Chapter 17

Hampton Court Palace

London, England

August 17, 1536

Anne was relieved to return to crowds lining the road as she made her way to London. The court was to be reconvened at Hampton Court to attend to the trial of her uncle. It seemed his plotting had helped her cause more than hurt it, and she was relieved. The people were also eager to see his head roll; a concept that made her nervous. She wasn't sure if she could sign her uncle's death warrant despite the charges against him and his blatant plotting against his King. She also didn't want to admit herself capable of such a thing, but she knew she would. That when his death warrant was set in front of her she would sign it without hesitation. For her son. Herself. Her country.

When the carriage stopped in the palace gates, she had not realized that it. Elizabeth was lightly snoring against her elder stepbrother, who seemed rather nervous and was peaking out at the courtiers. Anne gave him a look of sympathy, "do not fret. You are safe here, I promise."

He took a deep breath and nodded, more out of politeness than trust. Anne wondered when the last time he felt truly safe was. The carriage opened, and they were met with the sight of her father, brother, and stepdaughter. They all bowed save for Mary, who gave her a nod of respect per usual. She was the first to speak, "your majesty, it is good to have you home."

"It is good to be home," she smiled, sauntering up to them with Francis and Elizabeth at her heels, followed by her ladies including her mother and sister. "Everyone, it is my pleasure to introduce Prince Francis, the Dauphin. Francis, this is my father, Thomas, the Earl of Whiltshire, my brother, George, the Viscount of Rochford, and Princess Mary, the Duchess of York. Francis is going to be a guest at our court until I reunite with my husband next Spring."

"Welcome your grace," they all chorused as they showed him his due respect.

Anne smiled, "Brother, will you find proper housing for our guest? Father, I need you to arrange a council meeting, there is much to discuss. I shall go refresh from my journey, and we then will tend to business." With that everyone went their separate ways. Anne was relieved to be back in her own court and among her own people.

She made her way to her chambers, not realizing her stepdaughter was following her to her rooms. She greeted her ladies and gave them an odd look as they dropped back into their curtsies after she gave them leave. She turned to see Mary entering into her main room. "Mary, what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping we could talk before the council meeting," Mary started, sitting on the couch across where Anne had seated herself.

One of Anne's ladies brought them some wine, which Anne took a sip of before asking, "What can I do for you?"

"I have found a marriage alliance for myself. I remember you mentioned a possible treaty with Portugal and I think the Duke of Beja would be a shrewd match. He is the younger brother to King John and unlikely to ever take the throne. It wouldn't raise my station so high as to be a threat, but I would be among Catholics and you could forge an alliance to make England stronger," Mary pleaded.

"Wow, that is quite the decision. I do not recognize any downsides to it besides their close ties to the Emperor. I am not sure if they are going to be willing to treat with us until after the end of this conflict, but we will try," Anne stated. "I must tell you though that your title as Duchess of York is not hereditary. You will have the title until your death and should any of your children choose to become English citizens, they will have a place of honor here, but the title belongs to the crown and the council will not gift it to any country, they made that clear when I told them of my intent to name you the heir to your siblings and give the title to you."

Mary held her hurt and shock in, though she did not know why she was surprised. The Dukedom of York was vital to England, and they would never give it to another country. She took a deep breath, "I understand your majesty."

With that Mary stood and left, her burgundy gown billowing behind her. Anne sighed as she stood. That was not how she wanted to reunite with the girl as she hoped to handle the sensitive girl with more care. She wasn't a girl anymore though, and she would not forgive Anne if she was dishonest. She ordered her ladies to help her change from her travel clothes into a light green dress. When she finished, her page announced the arrival of her father. "Father, I assume everything is in order."

"It is, your grace. I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't be alarmed. I heard you were sending for your son. The men were sent to Hatfield, but he is not there. I have sent your brother to go retrieve the King," Thomas said gently, knowing her temper was about to rear its ugly head.

"You moved my son! To where?" Anne raised her voice in disbelief.

"I did it shortly after you left. I did not want Norfolk or Mary to know his location in case our plan failed. Relax, he is at Hever under the protection of your guards. Your brother's wife has been watching after his household . It has been a strong cover since she retired to care for herself during her pregnancy," Thomas explained easily. "Should anything have gone poorly, she was prepared to flee with the boy to France, with the head start of your uncle heading to Hatsfield first."

Anne took a second to register his words before calming down. Through gritted teeth she thanked him for his forethought and for taking care of her son so diligently in her absence. They left to head to the council meeting as Thomas caught her up to date with the news of the court, including the death of her stepson, Henry Fitzroy, who died the week she left. She stopped short. "Why was I not informed sooner? I didn't even know he was sick!"

"No one did. By the time news reached court, he was already dead, and we did not want to disturb your trip," he said simply.

Anne glared at his callousness, "well you should have. He was my stepson and husband to my cousin. I had a right to know he passed and to mourn him properly. "

They entered the council chambers where everyone was already seated. She forced on a smile as she greeted the men in front of her. "Hello gentlemen. I imagine we have much to catch up on from these past few weeks. I would like to start with the promotion of Sir William Fitzwilliam to Lord High Admiral, and Sir William Parr as Lord Treasure to replace Sir Thomas Howard. Now, where are we with his trial? What information has been gained?"

"The prisoner was skillful at hiding his tracks, though not skillful enough. We did find at least one letter he had recently received just before his act," Cromwell began, "It was from Carlos himself and gave express orders of what to do his treason was successful. Sir Howard himself has been reluctantly helpful, for the sake of his wife and children. He arrested by the Duchess herself, he does not have much defense, and honestly we do not need a trial if you do not desire."

Anne nodded, "How do you think the public would react to it?"

"They have been calling for his head," her brother commented, rather toneless for Anne's liking. It seemed her sibling was no happier about this than she; it had to be done though.

Anne held her head up, "Then it seems there is no other choice. My son is a Tudor, and the Tudor Kings have never stood for treason. It is our duty to protect his throne at all costs. Does anyone object to commuting the sentence to beheading?"

The men surrounding the table looked at each other eerily. Finally, Charles Brandon spoke up, "your majesty, we have discussed this at length, and while none of us want him to die a traitor's death, that's what he is and that is what he should die as. It is as you declared, you must protect the throne at all costs and you need to create an example, that though our King is young, that is the punishment for trespassing against him."

Anne looked around the room as the men shook their heads in agreement. She gulped down some air before nodding her head. "Where are the documents?"

She read over them before signing her name, as the last name to sign. She took a deep breath and sighed, "Sir Howard Thomas, is guilty of treason and will be hanged, drawn, and quartered at the end of the week. May God have mercy on his soul."

Everyone drew a cross over their body before continuing the meeting. Anne gathered her thoughts, determined to push forward. "His son shall retain the Earldom of Surrey since none of the family was involved in the plot. Next, I would like to start trying to open negotiations with Portugal. I believe we could benefit from an alliance with them."

"Will they even treat with us?" Richard Rich asked in shock.

"I am unsure, we may have to settle with the Emperor, and they are strong allies. The Duchess of York expressed her desire to marry the King's brother. It is my desire for the King's sister to be happy. We will send an envoy as soon as we can safely do so, and I would like your permission that I let the Princess reach out to the Duke of Beja." Anne explained. They all nodded and she continued. "Good. Now onto the most pressing matter. Tell me what news you have heard of the Emperor? He pulled his ambassador to France when he heard I was becoming their Queen."

Lord Audley nodded, "well your majesty, the Emperor is working hard to build his army though the news of our summit, as well as your wedding, must have reached him by now. I imagine he believes it will fail or that he is stronger than all of us combined. Either way he is certainly preparing for a large war. I imagine he will launch his first attacks in early Spring, as soon as he thinks his vessels will make it safely. There is no knowing where he will hit first without ears in a court of his or one of his allies."

"Lord Brandon, how are we doing in building our own defensives?" Anne asked.

"The help we have received both in men and materials has had a huge effect, I imagine soon we could defend ourselves without the alliances but from what I understand from the generals they left behind, the rulers of the treaty are eager to show a united front against the Emperor. I doubt any of them will be breaking the treaty without good reason. Seeing as we will be right on schedule for sending their generals and reinforcements back, there will be no problems in the foreseeable future." Suffolk said proudly, "Since we are no longer fighting the Scots, resources to the North have been spent reinforcing our men there as well as funding into trying to stabilize Ireland, to prevent the Emperor from safely landing there."

Anne thought for a moment. "How are the Irish taking to these efforts?"

"Not well, your grace," Charles replied.

"That's not entirely a bad thing your majesty," Cromwell noted quickly.

"What do you mean?" Anne inquired.

"Well if the Spanish choose to land in Ireland and believe they are safe to do so, because they are welcomed by the natives, they would be fish in a bottle. They would be completely surrounded by us, the French, and the Scots. Especially as our allies come from every direction to reinforce us," Cromwell explained. "Ireland's loyalty can be won at any point after the war has been won, if not during."

Anne nodded, "I see your point and if it comes to it we will use it, but I would rather not use our countrymen as bait, even if their isle is separate than ours. My husband and I spent a large amount of time discussing the possible strategy Charles could use and we agree that he will probably launch raids into our allies' countries first, to try to force them to abandon our alliance. Most likely those whose lands are within the Holy Empire. It will be important to send support to these countries but we cannot send our full strength or even half of it. We will need to move our men strategically."

"I have a plan," a voice came from the doorway as a page, who was making his way to Anne, turned beet red with embarrassment.

Everyone turned to see Francis Valois in the doorway. He had the decency to blush slightly, "I apologize. I was going to wait for this kind page to ask your permission to join the conversation."

"It is fine," Anne smiled, "you are the best representative we have for your father while you are here. If you have put some thought into the upcoming war we could only benefit from hearing it."

Francis smiled cunningly, "thank you, your majesty. As for the Emperor, we need to ensnare him in a trap as the wild animal he is."

"What did you have in mind?" Charles Brandon asked curiously.

"Well we begin with your concept of keeping the borders he will attack strong, that way we control the next part," Francis began. "We chose where his army breaks through the ranks and led them deep into our territory before cutting them off, bringing our military around and encircling them in a spot of our choosing, where we have the advantage. They will be cut off from any support they were wishing to use."

Anne looked at the Duke of Suffolk. He looked contemplative, "it could work, but it will take a lot of coordinating with our allies."

"We still have a large number of our allies generals here. If we can formulate a plan now, we can send it with them," Cromwell added.

"Well gentlemen," Anne sighed, "it seems we will be here awhile. I will have supper served here."