A/N: You guys, 70 reviews?! Thank you so much. You deserve a gift and here it is, earlier than expected, I present to you, Chapter 9!

Solitude of Love

"Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry the rest of your life if you say no." Gabriel García Márquez

Chapter 9

As the dance came to an end and the world around them started to take shape again, Charles grabbed Anne's waist and whispered in her ear "Marry me"

Words couldn't describe the way Anne felt when she heard him say those words. Somehow, all her fears didn't matter anymore, she felt something in her heart telling her that this was what she had always wanted. She swore she wouldn't fall in love ever again, but with Charles everything was different, falling in love made sense, and she had never felt quite like that before. She turned her face to look at his and the glint in his eyes told her everything she wanted to know, they both felt the same way, nothing and no one mattered anymore, she grabbed his arms and was about to answer when she was brought back to reality by Henry appearing at her side and saying to Charles "Your Grace, I'm sure you won't mind if I steal your lady for a dance" Charles let go of her hips and did his best to not punch Henry, he was meddling in their relationship once again. Back in Pembroke his fears regarding his relationship with Anne were out of jealousy of Henry, he was afraid that she would go back to him or that she still loved him. For him, Henry's presence always loomed around them. And now it was happening too. He was getting tired of it.

Anne let go of him and took Henry's outstretched hand. She was seething with rage. Henry had already hurt her enough, he had done enough damage already, she wasn't going to let him stand in the way of her happiness yet again for his own selfish reasons. He always ended up hurting the ones that cared about him, one look at Katherine, at Jane, at herself, was enough to prove it. She was glad that Charles hadn't corrected Henry when he called her his lady, she wasn't going to correct him either. She was Charles' and no one else's.

As she looked at Henry when they started to dance she noticed the triumphant look on his face, they had never been able to hide their true emotions from the other, meaning he could probably feel the anger radiating off of her. With a teasing glint in his eye, Henry said "My lady, you seem upset. I didn't realize I was interrupting a special moment between you and the Duke of Suffolk"

She realized that that had been his intention all along, to get her and Charles all riled up. But she knew him, sweet little Henry, didn't really think that she or Charles were going to retaliate due to fear. Well, it seemed that he had forgotten that he wasn't dealing with just anyone, he was dealing with Anne Boleyn. She couldn't help but answer rather harshly "Don't mock me, we both know what you're doing" as they started to dance.

Henry feigned surprise, and, sarcastically, said "Oh, I didn't realize I was doing something. Care to enlighten me, sweetheart?" He wanted to see how far she would go, surely, she wouldn't dare fight him. Not anymore.

Anne's response was a combination of a scoff and a laugh, he was unbelievable. She looked at him pointedly and said "Now I'm your sweetheart? What happened to that during our marriage?" she twirled as the danced required and when they were face to face again, pretending that realization dawned on her, she said "Oh right! You only want people when you can't have them"

With surprise he noticed that the Anne he knew seemed to be back. It amused him how defensive she got, so, in an effort to see how she would react, he, ignoring her completely, said "Don't kid yourself, Anne. You only want him because you can't have me"

At that, Anne actually laughed, but it wasn't a joyous laugh at all, it was a cruel one. "My Lord, I'm sure that if I wanted you, I'd have you. Wasn't I the one who asked for a divorce?" she asked as she lifted a perfect eyebrow and smirked.

Henry took a deep breath, he was starting to lose his patience, how dare she talk to him like that? Who did she think she was? Yes, the Anne Boleyn he knew was definitely back, and he didn't quite know how to feel about that, he didn't really think that she would stand up to him, not with so much at stake, not after she had been civil, kind even, to him. Also, he realized, this was the first time in their life that she didn't fight him because of him, because she loved him and wanted him to care for her, she was being cruel to him because of Charles, and he found it hard to wrap his head around that. Weakly, he said what he wanted to believe "He's not going to make you happy" as rage filled him.

Anne didn't hold back her answer "Like you did?" Right at that moment the dance ended and she let go of him, harshly. She curtsied with a "Your Majesty" and left the Great Hall, to the shock of the Court. Henry returned to his seat and downed two goblets of wine in a row, slamming them in the table once he was done. Of course, no one dared to talk to him for the reminder of the evening. Trust Anne Boleyn to anger the King and leave the banquet held in her honor in the process.


When Anne reached her chambers she closed the door behind her and started breathing heavily, she couldn't believe everything that had happened in just a day, in just a night! Charles proposed and she was ready to say yes, in that instant she was sure she wanted to say yes. But then Henry appeared, like always, and made her doubt everything, why did she feel like she wanted to push his buttons? To see how far he was willing to go, when she knew that there would be consequences? She had tried to be civil to him, to not anger him, for the sake of Elizabeth, for the sake of Charles, and for her own sake, but she couldn't stay away form the danger that was Henry Tudor, and she didn't know why. She hated that he still had that power over her, of making her lose her temper so easily. Yet, in a way she felt that she needed to fight him, she needed to end that chapter of her life if she wanted to be happy with Charles, she felt that she wasn't fighting Henry only for her, but she was fighting for her and Charles, and she suddenly realized it, she only lost her temper with Henry because he was interfering between her and Charles, she wanted, no, she needed him to understand that her happiness didn't rely on him, that she was ready to let go of the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry Tudor, for good.

She was looking through the window, deep in though, when a knock on the door startled her. Since she left the feast without her ladies and all the grooms were there too, she was completely alone. She went and opened the door, and to her surprise, one of Jane's ladies was there, she seemed very young, and very shy. Anne put on a gentle smile on her face and said "Tell me, child"

The girl smiled too, she had been afraid of going to the Marquess, after she had left the Great Hall like that. She was too young for Court when the Marquess and the King were married, but she had heard the stories, people often talked about Anne, they described her either as a very cruel woman who only married the King for power, or either as a heroine, someone who had loved the King with all her heart, only to be cast aside for another. It was incredible being in front of the real Anne Boleyn, not the myth. And the real Anne Boleyn seemed very kind. With a newfound confidence, the girl said "My Lady Marquess, the Queen would like to meet with you privately tomorrow, around noon"

Anne nodded, she understood, if Jane had sent one of her youngest and meekest ladies it was in hopes that no one would notice she was missing, and wouldn't follow her. Jane Seymour wanted to meet with her, but she didn't want people to know, she probably didn't want Henry to know. She said "What's your name, child?" she wanted to know who this girl was, she could prove to be an ally if she needed one.

"Elizabeth Jerningham, milady"

"Very well, Lady Jerningham. Tell the Queen that I'll see her tomorrow"

As she curtsied, Elizabeth said "Yes, milady" then, she left.


Meanwhile, George and Charles were still at the banquet. As soon as Anne left, they looked at each other alarmed, neither of them thought that Anne would go as far as to leave the feast held for her. It was clear that she had argued with Henry, but why? He must've provoked her, because Anne was doing a remarkable job biting her tongue and being cordial to him, she wouldn't just change her attitude like that, especially knowing how fickle Henry could be.

Charles decided against going after her right away, he knew how it would look, to the courtiers and to Henry, he really didn't want to cause a scene, or push Henry further, only God knew what the consequences could be. So he waited, he pretended as if nothing happened, he mostly talked to Anthony, who knew not to pressure him into talking about Henry or Anne, they were joined by George, and they all spent the evening as if it was any other evening at the Great Hall. That is, until Henry left, Lady Ursula Misseldon not far behind him, Charles waited a few minutes and stood up. George looked at him with a warning expression on his face and said "Where are you going?" He knew that Anne was probably enraged, it was never a good idea to deal with her when she was mad, she had a tendency to lash out and say things she didn't mean, that's why Nan and Madge were still at the banquet, they didn't want to deal with her either.

Charles understood George's concerns, but they weren't going to stop him, he had to make sure that she was fine. He still didn't know what had happened between her and Henry, he needed to feel some sense of control over the situation. So, he ignored George, and left. Once he reached her chambers he opened the door and entered, his hearth started beating faster when he didn't see her in the outer chamber, he went to the inner chamber and found her sleeping on the bed with her dress, shoes, and jewelry still on. Gently, he took of her shoes one by one, then he took off his own shoes and lay down next to her, embracing her from behind, breathing her in and feeling relieved that he had her in his arms. Anne relaxed under his touch and leaned into him. She woke up and grabbed his hands, which were on her stomach, in hers, and started to rub her thumb across one of his hands, as she said "Hey"

Charles kissed the back of her head and said "Hello beautiful"

Anne turned around in his arms, they couldn't possibly be closer to each other, his hands rested on her back and hers grabbed onto his face, she looked at him in the eyes, smiled, and said "Ask me again"

At first, Charles was caught by surprise, for a moment he didn't know what she meant, his mind was so focused on Henry and her safety that he had forgotten completely that he had asked her to marry him. As soon he remembered a huge smile spread across his face and he said "My love, will you marry me?"

Anne giggled and said "Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes"

Charles couldn't contain his happiness. With everything that had happened in the last few weeks, it was the only logical thing to do, it was the only thing that made sense, he wanted to be hers and wanted her to be his. He truly did feel like the happiest man alive, so he bent down and kissed her, hoping to express like that all the love he felt inside. Anne eagerly returned the kiss, and gave him many more. Their kisses were full of longing and love, but they were also full of hope. They continued to kiss, until Anne straddled him and undid the buttons of his shirt one by one, as he undid the laces of her dress. They spent the night making love to each other for the first time.

Hours later, after the sun rose, Anne woke up. She felt incredibly content laying there with Charles, they were facing each other, bodies intertwined under the sheets. She rubbed his cheek as he slept, she didn't know how they were going to get Henry to give them his blessing, but she didn't care, she was willing to do anything for this man. She was no longer scared of her feelings for him, she couldn't be sure that he wouldn't hurt her, but she was willing to take the risk for him, she'd rather love him now, than spend the rest of her life without having loved again.

Slowly, Charles opened his eyes and couldn't contain his happiness at the fact that Anne's face was the first thing he saw. He let her know, saying "I swear, this is the best way to wake up"

Anne lifted an eyebrow and said "Really? I thought it was this" before kissing him.

Charles pulled her even closer to him, told her "Well I have to admit, you are right" and they both laughed.

They stayed in each other's arms for a while, until Anne said "Last night one of Jane's ladies came here. She told me that Jane wanted to meet with me today at noon"

Confusion took over Charles' features "You think she wants to talk to you about Henry?"

Anne sighed, "Probably, what else is there to talk about?"

Charles didn't want to push her regarding her argument with Henry, so he settled for rubbing her hair. He decided to give her time to think if she wanted to talk about it.

After a few seconds, Anne said "According to him, you won't make me happy" as she stared off into space.

Charles scoffed and said "As if he made you happy"

Anne smiled, looked at him, and said "I told him that"

In response, Charles raised an eyebrow, his amusement evident, and said "What did he say?"

Anne shrugged as she told him "I don't know. I left" which made them laugh.

Charles kissed her and started to stand up, he said "If I could I'd stay with you a little longer, but Anthony and I have to take care of some stuff for the joust arranged for Edward's birthday" and began dressing.

Surprise took over Anne's features as realization dawned on her, she told him "I completely forgot that his birthday is in just 4 days. Do you know when they're coming?" the last 2 years, Elizabeth had accompanied Edward to court for his birthday celebrations. Anne was excited about seeing her darling child, she hoped Henry wouldn't dismiss her from Court as a punishment after the things she told him the previous night, she was so caught in the moment that she forgot that it was a possibility, but she couldn't say that she regretted her words, someone had to stand up to Henry.

Charles continued dressing as he said "Well, last year they arrived 2 days prior. Maybe it'll be the same this time around, I'll try to find out if someone knows"

She said "Thank you" and grabbed him by the collar for a kiss.

Charles rubbed her cheek, said "I love you, I'll see you later" and left.

When Nan and Madge entered Anne's chambers a few minutes later, they couldn't contain their grins. Nan said "I trust you had a good night's sleep, My Lady" with a mischievous expression on her face, while Madge giggled.

Anne laughed loudly and said "I had! Thank you for asking"

As they helped her in getting ready for the day, Anne told them that Charles had asked her to marry him. Madge couldn't be more excited, she was extremely happy that her mistress and cousin had found love again, Nan was also very happy, but she let Anne know that she thought they wouldn't have an easy road regarding Henry. Anne agreed with her, but said that she was willing to do anything that needed to be done in order to marry Charles. She finished getting ready and sat down for breakfast, a while later, Lady Jerningham was there to take her to the Queen's chambers, all of them knew that she could very well find them herself, but perhaps Jane wanted to make sure that Anne would go, she knew Anne was capable of disobeying anyone's orders, even the Queen's. As they were on their way to the chambers, Anne noticed that she was really starting to hate Whitehall, she was tired that everywhere she went she had a memory to accompany her, entering Jane's chambers was no different, she had given birth in those chambers, she has miscarried there, her happiest and saddest memories were here. She hoped that someday the good would out weight the bad, but she guessed that she would have to make peace with those memories first. She took in her surroundings as she entered the chambers, she noticed that there were few ladies there, Jane probably dismissed the ones she didn't trust enough to keep quiet about their meeting. The four ladies present, two of them Jane's sisters, were embroidering, how boring, her ladies would've been dancing or reading.

Jane looked up from her seat and said "My Lady Marquess, I'm glad to see you" as she stood up.

Anne knew she was required to curtsy, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she settled for nodding and saying "Your Majesty, I hope you're well"

Jane smiled, said "I am, thank you. Let's seat" and led them towards a couch in a corner of the room. They sat down and Jane took a deep breath, only then, Anne noticed that she seemed tired, her eyes looked almost hollow, it was as if life had been sucked out of her, with horror it dawned on Anne that Jane looked like she did at the end of her marriage, when it seemed like there was no hope left, and suddenly, she couldn't help but feel compassion towards her rival, and towards Katherine, they had all felt like that, and it wasn't anyone's fault but Henry. She felt the need to comfort her, but she let her talk first. Jane looked into Anne's eyes and said "I need your help" she looked down, started playing with her hands, and followed up with "I know I don't deserve it, not after everything that happened-"

Anne interrupted her before she could finish, she said "No, I need your help too. I don't know the extent of Henry's intentions, but he's playing a game that I don't want to be part of, you can be sure of that" She wanted Jane to know that she needn't worry about her wanting Henry back, she was tempted to tell her about her relationship with Charles, but decided against it. She couldn't trust Jane fully, not yet, she had been smart enough to become Henry's wife, it wasn't a safe bet to underestimate her. She opted for saying "But, to be honest, I don't think he would do anything to harm Edward" They both knew what Anne meant. Yes, Henry loved Mary and Elizabeth, but that didn't stop him from neglecting them when he was no longer interested in their mothers, but he wouldn't put Edward's position as his heir at risk, he had longed for a boy that would continue the succession for his whole life, he wouldn't dare do anything to endanger that. Anne was more worried that he would act in a way that would deny her and Charles the chance of being together, she wasn't worried about him suddenly wanting to get rid of Jane for her, that seemed too far fetched to actually happen.

But Jane was worried about that possibility, she had been one of Katherine's ladies in waiting, she saw Henry's obsession for Anne first hand, she saw what he was capable of doing for her, maybe many had forgotten about that, but she hadn't, she couldn't, because she noticed, when he was courting her, that he was never willing to go as far for her as he had gone for Anne, at the memories and the fear that she and her children were truly in danger, Jane's eyes filled with unshed tears, she looked at Anne and said "All he did, he did it for you. He tore England in half because he wanted to marry you, how much further can a man go?"

Faced with that, Anne couldn't help the tug at her heartstrings, as she remembered all he had done for her, back when she thought that she was going to spend the rest of her life loving him. But she also couldn't help the fear she felt, she was afraid of him because she no longer wanted that, and she worried that that wouldn't stop him. Yet, she mustered enough courage to try to convince Jane, and herself, that it wasn't that serious, that it wouldn't go that far, and said "Things are different now"


Meanwhile, Cromwell was having a meeting with Thomas Seymour, he had just received the reports that Henry had requested from the spies in the North. It seemed like Anne was right, the hoarding of arms was done as a last resort in case the Royal Army attacked them. As he heard Cromwell say that, Thomas slammed his fist in the table, his face was red with anger as he said "Damn her! Why does she always have to make things difficult, had she not put ideas into Henry's mind he wouldn't have asked to know this, we could've just attacked the rebels and get it over with. Now we're lost, Henry's going to find out what we did and we're getting executed at best"

Cromwell just rolled his eyes, he was tired of Thomas Seymour, he was incredibly reckless and incredibly stupid. He waited for his rant to be over and, calm as ever, said "Seymour, the King doesn't have to know about any of this" as he pointed to the reports from the spies. He stood up, put his hand under his chin, looked at the youngest Seymour brother and said "This is our chance to destroy Anne Boleyn once and for all"

A/N: Sooooooooo, what did you think? Aren't Anne and Charles the cutest? This was a big chapter for them, but there is a lot to come. I decided to have Jane and Anne sort of team up, because I'm tired of women hating each other over a man, I also think that, given the circumstances, it was the logical thing to do, it feels true to this Anne and it feels true to this Jane, I think it makes them more real, more three-dimensional, because they're not going to be best friends, they don't even like each other, Anne has all this feelings regarding Jane and Henry and Jane obviously is jealous of Anne, so I think that it's a dynamic worth exploring. Alsoooo, don't you guys think that we're due a Charles/Henry confrontation?

I'm going to be a bit busy this next 2 weeks, but I'll update as soon as I can. I really love where this is going. See you next time, don't forget to review! And remember, if there's anything you'd like to see happen let me know and I'll see what I can do.