A/N: Officially back from vacation and back to writing. Thank you all for your patience with this chapter. I will try to put out a couple of chapters in the next few days to make up for my absence!
Anne and Mary sat in her chambers and talked about everything they had missed over the last four years. Anne laughed loudly at Mary's descriptions of her first attempts at feathering chickens and churning butter. Her heart warmed towards her brother in law as Mary described the kind, passionate man who had loved her sister fiercely and who had protected her against the world when she had been shunned from court. Anne felt deep shame as Mary regaled the fears she had had in the beginning, knowing that if she had been a kinder sister Mary would never would have faced that. Her sweet sister who had always supported and loved her and Anne had repaid that with abandonment.
Anne broke down in her rooms and begged her sister for forgiveness. Mary had soothed her, rubbing her hands over her back and told her that there was nothing to forgive.
"Anne you did what you thought you had to do. I know how Father was, I know the pressure he put on you"
"That does nothing to excuse it! You were my sister! I should have never let him do that to you!"
"Well he is gone now, isn't he? We can just be the Boleyn siblings now" Mary smiled at her and Anne returned it. She did not deserve forgiveness, yet Mary had offered it freely. Anne felt a surge of gratefulness towards Jane who had invited Mary to court and had even found a place in her household for her. She would never forget walking into Jane's rooms and finding an angry Lady Cicily, surrounded by packed luggage. The hellcat had had tears in her eyes as she glared at Anne.
"This is all your fault" she had hissed and Anne had raised an eyebrow, not knowing what was going on. "The Queen has dismissed me to make room for your whore sister!" Anne had wanted to spit something back to her, but held her tongue. The bitch would be gone soon and Anne found immense satisfaction watching her leave. She had not said anything directly to Jane to thank her for removing Lady Cicily, but it was another thing that Anne stored away in her thoughts. Immediately, the other ladies began treating her with more respect. Outside of Cicily, ever since she and Jane had found common ground, the outright rudeness had ceased, but now they treated her cordially and with respect-seeing what happened to those who did not. Mary had been welcomed into Jane's service with ease and the women had found peace, though Anne was still confused about her feelings towards Jane.
She didn't think she could ever LIKE Jane, but she no longer held her anger towards the now-Queen. Anne had watched the pain flit across her face as Henry had danced with countless women at feasts, she had overheard her family speaking to her harshly on occasion, and she remembered the panic stricken face when Anne had asked her about the fears for the child she carried. Anne couldn't help but see the similarities in their situations. Now that Anne was no longer queen and didn't have pressure from all angles to deliver a son, she was able to see how horrible everyone's treatment was. Now that she was a single woman at court with no ostentatious men demanding things that were out of her control, she realized how unfair it was-and now she watched Jane deal with it. Jane's situation was almost worse than Anne's. Anne had followed Queen Katherine, who had wasted years and years of Henry's youth and virility. Even with Elizabeth, the lack of a male heir was overshadowed by the birth of a healthy royal child. Now there would be no such mercy. Henry demanded a son. Now. And he was unlikely to be patient with Jane if she didn't deliver one soon.
That night, as she helped Jane get ready for bed, the queen waved her over and motioned for the other women to give them some space.
"Lady Anne, I wanted to give you warning. Henry was so happy about my pregnancy. I had to use his good mood to achieve something. He has agreed to invite his daughter, the Lady Mary to court next week."
Anne gaped at Jane. "I am surprised he would do so without her signing the oath. He is not usually a man to give up something that important to him..."
Jane looked slightly uncomfortable as she met Anne's eyes. "He still wants her to do so. I convinced him that showing her the love she has been missing might make her more pliable in taking the oath. I just wanted to make sure you knew, so as not to be surprised when it is announced." Anne nodded gratefully. It would be difficult for her to be in the presence of her old step-daughter. In the months since her release from the tower she had done a lot of thinking in regards to Mary. Anne had been unkind-downright cruel to her. Perhaps Mary's presence at court would give Anne an opportunity to make amends. She was sure it would be easier for Mary to take the oath now that it wouldn't mean treating her as Queen. She appreciated the time she would have to collect her thoughts before her arrival.