Disclaimer: I do not own everything if I did I would be a millionaire producer and Goddess Supreme ^_^
A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, everyone who has followed this story, there will be another two chapters and then an epilogue so be sure to review the end is near!
The title for my chapter was taken by the story of ReganX my first reviewer to the first story I posted on site "Treason by Parentage"; On the edge of a golden world her first story as well on site. I highly recommend that story as you can see other favorites of mine that are also well written with elaborate plots on my home page.
~VXLP
"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
drifting through the wind
wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel you're so paper thin like a house of cards
on the blow from caving them in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you
You just have to ignite the light
and let it shine!
Just own the night like the fourth of July!
Come on baby you are a firework!
Come to show them what you are worth!
Make them go oh, oh, oh!
As you shoot across the sky!
Baby you are a firework!
Come on let your colors burst!
Make them go oh, oh, oh!
You're gonna leave 'em falling down, down, down!
You don't have to feel like a waste of space
you are original, you can't be replaced
if you only know what the future holds
after a hurricanes comes a rainbow
Maybe the reason all doors are closed
so you can open one that leads you to the perfect world!
Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July
Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky
Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em falling down-own-own
Boom, boom, boom!
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through
Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em going "Oh, oh, oh!"
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon"
Katy Perry -"Firework"
~o~
1545, December 24th
Westminster:
Henry looked at all members of Parliament. Van der Defelt was barely given a second glance. He'd suffered enough headaches dealing with his predecessor; that, by no means he wished to revive his old quarrels about the imports that his master had confiscated –as retribution for what he had done to French and Flemish vessels detain at the port of Dover- with this new Imperial Ambassador.
Francois was a man of a very few words, but when he had something relevant to say he did not waste any time to say it. He made mental notes of everything that went around Court just as his predecessor had told him to. The King had become so ill after the death of his eldest daughter in the tower, that concerns about whether or not he would lead the celebrations along with his wife, Queen Katherine Howard, arose. Never withstanding nor caring for public opinion, the King rose as he did on previous years on the morning of Christmas eve and with his Queen and the rest of the Royal family sitting in the high table, raised his golden cup, soon others followed, to offer a toast and give thanks to God for keeping him alive so many years and his Kingdom safe from any foreign or domestic threat, at this last one his tone increased and turned rougher.
On this very same day Francois watched the King leave the celebrations that were being held on his palace, and invited all his magnates and members of parliament for what would be his last address to them in the greatest chambers of his palace -where celebrations were still taking place regardless of his absence. He left Katherine Howard in charge of the expensive feast, something she did not mind given that she had turned from loving queen, wife, surrogate mother to Mary's children, to, as she was viewed now, loving nurse constantly tending to His Majesty's wounds, mainly the ulcer in his leg that had robbed him of his good health and his good looks that characterized him in his first years of his reign.
Gone was the young and virile Prince that had charmed many women in and out of his reign's domains. He was now a man close to becoming obese, disgusting to the human eye and his aching and for those who had been witnesses to his flesh's decay (because of the ulcer in his leg) were so moved that they forgot Henry VIII many excesses and his despotism, and found themselves pitying him. Not Francois however. They, Francois and his secretary –Dubois, had seen their fair share of madness during their short time here in England. Dubois, an able man whose charm enabled him to get information from the women of the most powerful men that belonged to the King's circle; got to see the reality and not the fantasies that Henry sold out to his people.
Unlike his predecessor he was colder and more careful, some people said too careful, to fall in love for any of the wenches and Royal whores in Court. He was a Fleming and like his comrades he was not without impure thoughts, but he was easier to be controlled thanks to concerns about his person and the people around him, and first and foremost it was the loyalty he owed to Charles who was responsible for Van der Defelt's wealth and Dubois' salary.
So as not to appear too weary, the ailing King walked without any aid this time from his servants, holding the cane with such strength that the sweat dripping from his fingers fell on the floor.
Henry looked to the members surrounding the large chambers. There was not even an echo being formed, they all waited in silence for their monarch to speak. Nobody had absented from this meetings, they had all been told of the King's health and they were wary about what he had to say to them.
With unusual humility, the gruff and over-imposing tone in his voice gone, he began softly by thanking the Speaker of Parliament for his lengthy speech where he reminded the King and the members of Parliament of the greatest qualities he possessed and his duty as sovereign and what they, as his subjects, owed him for what he had done to make this nation better.
He shook his hand which afterwards the Speaker moved back to his seat never once touching another man with his hand, at the thought that the effect of such moment where the King had regarded him as his equal could be erased by a man of lower stature.
"I have endeavored myself to obtain in these long years of suffering to make this nation a god fearing nation and one others who have not yet heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, fear our nation, for ours is one composed of people who make this nation great. As your King, I have spent my entire life to obtain such excellent qualities and the necessary virtues that I consider as a Prince and as a governor I ought to have, of which gifts the Speaker has just recognized himself barren but I must say that I am too barren. For no one can be as perfect as the highest Lord in heaven, God. But for such small qualities as God has endowed me with however, I render to His goodness my most humble thanks" All the members raised their hands and thundering applause echoed the chamber. Henry cleared his throat and soon the applause died down letting His Majesty carry on with his farewell and self-praise where he complained unto them that much as they had done to spread the true gospel of God, His word as a consequence of their religious crusade had been disputed more than when the ancient and corrupt laws had reigned on England, for this he urged every one of his subjects -the rougher voice of the lion returning making Van der Defelt more attentive to what the King had to say next- to stay true to God's chosen ones' consciences and put their own needs –for theirs- aside.
"Be in God, which I, as your sovereign lord, exhort and require you; and then I doubt not but that love and league shall never be dissolved nor broken between us. For we have taken on Abraham's covenant and created a new one devoid of any black stain and foreign threat"
His speech ended, the members stared wide eyed, too struck by the emotion in the King's last words. Even those who had very little contact with the King or were newly appointed could not help but feel overwhelmed by the commitment found in His Majesty's voice, the way his eyes fell on every member searching for their souls, hoping to find loyalty and faith for their ailing monarch. For the very first time they felt their hearts open and their eyes ever more so for admiration at this man who had done the impossible to strengthen the laws to bring an end to the anarchy and create new regulations that had brought better control of the taxation offices and other services now dependent on the King.
Shortly after the meeting was adjourned and the clamors that followed died down, the King returned to the celebrations having night fallen to their realm, where he sat next to his beautiful and merry queen, Katherine Howard.
1546, New Year
The following year, Henry in his New Year's celebration changed the tone of his celebration for a more austere one. There was a bad omen in the air, his death was near he could feel it, even the Queen could tell for her husband rarely came to bed anymore.
Elizabeth not wanting her father to become sadder by his poor condition and the losses he had suffered, people and such; presented him with a gift that was signed by the author of the book herself with a dedication to her King and a thank you note for allowing her all these years to be the tutor of his grandson -the Duke of Richmond. Henry's eyes scanned the book, he read through several pages finding the text to his liking and then passed it to his Queen. He expressed deep gratitude to his (now) only daughter Elizabeth for such a marvelous gift and invited her to seat next to him, something that earned him a proud smile. His daughter though young was very private, she kept everything to herself and it was always hard to know what she was thinking, but for today knowing that she had at last returned to his good graces, she let part of her feelings be shown.
Seated next to the Queen were not only Elizabeth, but Henry and Philip and their governess who had exchanged words with His Majesty expressing how she could not have written such work without having a devout and pious monarch like him to act as her inspiration. She compared him to Moses quoting several verses from the bible, going as far as equating his crusade to that of the prophet when he brought his people from the bondage suffered at the hands of the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh Henry was fighting being the Pope.
Henry looked up to his governess in admiration. She knew how and when to speak and Henry wished he could some day have her wisdom.
"I may not be a lion, but I am the lion's cub and I have a lion's heart"
~Elizabeth (played by the talented Glenda Jackson) in Elizabeth R
1549, July 4th
Hampton Court:
Notwithstanding the gossip that surrounded Kitty Howard, Henry had always been there like a gentle Moses to guide her through the roughest moments in their marriage, and of her life. She had understood from the moment she had lost her Prince that she would never be blessed again with the gift of motherhood. Before her loss she had never yearned motherhood, if anything she had dreaded it and thought of it only as curse. Many things changed after her forced miscarriage. With Mary arrested and her possibilities of bringing another heir to the English crown destroyed she had turned all her affections toward Mary's sons.
They were the last link she had with the old wench and her ultimate chance at revenge at Mary, yet she found all her energies wasted when she had held Henry's favorite grandson, his namesake, in her arms. All her desire for revenge had been gone from her mind and replaced for tender loving sweetness that the boy brought out from his step grandmother.
She devoted herself afterwards to the boys' education, including Philip's.
By choosing love she had relinquished all others. Kitty cared very little for grudges now as she had cared for politics in the past.
When her uncle asked her if it was wise to take the "bastard Duchess" spawn under her wing, she replied "I have not failed our family's ambitions nor England's uncle. I have just found two new ways that our family can prevail" While she had never been the smartest of her bunch, her uncle had to admit that in these last years following her husband's death she had matured immensely.
She was no longer the little hopping around court with her mindless ladies in waiting following her around leaving a trail of broken heart from the most handsome young men at Court. She had dismissed all her ladies and substituted them with more mature and loyal ones. Among them had been her surrogate sons' governess, the ever faithful, Lady Seymour nee Parr. Widowed two times, third time was the charm. She had married the man of her dreams and though their marriage was anything but merry as she had expected at first, she had stuck together with Baron Sudely though the good and the bad for the sake of their only child, Mary Seymour.
The youngest of the Seymour girls, had grown very attached (emotionally) to her mother's former student, Henry. Kitty had allowed Katherine to bring Mary along for her visits at Hampton Court where Edward had been kind enough to give Henry his old rooms when he had been Prince of Wales.
Philip had not been so lucky.
A simple Marques though becoming Duke shortly after his father's death the past year, he was not regarded with as much respect in his uncle's Court as was his younger brother Henry.
England, London
1553, June 6th
Whitehall Palace:
Tis not fair, Philip thought looking away from his brother, sickened by the amount of attention he was receiving from the ladies in his uncle's Court. They were no better than the women in his grandfather's seeking only his bed because of the amount of money and lands he had received from him and now their uncle if rumor was true –that he indeed plan to make Henry his successor jumping Philip, violating thus his father's will.
Philip was not going to allow that, and he had Bishop Gardiner and half of his Bavarian men at his disposal should Edward sign such folly! The people of England besides would never accept it! They were tired of Edward's poor reforms. He was a terrible King, he had succeeded in implanting new religious reforms to make life easy for his Protestant friends and the members of the higher circles but the people who had benefited from the hospitals and the monasteries that Edward kept closing down, had been left worse off than when England had been Catholic.
With no charity and no house to tend to the sick and wounded, mortality rates in the lower classes had risen and the economy was not all that good either. Inflation had risen and as a result prices had gone up. No country other than the Protestant duchies and counties in the Lower Countries and in the German states, his included, wanted to trade with England.
People were rebelling in the streets, demanding more food and money. The English cared very little now for God and his word. The people needed food, jobs, and security.
Edward had done very little improve his people's lives. His first administrators had been terrible. First there was the Baron and youngest Seymour, Thomas who had stirred a movement against his own nephew and kinsman and brother, Edward Seymour then Lord Protector and newly invested Duke of Somerset. He was the first Seymour to fall under the axe, then very quickly because of Edward's poor management and his failure to regulate coinage and with the Regent Mary of Hapsburg threatening to invade England, many days of uncertainty followed after Commander Sepperus' fleet under the orders of the Emperor and the "Regent" had been less than five miles away from the British Isles. Edward was left with no choice but to issue an arrest warrant for his uncle and soon Edward did what his younger brother had done years before and led another rebellion that was soon squashed by the newly Duke of Northumbeland and Earl of Warwick, John Dudley –the King's favorite at this point.
His head rolled in the same spot where his brother had and so many others Edward's mad father had condemned to death years before.
Nobody shed a tear for Edward Seymour save for those in his immediate family.
Baroness Sudely had been left the richest widow shortly after her husband's death inheriting by a decree of the King and supported by her former ward, his brother, Henry, ALL of her late husband's properties including Wolf Hall that was supposed to pass on to the eldest Seymour's heirs. Because she had always been kept close to the Queen and to the young boy King's side she had been spared from his Regent, Dudley's wrath.
Philip looked around. Something was not right, something was amiss. The guards left the podium where the new Regent and Lord Protector had been sitting a few moments ago before he left to tend to their ailing King, his uncle. Where they'd gone? Philip had a good idea and God, he hoped, he was wrong. He summoned his chamberlain and his servants and ordered Augustus his most trusted, to ready his carriage and order the rest to pack all their belongings and head for his old residence in Hunsdson where they would take refuge and wait until whatever it was Dudley and his uncle were planning, were unveiled.
(Henry POV)
I left before my brother could summon me, or order me as he fashioned himself the next King to be of this realm, back to Hunsdson, our old parents' residency. Though only two years apart we were well aware of the divisions of this Country brought about by our uncle's disastrous economic policies. I hurried off excusing myself first from the young ladies surrounding me, to my quarters were I found my Aunt ready with her servants having been told of our early departure to Hatfield in Hertfordshire where despite being fairly close to London, it was well guarded by the German mercenaries that my father had hired shortly before his death, three years ago to keep us safe.
The mercenaries were not to be trusted. They could betray us at any moment but for now they were all we had to rely on given the political climate of this Kingdom. Auntie advised me not to speak to anyone of our early departure and I nodded. I had no intention of delaying our leave anymore, but I found next in the carriage waiting for us outside Lady Seymour whom I guessed given how close she held her coat against her chest in the dead of night, that she had been there for hours. I did not expect her to be here so soon. Last I heard she was placed with the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, the embittered old Catherine Willoughby who had shown disdain for the younger girl the moment she had been placed in her service. Seeing the poor care she was given under Lady Willoughby my Aunt needed little convincing when me and Philip, together for the very first time, spoke of the mistreatment she was having simply because her parents had been of different religious inclinations than the former.
She had come to live with us and ever since she had never looked back to the past. Forgiven, she told me when I asked her if she would ever forgive those who had done her and her family many wrongs, but not forgotten she emphasized. Already ahead of her years, wise as an owl like Aunt Bessie and sly and cunning like a fox she and I got along very well in our new home.
She greeted me with a small bow. I knew what she meant by this. I could very well be the next King of England if rumors proved to be true that Edward wanted to skip my brother in my favor. But even I knew that Edward was not that stupid to do such folly and violate his father's last will and testament. There had to be other way for him to get across without violating Henry VIII last will, and he, Henry as he shared his stories of what went on in Court with his Aunt and their ward, Lady Mary Seymour, feared that Dudley had found a way. It explained for the sudden change in Hampton Court when all the members from the Privy Council and their guard left the great hall to stand next by their ailing King's bedside with Dudley leading them.
On the other hand, how many times had they had the same false alarm that their King would not last another month? He had been dying for the past year and a half and so far the physicians' remedied, ridiculous and rudimentary as they may seem had done the impossible to keep my uncle amongst the living.
It's not that I had no empathy for my uncle's suffering, God knows that I more than anyone else, expressed my deepest sympathies and wished him best. But my uncle was a young and frail young man ever since he had been Duke of Cornwall, never formally invested Prince of Wales as other Princes before him had before assuming the throne. He hardly knew what he wanted, he let all the big decisions in government be taken by either members of Parliament or his trusted adviser and Lord Protector, John Dudley the Duke of Northumbeland something many in Court thought had been the King's worst mistake. It was one day that his father had made him a Count in his last years, but a Duke and invested as Lord Protector and Regent? It was just too much.
He was not however as sober or as fickle as a man as had been the previous Lord Protector, Edward Seymour. He held several dinner parties and reunions amongst friends and families in his private states on the north of England where there was still remnants of the rebels that had organized more than ten years ago, the Pilgrimage of Grace, a movement that had been disastrous since the start and ended in such with the disembowelment and decapitation of many of its leaders and members, my grandfather making no distinction between any of the traitors. He was though extremely presumptions and full of himself. He believed he could achieve anything with means and money at his disposal that the King had given him.
That would be his ultimate undoing.
After arriving to Hatfield and waiting for days for any news regarding my uncle's health, a Royal messenger who was also our spy finally brought us the terrible news. My Aunt held her stoic pose, unflinching, unmovable, and with no decipherable expression on her face after learning of her brother's death. I on the other hand cleared my throat, as demanded to the royal messenger to tell us more.
I'd been waiting for these news for months, now that it was here I was not sure what would be my next step. I was only eleven yet people were relying on me to bring order from the chaos that had been created.
I was not sure if I would succeed where my grandfather, uncle, and so many others from the Lancaster branch had failed. I did not want to be reminded as another Henry VI or become a tyrant and be seen like an usurper like with Richard III. I wanted to be my own person, forge my own path without the help of anyone save for me and God, but even I knew that Kings were not made of clay and that they don't last on the throne if they did not surround themselves with the right people -able, loyal, and willing to die for their King. Do anything that was demanded of them even if it meant forsaking their souls to hell to keep their King and Country safe.
Following the messenger's departure I heard my Aunts' silently crying in her bedchamber opposite mine. I was waiting for dawn to come to feel good again. The innocent traitor had to be deposed or killed, I would make sure that no harm would befall on the Lady Jane Grey but should she and her family cross me and my brother she would pay dearly, Philip would make sure of that.
And that he did following his ascension to the throne. He took back what was rightfully his and Cranmer finding himself with very little choice but to acknowledge Philip as England's rightful heir, placed the crown on top of his forehead followed by his fingers dipped in the holy ointments making the sign of the cross on his forehead. His trek was finally complete, everything had come full circle. He was Philip Tudor-Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria, Count Palatine, and most important he was King Philip I of England, France and Lord of Ireland. Now no one would dispute his power anymore.
His brother had come to join him prior to his coronation bringing with him their Aunt, Lady Elizabeth and his former playmate and companion Lady Mary Seymour followed by a long train of maids and servants that included Elizabeth's ladies in waiting.
His brother had received him with open arms and showed himself jovially as he told Henry that of his upcoming coronation. Both brothers rode through Flete Street, passing London bridge until they reached Westminster Abbey where Philip calling on all his subjects to rejoice as he, summoned his servant to bring forth a bible where he, placing his hands on top of it, swore that he would work for improving the lives of all his subjects.
"You are all my prisoners" he said jokingly and they all laughed, including Cranmer who hid behind a mask of feign complacency congratulating the King after he had placed the crown on his head. Smiling while being held once again in his brother's arms following the conclusion of the great feast held in his honor at Whitehall, he went straight to bed to his new chambers that Philip had replaced with greater and more lavished ones.
It was a tactful move Philip had done showing kindness he had not when they had been children to his younger brother. He knew that Henry while having been out-protestant by Jane Grey and the Northumbeland faction was seen as the figurehead for many Protestants who called for a more moderate, less radical than Cranmer's, approach to the new faith without having to eliminate the old religious practices and traditions that had existed in England for over more than four hundred years. They saw their savior in Henry, Philip they feared was not to be trusted given he had been to quiet about his political affiliations and to add to their concerns, they also feared he could be another dullard like his uncle, easy to manipulate.
~o~
1555,
Richmond:
After the surprising union between Lady Jane Grey the former usurper and dubbed "innocent traitor" by more staunchly protestants who had quietly stood by while her family put the crown on top of her head; and Philip; Henry left for Richmond tending to his own states finding life there more peaceful, away from the insanity of Court and the circus his brother had started with his wedding to the eldest Grey sister.
It had been a decision that he suspected his brother had not given much thought into. Just two years after he had been crowned there was discontent among the people that Philip was not keeping his promises to improving the life of ALL his subjects. The Wyatt rebellion had weakened his position. He had not gone to reassure his armies to convince them that his cause was the rightful cause. The armies having no other choice but to carry on his orders had rode into the fields to meet Wyatt's army of rebels where victory had ensued but at the cost of many lives and those who had survived Philip did not blink twice when he was presented with letters to sign for their execution. Some where hanged, others disemboweled, and the more fortunate ones were offered a way out of their suffering by giving the names of other conspirators.
Philip wanted to make sure the Country was cleansed of all traitors, he meant Catholics and Protestants alike. Henry asked him if it was wise, to remain neutral for so long, to which Philip replied "You have read the Prince and other nasty books and I fear you have become too influenced by them. Henry, countries are forged through force and a firm hand. I care very little for religion, men can do whatever the hell they want, so as long as I have their obedience or else they shall be judged in the same fashion as Wyatt's followers"
Not so intelligent, he thought as he remembered more of their past conversations. Although we had never shared a deep bond, I feared that the decisions he was taking were not in the best interest for the monarchy or the people for that matter. Now there were news that the Queen might be pregnant and I scowled as that leaves me with little incentive to fight for a throne that I might as well have lost already to Philip's son.
~o~
1557, January 1st.
Hampton Court:
Henry was wearing a gold medal that Philip had send him as a New Year's gift. Henry saw it more as a peace offering from his new wife; when he was received by his brother in his private study. Hampton had changed very little. His brother had moved all the attention back to this castle instead of Nonsuch where he and his Aunt considered it a greater palace than this.
Moving quickly the physician took a step back to allow the midwife some space to do what she knew best. She placed her warm and aged hands on both her flat stomach. The midwife confirmed that she was pregnant and that they could expect their firstborn by early November. Dr. Butts, his grandfather's physician told the news to a beaming Philip who announced it the following day to the entire Kingdom.
To, not their great surprise, Philip's subjects did not cheer as loud as they had done when he had arrived triumphantly with his brother and Aunt to defend his right to the crown of England. The infant whom they had always pitied, the young man whom they regarded as cool, level headed, and extremely caring like his mother once had been was no longer England's favorite. Philip expected to be embraced as a hero, the savior of England, instead he had been cast away into the cold, amassing a thundering crowd of enemies.
"You have gone too far" Even the former Lady Jane Grey, now Queen of England having gained more common sense in her short time as Philip's wife, advised him against imposing his will against the more powerful of his nobles, many who were of the true faith she emphasized. Philip had screamed at Jane showing her true colors as he swung his arms tiredly into the air, desperate to have some approval even if from his wife. Any at this moment would be better than nothing. He felt hollow when she remarked how his expectations had been crushed on his own account and by his indecisive behavior. "You trust too much in your Aunt"
"Funny when I remember it was you who spoke in her favor when I was about to sign for her address warrant" He'd pointed out. His Aunt who had married since last year the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley (of whom he was reminded painfully each time they exchanged glances. Because his power growing increasingly because of the King's brother, Philip had no choice but to follow Wriothesley's advice and create the eldest Dudley whose father he had executed and took hold of his titles and lands, an Earl earning him fertile lands that made the newly created Count the envy of all his nobles). Elizabeth inherited her mother's savvy and cunning character, as unfortunately she had her neurotic behavior and having passed this to his brother; started to have with her husband secret reunions where Philip suspected he was the main subject. They meant to depose and replace him with Henry, the beloved new golden boy and the people's favorite.
He was not going to let that happen first he and his son, God unwilling be, dead than to pass his throne unto Henry! He swore to his wife after she started nagging him again how he was being too soft and too naive in the matter of Henry and winning his people back.
October 1558,
Jane Grey entered her husband's study where he was looking through his various papers. Things had gone so bad in their life. With the death of their daughter so suddenly when she had been just a month old, and this very same month Jane had suffered a miscarriage. It was too much for Philip. The people no longer loved him, his wife, he suspected, was conspiring against him. They had all turned against their initially beloved monarch.
Life was not fair. Jane offered him little comfort when she told him they could try again, but Philip knew that she was past childbearing. She had bled too much and his personal physician doubted she would be able to hold another child in her womb again, even Jane could not dismiss the physician's knowledge, having trusted Dr. Butts with more than just religious matter, but her life.
"It will be fIne" she promised. She swung her arms around Philip not realizing it was a sin anymore, to substitute the image of Philip for the man she truly had wanted to be with -Guilford.
Poor ill-fated Guilford Dudley, he had died at the scaffold after, being the indolent fool he had been for his entire life, was convinced by his father, the Duke of Northumbeland to lead a rebellion in their name fighting for the true religion. Philip's armies had crushed them as they had previously with the Wyatt rebellion in the North.
It had been a sad end for the sad lover and the platonic love she had never known carnally. How she had lusted to be in his arms after Philip had freed her from the tower. Their marriage had been short and they had not enough time to consummate their marriage that would produce an offspring that would have alienated Philip and all his brood, along with the Lady Elizabeth (now Countess of Leicester) altogether and a son who would have carried on with their dreams of making England a true and faithful protestant nation. At the time she had been blind like Guilford to see all the efforts her parents had done to make sure England stayed faithful under one nation and God, she had been too young and too rebellious as she had always been.
She thought that her freedom had signified that Philip had a change of mind and that he would return England to the faithful, but alas she had been the young and naive silly little girl her mother always said she was.
Now England was in worse state than it had been, even when Henry VIII had been King it had not been so. The Country was in the verge of an economic depression and Philip was more worried with keeping everybody in all religions happy and seeing spies everywhere including her.
Philip shook his head sadly throwing her arms off and moving to the window were the skies were blacker, and there were no stars to greet him.
"Philip" She tried again walking to him. He thought that the loss of their daughter did not hurt her, but it did. And though she wanted to try again, they both knew that she might never get pregnant again, nonetheless she reminded him of God's will, something that always earned her a reprisal from Philip. He was godless and hollow. It was sad, he would burn in hell for never having known God nor opening his heart to him.
"You must not let Henry get in the way of your dreams" She said and she wondered why she even bothered? Philip did not want her council, he didn't want anyone telling him what to do. Yet, small part of her felt pity for this godless being who was still scarred by the loss of his mother. "I know you hate me repeating His name, but if you only opened your heart for him you would see all the great thing there is in life. We lost two children, but they are happy, they are with God now and we must not be saddened by our loss, they were too pure to live in this world were malice and evil reigns, God had a special plan for them in heaven. He needed His angels"
Philip scoffed at that and turned violently to face her again, his dark blue eyes holding more frost than warmth, looking at her with such intensity that it made Jane flinch.
"Couldn't he just make an angel?" he questioned. When Jane did not answer he continued, laughing mockingly at her. "I mean" he smirked "he is God, couldn't he just make another angel?" And then he left their quarters finding refuge somewhere else.
Jane stood there alone for the night in their bedroom. She closed her eyes and sighed. She had heard Henry coming to the parlor outside their bedchamber, to greet her husband having been summoned by him hours ago. He was late as usual and his excuses no longer amused her husband. They ended the conversation in deep disagreement as they'd always done, but not before Philip warning Henry.
"When you have this ring and our father's on your finger then you will know I am dead, and you will be King and Duke of two powerful nations. But never forget that as long as I breath, my axe hangs close to your neckline"
Whitehall
November 19th 1558
After riding from Westminster where Henry had been crowned, he arrived at Whitehall.
People where cheering in the streets. "The death of the tyrant" "The death of the tyrant!" "Long live pious and righteous, oh our merry lord Henry!" "The tyrant is dead, long live Henry IX" To continue on where his grandfather and uncle left off with their reformation -the people continued to chant holding white flags with a red cross in the center symbolizing England's shield and pledge that they were all now a nation under one God and the true religion would restore all the right wrongs their Godless King had done.
When Henry looked out in his balcony, waving to all his subjects gathered in the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of their merry King, a great turn of events from his embittered and godless brother; the sixteen year old sovereign made something that stunned the crowds and his nobles (including his Aunt).
He hung his head low and bowed solemnly before his people. There was a long silence. Their King lifted his cold and clear blue eyes to meet theirs. "My good Christian people" He shouted. "I have come before you not with empty promises or oaths that God and I know I will never keep" He smirked, a handful of light laughter from his noble peers filled the silence.
"God has chosen me to be your ruler and in all His wisdom we must rejoice for I will be a just ruler. England will be a nation that will be feared as it will be loved. There will be no distinction between the pious and the gentiles. We are all God's creatures and we all worship God, however we must have caution for there are those who seek to destroy our covenant with the Almighty. To those I say this" He held his breath looking at his Aunt who nodded feeling very proud of her pupil. He diverted his gaze to Mary Seymour who threw him a smile making this day feel like a merry Sunday. She had the grace and beauty of her mother with the darkness in her hair she had inherited from her father.
He focused again to the crowds "Let no man break what God has joined, for being a King I am not only your ruler and sovereign. I am also married to you, to England and I will never cheat behind her back, other leaders might come trying to break our union, creating suspicion but I will stay strong for I was build tough. Bavarian by my father, but English in birth and spirit I have the heart of the lion for I am the lion's cub!"
The crowds threw their arms cheering for their new King singing and dancing as they watched Henry, recently crowned and anointed Henry IX, take leave with his leave with the Lady Seymour by his side returning the wink he'd just given her.
Louvian
1559, December 29th
Chapuys residence:
Mary had just heard the news. She was the proud grandmother of one set of healthy twin girls. She could not hide her excitement when she told her partner this. Eustace smiled back as his wife gave him the news, but she could tell for all the years they had been together that it was troubling him. They had not been married, they need not to be. Their union and the children were not a sin before their eyes and God's, and the latter's judgment was all that Mary cared, whose judgment usually mirrored hers.
He responded in a light tone "God has blessed England with two beautiful Princesses, his joy as yours is mine" he reassured her however she was not convinced. There were many things troubling Eustace, the mere fact that his son, his son! of all people had ascended to a throne that did not belong to him was to name a few, one of his greatest concerns. Why should God favor a bastard in the succession and with a pair of healthy babies, even if they be girls, over the rightful heir? Yes, Philip had been a tyrant for he had been godless and like his grandfather did not flinch when he signed the death warrants or forced parliament to issue attainder for many of the suspected traitors taking their right to stand trial and face their accusers. Nonetheless, Philip with all his faults had been the rightful heir and the rightful King. God should not have called his daughter to heaven too quickly. Henry though it was whispered was quick as a fox, had greater cunning than all his male ancestors put together and the wisdom of an owl being ahead of his peers, and he didn't doubt the rumors that England was rejoicing under his rule with the concubine's daughter and her husband as his shadows acting as his main advisers, was not a true King.
Eustace's way of seeing things were often told by Mary, or Maria as she was known in the Low Countries and their servants, were too simple. To which he responded that as a cynic he tended to viewed people and things not as they should be, but as how they were. He was a realist, not a poet, not a troubador, he had his feet set on the ground and that was what kept him and his family alive for all these years.
"You do not sound so convinced" She replied looking away passing her fingers through her dark auburn curls. Why was she not surprised that Eustace would refute these joyful news with his cynicism? Could he not be happy for once that the product of their love was making England blossom into the nation they always dreamed of?
Eustace replied that they dreamed for a true Catholic nation returned to the true worship not THAT.
"Eustace" she pleaded with him "this is our son, you can't be calling our son a heretic. Besides, England is now a power to reckon and in just a short period of time thanks to him!"
"Yes Mary but at what cost?" He sat up, his back propped against the pillow he brought to bring him comfort from the aching pains he was suffering. These days he could barely get up save with the help of Fleming and other servants. It was a sad sight and he often grumbled when he reminisced about his past glories. How he yearned to be the young man he had once been, or have the same vitality he had when he and Mary first met.
"He will always have the council of men like Cecil, Walsingham, Leicester and your sister will see that he works in the interests that are best for the heretics. How many souls will not be burned after they die because of what he is doing?"
Henry, instead of bringing a protestant reformation like Cranmer and others had advocated for many years ago since his grandfather, Henry VIII; promised a different approach to protestantism. Instead of creating discern amongst his citizens by closing more monasteries and taking rights from his Catholic nobles and peasants (who brought a lot of wealth to his treasury being that the towns and the King depended on the crops they worked for their lords), he tried creating a harmony by mixing the two religions and reforming the Anglican church but without creating so much change that would anger both factions. It caused a schism among the more fanatical heretics, but it was something every member of Parliament was willing to overlook as long as Henry exercised his power as Head of the Church of England to demand obedience from his subjects and enforce taxation on the more rebellious ones.
Overall, the only thing that Eustace was proud from his "son" and the English monarch was that he was doing something that was unprecedented by any monarch. He was holding elections for new members of parliament, and though it was only for the "Commons" it was something new for no other ruler had extended the vote to the peasantry. Eustace was an apologist whom like his old friend Moore and Erasmus preferred the rule of Senate over the people than that of an absolute monarch. Henry was and always would be an absolute monarch but the fact he had extended the vote and was holding more elections, made his reign appear more democratic.
In that he could not contest his wife that their son was bringing great changes for himself and his people, but for all the rest he could not agree with her.
"If I remember correctly it was you who told me live today, fight tomorrow when you convinced me to sign the oath" she pointed out kissing his cheek.
He rolled his eyes, he could not believe she still brought that up every time they had a disagreement! Was she never going to let it go?
Mary's laughter reached a higher pitch as she played with his earlobe kissing it, stirring desire from his loins. She always managed to make him forget his pain with just one glance and in this case, the lightest of touch.
"Mary" he said in a husky voice feeling his lower member hungry for desire.
"What? If you admit I am right and that our son has created a greater England than I could have ever dreamed of I will let you be" She teased and he gripped the sheets feeling himself too anxious. She threw him off guard. He was forced to lie down not able to hold his desire by his throbbing member any longer. She rode on top of him opening his hose. Her lips began to suck and he could not hold it, he spilled all his seed into her.
"Do you consent?" She asked playfully after she was done. Eustace not remembering what the conversation was, did nothing but nod kissing her lips passionately introducing his tongue inside of her. They were lucky that Montoya had taken the children, Isabella and Christoph (who was two years younger than Bella) to town to run some errands.
Their children hardly disturbed them, but they were a curious bunch, especially Christoph. The boy had recently turned twelve but he was of an intellect that gained him high notoriety by the people, among them old diplomats and friends of Eustace, who had come to visit him bringing their families along to dine with his.
After they were done with their lovemaking, Mary asked on whether he still planned to send Christoph away for his studies.
Eustace gave her a brief smile before hugging the covers tightly unto their chests. He didn't want their offspring barging in and seeing their parents in the aftermath of their love making. Though not stupid, Mary and Eustace did not want them to be exposed to anything they might regret later. They had done the impossible to make sure their childhood was a happy one, and they had succeeded keeping them from the gossip or from the people where they would have been shunned because of their bastard status, a stigma they never stopped feeling guilty for.
"You know it will be painful not having him running around the house or playing sword fighting with her sister" Mary grinned, their daughter was a lady to their guests but in private she acted like one Christoph's playmates engaging in dangerous games. She had lost count on how many times she had grounded her and told her it was not fit for a woman to do such things, but Isabella always found ways to escape her mother's detention. All she had to do was show Eustace her innocent light blue eyes and she would be spared. He over indulged on them too much and they got into petty fights sometimes because of it.
He took her face in both his hands bringing it closer to his once more. "But is a pain we must be ready. This will be the best for Christoph you will see. I matured a lot after I was sent abroad, and besides" he said brightly "Christoph has build good connections through the people that I knew during my time serving your cousin, and he has impressed a few of the most renown tutors. I am sure he will make a good pupil"
"I know but I cannot help but worry."
"He is twelve, he will not leave us until he is fourteen, we still have two years"
Mary forced a smile. Two years, it seemed like a long time for a father, but for a mother who had nurtured her children and instilled on them good Christian values, it seemed like very little time. "Would he be allowed at least to visit us?"
Eustace pushed away a strand of her wavy hair from her face. "Of course" he replied "I will make sure he writes to us every month if not every week to tell us how he is, who his friends are, and we will see him. In the spring I will send for him, there is nothing to worry about Mary you will see. This will help him develop his learning skills and who knows? Maybe one day he will take after me or you and be someone whose name will be remembered"
"I doubt it, nobody could surpass your intellect and your cunning. You became a legend in England and for ambassadors to be. Nobody could muster the courage you had to face my father, nobody has ever been so bold."
"That is because I have you" he caressed her cheek "and I knew from the moment I met you, your happiness became my mission replacing all others"
A/N: I know long, long, long, VERY long chapter!
But I wanted to put what Mary and Eustace's love caused and what the lie Henry told to save his daughter but bar her from the succession had on England.
Fact vs Fiction:
*John Leland was an actual person for all my history fans and majors here. As you know and those who don't: He was an important author during Henry's time. He was present for the New Year's celebration of 1546 which would be his last. Henry did regard him as the most intellectual person during the last years of his reign and he was commissioned with recording the artifacts and the income brought about by Henry's act to dissolve the monasteries. He was by this a good accountant, however in spite of all his talents as an accountant and as a celebrated English author, it did not come without a price. He fell to a mania following January 1st 1546 and died a year later.
*Katherine Parr's celebrated work "Lamentations of a sinner" was published in 1548 though it was finished between the period of 1545-1546, but because the language in this book was very Lutheran and evangelical in nature -though she recognized Henry here as a savior and as Moses who brought his people from bondage- she knew that to publish it would have meant her death and there was already a lot of suspicion regarding her religious inclination as it was. So she chose to publish it during Edward VI's reign.
In its stead in 1545 she published "Prayers and meditations" which read like a manual for English and Latin prayers and preached about piety and prudence to women. Elizabeth did translate this text to French and Latin and gave it as a New Year gift to her father in 1546 as shown here.
*Last but not least at the beginning we see Henry addressing Parliament. This speech did happen on this very same year and day. I changed though a lot of the words to fit my storyline, and Van der Defelt's thoughts and attitudes regarding the King's speeches are based on letter he sent to the Emperor found in the Spanish Calendar. This address would be Henry's last.
Hope you enjoyed it, if not tell it, I love all reviews, but long reviews make my day better!
So you know the drill, as always:
Review!
~VXLP
