Dolores POV

'Get up, come with me!'

I stared back into the face of a woman taken straight from a medieval portrait. Her eyes were dark as coals, and underneath a moon shaped hood peaked a tuft of glossy brown hair.

'Come, if you want not make a scene!', she petitioned us, reaching out a hand to help me up, and leading us away to a stone wall which divided the yards. I grabbed Five's hand as we ran, looking back to see his bewildered face.

She pulled us behind this wall, the three of us out of breath now.

'Now.', she said, straightening the sleeves on her lavish dress. 'Who are you, and what business do you have at the palace?'

Palace. I knew it. And by the looks of it, Five's jump had been off by about three centuries.

I opened my mouth to speak, and nothing came out, my body practically frozen from the adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I looked over to Five, who ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat to speak.

'We're travelers, lost. We come from the north. There was an accident, and our horses abandoned us along with all our belongings.', he answered her, adopting an English accent to fit in. I nodded at his explanation, trying to contort my face to look tired and weary.

She narrowed her eyes at us.

'Are you going to tell me the truth, or must I have you questioned?', she asked, a sly tone in her voice.

I shook my head, panicking.

She came closer to our faces.

'I saw you fall from the sky.', she said in an extremely hushed whisper. 'Explain yourselves.'

Five took a quick glance at me. 'We're screwed, now', he said with his eyes.

'Answer me! Are you mute, or other?'

Five bit his lip and sighed.

'We're from the future.'

Did he really just tell her straight away?

She nodded her head quickly, looking down at the ground, her face letting us know she was deep in thought. I expected someone from five hundred years ago to be a bit more surprised by this notion.

'I knew magic was real.', she said, making eye contact with us once more. 'And from what time do you hail?'

'Five hundred years from now.'

She took it in quickly.

'And what lands?'

I almost laughed a bit. 'A country that is yet to exist.'

'Fascinating. And your titles?'

Five contemplated for a moment. He couldn't tell her his real name, because that wasn't a name.

'Francis of Hargreeves, and this is my wife Dolores.'

'Francis of Hargreeves. Hargreeves. 'Tis not native to these lands.'

'And you, madam?', I asked, wanting to know who this figure was.

She straightened her hood, holding her chin up as the veil leading from the nape of her neck flowed in the wind.

'I am the Lady Anne Boleyn, daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, lady in waiting to the Queen Catherine of Aragon.', she answered us.

'Holy..'

Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn as in the queen of England whom the king executed for adultery. And she's not yet even queen.

She took my hand in hers.

'Come now, we shan't allow any person to see you dressed this way, or they shall inquire upon us.'

She led us into the palace, through a backside entrance with no guards at the door. Down a stone hall, lined with embroidered tapestries and lit by candles and sunlight coming in through windows. Into a richly decorated chamber, and scurried over to a chest at the end of a massive bed. I held tightly to Five's hand the entire way, gripping tightly. He squeezed back, letting me know he was there.

Anne pulled out a gown and a chemise, some stockings and a hood. From the bottom of the chest, she pulled a doublet for Five and thrust them towards us.

'I'll help you dress, Lady Dolores.'

'Oh, please, no.'

'Nonsense. 'Tis my job.'

Taking me behind a veil, this woman straight up stripped me naked and I stood there bare in front of her. I pulled my arms forward to cover myself, but she pulled them away as she lifted a linen nightshirt over my head and pulled it down my body.

She shook her head as she kicked my dress away, then lifted, carrying it off and tossing it into the hearth fire.

'Modesty must not be a virtue in the future times.', she said, still shaking her head.

Modesty? You just stripped me down to my bare bottom and you want to fuss about modesty?

I looked out from the veil, seeing Five nearly dressed. Had he been in these times before? He seemed awfully familiar with the way the clothes worked.

She lifted the gown above my head, slipping it over my body, smoothing and turning me around. Tightening the laces, she pulled vigorously. Still, it was far less uncomfortable than I'd ever expected. Almost comforting, like a hug. While she worked, I slipped the stockings onto my feet, which came up past my knees. There was no underwear in this outfit. If a breeze came along and swept this gown up, I'd be utterly exposed. I buckled the mary-jane type shoes.

I smoothed back my hair as she lifted a cloth cap and tied it to my head. Then came a black velvet hood, covering my head and hair. Modesty, I assumed.

'You're ready.'

'Thank you, Anne.'

'Anything to keep this court from more uproar than it already has.'

I ran out of behind the veil into Five's arms, the first opportunity I'd had since we landed here. He looked handsome in these clothes.

'You should have been born in the Tudor times.', I whispered.

'And you, Dory, look like the most captivating portrait in any museum in all Europe.'

He held my hand, and I hitched a deep breath in as I met his eyes, still shaking slightly from what had happened.

'I'll get us out of here, Dory. Just go along for now. It won't be long until we're home.'

I nodded. I trusted him.

'Follow me, we cannot be discovered in this room alone.', Anne said, waving for us to follow her out the door and down the long hallway.

The dress she'd put on me was heavy, and dragged the wooden floors as we walked. The volume of the skirts dug into my hips and restricted my movement slightly.

'The king has just arrived back in from his archery. You must be introduced.'

'Introduced?'

'Of course. Or everyone shall think you to be spies.'

I shook my head at Five, not wanting to go. He softened his eyes, reassuring me.

The sounds of the palace grew louder and louder as we moved forward through the halls, encountering various men and woman dressed in the same styles as us, laughing, smiling, staring at some points. One woman whispered something to another, narrowing her eyes at me as I walked.

'Stay behind me.', Anne whispered, leading us into a large room. In the center sat two thrones, in one of them a regal looking red headed woman wearing a boxy hood, and in the other, a sporty looking man dressed in golden cloth and stroking a fuzzy orange beard.

But the woman looked uncomfortable. She looked to the king, hurt in her eyes. Upon his lap sat a golden haired young lady, colored like milk and honey. They laughed together. Anne waved a hand at her side, and the young lady answered to it, coming to her side. She kissed her on the cheek.

'Mary.'

'Ah, sister dearest.'

The king grumbled.

'And what is this, lady Anne? Why do you strip my pretty young thing from me?'

She bowed, and we followed her lead.

'Your grace.'

'I have found two weary travelers, lost on a journey to the south. I have brought them in to present to you.'

'Very well. Show yourselves, travelers!'

Five and I slowly walked in front of Anne and Mary, bowing.

'Your grace.', we both said, in perfect unison.

'And who might you be?'

'Francis of Hargreeves, your grace. And my wife, Dolores.'

He stared at me for a moment, and then a wicked smile came across his face.

'You are a man blessed by God. Your wife is radiant as the morning sun.'

Five cleared his throat. I looked at him to see his face smiling artificially, obviously jealous.

'Thank you, your grace.'

'Now!', he said, getting up from his throne, making his way towards me. 'I shall grant you a room to stay in, and you shall have sanctuary for as long as you should need.', he said, placing a hand under my chin. I had no choice but to allow him.

'A room very near to mine.', he whispered, meeting my eyes.

I was uncomfortable by these advances, and I'm sure Five's blood boiled. I nodded ever so slightly at the king and looked over to Five. If he had been in a different time period, he would have been threatening this man's life by now.

'We are grateful, your grace.'

'Guards! Lead them to an empty chamber near to mine.'

And two men wielding tall axes, dressed in red doublets, approached us, and we turned. Behind me, I saw the young lady who'd been sitting on the king's lap, Mary as Anne had called her, with a terrible scowl on her face directed at me. She watched me as I moved out of the room, and I looked down to the ground. I didn't want trouble.

Ten minutes in to the sixteenth century and I'd already made an enemy of one of the most infamous whores in English history.

I couldn't help but smile.

We weren't going to be here for long. Why not have fun?

I gripped Five's hand as we walked, all eyes on us.

And he gripped mine back harder than he ever had before.