10.

There was something strange at the Palace that evening. It seemed at the appearance a normal party, one of the King's to celebrate both a marriage or a funeral, and it was hard from the outside, out of the Court's intrigues, to understand what was the occasion at that moment. What made anyway that evening special was the fact that the attention of everyone was focused on a single point of the hall that corresponded, as it should be expected, right to the royal throne. There must have been some kind of news indeed… Now that Anne Boleyn had in front of her two weeks, or maybe less, of life, it was possible that the King had already in mind a new wife and that maybe that was the evening for her introduction.

Everyone was staring at the same direction, everyone was whispering about the same topic, but Gregory just couldn't catch something revealing in those whispers, perhaps because he didn't even want to understand them; then, as for a magic, or maybe for that that psychology would have called some centuries later "cocktail party" phenomenon, he turned around hearing someone calling his name. He wasn't fond of parties nor of the frenetic Court, as it was already known, he seemed distant far away from gossip and chatters; there were just a few things that could catch his attention and Lucia was one of them.

"Look who's around!" she exclaimed approaching him with a bright smile.

The boy returned her smile and looked at her in silence for some moments. Could it be possible that the simple sight of her, could leave him literally breathless?

"What 's happening?" he finally asked, breaking the silence, more to hide the embarrassment, than for real interest.

"What?" she asked confused "Don't tell me you don't know what's happening!"

"No.." Gregory honestly admitted "I see everyone surprised, but I don't understand the reason…" he continued giving a look around him.

The young lady looked at him astonished, then she started slowly to giggle; the young Cromwell normally would have been hurt and got angry by that reaction, but knowing her character, he simply glanced at her.

"Look!" she said then pointing at the throne beside the King, the one usually destined to the Queen that appeared now taken by someone "They are all staring at Queen Catherine!" she explained, revealing the name of the mystery woman.

"Queen Catherine?" he repeated widening his eyes "Do you mean she is here?" asked then more and more confused.

Lucia nodded absent-mindedly while she was looking at a point behind the boy's back, then she suddenly bowed, and only then, turning around, Gregory could realize the presence flesh and bone of the woman that until some days before, was hidden in his estate and that now was reaching the centre of the hall hand in hand with Henry VIII. He bowed too and then he watched them dance: there was really something strange that evening, indeed surreal; but when he saw other couples joining the ball and he looked again at the Italian lady at his side, any other though suddenly disappeared.

"So, can I have this dance?" he asked her taking her hand.

Lucia's answer was easily imaginable: some instants after, a new couple was dancing and Gregory could swear to have seen the Queen, his precious dance teacher, winking at him.

To her eyes the Curt had never been so brilliant, maybe because now for the first time she was looking at it with different eyes, for the first time after so many years, it had come back to be the centre of a joy that she could join too and not look at it as an unwanted appearance. And Catherine was smiling, the hand in Henry's was in her and his smile all for her… How much she missed it, his smile, his touch, everything!

"Shall we dance?" he had suddenly asked her, taking her hand to the lips and staring at her with an unequivocally passionate look and she had immediately accepted.

And now they were there, dancing again together after nearly ten years; it seemed all so surreal and instead it was true and she hadn't got now any doubts about the fact that happiness was near, not only for her but for everyone. She was again Queen, her daughter Mary again Princess, the Boleyns were going to be defeated: it all seemed the clear demonstration of how sometimes even reality has its happy ending, as a fairy tale.

"You are so beautiful" Henry whispered in her ear, making her smile "I promise you I'll make you happy again Catherine and I'll try to fix all my mistakes… I'll try to make everything you want me to, and you don't have do nothing but ask"

"Henry…" she simply said, surprised by those words and looking around, fearing to be only in a dream.

"Do you want an alliance with the Emperor? Or maybe reintroduce Catholicism? Maybe there are some people you don't like… What about Cromwell for example? If you want, I could take some power from him or even…" the King continued thoughtfully, trying to please her.

"No… No, Cromwell is… he's fine" she immediately stuttered, while the smile was vanishing from her lips saying that name.

Right in that moment Gregory Cromwell passed in front of her with her daughter best friend, Lady Lucia; she smiled to him and made him a wink, feeling somehow pride of that boy. He would have had his happy ending too and she had to live her now, completely. She looked back to Henry and some moments later he was there kissing her in front of everyone, but between that everyone, there were only them, the others didn't exist and didn't have to, in that hall as in their minds.

The fairy tale continued even for Mary, but not exactly as she would have wanted it to. Her return to Court had aroused everyone's astonishment and nobody had been able to recognize her after that time away; the attention was of course more to her mother, to be true, but she was the one to hold the ambassadors' one, who were already trying to propose her marriage plans. "Poor them" she was saying to herself smiling, answering to their questions and looking around. After almost an hour, she finally succeeded to find the object of her research, Charles of course, that she hadn't seen since her arrival to the Palace, but the smile soon disappeared when he, passing beside her, no even looked at her.

"Excuse me, Your Excellency" Mary said interrupting another question from the ambassador of Milan and departing with a bow of the head.

She quickly went out of the room, trying anyway to not arouse any suspects and she finally reached the Duke of Suffolk. The corridor was empty, there was only him in front of her, who was taking him by the arm.

"Charles, where are you going?" she asked confused by that behavior.

"I'm retiring in my rooms, Your Highness, I have just came to give my whishes to their Majesties" he said showing a cold coldness, not even turning to her.

"Your Highness?" she repeated in a whisper, widening her eyes "Your Highness?" repeated then again now louder "What does it all mean?" she asked with a breaking voice. She didn't know why, but she felt growing inside of her the need of cry, she was feeling like dying and had been those simple words to kill her.

"Nothing, it had never meant nothing at all…" he answered turning, keeping anyway to keep his look away "Forget everything, you deserve better, you will soon marry a foreign prince or duke and you'll surely be happy…" h e said then, starting again to walk.

Mary tried to call him back but it was as her voice was suddenly disappeared. She just stared at him walking away, then, when he was out of her sight, she feel her legs go weak and then she found herself on the floor with the head between her hands. She wasn't even able to cry, tears seemed useless while she was watching unwatched her fairy tale become a tragedy. There had been the castle, the King, the evil witch, the ordeals to go through and the good helpers, but in the end the Prince Charming just left.

"Princess!"

A voice woke her up from that pain and she looked slowly up, just to find the figure of Thomas Cromwell who was helping her to stand up. It was funny how that man really seemed to have changed, funny how he had been the most important helper, funny how she wasn't find it funny at all right now.

"Master Cromwell, do you believe in fairy tale?" she asked looking at him, even before realizing who was really making a similar question to.

But the Lord Chancellor had nothing to object, he stared at her thinking about an answer and then he slowly nodded.

"I just don't believe in happy endings" he finally answered with a hint of sadness in his voice.

And in that instant, two people who had never spoke to each other before, suddenly understood, finding their own fear impressed in the eyes of the other. It was over, and all that supposed to be happiness that they had believed to reach with power, titles and richness, was all just a pure lie.

Heyy! no, I have not dead LOL I'm so sorry for the late, and I hope you have liked this chapter and that you haven't abandoned this fanfiction...

So what do you think will happen now? What about Catherine, will she find happpiness with Henry, and is he really changed? And Mary and Charles, will they find again each other?

See you soon hopefully, let me know what you think ;)