First, a bit of advice, avoid doing too much and burning yourself out. Exhaustion isn't pretty and my brain's still somewhere else. The Swedish idiom for it is "gå in i väggen" literarily translated: walk into the wall.

This is the reason for my lack of updates. I've been pushing myself too far for too long and just after Easter I collapsed physically and mentally. So take care of yourselves! It's not worth it.

I'm still not myself but I'll try to update more often now that I'm for the first time in years is taking care of myself and trying to stop stressing.

Here's a very short little chapter with some clues and answers and I'll try to give you a much longer chapter next time. I'd like to thank everyone still reading this story and reviewing. Your support keeps me and this story going:)

May 31 1524

The court was buzzing with activity as all of the preparations needed for the move to the summer residence at Hampton court were preformed. Whitehall needed to be cleaned out and was abandoned during the summers to avoid too much decease. All of the courtiers were running around trying to not only pack all of their things but also getting a good place in the procession from Whitehall.

Having escaped from the chaos earlier the Marchioness of Devonshire, also countess Rochford or simply Mary Boleyn was resting on a lawn enjoying the sunlight while her son Edmund, duke of Richmond was running around happily with his elder sister princess Mary and his cousins Henry Percy, Mary Howard and Mary's younger brother Thomas who had recently joined the Hatfield children. The last edition to the family was a little boy who was sleeping soundly in a basket by Mary's side. Mary's second son, a little boy called James, duke of Somerset. The king had decided to make him duke shortly after his birth.

The queen was laughing beside Mary at the children's games as Princess Mary let herself be caught yet again. The young princess had become eight and the queen made sure to spend every possible moment with her. The young princess would one day marry her cousin the emperor, most likely as soon as she turned thirteen. She would not be able to be a child much longer and the queen wished her little daughter to be a child as long as possible even if her nephew was a good boy.

The king was still at court and was plotting something. He spent lot of time writing letters and converse with his advisors. Neither of the women was too worried since they could not stop it and he had assured them it was nothing to worry about. At first they had been worried about their precarious ménage a trios since the queen, without a son in a country never ruled by a woman was in a dangerous situation, and Mary, the mistress might lose her close contact with her son if the king tired of her, had much to lose if her tired of either of them. The possibility of war was also problematic but for the moment they were secure in the alliance with the emperor and king Francis was keeping calm.

Princess Mary hurried over and dropped down laughing. The younger children continued to run around playing tag for a little while before they all returned under the canopy to eat fruit and ask the queen, marchioness and princess to make the flower wreaths. Henry Percy in particular tried to act older then he was since his mother Mary's sister Anne was in confinement awaiting the birth of her second child.

Later on after the children had retired for the night, Mary and Catherine sat watching the rain gently splattering against the windows. They relished these moments of quiet as well as their time with their children. There had been no more attempts on either of their lives after the Seymour conspiracy which had left both Edward and Jane Seymour a head short and the rest of the family banished in disgrace. However the fear was ever present. The queen had never truly relaxed due to her family's battles during her childhood against the moors. Mary had also been aware of the potential return to the troubled years of civil war, but it all had come so much closer when members of the court plotted their death. Suddenly the list of people you trusted with your life became more exclusive. That was a lesson both desperately wished their children would never have to learn.