As I cannot directly reply to reviews written by guests... I'm going to reply to them on here.
To the guest who commented that I have wife number 5 wrong: I actually took out Queen Jane Seymour, so his third wife out of my story. If you go back to my first chapter, you would see that I did not include her in my prologue. And this is because as I've stated: "Although based on the history of the Tudor family, primarily King Henry the 8th, and the Showtime TV show, The Tudors- parts of history and said TV show have been tweaked and changed as the author's imagination deemed fit :)
To add to that I've also shortened the time King Henry is married to Catherine of Aragon so that when the first part of this story takes place Amelie is 17 and King Henry is 31. Which means that I've made it so that King Henry's annulment to Catherine of Aragon will occur about 12 years prior to what actually occurred in history. Again this story is my artistic creation NOT history.
To the guest who commented that Amelie is to Mary-sueish to be likable. Thank you for comment and I will take that in advisement. Granted I do like how I've created Amelie and as she ages you'll see how complex of a character she is and how her free-spirited nature and independence will bring both admiration as well as problems with her future relations. Ah and yes, I really wanted to make Amelie's beauty stand out- so much so that the womanizer of the English court, Charles Brandon, would be in awe. And I hoped it would come across that it wasn't just Amelie's beauty that made him speechless but also her quick wit. Amelie's beauty is what catches King Henry's attention but what makes her his perfect lover is her mind :)
Again I must reiterate this story IS a creation of my imagination with its muse as the story of King Henry the 8th and the Showtime's The Tudors
Hope everyone enjoys this next update!
By the time Lady Amelie would meet King Henry the 8th again, almost two years passed since he laid eyes on his most beautiful creature. And many things occurred in both of their lives that changed the other in meaningful ways.
King Henry the 8th broke ties with the Catholic Church and became head of the Church of England, ensuring an annulment from Queen Catherine of Aragon. During this time his long trusted advisor, Cardinal Wolsey died making Sir Thomas More, England's Lord Chancellor. King Henry's annulment from Queen Catherine of Aragon finally allowed King Henry to marry Lady Anne Boleyn. This brought great pleasure and relief to King Henry the 8th as he longed for a male heir and he was certain that he would never have one if he stayed married to Queen Catherine of Aragon.
Sir Thomas More didn't stay long as Lord Chancellor as he was a loyal Catholic and refused to name King Henry the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Thus before King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, More resigned from his station. More's refusal to publicly say the oath of Royal Supremacy of King Henry VIII lead to his execution and therefore the loss of a dear friend and confidant of the English King. Although King Henry attempts to show no distress towards Sir Thomas More's execution, it is known in the King's inner circle the heaviness King Henry feels at his dear friend's death.
During this time a pregnant Anne Boleyn is secretly married to King Henry and later crowned as the Queen of England. The pregnancy leads to the birth of Princess Elizabeth, a healthy young girl, but not the son King Henry assumed he would be blessed with when he married the young and fertile Anne Boleyn. Although King Henry was still committed to the new English Queen, he could not deny the dissatisfaction he felt with the the birth of another female offspring. Especially when he caused such a great upheaval to marry Anne Boleyn.
Much happened in Lady Amelie's life as well. The greatest one being, the death of her father, Duke Philip de Saint-Remy.
The English King was notified of his once French ambassador's death and at he was reminded of Amelie. At the time of Amelie's return back to France his mind was on Amelie quite often but as time passed and his relationship with Anne Boleyn moved forward the moments he spent looking at the locket with Amelie's picture carefully painted inside grew rare to nonexistent.
Yet when the name, "Saint-Remy" was brought up in court again King Henry quickly found the gold locket carefully keeping the portrait of his most beautiful creature. He at once ordered a private audience with Sir John Daubeney, Amelie's half older brother.
Ever since Amelie's departure from England, John had kept himself busy. John had sincerely hoped Amelie would stay in England and become King Henry's mistress. Knowing his sister, he was certain that if Amelie had stayed she would have been able to keep King Henry's attention long enough that he would have grown tired of Anne Boleyn. Yet because of Amelie's assumed infertility Amelie would never consider, never ask, never want to become Queen of England, keeping the headache caused by Anne Boleyn's rise as Queen at bay.
It was a dreary gray day when Sir John Daubeney made his way to the King's apartments to have lunch with the English King. John had a notion of why he was being called to meet with the King but he decided to go pretending to be oblivious.
"Your Majesty," John said as he entered into the room. He knew it was an honor itself to be invited to have a private audience with the English King and more so to be invited to dine with him. John had no ill feelings toward King Henry despite John himself carrying the blood of the Plantagenets. His mother rarely ever talked about her own family and the Daubeney's had been faithful to the Tudor line ever since they helped revive the family's fortune and standing in court. John secretly disapproved of the King's annulment with Queen Catherine of Aragon and his subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn, but he never spoke publicly about it and he made sure he and his family publicly took the oath of Royal Supremacy.
John assumed it would only be the two of them and that Queen Anne would be absent but the uncertainty till he arrived kept his mind occupied. When he saw that the table was only made for two, John was sure that the English King had only one agenda; to inquire about Amelie.
The two men quickly started eating their meal and John waited for the King to speak, luckily King Henry was not a man to wait and he quickly got to the point.
"So, Sir John," King Henry was not close with John Daubeney. He always had his eye on him as he carried the Plantagenet blood and the King's advisors who always sensed treachery and rebellion from the once ruling English family made sure to keep an eye on John. Rumors had it that Edward Stafford, the 3rd Duke of Buckingham who like John carried the Plantagenet blood attempted to recruit John to his cause of taking the throne from King Henry, there was never enough evidence to implicate John Daubeney while Stafford was beheaded for his treachery. However John carried the Daubeney last name, a family that had always been loyal to the Tudor throne. King Henry VIII knew how much his father valued and trusted John's father. And John never gave any reason that he was an unloyal English subject.
John met King Henry's eyes as King Henry continued with his words, "I wanted to express my deepest sympathies for the death in your family." King Henry finished his sentence, he was never quite certain of the relationship John had with his stepfather, Duke Philip de Saint-Remy.
John solemnly closed his eyes and nodded his head, "Thank you, your Majesty." John wanted to mention his sister's name and see the King's reaction but instead his eyes wandered to the gold locket right next to the King. John was aware that the English King and his half-sister exchanged very small portraits of the other prior to Amelie's departure. Could that locket be the necklace that contains his sister's picture?
It was as if the King read John's mind and a playful chuckle left the King's lip. "Have you heard from her?" King Henry wanted to say her name, but he had only said it to himself all these times, that saying it aloud for someone else to hear seemed unfamiliar.
John raised his eyebrows, he had a response ready for King Henry but he wanted to hear the King of England say his sister's name.
King Henry cleared his throat, "From, your sister...Lady Amelie." King Henry said trying to hide the smile saying her name gave him.
John tried to best hide a smirk as he heard King Henry say his half sister's name. Ever since Amelie's departure, John wondered if King Henry thought of Amelie and now he had his answer.
"She's actually now the Duchess of Saint-Remy." John said with a proud and boyish smile. It was not always that a family's title carried on after the death of the head of the household when the only living heir is a female. But King Francis gave Amelie the courtesy to not only retain her family's title but also to become the head of its household.
King Henry's eyes grew large at the news and he raised his brow at John, "Is she now," King Henry's mind raced, did this mean that King Francis favored Amelie and intended to take her as his own? Or was this solely done out of courtesy? The last thing King Henry wanted was to hear of Amelie becoming the mistress of King Francis.
"Yes," John quickly replied. "As you know her father was the bastard son of the beloved French King Charles and despite his...deformities," John struggled to find the right word to describe the absence of his late stepfather's left hand, "Duke Philip de Saint-Remy was an honorable man and a great ambassador to the country of France."
King Henry nodded his head in agreement. Truly there was something to be said about the late Duke Philip's character as despite his physical deformities it seemed to never detract him from always being admired and being a dutiful ambassador.
"So have you heard from her? The Duchess de Saint-Remy?" King Henry asked again, waiting to hear about Amelie.
John quickly nodded his head as he washed the food in his mouth with a gulp of wine. "The Duchess is..." John sighed and shook his head. "I shall be honest with you, My Majesty." John breathed deeply as he looked for the right words, he was initially just going to tell the King that Amelie is doing fine. But for the first time in John's life he felt he was having an honest, heart to heart conversation with his King and he wanted to take advantage of it. John knew it never hurt to be on the good side of the man capable of either imprisoning him or giving him more power than he already holds.
King Henry furrowed his brows and then took a more relaxed posture as he met John's eyes.
"I'm unsure." John responded, "My aunt, Lady Holland made her way to France when we first got word that the late Duke Philip was ill. Am.." John quickly shakes his head as he calls Amelie by her proper title, "The Duchess writes that she is doing well, that although she is sad about her father's passing that she is...well. But as I know and as you know, losing a parent at any age is not easy." John added as he kept his gaze on the English King.
King Henry nodded his head. "Your sister, the..." King Henry smirked as he called Amelie by her proper title, "The Duchess of Saint-Remy, from what I recall is quite..." King Henry pondered to find the right word and took a sip of his wine to wash down the food in his mouth and to take a moment before opening his lips again.
"Has a mind of her own?" John said with a raised eyebrow and a boyish smirk.
King Henry chuckled as he nodded his head, "Yes, indeed she does. She's unlike anyone I've ever met before." King Henry said as he glanced at the gold locket he carefully placed next to him on the table. "Is Lady Holland going to stay in France, with your sister or..." King Henry was almost weary to hear from John that Amelie intended to stay in France and now with her father gone had no desire to visit England. Still he needed to know if he would ever see the woman he still remembers as the most beautiful creature in the world.
John sensed the uneasiness in the King's words and he knew he would have to consider his words carefully as not to cause any great disturbance to the English King. "I've asked my aunt to ask my sister to at least come visit England as I do not like the idea of having her all alone in France." John commented.
"Neither do I," King Henry instinctively responded as he opened the golden locket next to him and glanced at the small portrait of Duchess Amelie. Her blue eyes pierced his and her long full eyelashes accentuated her eyes. Her high cheekbones reminded him of her full breasts and it irritated the English King that Duchess Amelie was in a foreign country, far away from his reach.
"I shall write a letter to Duchess Amelie at once and have it sent to her, hopefully I can persuade your sister to, as you said, at least come visit England," The King quickly said as took a large bite of his meal and motioned for it be cleared away.
John nodded his head and quickly finished the bite in his mouth and prepared to leave the room so as to give the King some privacy as he wrote to Duchess Amelie.
It would be about two weeks when the letter King Henry of England wrote to Duchess Amelie arrived to her chateau in the countryside of France. Although Amelie expected her father to pass after he returned from his latest envoy mission from Spain as it was evident his health had deteriorated. She did not expect it to be so soon. Amelie had been invited to visit King Francis in Paris so he could properly give his condolences to Amelie, but she had refused to leave her countryside chateau.
When the letter from the English King arrived Amelie was just about to call it a night as the sun had already set. But as Amelie had finished her nightly prayers, her late father's steward stopped Amelie and her aunt as they were about to retreat to their respective rooms.
"Your Grace, we have received a letter from England," Her late father's steward, Andre told Amelie as he handed her the envelopes.
Amelie furrowed her brows. It was unusual for letters to arrive so late in the day, unless they were marked urgent and given preferable treatment. Amelie thought of the worse and assumed that something had happened to her brother. She quickly took the letter from Andre and looked at the envelope, it was addressed to Amelie and she was sure the handwriting belonged to someone in her brother's household. Amelie quickly opened the letter and out came two envelopes and a small pouch. Amelie didn't expect there to be multiple things in the envelope and the people around her quickly dropped to their knees to pick up the fallen pieces.
Amelie held onto the most important thing, a letter with a seal of the English King, King Henry the 8th. Amelie felt her heart stop for a moment as she opened her mouth in shock. The last thing she expected was a letter from the man she had her first kiss with...
I'm really trying hard to hard on a more regular basis. So pretty please review as they motivate me to keep writing!
Hope you enjoyed this update!
xoxo