The King had summoned Edward Seymour to meet him in the royal gardens. Edward didn't know why the King wanted to meet him. In truth he was beginning to regret sending his wife to befriend the King. All of court was laughing at him behind his back and he was powerless to do anything about it. Edward particularly didn't care for Lord Surreys' smug looks or poems at his familys' expense. Henry Howard the Earl of Surrey had been sent to court by his father to repair the damage the Duke of Norfolk made by allowing Anne Boleyn to be executed. The King was fond of him and they shared similar interests but the King didn't trust him at least not yet. Lord Surrey despised what Edwards' family represented and never ceased to rub Anne Seymours' infidelity in Edwards' face. They had almost come to blows but the Duke of Suffolk put a stop to it.
Edward found the King staring at two swans swimming in the pond. "You wished to see me your majesty."
"Ah yes Lord Hertford, I believe I did." Henry turned away from the pond and began to walk away motioning Edward to follow. "I wish to talk to you about your wife the Lady Anne."
"I'm not sure I wish to know your majesty." Edward sighed looking away from his King.
"I know how you feel." Henry said in sympathy. "Before my wife's execution people were spreading all kinds of malicious lies about my wife and like a fool I believed them."
"You majesty?" Edward didn't understand why King Henry was bringing this matter up with him. He hoped the King didn't think he was involved in Anne Boleyns' downfall. Whilst in a way Edward was involved by placing his sister in the Kings' path Edward had nothing to do with investigation itself. Though his brother Thomas thought it was good idea to assist Cromwell with his lies Edward was in the firm belief that it would look better for Jane to be kept away from the scandal.
Henry could see that Edward didn't understand the point Henry was trying to make so the King assisted him. "The rumours about my relationship with your wife are not true. We're just friends and nothing more."
Edward was having trouble believing it. "Then why did you allow the court to believe it."
"Your wife wanted to punish you for placing her in the position to be my mistress." Henry glared at Edward, "I'm not particularly fond of having my emotions being played with Lord Hertford and you should be grateful that I'm fond enough of your wife to not to behead you for your insolence."
"My apologies your majesty if I caused offence." Edward bowed nervously.
"Like I said before Lord Hertford I'm very fond of your wife and she has been a good friend to me in this difficult time." Henry could see that the rumours about Anne Seymour were hurting Lord Hertford so he decided to give him a way out. "To honour my friendship with Lady Anne I'm banishing you both to your estate in Wolf Hall. Should you could find it in your heart to reconcile with one another I'll be more than happy to welcome you back to court with open arms."
"Your majesty is too kind." Edward didn't know what to feel about this. On the one hand he would have his wife all to himself but on the other his family would be left at court unsupervised.
"Your wife speaks very highly of you Lord Hertford and I've seen for myself what a bright intelligent man you are." Henry knew how shrewd Edward was. "You could be a great asset for England but you must stop this scheming to get my attention. Show me what you can do for Englands' benefit and I'll reward you accordingly but continue to scheme against others to reach my favour then I'm afraid that you will be no longer a friend of the crown. Do you understand?"
"Yes you majesty." Edward did understand that the King acknowledged his skills but refused to reward him because of his schemes to further his family. In Edwards' case he was very lucky, the Duke of Norfolk will never be in favour again thanks to his schemes and had no choice but to send Lord Surrey to earn back what his family lost. Edward had been sent away from court but had the opportunity to come back but it all hinged on the fact on whether he could earn his wife's forgiveness and knowing Anne as he did it could take a long while.
Mary Tudor was quietly reading in her rooms. When she had first arrived in Spain she had thought that she was her cousins' guest and nothing more. Unfortunately it became clear as time went on that she soon realised that she was a prisoner. She was constantly watched and wasn't allowed to speak to anyone remotely connected to her father. She had once instructed one her servants to send a note to the English ambassador. The servant instantly refused and told her that if he were to do such a thing the inquisition would harm not just him but his family as well. At first Mary didn't believe him but the next day that same servant didn't turn up for work. Mary didn't dare ask what happened to the man for fear someone else would be harmed for assisting her.
Marys' dream of visiting her mothers' home country was quickly turning into a nightmare. Spain was nothing how her mother described it and she soon wished she was back home in England with her father and Elizabeth. Mary had overheard her cousin the Emperor talk about how King Francis had taken the girl into his care and was now championing her rights. If that was true Mary feared for the child as knew her cousin would not think twice about harming Elizabeth as Mary known Charles had sent someone to do it before at Anne Boleyns' coronation. Although Mary hated Anne for what she did to her mother she couldn't condone the murder of an innocent child not even born into the world. The fact it was done in the Pope's name didn't rest well with Marys' conscience and at times like these she wished for her mothers' council.
Marys' cousin and jailer Emperor Charles had entered the room. Mary put on the mask as the most faithful and loving cousin. "Your majesty what brings you here?"
"I had hoped to bring good news about your up and coming betrothal." Emperor Charles looked at his cousin coldly.
Mary was nervous; if she accepted such an agreement her father King Henry would consider her a traitor to England. "Your majesty I'm afraid I cannot accept to such an agreement without my Fathers' permission. If you would let me write to him…"
"There won't be any marriage Lady Mary." Mary was stunned that her cousin would call her that. When she had first arrived in Spain he always called her Princess. Charles continued to explain, "I had my physicians examine you before we could begin work on finding you a suitable husband and what he found out was most upsetting."
Mary remembered that day. She had felt that her cousin had no right to make such a command but there was nothing she could do as she was a prisoner of Spain. She almost didn't want to know what he had found, "Is there something wrong with me?"
"You're barren Lady Mary." Charles stated bluntly with no hint of sensitivity. "I've reported my findings to the Pope and he agrees with me that my Aunt lied when she said her marriage to Arthur wasn't consummated. Her marriage to King Henry was cursed along with their offspring and that Anne Boleyn was his true wife."
Hearing her cousins' words was like having a blade to her heart. "It can't true," Mary cried, "my Mother…"
"Lied to me and lied to the Catholic Church." Charles interrupted angrily. "If she had told the truth in the beginning Henry wouldn't have left the true faith."
"No I don't believe it." Mary cried. For a long time Mary had believed Anne to be responsible for encouraging her father to leave his true wife and Rome. The very idea that her own mother could be responsible seemed foreign to Mary.
"It doesn't matter what you believe." Charles snapped at his cousin, "I'm now the laughing stock of Europe. I thought I was a champion of Rome by supporting you and your claim to the English throne. Now I find that King Francis has the Princess Elizabeth in his care and will use her to restore England to the true faith. If France and England are united I could lose my position in Europe thanks to your mothers' lies." Mary was heartbroken and continued to cry whilst Charles looked on her in disgust. "You're no Princess of England nor are you a Princess of Spain. You are a bastard and as such I'm banishing you to a convent to live with my other disgraced relatives."
"Why don't you just send me home?" Mary cried in despair. Her father may have declared Mary a bastard before Rome did but he never sent her to a convent. He gave her an estate and some clothes befitting a royal child. All Mary had to do was obey her father by signing the oath.
"Your Father King Henry thinks you are a traitor to his crown." Charles said coldly, "However I'm not a cruel man, I will not see a member of my family be executed but I will see you punished for humiliating our family in such a way. You will live in the convent with my mother the Mad Queen and will try to repent for your sins."
After her cousin left the room Mary collapsed to the floor in tears. Everything she had ever believed in, the Pope, her mother was ripped away from her and now she was forced to live with her mad Aunt Juana. Mary had heard the stories of how her Aunt went mad with jealousy over her husbands' mistresses and became worse after he had died. Mary had never felt more alone than she did now.
Edward was making preparations for him and his wife to leave court until he received a summons from the Queen. Anne scowled after the servant had left, "Will we ever get peace from her?"
Edward never realised how much his marriage suffered after spending his time making sure his sister didn't ruin the family. Jane's decision to help the Lady Mary whilst pushing Princess Elizabeth away had hurt the family considerably and it was up to Edward to fix it. Edward should have considered himself lucky that he didn't share George Boleyns' fate. It would have been so easy for his wife to do it thanks to her close friendship with the King but Edward was pleasantly surprised at Anne's loyalty not only to the King but himself as well.
Edward gave his wife a rare smile reserved only for her and kissed her on the forehead. "Soon my love."
He was about to leave but stopped when his wife kissed him. "Make it sooner and I'll arrange something special for you when we reach Wolf Hall."
Edward was honestly looking forward to be getting away for a while. There were times he felt out of place in his family. His father was so stuck in his old ways and his brother Thomas was a buffoon. Whilst his sisters had some potential his father never allowed them to be educated like the boys were. John Seymours' main concern was that they were married to decent men. Edward had to roll his eyes at his fathers' hypocrisy, since when was beheading your wife considered a decent thing to do but John Seymour had no qualms about having his sweet daughter be married to such a man. John Seymour thought Jane was doing a service ridding the kingdom of Anne Boleyns' influence and yet even in her death Anne Boleyns' legacy lived on.
Edward had no more time to ponder this as he entered into his sisters' rooms, "You wished to see me?"
"I was going to go to the King about getting you to stay at court and would like some advice on how to go about it." Queen Jane had no idea on how to survive in court on her own. It wasn't like she could go to Thomas for he was no help. If anything he would make things worse.
"The best advice I can give you is to don't go to the King about this." Edward advised, "It'll only make things worse."
"This is all Anne's fault!" At that moment Edward couldn't be certain whether Jane's outburst was directed at his wife or her predecessor. "If she hadn't of interfered you would still be at court instead you have to go to Wolf Hall and cater to her whims."
"She is my wife and is entitled to have me cater to her whims." Edward said blandly getting tired of his sisters' attitude. "Jane I'm tired and I need the time away." This surprisingly wasn't a lie, Edward had been solely carrying the Seymour family and all his siblings ever did was make life difficult for him. "It won't be forever as long as you don't go to Thomas for advice you should be fine."
"Well maybe I should since he's the only one willing to help me." Jane snapped childishly.
"Very well your majesty, go to Thomas for advice if that is what you wish." Edward glared at his sister coldly. He no longer cared what Queen Jane did. His wife Anne had the Kings' friendship and provided that Edward showed his worth so would he. He didn't need Jane anymore but he wasn't going to go away without issuing a warning to his little sister, "Just don't expect me to go down with you when he eventually fails."
Edward didn't even wait for a reply and left the Queens' chambers. No longer was he going to feel out of place with his own family because he was starting his own. Anne and his son Ned were going to be the only family he would ever need. Although he would still care for the little Prince because it wouldn't do for Prince Edward to be taught by imbeciles like his uncle Thomas and his mother Queen Jane. The King wanted Edward Seymour to work for Englands' benefit and that was exactly what he was going to do.
Mary Tudor arrived at the convent terrified of what awaited her. She like everyone heard stories about the Mad Queen. Marys' mother Katherine never spoke of her sister and for good reason. Katherine was fighting to remain Queen of England it wouldn't look good for her to acknowledge Juana for fear it would give King Henry more ammunition in his divorce.
Mary struggled to believe that the Pope would be convinced that her mother would lie and that she would never have children. She struggled to believe that Anne Boleyn had won though Mary wasn't so sure Anne won either seeing as she was murdered by the man she believed to be her husband. Mary had to wonder how Elizabeth would respond to the news that she was Princess again. When Mary had last seen her sister she didn't seemed to care whether she was Princess or not only that she would be reunited with her family once again. Maybe that was the reason God was punishing Mary and not Elizabeth, Mary thought. Mary was so focused on getting her way on titles and religion whilst Elizabeth want something so simple, so basic, a fathers' love.
Mary thoughts were interrupted when she faced the woman she had been dreading to meet. "So this is the child my sister tore a whole country apart for." Juana observed Mary coldly, "I see nothing of King Henry in you only my sweet naïve sister."
"My Mother wasn't naïve." Mary defended, "She was strong, she defended England from the Scots whilst my Father was away fighting in France and she fought my Father to secure my rights."
"And what a fine job she did." Juana said mockingly, "She would have been better off agreeing to Henrys' terms and biding her time but instead she engaged in a fruitless war that cost her and her precious daughter everything."
"What would you know?" Mary snapped not appreciating her Aunt Juana taunts, "You lost your kingdom and everyone thinks you're mad."
"I was mad, thinking I could follow in Mothers' footsteps but we all fell for it even Catalina." Juana reflected, "We built our Mother up to be this powerful untouchable Queen. Catalina went to England believing she could have a partnership like our Father did with our Mother not realising that Henry would never accept such an arrangement whilst I foolishly believed that my own family would support me as they did my Mother. We were both wrong."
Mary never wanted to accept Juana's words but she couldn't deny the truth to them. "I heard many stories about you but never thought…"
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." Juana smiled offering her niece a drink. "They once called my husband 'Philip the Handsome'. I assure child there was nothing about him or his family that I would consider to be handsome. Have you seen my sons' chin?"
Mary couldn't help but giggle at her Aunts' comment, "You shouldn't say such things about your own son and King."
"My dear he is not my King." Juana stated, "I may be confined here but I'm still Queen of Spain and he knows it. That's why he chooses to have me locked away here. Sometimes I think it would have been better to have daughters succeed me rather than sons."
"I don't understand." Mary truly didn't, most of her life she was told that having a son to succeed was most important and yet her Aunt would have preferred a daughter.
"As soon as I had a son there was no use for me." Juana explained sadly, "They took him away from me and raised him to take my throne from me. At least with daughters there was the hope that boys would follow. I could continue to rule as I pleased but as soon as my sons were born my reign was over."
Mary felt truly sad for her Aunt and couldn't help but feel Spain had missed out on a great ruler. However Mary was glad she wasn't alone. Mary felt a connection to the older woman in a way that she didn't feel toward her cousin Charles. Mary had grown an intense dislike for Emperor Charles and prayed that whatever plan he had for England would fail miserably.