A/N: Here we are, as promised, a brand new chapter to start the day, and hopefully the week, off right. Now first off, let me give you lot that news I promised at the end of last chapter. So, Change of Course is slowly but surely winding down to an end. But worry not, I have been working on a new idea for another Tudors fanfic, and while that was in the works, it created another one. So, in the next few weeks I hope to post the first chapters of these two new concepts and I hope even more so that you enjoy them as much as you have this one and A Prince at Last. And don't worry, I mean to tie up the loose ends here before the story's end. That said, thank you to Danielle M, hateme101, Robin4, Marina Ka-Fai, and IWantColouredRain for the reviews on the previous chapter. Now, let's get to it shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Tudors or any of the characters, Showtimes does.
...
Edward could feel his entire world collapsing around him.
His older brother and sister had been poisoned on his mother's orders. And while his surviving sister Elizabeth assured him time and time again that she held no anger toward him for the actions of his mother, and admittedly his aunt, his brother Geoffrey did.
This was not the first time that Edward and Geoffrey had quarreled concerning Edward's mother, but it seemed this time Geoffrey would never forgive nor forget. This time, his beloved twin Harry was dead, gone forever.
Edward's mother, Queen Jane, was now being housed in the tower, awaiting the sentencing for her part in the murders. Edward had not wanted to believe his sweet and gentle mother was capable of such wicked actions, but there was more than enough proof of her involvement, what with Elizabeth Seymour's confession.
Edward's father, King Henry, had not sent for him as he had Elizabeth and Geoffrey, nor had he answered any of the letters Edward had written him. And even when Edward tried to personally see his royal father now that he had arrived at court, the king's groom had sent him away.
Already the distress was beginning to affect the small boy's health. He could hardly bring himself to eat, his sleep was often fitful and he began to feel fatigued much earlier in the day than he should have.
...
"Mary has written us!"
Elizabeth remembered this time to remain dignified as befitting a princess, but even still she could not prevent the smile from gracing her lips as she approached Geoffrey.
Geoffrey beamed.
"Truly?" he asked, his blue eyes hopeful. "What did she say?"
"She says she's very sorry for not writing sooner, but that Duke Phillip had heard the news of Harry and Margery's deaths and he did not want to distress her in her condition at the time," Elizabeth reported, her eyes reading over the words of her older sister.
"What condition?" Geoffrey frowned. He did not think he liked that Phillip had done such a thing.
"Mary was with child," Elizabeth explained gently, not wanting her brother to be angry with Mary and Phillip as well. "Phillip feared that the grief might harm Mary and their unborn child."
Geoffrey immediately felt a small sense of remorse. He did not want Mary to be hurt or her son or daughter.
"So Mary is truly a mother now?" he asked softly.
Elizabeth nodded.
"She has borne a daughter, Katherine," she said.
"Like her mother," Geoffrey smiled. "She must be so happy to have a child of her own."
"She is," Elizabeth mirrored her brother's smile. "And we can be certain she will be a kind and loving mother to little Katherine."
"We should write back to her," Geoffrey immediately climbed to his feet. "I want to know what has happened since she last wrote."
"She says Father's invited her and Phillip to court," Elizabeth's eyes had returned to the letter. "If all goes well, she shall arrive in time for Christmas."
"I pray she will," Geoffrey looked down. "We should all be together."
"We should," his sister agreed. "All of us. That includes our brother."
"Harry was our brother," Geoffrey inwardly knew he was being a bit unreasonable, but the young Duke of York found that he did not care. Edward was part of the family that had taken Harry away and slandered him, Geoffrey himself, and their sister Elizabeth as bastards. And nothing could change that.
...
Mistress Luttrell fretted as she regarded the sleeping form of her young charge.
Poor Prince Edward had once again fallen prey to the nervous excitement that seemed to overtake him quite often as of late. Frantic to calm the prince, his governess had summoned the court physician to prescribe a sleeping drought.
Ever since Queen Jane's arrest and imprisonment, her son had frantically tried everything in what little power he had to see or speak to her, or his father the king, to no avail.
It had never been more apparent than now that little Edward, despite being a son, was nowhere near as favored as his brothers, even now that only Geoffrey remained.
Mistress Luttrell had never known Anne Boleyn personally, but she had heard enough about her to know that the king's infatuation with her would never truly wane. Not when she had given him his longed for son. Yes, Queen Jane had borne him an heir as well, but Anne's children had been born first and so she would remain first in Henry's heart.
The governess had felt great relief when a messenger had brought a letter for Edward from his eldest half-sister, the Lady Mary. It had been months since he had heard from her and Mistress Luttrell knew that it would provide the prince with much needed comfort when he awoke.
...
King Henry sighed as he tried to decide what to do.
How had everything gone so wrong? He had believed Jane to be a sweet and kindly woman who would have given him children and been a loving mother to the children Anne had left behind.
Instead, she had proved to be a cold and scheming viper who slandered his beloved sons, his and Anne's little miracles, and their older sister as bastards all while attempting to champion his true bastard daughter's so-called rights to the succession. Of course, after she'd had children of her own, she had abandoned Mary's cause. For that Henry was admittedly grateful, but he could not ignore what she had done. She had knowingly and wittingly conspired with other persons to murder not one but three Royal children. She had only managed however to kill two. While Henry had not spent as much time with Margery, he did love her. And cold as it sounded, while he did mourn the sweet girl's loss, he thought it a fitting punishment, small one that it was, that Jane's vile plan had taken her daughter from her.
At that, Henry thought then of William Stafford, George Boleyn, and Francis Bryan.
George had been his brother-in-law thanks to his marriage to Anne. After the deaths of his father and sisters, the playful and admittedly foolish boy George had been had now become a much more serious man who strived not only for what he believed to be right, but also what ever protected his family.
Henry truthfully admired this, particularly in regards to how it had been George who had convinced him to place his sister Mary's husband, an unknown soldier simply known as William Stafford, in Prince Harry's household. More than once, William had exceeded expectations in his duties. Now that Harry was gone, Henry had had William join Geoffrey's household.
But Henry had decided to reward William further for his efforts. After all, he was not only protecting a Prince of England, but a child, and his own nephew.
He shook his head. He should have done this when the man had succeeded in saving Harry the first time he was poisoned.
If there was ever a man in England who deserved a knighthood, William Stafford was that man.
...
As George watched the courtiers mingle, he noticed his young cousin Katherine Howard occasionally tossing longing glances in,the direction of none other than Thomas Culpepper, one of the king's grooms.
Katherine was from the prestigious Howard family, but she had been one of the poorer relations.
After learning of her circumstances, George had resolved to do what he must to advance her interests.
Katherine was a sweet but rather vain and simple girl. George had known his uncle Norfolk would try to use the naive young thing to further his own interests, just like he and Thomas Boleyn had used Mary and then Anne.
The Duke of Wiltshire however would allow no such thing. He had heard some rather unsavory tidbits about Katherine's upbringing at Lambeth and so had decided to conduct an investigation. Better to learn how much truth there was to these rumors than to allow anything to be exposed when Katherine had a promising prospect.
If the last few years had taught the once childish George Boleyn anything, it was that there was no justice, particularly here in the English court, unless you made it yourself. And he would allow no further harm to come to his family. Not now, not ever.
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Alright, I hope everyone enjoyed that and the next chapter will be out on Friday, November 19th. Until then, everyone.