Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while (again)! I've been super busy at work and with other distractions in my personal life. This chapter has been written in bits and pieces over more than a month. I finally got in gear and decided to finish it. I hope it's up to everyone's liking. Thank you all for the continued support (of this story and of me personally). It means more than you'll know. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"Mary, my beautiful Mary," Henry greeted warmly as he reached his daughter. She was no longer the small lass he would pick up in his arms and twirl around. She had grown into a beautiful young lady.

"You are even more beautiful than the last time we met. I do declare you're the prettiest princess in all of Christendom," he affirmed, which caused a blush on her pretty face.

Giving a small curtsy, she said, "Thank you, your Majesty."

He gave her a peculiar look. "Majesty? I'll have none of that, Mary. I've always been Papà. Or father."

Smiling at him, she said, "Thank you, Papà."

"Come here," her father instructed, opening his arms and she went into them, engulfed in a large hug. Oh how she had missed this man!

He lovingly placed kisses on each of her cheeks and her forehead. "I've missed you, daughter."

Nodding, Mary told her that she missed him as well. Neither noticed, but Katharine was looking upon the scene in earnest, her eyes misting. There was so much love between Henry and his daughter, how could he ever want to threaten that? How could he ever declare this girl a bastard, one borne of incest? Katharine could never begin to imagine how he would toss their daughter aside for any bastard children with Anne Boleyn. Mary was his true heir. As was the child she carried inside her womb.

For old time's sake, Henry picked up his daughter in his arms and twirled her around, both of them laughing. When he placed her back on the ground, he gave her a tender kiss on her forehead and said, "Your mother has missed you dearly. Go say hello."

"Good day, Mamà," Mary greeted, turning her attention to her beloved mother.

"Oh Mary, Mary, ven aquí, mi amor." Mary was soon engulfed in another large hug, this one from her mother who smoothed back her hair and spoke tenderly to her.

"Mi hija, yo le he perdido más que usted podría imaginarse."

"Sé; Le he faltado ambos tanto," Mary replied in perfect Spanish.

"Papa is right. Usted es el más hermoso de todo el mundo. You have been a good girl, have you not?"

The Princess nodded and Katharine smiled and kissed her daughter as Henry looked on. Although he had always felt a deep kinship to his only daughter, he could not deny the strength of the bond between Mary and her mother.

Lady Salisbury appeared along with some of Mary's ladies. She bowed to both King and Queen. "Lady Salisbury," Katharine greeted, kissing her cheek. "It is very good to see you."

"Thank you, your Majesty. It does my heart good to see you and be back at Court."

"How have her lessons been?" Henry asked, interrupting the old friends. Although he liked the Lady and knew she was good for Princess Mary, he was always a bit wary of her, with her Plantagenet pedigree.

"The Princess is a remarkable student. Very intelligent and highly capable. She excels at every subject."

The King and Queen beamed with pride at their daughter's accomplishments, which Salisbury went on about, being sure to mention her keen ear for music.

"Whilst you are here, you may take a respite from your studies," Henry announced, much to the surprise of the others.

"But Henry," began Katharine. "We agreed that Sir—"

He cut her off. "Yes. Well, Mary, how do you feel about Sir Thomas?"

Mary tried to hide her surprise. What did her father mean by that question? "Sir Thomas?" she questioned, which was valid as there were many Thomases in Court.

Charles Brandon who stood behind the royals held back a snicker. There were many Thomases; it was easy for the child to be confused.

"More, Mary. Sir Thomas More. You know him, do you not?"

"Of course," she answered without hesitation, having met Sir Thomas on multiple occasions. "The author of Utopia."

"You are familiar with Utopia?"

Nodding, Mary said, "Yes, Papa. I have read it."

"¡Dios mío!" muttered Katharine in surprise. For such a young child—oh, she supposed that this was another example of Mary's maturity.

Mary's brows knit in confusion. Had she said something wrong? "Was it wrong of me to read, Mamà?"

Shaking her head, her mother said, "It was not wrong, child. Your father and I were just surprised—pleasantly, though. That is wonderful. Is it not, 'enry?"'

"Indeed," Henry replied, marveling to himself of his daughter's intelligence.

"It will please Sir Thomas that you have read his book. Your mother has requested his tutelage over you, while you are here. What do you think of that?"

"It would be an honor, Papa."

"Very well," he said, kissing her forehead. "So it shall be. Brandon, you are to send word to Sir Thomas that he is to tutor the Princess, beginning next Monday. Until then, you shall be free of studies, to enjoy the Court."

She smiled and thanked her parents. "Your father has wonderful events planned for you," Katharine told Mary who looked at her father in appreciation. She could hardly believe his generosity. Why it almost felt like yesteryear.

"Are you tired from the trip, my darling?"

Shaking her head, Mary assured her mother that she was fine. "Mary, it was a long ride, you should rest. I will take you to your room, along with your ladies. You will get settled and rest for a bit."

"Gracias, Mamá."

"Sweetheart, how would you like to have dinner tonight with the Duke of Suffolk, your uncle and your Aunt Mary?"

"That would please me greatly," she told her father and she meant it. It had been some time since she last had seen her aunt, whom she was named after.

"We look forward to it, Princess," her uncle told her. "And your cousins will be delighted to see you."

Mary's eyes sparkled at the prospect of seeing her cousins again. After telling him that she looked forward to seeing them again, she bid them adieu and left with her mother.

"She's a remarkable child, Henry," Charles told him once the ladies left.

"Indeed she is," agreed Henry. "She's read Utopia."

"I daresay she has been educated as well as any male her age would be."

"Yes, she has had the best; her mother and I have made certain of that."

"You are happy to have her in Court?" he asked, to which his friend nodded.

"She is a breath of fresh air, Charles. I have missed her a great deal. With everything else that is going on, she is a welcome distraction."

"You have made the Queen quite happy as well. I cannot remember the last time she smiled so."

Henry could. It was when she realized that he was telling the truth when he told her that she was with child. It was no surprise that her child (children?) could cause her to smile widely.

"Yes, well, Katharine loves Mary a great deal," Henry said quietly.

"She will love this new child as much," Charles nervously added. Henry narrowed his eyes. He did not want talk of the other child. Talking of it would make it more real and at the moment, it was too difficult for him to anticipate another child with the Queen.

Moving closer to his friend, Henry leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You are to keep your promise that no one else is to know of the Queen's condition."

"Of course, Henry. I will not tell a soul."

Henry guarded him with a certain level of disbelief. For now, he had to trust Brandon and Knivert as well as Anne and Dr. Linacre to keep the secret. "Princess Mary is not to be alerted of her mother's condition either. Understood?"

Reflecting upon the conversation he had with his niece in the carriage ride, Brandon knew how much it would delight her to learn of her mother's pregnancy. However, he could not say anything, as per his promise to the King. "Understood?" prompted the King.

"Understood," he finally replied.

*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

Dinner, as it turned out, was a lovely event. The family ate in lavish style in the dining hall with minimal servants in place. It was more of a family affair than a formal royal dinner. Still, that did not stop His Majesty from indulging his daughter by having the cooks prepare her favorite foods. For most of the meal, the royal children happily chatted away with each other as their parents talked to each other. Henry and Katharine, for their parts, put on a seemingly united front and did not display any animosity toward the other. Henry even found himself asking his wife's opinion on certain matters for Katharine was well-learned. Charles and Mary were grateful that their brother and sister-in-law were behaving civilly towards each other; in fact they couldn't remember the last time things were so amicable between their majesties. Mary in particular held onto the slim hope that her brother would break free of Mistress Boleyn's spell and return to Katharine as his true wife, for the good of his family (particularly his daughter) and for the good of his kingdom. Of course Mary did not know what her husband did—that the Queen was pregnant, possibly with the sacred son that Henry so desired.

Although Princess Mary had spent the majority of dinner catching up with her cousins, she did participate in conversation with the adults when asked a question and from time to time she glanced furtively at her parents. Was it her imagination or were they actually getting along? There was no bitterness, no hostility. From everything Mary had been told of her parents' fractured marriage, from everything she used to observe in their presence, this was an improvement. Granted, it was likely for the benefit of her that they were on their best behavior, but it gave Mary a sense of peace.

If only it could always be as this, she thought to herself. Her parents getting along, her father regarding her mother the way he used to, her aunt and uncle and cousins surrounding her. Family that is what she missed the most at Ludlow Castle. She did not have such luxury there. The closest to family was her beloved Lady Salisbury and her son, Reginald Pole. Her son visited often, which Mary was grateful for. Yes, he was older than her, but not that much older and they got along well—from education to religion, they both felt similarly on the important subjects. Reginald was easy to converse with; he did not dismiss her thoughts based on her youth and yet he also did not simply defer to her the way most did, given her position (granted, he respected that she was Princess of Wales but he did not treat her delicately). If only he were not a Plantagenet! There had been times in which she indulged in wishing that they could be together one day; however, she knew that it was foolish to wish such things. As it was foolish to wish that her parents would once again have a happy marriage.

"Mary?" little Eleanor asked, looking at her cousin whose attention had turned inward.

"Hmm? Oh, I am sorry sweetheart, what was it you asked?"

Her cousin repeated her questioning and Mary responded in kind, being certain to keep her attention on the child. Mary loved her cousins, loved children in general and had always desired for a sibling.

A bittersweet pang ran though Katharine as she watched her daughter interact with her cousins. Mary was so good with the children; she knew that her daughter would be most pleased to have a sibling and share in her mother's joy, but she was not allowed to share her joy. Even with her child.

The Brandons eventually left for their own home and it was just the King, Queen, and Princess who remained. At that point, they had moved into a sitting room, their servants having served them a tea to go along with a plate of cookies.

"You had a good time with your cousins, mi amor?"

Nodding, Mary told her mother that she had. "And it was lovely seeing Aunt Mary and Uncle Charles. They seem very happy," she commented innocently.

Henry thought they seemed as happy as a woman married to Charles Brandon could be, but he would not speak ill of his best friend in front of his daughter.

"I know your aunt was happy to see her namesake," commented Mary's mother which earned her a smile from her daughter.

"You are to sleep well tonight, Daughter. For tomorrow I have some surprises for you on the 'morrow," her father told her and her eyes lit up at the prospect of (what she hoped would be pleasant) surprises.

"You are very kind, Papà." She smiled at him and he could not help but smile in return. He had missed her dearly.

"Anything for my only daughter."

Katharine quelled the voice of negativity inside her head that said Henry would not do anything for Mary because divorcing Katharine to marry Mistress Boleyn and sire children with her while Mary was inconsequential, would not be for his daughter's sake. It would break her heart if she knew it were so…it will break her heart when she learns of her father's plans.

Standing up, the Queen moved next to her daughter and said, "You ought to go to bed now, dear. I shall walk with you."

"Thank you, Mamà. Good night, Papà."

"Good night, Sweetheart," her father replied, standing up to give her a kiss on the forehead and she surprised him by giving him a hug which he returned.

"Sleep well, Henry," Katharine told her husband with a nod of her head. Because their daughter was in the same room, Henry told her the same with a nod of his head.

*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

"Mary, I am so happy to have you home," confessed the Queen once Mary's ladies had departed her room and it was just the two of them.

"Oh Mama! I have missed you so much," cried Mary.

"Come here," Katharine told her, opening her arms and Mary did as told, happy to be in her mother's loving arms again.

"Mamá, I was so afraid," Mary began but then decided not to share her fears.

"Of what, child?" asked the Queen as she smoothed back her daughter's hair.

"Nothing; please forgive me; I overstepped."

Shaking her head, her mother told her it was not so. "Tell me, please. It is just the two of us in here."

Taking a deep breath, Mary confided, "I was afraid that Father would not let me back to Court. I was afraid that he did not truly want me back at Court. That he only did so to oblige appearances' sake. That he no longer loved me and would separate the two of us. I could not bear such a thing."

Eyes widening, Katharine felt a sob choke in her throat. "¡Dios mío! Why would you think that?"

Mary extracted herself from her mother's loving arms and stood straight. "I am not as naive as people think I am. I know things."

She elaborated no further on what things she knew, choosing instead to sit on the edge of her bed, folding her hands primly over her lap as she stared at the flickering candles.

Briefly closing her eyes and saying a prayer for the Lord to give her strength, Katharine walked over to the bed and sat next to her daughter, placing a hand on the small of her back.

"Mija, I realize that although you are still young, you are not as a child. You are the daughter of a king and queen, granddaughter of kings and queens. You have your own household that you are in charge of as the Princess of Wales. Although I wish that you could remain innocent as you once were when it comes to certain matters, I know that is impossible."

Remaining wordless, Mary simply nodded. It was refreshing to have this honesty, as she feared that her mother would withhold things for her sake.

Summoning courage, Katharine was firm but gentle, "I will not ask you what you know tonight. It is late and you've had a long day. But we will talk about this. Just the two of us. I want you to know that you may always come to your Mama. I love you dearly. And despite what you may fear, your father loves you as well and desired this visit. And know this: I will do whatever it is within my power to make certain that we are not separated."

Releasing a deep breath that she had not realized she was holding, Mary nodded, not being able to express her gratitude with words. Her mother caressed her and she ached to sob in her shoulders but she would not fall apart in front of her. She was Catalina d'Aragon's daughter and she would conduct herself accordingly.