AN: Firstly, A HUGE THANKYOU! To everyone who has reviewed and/or put this story on alert. It means a lot. Also, a time jump alert.
Also, unless plans change drastically, H/K WILL be a couple again, eventually. So sorry to any TomKat fans, A/H or J/H fans. (Although J/H is still being considered).
Christmastide, 1534
It was unbelievable how quickly things had changed- even for a man like Thomas Cromwell, who changed sides more often than he ate. Just a few short months ago, the Lady Mary had submitted and signed the oath, a major victory for Cromwell and the Reformer faction.
Or so he had thought.
Then that idiot, Thomas Boleyn had made the grave mistake of attempting to poison Katharine and Mary.
The fool!
As much as Thomas wanted to get both Katharine and Mary out of the way, he would never risk killing them, particularly if he could not conceal it as an accident.
Instead- and it was one of the few times he had felt like crying in his entire existence- his even more moronic servant had used the poison for both Katharine and Mary and poured all of it into Queen Anne's food!
The result of which, rendered her barren and Thomas Boleyn without a head.
And therefore, useless, for the Reformer faction, useless for Henry, useless for her family and useless for England.
The marriage was quickly annulled and the Reformer heir, Elizabeth, was bastardized.
He had thought that now that Katharine had been cleared of suspicion, she would be sent back to the More.
No one was more surprised than he when Henry declared that Katharine was to stay on at court and Katharine and Mary were to help the King choose a new wife!
Cromwell had hoped that Anne would stay, fight for her position, or at the very least confirm that Elizabeth would remain the heir to the throne.
Instead she had slunk away to Hever, utterly defeated, now to be known as Lady Anne Boleyn, Marquess of Pembroke while her daughter would be the Lady Elizabeth and behind Mary in the succession.
Flashback
Cromwell had only mentioned the oath once.
"Majesty, surely the Lady Elizabeth is ahead of the Lady Mary in terms of precedence as well as in the line of the succession. At least until Your Majesty has a legitimate son?" Cromwell hastened to clarify.
Henry's glare was fierce.
"As far as the oath is concerned, Master Cromwell, it is invalid. For its very article constitutes treason, as we have clearly established that the Lady Anne was never truly my wife, and therefore, never truly Queen of England, therefore Elizabeth could never be my true heir. Is that not true Master Cromwell?"
" Yes, of course, Your Majesty, but should we not draw up another oath, that clearly states that the Lady Katharine was never your lawful wife and therefore the Lady Mary was never your true heir?" he pressed.
Henry shook his head.
"The country has had too much upheaval in the past few months, it will comfort them to see Katharine at court, as well as silence the Emperor and the Pope with regards to her treatment. I shall wait until I take a new wife, then you shall devise a new oath and I am confident that they will both sign. Indeed, I am confident that the entire country shall sign."
Henry's tone signalled that the conversation was at an end.
Cromwell did not get a chance to mention that since the King had declared the oath and its contents invalid, that meant that his marriage to Katharine was valid and that Mary was legitimate...
Cromwell prayed that the King had merely forgotten about that aspect rather than declared the oath null for that very reason of naming Mary as his legitimate heir.
End flashback
And now, in this Christmastide of 1534 Katharine was walking around the court, all but Queen. Even worse, Henry had rejected every single woman that Cromwell had placed under his nose.
In fact, he did not even seem interested in finding a bride, spending all his time with Katharine or with Mary.
Cromwell could not stand to see the Ambassador strutting around, that arrogant smirk upon his face, but there was little he could do about it.
For Cromwell had come to realise something in the months that he had spent observing Henry and Katharine's interactions.
They were friends.
That was not to say that Katharine was not in love with Henry, you could see it on her face every time she looked at him.
Despite all he had said and done to her over the years. Her love refused to die.
Henry, despite his protests also clearly loved Katharine.
Even though, he had gone through so much in order to be rid of her, religious upheaval, the oath, the threat of excommunication and war with the Emperor for God's sake!
How could he just forget about the Reformation and the vital need to have a male heir?
Unfortunately, it was clear that they had a deeper bond than anyone even themselves had anticipated.
And that was a rather alarming thought.
If the King did not find a new wife, and quickly, Katharine could quite easily become Queen again, with the way the King was acting toward her.
It would be frightingly easy, since all of Europe had recognized the invalidity of his marriage to Anne, and most of England was still Catholic.
For the first time, Cromwell was at a loss.
He did not know how to handle the situation.
And that scared him to death.
It was odd.
Henry did not pretend to understand it.
Ever since the day when Katharine had said she would not stop fighting for him, she had occupied his thoughts more and more.
In the days and weeks that had followed since he discovered Anne was barren and sent her away, heartbroken he had spent nearly all his time with Katharine and Mary.
Less than a year before, Henry would have despised her presence, but now, now he found he needed her like he needed air.
They often stayed up into the night, just talking, remincing about the past. Katharine knew he just wanted to forget.
Wanted to forget that every time he thought about her or even little Elizabeth, all he could think about was the heirs that he would never have with Anne, and the fact that her father hadwanted to kill his daughter and the woman who, as he finally admitted to himself, still had a very special place in his heart.
He tried to forget that Anne the woman he thought he had loved above all others, had tried to move heaven and earth for- had told him numerous times that she wanted him to kill Katharine and Mary.
Tried to forget the voice in the back of his mind that wondered if she had known about the attempted poisoning, as unlikely as it was.
Henry pretended like none of it had ever happened.
Like he had never 'married' Anne.
Never sent Katharine away.
Never bastardized Mary.
Never started the Reformation.
Katharine's almost constant presence even seemed to help him forget the urgent need for a son.
Although his initial aim had been to have Katharine help him choose another wife, his real reason for
Wanting her around was the fact that she was the only one who could comfort him.
When he was with Anne, they had lusted and fought and raged at each other, but she never
Comforted him.
Not emotionally, anyway.
Besides, he was still deeply scarred from the situation with Anne and had little interest in exposing his heart to another woman so soon.
Katharine was familiar.
Henry knew she could not hurt him.
He knew what to expect from her.
That was, until the day Thomas More came back to court.
