sorry people for the late update! i thought since i was on holidays things would be updated earlier, but I've just been so busy! plus my beta has been busy to. well anyway, a recap. nicholas had a bet with henry and now has to battle him in a jousting match. how will katherine react? and henry has declared that he does not mind nicholas falling in love with katherine. also he knows about that night she and nicholas had. well thats a lie! thank you for these awsome people for reviewing

Queenofhearts, rhea, sevenmoretimes, pheobep3, vain x life poetess, diana prince, ladyelagence, renai-85, ;adyjaxs999, tudorgirl910489, speedie122, courtlylady, jaxfh, ladyelagence and lianna.

for without you there woud be no story. anyway on with the story!

disclaimer: i do not own the tudors

Chapter 9: Let the Games Begin


Katherine of Aragon walked up the steps of the podium to take her seat on the throne overlooking the lawn where the jousting match was to take place. The atmosphere around her was noisy and energetic; no one had seen the King joust for ages and knew that this was to be an exciting match. Katherine smiled and relaxed back into her seat. She had not seen Nicholas or Henry at all, all day. She wondered how they were. She had heard that Henry had taken Nicholas out hunting. She was overjoyed that they were starting to get along and knew that this could only be good news.

Katherine's ladies in waiting too were smiling. Some of them were very happy for her. They had not seen her so happy in ages. All morning, they had spent the time in the gardens, going for a ride on the horses, and picking wild berries. They had not seen their queen outside for such a long time. They saw her glow and bright smile and could not help but smile themselves.

Katherine clapped with the others when she saw the knights entering, dressed in their full armor; and to her utter surprise she saw Nicholas. Her eyes widened. What was he doing? He had never even jousted before. Katherine frowned and stood up, turning to her ladies.

"There will be no need to follow me. I am just going to check on His Majesty."

Well, it was only a half lie, Katherine thought as she hurried down the steps and onto the grass. She saw Nicholas standing outside his tents as the servants placed the final parts of his armor on. Nicholas's face lit up when he saw her.

"Hello Catalina, come to wish me good luck?"

Katherine couldn't help but chuckle seeing him in all that armor and gear.

"What are you doing? You are not a knight!"

Nicholas looked sheepish as he answered. "Yes I know. Well, it's sort of complicated. But Henry wanted me to battle him."

The smile Katherine had vanished.

"W-what? Henry wanted this? Battle Henry"

He nodded.

"But, oh, Nicholas! Why did you agree?"

"Well I did not have a choice. He is after all the king of England."

Katherine scrunched up her face looking anxious.

"Nicholas Henry is a trained jouster; he is an expert at it. Very few people have beaten him before, and those who have were knights who have trained for their whole lives. I am not happy with you doing this, he could seriously injure you."

Nicholas frowned at her worried look.

"I am sorry Katherine but I promised him that I would battle him. But please, do not worry, how hard can it be? I am good at riding a horse and all I have to do this time is hold a jousting stick and lightly knock someone off. Surely it cannot be that hard."

But Katherine was still worried. She took his hands and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Please Nicholas, I do care about you, and I could not stand to see you get hurt. Please, for me, do not do this."

Nicholas looked at her pleading eyes and wanted so badly to agree with her. But he could not. It was not only the fact that he promised Henry but also that he felt he had to do this, that this jousting match may be the only way to show his anger towards Henry for his treatment to Katherine. Nicholas had to do this. He touched Katherine's cheek lightly.

"I am sorry Katherine, but I have to do this. Now I must go and get ready."

He took Katherine's hand and brought it to his lips before departing to his tents. Katherine tried not to show her sadness and pulled herself together. She had to go ask Henry if he could not hit Nicholas so hard as he does to other knights. She hurried off to find him. Shortly, she found him at the stables with his horse.

"Henry!"

Henry turned and to his surprise saw Katherine rushing up to him. He felt a sudden strange feeling inside of him; somehow it looked like Katherine was running up to him in slow motion. He knew Katherine had looked much happier and healthier over the past days but he had never seen her look so beautiful. She had done her hair up and had bought a new dress that seemed to flow out elegantly.

"Henry."

Henry blinked getting out of his small trance.

"What is it Katherine?" he said, forcing himself to say it in a bored tone.

She looked worried and breathless as she curtseyed.

"Henry," she said rising. "Why is Nicholas suddenly participating in this jousting match? He has never done this before."

Henry smiled. He could not wait to beat Nicholas. For some reason he wanted to see Nicholas get hurt, and he could not understand why. Nicholas had never done anything bad to him. In fact, it was a good thing. He was good company for Katherine and was in love with her, this may be the only way he can get his divorce. Yet he still felt a little anger towards him.

"Well, I suggested it."

Katherine looked horrified.

"But why?"

"Well I thought as he is from Spain and staying here, he should learn the English way. And what is more English then a good old fashion jousting match."

Katherine looked down, she still could not believe that Henry was letting him participate. She looked up again and tried to meet his eyes, Henry trying to avoid them. She took his hands into hers as she spoke, wanting to get his attention.

"Por favor Henrio, mi amor"

Henry blinked and met her eyes. It had been ages since she had last spoken Spanish. He was surprised that he still understood every word she said. He knew that Katherine had done that to get his attention, and it worked.

"Please Henry, for you know how much I care about you. Please do not hurt him too much. He is my friend and means a lot to me. Lord knows how I do not have many of them."

Katherine let go of his hands and Henry felt himself feeling sympathetic for her, then angry. Why did she seem to care so much about Nicholas's health? It was not that important. That was when Henry remembered the fact Katherine had laid with Nicholas last night and the anger grew.

"Look Katherine I am very sorry but I cannot do that. This is the sport of jousting! I cannot just let him off simply because he is your friend." Henry said hotly.

"But Henry, surely you can accept just this once..."

But Henry turned away from her to see Anne who had run up to him with an evil smile.

"Ah Anne," Henry said. "I am hoping that you will be there to wish me good luck?'

She curtseyed. "Of course Your Majesty."

Anne took a quick glanced at the sad facial expression on Katherine before pulling the King in for a kiss; Henry, surprised by this, eagerly kissed her back. Katherine took a few steps back and tried to keep her pride with her.

"Well, I see that you are busy with your whore, so..."

"Oh, like you can talk."

Henry had turned back to see her, his sharp words cutting into her. Anne looked at them, amused.

"What do you mean?" Katherine whispered. "I have never ever been with anyone else but you."

Henry laughed at this.

"You are just as much as a whore as me. Do not think I know what you did last night. Lady Jane was nice enough to inform me that you took a certain visit to Lord Nicholas's bedchambers."

Katherine gasped at this. So Jane had been spying on her?

"And," Henry continued. "You did not return. So do not lecture me on what is right and proper and give me that look when you are just as bad."

Katherine started to breath heavily at the accusations he was putting into her. She tried her best to hold back the tears.

"Henry, I swear nothing ever happened."

Henry snorted.

"Then if that was true what would have been the point of going there?"

Katherine looked down, silent. Henry laughed.

"See? You are not saying anything. That is because you know that you are nothing but a whore."

Katherine looked up, glaring at him.

"I went to his bedchambers because I was lonely, because there was a storm and you very well remember how scared I was. And...he was there for me when I was lonely, he kept me company. And after all these months, that is all I wanted."

Henry was speechless at this; he had never known just how lonely Katherine was. He had completely forgotten about her fear of storms and how he would hold her during them. He saw now that she was crying.

"Katherine...I…"

She shook her head at him, tears spilling down her face.

"I must go now."

She gave him a quick curtsey, then left. Henry watched her go, feeling terrible. He did not know why, but he felt troubled by Katherine's sadness. He felt guilty. Anne saw the troubled look on Henry's face and knew that it had to do with Katherine. Thinking fast, she took his cheek and planted a kiss on his lips. Reluctantly, Henry returned it, but his thoughts were still on Katherine. He had never felt so guilty. It was then he decided that he would not harm Nicholas painfully like he had intended to. Yes, Henry thought. I will give him a gentle blow to the right side, just enough to injure him so he will be out of the game but not enough to seriously hurt him. Henry just hoped that this would cheer Katherine up.


Nicholas watched from his stable, having just groomed his brown horse. He watched Katherine walk away, wiping the tears in her eyes. He admired how she was forcing a smile for the crowd, but he knew her hurt. He so wished that he could run up and embrace her in a hug, just so he could see a smile light upon her face. Furiously, he threw down the brush, angry at Henry. He watched as Henry and Anne slowly emerged from the stables then started kissing. Nicholas's eyes narrowed. He had been watching from behind, having come to the stables to do some last minute touch-ups on his horse when he saw the incident. He saw Katherine plead with Henry and saw Henry discard her for Anne. He saw her shout at her and caught the word whore, which made Nicholas's blood boil. He remembered when Katherine looked close to tears as she defended herself, but soon she was crying. Nicholas shook his head, erasing the memory.

He knew that he could not let Henry get away with this, let him get away with hurting Katherine. He just wished that Katherine would stop loving him and try to see what he truly was, a cold heartless monster. He wished that she could see that her life could be wonderful even if she wasn't queen of England. That just because she could not produce a son, did not mean that she was worthless, that she could have any man in the world, and that Henry was lucky to have her. He wished that he could go and punch Henry in the face, watch the blood spill out and let his anger out on him. But he knew he could not. Instead he could show his anger out in the jousting match, finally getting his revenge. Well, at least let out his anger. Yes, Nicholas thought. He knew that Henry was a trained jouster, but Nicholas had one thing that he did not. Love. The love for Katherine, he would do this for Katherine. Finally Henry would get what he deserves.

Katherine sat firmly on her throne, overlooking the arena. She knew that her ladies had suspected that something was wrong, having seen through her fake smile. But of course they dared not question her. Katherine could not wait for this to be over so she could retire to her bedchambers and cry endlessly. She had regretted deeply seeing Henry, how could she have thought that he would ever listen to her? Especially if Anne was around.

The announcer walked onto the lawn to announce the beginning of round one, but first looking up to Katherine, giving her a small bow. Katherine plastered on the smile and nodded her head. He turned back to the crowd announcing the games. Katherine gave a small sigh as the crowd went wild. Just half an hour ago, she felt the happiest that she had ever been, and now she felt as if her heart was drowning in sadness. Her mind started to wander to Nicholas. Now that she knew that Henry didn't care about his health, she began to worry. She did not want to see him get hurt and only wished that there was something she could do to stop this.

Katherine heard the whistle blow and looked out to see who would be playing, and to her horror Nicholas and Henry rode out on their horses, covered in full battle gear and jousting pole in arms.

"What are they doing out first?" she whispered, her head turning to her ladies. "Well?"

"Your Majesty did you not hear? The announcer said that His Majesty would go first, to make the game more enjoyable." Lady Jane replied.

Katherine looked at Jane.

"Thank you Lady Rochford. And I would also like to advise you to keep your nose out of other people's business, if you value your possession here." Katherine said in a stony voice, and Jane backed down.

Katherine turned back to the arena, now worried. Usually the King would battle last, not first. She watched Henry ride his horse around the audience, accepting the praises given to him by the people. Katherine knew that Henry would pick a girl to tie the ribbon on, and she knew who that girl would be.


Henry rode on his horse, bobbing up and down with the horse. He held his jousting stick tightly in his hand as he headed towards the side of the podium where Anne sat. He gave a small sigh as he saw her beauty. He rode up to her and bowed down his head. A loud hush fell onto the crowd followed by whispers. Small glances were made to Henry, then back to Katherine, all wondering why he did not go to her? Of course, everyone at court knew of the King's great matter and him wanting a divorce, but no one knew that it was to marry Anne. People had heard of the rumor of her being the King's mistress, but no one quite knew if it was true. But today they knew. All eyes fell onto Katherine to see how she was taking it. Katherine however seemed to be keeping her pride, head held high and shoulders back, she looked just like a true Queen would. Everyone watched as Anne stood up, smiling triumphantly as she untied the ribbon around her arm. She tilted her head down to Henry then tied it on his jousting pole, she sat back down. The crowd was still silent as they watched Henry ride to take his place on the opposite side of Nicholas. Again they looked at their queen; surely she must be upset about this? But like always, Katherine showed no fear or sadness in her eyes.

Now the crowd's eyes were on Nicholas as he began his way around the podium. Many people wanted to know who he would pick, and the choices were endless. Many girls had taken a fancy to Nicholas as soon as he arrived at court. He had, after all, been a charming gentleman, always offering to help a lady in need whenever he could. And when the news broke out that he was single, well that caused a stir. Nicholas rode around the stands, glancing at the people sitting in the stands looking at him; the girls would giggle as he passed them. He looked up to where Katherine sat. She seemed to be looking at the crowd but not paying attention, as if she was staring out into space. Nicholas knew how upset she was and hoped that she would smile again. He took a deep breath and rode up to her. There was a loud hush through the crowd, just like before. Katherine eyes widened when she noticed him in front of her, his jousting pole out. She looked around the crowd and saw their surprised eyes on her and him. She smiled at him; she knew that Nicholas must have thought that she was hurt with Henry going up to Anne in front of everyone. She slowly stood up, still very surprised at this. She untied the pink ribbon wrapped around her wrist and walked over, tying it to the jousting pole. He smiled at her and bowed down his head. The crowd began to whisper. Nicholas and Katherine? Out of all the pretty girls and ladies in court, he had picked the thirty nine year old queen of England.

"Your Majesty." Nicholas said.

Katherine returned the smile. She felt a warm fuzzy feeling run through her body, she felt happy again. And to her and the audience's surprise Nicholas started rummaging through his pockets.

"Nicholas what is it?" she asked puzzled, she looked around and saw that everyone was watching them. Including Henry.

Finally he pulled out a small navy box. He opened it and pulled out a delicate charm necklace glittering in the sunlight. He placed it back in the box, happy that it was still as beautiful as before. Katherine gasped when he held it up for her.

"Nicholas, that is for me?"

He nodded.

"Yes, well, I was saving it for the ball but I thought why not now?"

She stood there, speechless.

"Well Catalina? Are you not going to take it?" he said with a hint of playfulness.

Katherine chortled and shook her head slightly, not believing thing.

"This must have cost you a fortune," she whispered. Both Katherine and Nicholas had forgotten that the whole crowd was watching and waiting for them.

"Thank you," she finally whispered. "But, how can I repay you?"

Katherine wanted to give him money or something for that was an expensive charm.

"Just wish me good luck."

Katherine and Nicholas shared a smile.

"Good luck Nicholas," Katherine whispered. "And thank you."

She bowed her head at him and returned to her seat, watching Nicholas ride out. She looked at Henry who met her eyes, and she gave him a sweet smile. She could not read his facial expression, it seemed natural. But then again what was she expecting? For him to be jealous? Nicholas was now in front of Henry. The announcer walked in the middle for the match to begin. Katherine took a deep breath then exhaled. She hoped that Nicholas would be safe.

As soon as Nicholas was in front of Henry ready to go and the match had begun, Henry took off. Clutching the jousting stick tightly he pushed hard on his horse making it go faster and faster. The world seemed to be blurred out, the cheering of the crowds could not be heard, only his heavy breathing, the stomps of his horse and his thoughts. He could not understand what he had felt when he saw Nicholas handed over that necklace. Of course he should be happy, after all Nicholas and Katherine's relationship was warming up. This meant that he was a step closer to his divorce. But somehow he felt angry. Angry when he saw Katherine smile at Nicholas and light up, then even angrier when she gave him that sweet innocent smile. And after all he had a special gift to give her; he had been saving the necklace he kept for the ball. But Nicholas had ruined his light and given a gift to her. He glared at Nicholas who rode in front of him, the memory of him deciding to be kind to Nicholas had evaporated. Instead hatred replaced it, he wanted to hurt Nicholas and make him fall. Henry gritted his teeth.

Nicholas stared icily at Henry, digging his shoes into the side of the horse trying to make it go faster. He wanted to hurt him, to defeat him, to pay him back for hurting Katherine. The amount of times he had made Katherine cry; causing her all that misery, trying to divorce her for that whore, Anne. It made Nicholas angry, and he knew that now was his chance for revenge.

Both men rode towards each other, at the same pace with the same type of jousting pole. Nicholas leaned in, watching his prey. Henry did the same. Both pushed harder on their horses. They were getting closer and closer. Nicholas eyed Henry's jousting pole closely. He was seconds away from hitting him. He moved to his side, ready to hit Henry on the right side of the chest. Thoughts were spinning in his head of a plan. He tried to think of where Henry would aim his pole at him. So far his pole was strait ahead of him, but he knew that it would not stay there. He knew that Henry was not going to be nice. Even though Henry had said before that he was ok with Nicholas pursuing his relationship with Katherine, Nicholas had seen an evil glint in his eye, and knew that from that evil determined stare, he was angry at him for giving Katherine such a beautiful gift. He had about half a second to decide where to go, many places of where Henry could put his jousting stick in him ran through his mind. That's when it clicked, the most painful place was his temple just above his right eye, that could cause serious damage. Henry was just a meter away from him. Quickly, in a flash, still holding his jousting pole firmly at his right side, he ducked. And he was right. Henry had aimed for his right temple just above his eye. Henry had been too busy with his aim that he did not notice Nicholas. Henry's jousting stick hit thin air, right above Nicholas's head. However Nicholas's jousting stick hit the right part of his chest, causing Henry to fall off. Henry's horse skidded to a halt, and then galloped off. Nicholas lifted up his head, slowing down his horse so it came to a halt. He turned it round to see the damage.

The loudest silence that anyone had ever heard fell. Some of the crowds were standing up trying to see their King. Others were sitting down, jaws dropped and gob smacked at the damage. Anne Boleyn was standing up, her hand covering her mouth. Katherine was running down the stairs, holding the ends of her skirts, looking shocked and horrified. No one expected Henry to loose, least of all Katherine. Nicholas mounted his horse and to ran over to see what he had done.

Katherine knelt down beside Henry, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Henry," she whispered.

Henry lay there unconscious. Small streaks of blood had spilt out from the back of his head and a large bruise had formed. She took out her handkerchief and wiped away the wet blood, then lightly touched his cheek. She did not notice Nicholas kneeling down beside her or Anne rushing down. Katherine felt the reassuring hand of Nicholas on her shoulder and she looked up.

"I am so sorry," he said." I…I did not know that…" he stopped, not knowing what to say.

Katherine shook her head slightly and took his hand off of her, her eyes still on Henry. She noticed Anne who was kneeling next to him, looking just as horrified. But she was not crying. Katherine thought that she would feel angry towards her, but she did not. She loved Henry and was far too sad now to be mad. She looked behind her to see her ladies there, too looking worried.

"Where are the physicians?" she said quickly, annoyed that they were not here.

"They are coming, Your Majesty."

Just as she said this, the physicians came running down, carrying a stretcher for him to go on. Katherine stood up bravely and watched them carry Henry on it.

"Your Majesty, please, do not worry," one of them told her. "We will do the best to make sure that His Majesty will recover."

Katherine nodded.

"As I expect you will. Now I wish to come with."

"Your Majesty, I would rather..." he said, protesting, but then stopped. He nodded, he couldn't refuse the queen of England.

Katherine brushed the dirt of the ends of her dress, trying to not break apart. She noticed that Anne was standing there, looking at her.

"Is something wrong, Mistress Anne?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

Anne opened her mouth to speak, then looked down.

"I wish to also go and visit His Majesty," she said quietly.

Katherine shook her head and found herself giving her a small smile.

"No, I do not think so. I am his wife and the queen of England. You are his mistress and whore. I think that I should see him. Besides it is best that Henry gets a lot of rest."

And with that, she followed the physicians back to the castle. Anne watched her go, anger filling her. How dare Katherine leave her like that! She knew how much Anne loved Henry; she was just as worried about him as she was. So why could she not see him?

"Fine then," Anne said bitterly. "If that's the way she wants it, then let the games begin."


da,dad, da, dannn, dann, * dramatic music* well if you ask me henry got what he deserved for being such a jerk. oh dear, i don't want to know what anne is planning. oh and a quick poll

what do you think should happen to anne?

1. she marrys henry

2. she marrys nicholas

3. she dies

4. she lives n unhappily eva fater

5. other

please leave an answer with your review! and thanks for reading! also thank you to my beta sarah