Chapter Four:

On the morning of Queen Marguerite's arrival to Whitehall, found the King and Queen at the Palace's main throne room while the courtiers filled the room.

By the time the herald announced that Queen Marguerite had finally arrived and entered, the room was filled with people.

"Ah, Marguerite, It is good to see you once more! How long has it been?" Henry said as he stood and approached Marguerite so that he could kiss both her cheeks.

"It 'as been a very long time, majeste" Marguerite said in English, her french accent very much pronounced.

"May I introduce my wife, Queen Jane." Henry said as he presented Jane to the immaculate french Queen in her extravagant french cut style gown while Jane in her simple but white and gold laced gown with an intricate pattern.

"It is my pleasure to welcome you to our Kingdom, I hope you enjoy the company of our people." Jane said, smiling in all her daintiness.

"Oui, I 'ave 'eard all about you from my brother, King Francois. 'e sends 'is regrets for not being able to come" Marguerite said as she smiled at both Henry and Jane.

"To make your stay even more comfortable, we have requested one of your closest friends to return to court and accompany you on whatever you would wish to do." Henry said as he signaled Thomas Boleyn, Henry Percy and Anne forward.

As Anne approached and bowed, Marguerite's eyes grew wide with shock and joy at seeing her old and dear friend, "Oh Anne, is 'zat you? My oui! It is you! You 'ave grown so much!" Marguerite said, as Anne rose and spoke, "Oui, Majeste, it is I!"

Quickly, Marguerite gave her a hug and then turned back to Henry, "Thank you for ze kind gesture, Anne 'as been one of my closest and dearest friends back in France when we were very young, I cannot wait to catch up with 'er!" Marguerite said, looking at Henry and then at Anne.

After the introductions, Henry and Jane followed by Marguerite and Anne then Anne's father and husband (for Marguerite did not let go of Anne) proceeded to the dining hall where a grand feast was to be held in honor of Queen Marguerite.

After the feast, there was a joust that followed, and while Marguerite never really held much interest in jousting, she knew that this was more for the men and indulged them. Of course as she was the guest of honor, most of the victors had asked for her favour, which she gladly gave.

All this time, Anne stayed by her side, which suited Henry fine as Marguerite had sat beside him while Jane sat on the other which meant that the only one that was in his way from Anne was Marguerite.

As he watched the joust (or pretended to watch) he tried his best to listen intently to what Anne and Marguerite had been talking about. They often flittered from French to English but it didn't matter much to Henry was he was fluent in both languages.

Mostly the two were just catching up with their lives so Henry decided that he didn't really need to hear that. Soon the joust was over and Queen Marguerite bade them a good day and informed them that she would retire to her chambers for now as the fatigue from her journey have finally caught up with her. Anne and Jane accompanied Marguerite to the chambers she will be occupying during her stay.

By dinner, Henry and Jane watched as Marguerite entered the grand hall again, accompanied by her ladies and of course, Anne.

Henry couldn't see anyone else though, he had eyes that were only for Anne who had changed into a dark, deep blue satin and lace gown that complimented her eyes and made her skin even fairer, her hair was again, braided into an intricate up-do but this time it was inlaid with sapphires and diamonds.

She was even more beautiful than yesterday.

His trance was broken when Anne had curtsied and was then approached by her husband and escorted her to their table.

Dinner went by and soon, he watched Anne once more dance and this time, he contented himself with just watching her.

The first few days passed and Henry had yet to have any real interaction with Anne. It frustrated him, one moment he wanted to get to know her all over again and be with her but then the next he'd remind himself that he had wanted his Jane and that Anne no longer remembered him as her husband.

He chanced upon her in the library one day, early in the morning, searching for a book to read as Marguerite had decided to spend the morning in bed rather than to wake up early.

"Lady Anne, Good morning. What are you doing here so early?" He asked.

Anne, startled by the sudden presence of someone else, faced him and when she realized he was the king, she bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Queen Marguerite wished to stay in bed today but I had woken up too early. I thought I could find a book to read to pass the time." she explained.

"Well we have many books here, which books do you usually read?" He asked, approaching her.

Anne stayed quiet, thinking before she answered, "Well I love poems, and sonnets so I suppose I shall find a book about those." Anne said.

"Well, let me show you where I had the librarian place the best poems and sonnets in the library." Henry said as he led the way, with a curious Anne, following him.

As Henry led the way to the area of the library where the sonnets and poems were located, he asked her how she was faring in court as he had heard from her father that it has been quite a while since she was last at court.

"I'm faring well, your majesty. I thought I had forgotten how to act when in court as I have been in the country side as soon as I had returned from France however I proved myself wrong once I had arrived." Anne said.

Henry knew that Anne would never forget her courtly ways, she had grown up in court; first in the Netherlands then in France, it was as if she was born to play and rule in court; to rule with him as his Queen, he bitterly reminded himself. He then focused their conversation on her life in the country. Anne told him that at first she was very uncomfortable with life in the country as she had lived in court and was a lady in waiting for as long as she could remember but once Henry made an effort to stay with her more, and when she had given birth to Elizabeth, she found that life in the country was more appealing as she could spend all the time she wanted with her children and husband than if she could have remained in court.

Henry listened to her talk about her life in the country- a life he is not a part of- and realised how happy she was just by the way her eyes lit up when she told him about her life in the country. He also realised that Anne was not as ambitious as she used to be in this life, but he couldn't help but wonder if that was because she is happy in her married and family life here unlike in his other life. He wondered if Anne was ever this happy when they were married before, surely there was a time when her eyes would light up just at the thought of spending time with him and their Elizabeth? Surely there was a time when Anne had been content with what he had given her? He thought of the times when Anne would smile at him because he had visited her or surprised her, their happy times together then he remembered how unhappy and sad and hurt she was whenever she found out that he had taken another mistress and whenever he preferred someone else's bed over hers, or the fear and sorrow in her eyes when she had miscarried their sons. He thought of the last time they had visited Elizabeth together and, apart from her birthdays and when she was a very small infant, they hadn't visited her together in a long time and now he realised he will never have the chance to change that, to change any of it.

Perhaps if he had made Anne feel secure in her position as Queen then maybe she wouldn't have felt that she had to fight so hard for her place in his life, if maybe he had done right by her then maybe he would be the one who was making her this happy. Henry forced himself to stop thinking as they reached their destination.

After Anne picked out a book, she and Henry headed to a table just near a window by the entrance of the library. However, He did not get to talk to Anne because as soon as she sat down, Cromwell had arrived and informed him that the privy council would like to meet with him on an urgent matter. Cursing himself on the inside, he sighed then excused himself from Anne's presence and then followed Cromwell.

Henry did not see Anne the rest of the day. By the time he was done with his meetings, Marguerite was already awake and Anne had accompanied her throughout the day. By dinner, Anne sat with her father, brother and husband.

Henry had watched her every dinner, he watched how she interacted with Henry Percy, how she reacted to his touches, to what he says; he did not like it one bit. Anne was comfortable around him, more comfortable than she had been when they were married. She seemed happier and he did not like that he was not the cause of her happiness nor that he was not the one who received her love.

As dinner ended, and dancing began once more, Henry kept his eyes on Anne. Whether he did this consciously or not, he did not know nor did he care. He watched her dance with Henry Percy, watched her smile at him, he watched her laugh at something he said, he watched her gaze at him, eyes filled with affection and love, and he watched her kiss him. Suddenly, King Henry stood up and left, leaving a shocked Queen Jane, an amused Queen Marguerite and a dumbfounded court at his sudden departure.

Henry waited for Charles to arrive in his chamber. He couldn't take it anymore, he needed to know who Anne Boleyn was in this life. If he couldn't talk to her himself, he will find out from someone else.

"Your majesty" Charles said as he entered Henry's chamber.

"Charles. Take a seat." Henry said as he drank from his goblet and ordered his servant to pour him another cup and to also pour another goblet for Charles to which he took a sip from once the servant gave it to him. When the servant left and the two friends were alone once more, Henry sat down and said, "Tell me everything about Henry Percy."

Note: And here it is! Henry finally gives in to his feelings! I have a feeling I'm getting my characters to be a little too OOC but I guess I'm fine with it. So long as they aren't too cheesy, right? haha.

I get so nervous every time I post a new chapter! I feel like I should just post all of them at once so that I can just get that nervousness over and done with! I keep thinking "what if they suddenly start hating my ideas for this story? what if this story sucks because I wrote it this way?" gaaah! I feel like I can't handle the pressure! Thank goodness I'm almost halfway done! :D

Hope you liked this new chapter! A little Anne and Henry for everyone! :)

xx

unamedhpauthor