Although it took a few months for Cranmer to compile his information and write a proper letter to the king, by November 2nd Henry was aware of his wife's mishaps before marriage and of her pre-contract for marriage with her private secretary, Francis Dereham.

Henry did not believe what he read at first, and refused to consider Cranmer's information valid. He insisted on further investigation, and after a few days, the truth was told once more and Henry had to accept the fact that all the allegations against his wife were true. All the investigations pried Edward away for a few days, as he was ordered to get information out of Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper, who was also accused of having carnal knowledge of the little queen.

Once Henry was finally convinced of the matter, he had Catherine locked away in her rooms until further decisions were made. She was left with only one lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, who was the wife of the horrid Boleyn brother until his death.

"It must be terrible having such dreadful company on your last days as Queen of England…" Anne commented as she stood with Edward in the hall amongst others. "Do you think he'll take the Lady Rochford down with her? I heard she was assisting in some of the affairs."

Edward shrugged. "There's no way of knowing what His Majesty will do right now. He's terribly furious. I only hope his anger leads him to make good decisions as to the little queen's fate and not bad ones."

"What would you consider good?" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow. She had an idea as to what Edward considered good, but she loved to hear him say it.

"Anne, you must kno-" but Edward's voice was cut off by the sounds of shrieking and yells in the hall. Both his and Anne's heads and bodies spun around immediately so they could get a better glimpse of who was making the sounds. Banging footsteps could be heard in the mix, and every noise echoed through the hall as it was made, causing quite a commotion.

It took a few seconds for the source of the screams to be found, and for the words to become clear to Anne's ears, but once she could see over the crowds of people in front of her, she realized that it had been the little queen, escaped from her chambers, who was yelling as loud as she could. Her words had been muffled by the sounds of the people in the hall, but Anne heard them clearly now. She called for His Majesty in a final attempt to get his attention. By the looks of it, she knew Henry was at Mass in the chapel as well, as she was running in that direction.

"How pathetic." Anne said quietly, shaking her head. She had yet to feel any pity for the tiny whore.

Edward didn't say a word. He watched the girl run and the guards follow and stop her from going any further. He sighed a little, wondering if she could go and yell at her for such inappropriate behavior, when he saw Thomas come up behind and speak to one of the guards quickly. The guard nodded in response and Catherine was dragged away, back to her lonely rooms with no company but the Lady Rochford.

Thomas caught his brothers' gaze and smiled walking over to him and Anne. Edward crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Thomas plainly. "Since when are you involved in any of this?" Edward asked.

"The King asked me to go speak to the Queen today, and I was supposed to make sure she stayed in her rooms." Thomas replied. He smiled at Anne for a moment, as if he was trying to impress her, but she merely blinked back at him.

"You didn't do a very good job." Edward noted. "You best be getting back to your post and keeping more of a keen eye on her, Tom. When His Majesty hears of this he won't be the least bit impressed by your failure to keep her contained in her chambers."

Thomas frowned at his brother. "If you say so, Edward." He replied, shrugging his shoulders to show he didn't really care what Edward thought. It was the guards who had truly failed to contain the little girl, not him. "Good day, Anne." He gave Anne a smile and a nod of his head before walking away.

Anne rolled her eyes at his back and looked up at Edward. "You had better make sure he's not fooling around and making foolish mistakes like this all the time. It will be our name that feels the shame, I can imagine, and we can't have that, can we?"

Edward uncrossed his arms and nodded shortly. "I know, Anne. I've got the situation under control."

"I'm not so sure you do." She replied, looking out into the crowd of chattering people. Edward didn't reply, he merely did the same as she and focused himself elsewhere.

On the 23rd of November, the little queen was queen no longer. She became known once more as Lady Catherine Howard, nothing more and nothing less. She was removed from her chambers, the queen's chambers, in the palace, and imprisoned in Syon House in Middlesex, for the winter.

The girl had not even faced her fate and people were already beginning to wonder if the King would take a new queen. Henry was getting on in age and was tiring quickly of the misbehaving wives he had in the past. Edward told Anne that the King often spoke of needing a mature wife, someone who did not need a babysitter, and that made Anne laugh.

On December 10th, Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper, the King's former groom, were executed at Tyburn. Culpepper had only to face hanging, but the poor Dereham boy was in for a lot more than that. Their heads could be viewed the next day on the London Bridge.

The entire Howard family was imprisoned in the Tower, and was threatened with the removal of their fortunes and goods. This was the best news Anne received during her lying in, which began at the end of November. Anne gave birth to a baby girl, who she insisted be named Jane after the late queen, her husband's sister.

Anne remained at home with her child up until the time the bill of attainder was passed on the 21st of January 1542. The bill declared that it was treason, punishable by death, if a queen consort failed to disclose her sexual history to the King within twenty days of their marriage or incited someone to commit adultery with her. The passing of this bill proved Catherine to be guilty without a doubt, and she was finally moved from Syon House to the Tower. On February 11th, the bill received Royal Assent and there was no timed wasted in scheduling Lady Catherine's execution.

February 13th, Catherine Howard was executed, beheaded with one stroke of the blade. Henry, Edward, Anne and Thomas did not attend the execution that day, and missed the girl's speech before death, as well as the terrified look that was plastered to her face when the blade came down upon her neck.

Anne and Edward's decision not to go had been last minute, and Thomas had decided to do the same, not wanting to be the only Seymour in attendance. Anne had insisted that she felt sick and did not want to go, but in reality the pity that had held off so long, finally arrived. As much as she disliked the seventeen-year-old Catherine Howard, she could not force herself to be present at her execution. It was something she dared not even admit to Edward, though she wondered if he felt any bit the same as her, since he seemed eager to stay and did not even try to convince Anne to go.

Catherine was forgotten as quickly as she had come, and the whole court's attention was focused well on the fact that the King would be looking for a new wife. With the Howard's generally out of the picture, new families were coming into the light with eligible bachelorettes to catch the King's eye, but from what it looked like, he was not interested, and many of the families were disappointed. Henry was now 51 years old and truly believed that he was no longer interested in the fresh meat he so often used to enjoy. He insisted that he was now looking for a stable wife, who could give him more children, but who would not cause him any more stress.

Knowing this description, Edward went on a hunt for an eligible woman, but the pickings were slim. Henry still took into consideration the beauty of his future wife, and finding a woman who was trustworthy and beautiful was a difficult task.

With Edward out on a hunt for a new wife for the King, and Thomas often missing for several days at a time, Anne was left alone at court and Henry was quick to force her attention upon him, despite the fact that she was pregnant again.

"You are once again with child, I hear?" Henry asked Anne. He had been sitting on his throne when he had called her over, and though she was unwilling in her mind, she was not able to be so upfront and so she had gone to him as he had beckoned. Henry had offered her a seat beside him and she had sat down most willingly, a hand on her small, budding stomach.

"I am, your majesty." She replied. Isn't it obvious? Does it look as if I have just gotten fat? "My husband is very happy."

Henry nodded his head, eyeing her belly and then looking up to meet her gaze. "He has told me so. I hope that I have not sent him away at a bad time?"

Anne almost furrowed her brow. He knows very well he has sent Edward away at a bad time! How dare he try to fool me! He's really a terrible liar. She smiled slightly and shook her head. "On the contrary, your majesty. I do not need Edward at my side at all times, not even during my pregnancies. I am perfectly fine without him."

She was clearly a better liar than him, because Henry seemed impressed by her stern response. "Lord Hertford is very lucky to have such an able wife. If only I had found you myself before he got a ring on your finger. You would have made a good Queen of England, Lady Hertford, and you could have pleased me with many heirs."

"I know I would have." Anne replied pompously. It was something she had thought of many times before she had met Edward, when the King had been young and handsome. Now he was a fat barrel of waste and it was difficult for her to sit as close to him as she did. She forced a smile to her face and held her hands together on her lap.

Henry looked at her with lustful eyes. He put a hand on her knee and Anne, this time, did not budge as fast, but only because her belly was a weight on her body, and caused her to have a slower reaction rate to such approaches. "You are still very beautiful, even as you age, Lady Hertford. Are you happy in your marriage?"

Anne bit the inside of her lip uncomfortably. "I am very happy, your majesty. I love my husband more than I could love any other man in the world."

Henry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are you sure? You do not even wish to wander? He works so much, there are other men who would give more time to their wife."

"And what other men are those?" She asked quickly. He was getting on her last nerve by reminding her of the one thing that upset her: Edward's work habits.

Henry smiled, but did not respond to her question directly. He merely made a statement. "I am the King, Lady Hertford, and even I would make time for my wife even if I had none. What is stopping your husband from doing this?"

Anne scowled at him. "I don't know. My husband has his reasons. Perhaps it is because unlike you, my husband has things to gain from his work. He can still move up, while you are already at the top of the totem pole, and can have others do your work for you! You even leave finding a new wife to those below."

"Perhaps that is how it appears, but how do you know I am not using my own means to find a wife?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. That was Anne's cue to jerk her leg away and stand up as quickly as she could. She sunk into a curtsey for the King, her brow furrowed.

"I do hope that you are not implying what I think you are implying, your majesty. My husband is your most loyal servant, this is not how you should be repaying him." Anne whispered. "Do not think that just because you are the King of England you can have every woman in the world."

Henry was more surprised than angered by Anne's words. He leaned back in his seat and looked at her. "Any other woman in this room would leave their husband as quick as they could to be with me." He said, matter-of-factly. He was right too, Anne knew that, and she was not trying to argue his point. "Why wouldn't you?"

Anne rose from her curtsey, assuming her full height and sighed very silently to herself at his words. If only he was not King and she could teach him a lesson for always speaking to her the way he did! "I am a loyal wife, your majesty, and I will remain so until my husband gives me a reason not to be, and he has never and I doubt he will ever."

"You are confident in Lord Hertford's loyalty." Henry noted. "You must love him."

"He is my husband." Anne replied shortly. She had no desire to discuss love with the King, a man who had now had five wives over a short time span. Has he any idea what love is, truly?

Henry nodded, rubbing his chin. "Indeed. If you ever find that your husband is no longer performing his duty properly, I hope you remember that there are greater men who would have you." In Henry's mind he was annoyed with Anne's dislike for him, but he could not let her get away so easily. He had never felt rejection from a woman before in his life, except from Anne, and it bothered him.

Anne nodded her head curtly and curtseyed again. "Your majesty, good day."