she decided against it each time knowing that she could get the point across in over ways.
She did however miss living in the country, especially waking up in the morning to birds singing and breathe in the fresh country air but her place was at court now and it was an honored place indeed and she knew that she must be grateful for it, she was a lot luckier than other members of her family so she knew that she must do as the King and his council commanded her to do.
Alberta looked up at her chief lady-in-waiting and smiled at her. "Are you alright Lady Fitzroy?" she asked, thinking that something was troubling the lady.
Mary shook her head in response, "No, your majesty," said Mary smiling, touched by the young Queen's kindness. "I am well but a letter has been sent to you, from your sister Elisabeth."
Alberta smiled exuberantly and put her sewing down and walked over to Mary, her yellow skirts swaying as she walked quickly, and she grabbed the letter, excited to be finally hearing back from her sister after the last letter she had sent her. They had promised that they would write to each other as long as their lives endured. Alberta saw it as her last piece of knowing what was going on in her homeland and within her family, her last way of not feeling homesick.
She could not deny that she did miss her homeland, a part of her always would, but she did feel like she was seeing England as more of her home, these were her people now, the people that looked up to her as the Queen of England and she would not let them down, and she would not let her home country down as well.
Alberta scanned the letter quickly at first, knowing that she would probably read the letter a hundred time over yet, and she noticed something that was surely making her sister very happy. Mary noticed that her mistress was smiling and couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything interesting in the letter?"
Alberta turned to face Mary directly and nodded. "My sister is betrothed to be married, she tells me that it is not as grand a match as I have made but that it is a good match all the same. His name is…" she scanned the letter, looking for the name again. "He is name is Johann Frederick and he is the eldest son of the Duke of Saxony. I guess in time, my sister will be a Duchess."
Mary smiled at the young Queen who had buried her head back into reading the letter sent by her sister. Mary wished that she had a sister but God had only granted her parents only one daughter and all she had were brothers, not that this was necessarily a bad thing but at times it was, there was no one she could confide in not even her mother, but now she was too old for such trivial matters like that and she was happy serving the Queen.
It was more important to stay in their majesty's favor than to worry about those such trivial matters.
23 April 1552
Elizabeth enjoyed being at court, to her it was much better than spending her days in the country at Hatfield, maintaining her own residence and having to find amusement in trivial pursuits. At court, especially know that there was a new Queen, the court was buzzing with activity and now welcomed ladies into its fold once more.
Something it had not done since the death of the late King, Henry VIII.
It was not like the court had forbidden women to attend it, it was just that there had been no Queen there to attend and organize all of the festivities so court had been a dreary place to be but now, with a Queen presiding over it, women were there, either to attend on the Queen or as guests of their own family members, hoping to gain a position into the Queen's household.
Elizabeth could tell that Queen Alberta had no real grasp on the courtly functions, on how the festivities were run or what was to be done so she had decided to help the Queen learn all there was that needed to be learned about being an English woman and the festivities the court was to expect on different occasions and on a regular basis.
Elizabeth liked helping Alberta, who seemed most grateful for any help that she could receive from anyone. Elizabeth was sure that she had never met anyone as naïve as the Queen, who seemed to lack an education when it came to the courtly graces of the English court, which in reality was expected of a woman coming from Germany, a place that seemed to see gambling, dancing and any other amusing activity as a useless thing of no value.
Elizabeth knew that if she had been raised in any German state that she would have been bored stiff for her entire life.
Thankfully, Alberta was a quick learner and applied herself willingly to everything Elizabeth was teaching her, and as a result of Elizabeth's tuition, even Alberta's English was becoming better, much to everyone's relief as only Alberta's German ladies had any clue what she was saying at times.
Alberta studied the cards in front of her for her next move in the game against the Lady Elizabeth while Elizabeth studied the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. The majority of them were sitting on the other side of the room, to give the illusion of privacy to Alberta and Elizabeth, and were sewing, probably shirts for the poor as Queen's ladies, and Queen's previously, had done but she did notice that her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, looked bored stiff with sewing. Elizabeth, knowing Jane from their time at Chelsea under the care of Catherine Parr, wanted to laugh at how similar Jane had grown to her, hating the feminine pursuits of sewing to the intellectual pursuits of translating texts, learning new languages and reading in general.
Alberta put down the card and this was when Elizabeth turned her attention back to the game at hand. Alberta's move had been a typical move, one that Elizabeth had seen coming but since the game was only new to Alberta, she could fully understand that she wasn't as skilled as herself. She had decided that she would play easy for Alberta's benefit until the young Queen learnt the game better.
"I hear that your coronation is to be soon my lady," stated Elizabeth as she placed down the card that she wanted to play.
Alberta placed her cards down and looked up at Elizabeth. "I suppose so… I am not told much about it. I think it is postponed for the meantime."
Elizabeth nodded. "It might very well be postponed," she said as she took a sip of ale from the goblet in front of her. "There is rumour of plague within the city and I am sure that his majesty, and his council, do not want to risk your life in such a time. In any case, there will be plenty of time for you to be coroneted."
Alberta smiled. "Yes, there will be," she replied, firmly knowing, or optimistically hoping, that Edward would never discard her, like his father had done to many of his own wives. She believed that she would have a better relationship with Edward than the late King Henry and any of his wives. "In any case, I am happy as it is, and I shall be for a long time to come."
Robert was already waiting in their bedchamber, waiting for Amy to return from serving the Queen. Amy wasn't required to stay with the Queen overnight because of her married status, and being the daughter-in-law of the de facto ruler of England. This was one of the things that made him glad about his father's ambition.
Amy was quick, after being dismissed by the Queen, to arrive to her chambers that she shared with her husband and was glad to find him sitting by the fire but, though she thought it was silly to think it, was glad to see that he had waited to have dinner with her.
She had to say, she was glad to see food after serving the Queen all day and hardly eating a thing all day.
"I thought you might be hungry," said Robert laughing, as Amy sat down opposite him. "You know that you should be eating throughout the day," Robert commented, concerned about the welfare of his wife. "You never know you could be carrying my child in your womb and you should not let it starve."
Amy smiled at the thought of carrying Robert's child, something she wanted more than anything. She truly wanted to be able to present Robert with a child, a son hopefully, and to be a mother but she doubted that she was with child, not that she didn't mind trying. "I don't think that I am with child," said Amy, a bit disappointedly, and in any case it was not the Queen's fault that she did not eat. "Robert, it is not the Queen's fault, she allows us to eat if we wish but since I am usually on duty to serve the Queen her meals, I lose track of time and well, I forget to eat."
Robert smiled. "Well maybe Amy, you should start to keep track of the time, especially when I do get you with child."
"So you will get me with child?"
"Who else would get you with child?"
Amy laughed. She was glad that she had fallen in love with Robert and that they were allowed to marry. When she was a little girl she had always dreamed of marrying for love but once you reach the age when your parents start to arrange your marriage, you quickly forget that idea but for her, that dream became a reality and in all truth, she had been surprised that the Duke of Northumberland had agreed upon the match when it was first brought up. It wasn't like Robert was his heir but he was still the son of a Duke, a very mighty match for any woman.
Robert put out his hand to touch Amy's and this stopped Amy laughing and instead made her look lovingly to his eyes. "Amy," he said lovingly. "You know that you are the best part of me."
"And you of me," replied Amy, bringing his hand up to rest upon her cheek. "I don't know what I would do if I were to ever lose you."
"You won't ever lose me," he said honestly. "I will always be there for you Amy."
Amy smiled at this response. She knew that she didn't need to be anywhere else, or have anyone else, if she had Robert. He was her everything and she was his everything and she felt, at this moment, that together they could conquer the whole entire world.
TBC.