A/N: Thank you all for your feedback! Reviews and follows definitely make me want to keep spitting out chapters at this speed.
Lady Ursula was a godsend. Ever since that day she had saved Anne from humiliation a few weeks ago, the two had become fast friends. In the room full of dull blondes, the two vivacious brunettes were quite the pair. Lady Ursula was the daughter of a minor lord newly come to court. A few coins in the right hands had landed his daughter into the queen's service in hopes of finding a good husband. Anne doubted Ursula needed the queen's patronage, as she seemed to charm men with quite ease. She was witty and beautiful. Whenever she walked the halls with Anne, the two would turn the heads of almost every gentleman they passed. She was showered with poems and trinkets from her admirers, but she declined them all. With all the attention Lady Misseldon was attracting, Anne wasn't surprised when she caught Henry looking at her hungrily several times this week. Anne knew that look.
When she approached her friend about her suspicions, Ursula had sighed dramatically and set aside her needlework.
"He has gone out of his way to put himself in my path," she admitted. "But I don't think it means anything. Likely he just always sees me with you. You know his eyes are yours alone when you dance." Ursula grinned wickedly and Anne rolled her eyes. She had noticed Henry looking at her too, but she knew nothing would come of it. She would never fall into that trap again and she could only warn her friend.
"Has he hinted that he wants you in his bed yet?" Anne asked.
"Oh every word out of that man's mouth towards me is dripping with seduction" Ursula giggled. "But no serious offers yet. Is he worth the trouble with the queen? In bed, I mean," Ursula asked nonchalantly and Anne couldn't hold back her own mischievous smile.
"Not in the long run, my friend"
Ursula barked in unladylike laughter at Anne's words, attracting the attention of the other ladies sewing. Lady Cicily glared at them, but it was Jane's sweetest sister, Elizabeth, that spoke. "Oh do share your joke, Lady Anne! I'm sure we'd all like to hear it."
Luckily, Lady Misseldon recovered from her laughter to spare her from having to come up with something. "Forgive us ladies, I'm afraid twas my own words that had me in such a state. A quite bawdy joke I heard this morning. Would you like to hear it?"
Elizabeth smiled shakily, but Cicily spoke for them all. "No thank you, Lady Misseldon. I'm sure the words are unfit for PROPER ladies. Perhaps you should focus on the task in your hands. The queen will return from her prayers soon and she expects these shirts mended"
Ursula winked at Anne before she exaggeratedly made a show of returning to her needlework.
When the ladies had all turned back to their work Anne spoke again, quietly. "All jokes aside, Ursula, you should be careful. Henry is a dangerous man and being his mistress is not all fun and games. You will paint a target on your back for the queen and all the other courtiers. I know you well enough that you will do as you will, but I urge you to be careful." Ursula gazed at Anne for a long moment, appraising her, before she smiled.
"Thank you, Anne. I appreciate your concern and your honesty. I know you are a true friend"
As Anne walked back towards her chambers to get ready for supper in the great hall, she thought about what Ursula had told her. Henry might not actually have a mistress yet, but he was certainly acting like he was considering one. She wondering what that had to say about he and Jane's marriage. Only half a year in, and he was already straying. Anne smugly remembered that it wasn't until after Elizabeth's birth that Henry started to be unfaithful, but she couldn't help the twinge of pity she felt in her heart.
No, that wench deserves this. She stole MY husband. It's only fair that now someone will steal him from her!
But that logic didn't make her feel any better. Henry had left of his own free will. He was the reason Anne was in pain. If it hadn't been for Jane, it would have been someone else. Perhaps no one deserved the treatment that he had always given his queens. Katherine had not been kind to her, yet Anne still felt guilty when she remembered what the great lady had been subjected to in the end. Perhaps her current situation was God's punishment for allowing Henry to treat his past wife with such disdain without a word of protest. Now Anne would watch as another wife of Henry's had her heart broken. When would it end? As if on cue from her thoughts, Anne turned the corner to see Jane leaving the prayer room. The queen was mysteriously alone and seemed completely lost in her thoughts, her arms wrapped around her middle. Anne felt like she had been struck by lightning. That pose could only mean one thing. When Jane looked up and met her eyes, her panicked look and her flurry to remove her arms confirmed Anne's fears.
The queen was pregnant