She felt empty. Her belly still had a swell to it and Jane kept moving her fingers over the skin, remembering feeling her precious little boy kicking. He had felt so strong then. Tears welled in her eyes again at how weak he had been when she held him. They had taken him away so quickly, trying to nurse him back, trying to keep him in this world. Those three days had been agonizing until one of her midwives came in to deliver the news. She had named him Edward, much to the chagrin of her brother, and the court had lapsed into mourning for the lost little prince.
Now the court was finally righting itself. Henry had rejoined after a few days in solitude and most of the court had resumed normal activity. But not Jane. She was grateful that the doctors and midwives had announced that she needed this time to recover. She knew that if it wasn't a formal announcement, her family would have forced her to come out of her confinement. Edward and Thomas had already told her that she should do all she can to convince her doctors that she was fine-that there was no reason why she wouldn't be able to conceive and carry to term another healthy child. Jane had snapped that it was wholly out of her control and had angrily dismissed them from her rooms. They had left, but not after hinting of what would become of her if the verdict was not what they were hoping for. Jane would be cast out of the throne, their marriage annulled and she would be left with nothing. Edward had coldly told her that she should hope that Henry provide for her because she would not be welcome at Wolf Hall.
So whenever Doctor Linacre would visit, Jane would infuse her voice with optimism, trying to convince him that she was well. He would smile pityingly at her and then announce it was still too soon to tell. As soon as he would leave, the facade would fall from her face and she would sink back to the pillows, losing herself in her anguish.
Why had God been so cruel to her sweet little boy? Jane herself was no angel- she had plenty of sins that she would have to atone for, but little Edward was blameless. Why give a child breath when it would be snatched away so swiftly?
As she silently sobbed in her bed, she was interrupted by a knock. Her sister popped her head into the dark room
"Your Majesty, the Lady Anne Boleyn is here asking for an audience?" Jane nodded tearfully.
As Anne walked in and the door shut behind her, Jane looked at her appraisingly. Jane knew that Anne had had her fair share of loss as well. If there was anyone who knew the kind of anguish that came with disappointing Henry, it was Anne. Hopelessness engulfed her and she reached out to the woman who used to be her rival. Anne moved across the room with haste and grasped Jane's outstretched hand.
"Oh, Jane. I'm so so sorry" Anne's voice was thick with emotion as they sat together and fresh tears coursed down Jane's cheeks. Jane let herself go and allowed herself to lean into Anne's shoulder, drinking in the comfort the woman was offering her. Despite everything the two of them had been through together, Jane couldn't help but feel a kinship to Anne, especially in this moment. They both knew of the pressure to produce a healthy son They both knew the difficulties of having dominating male family members berating them no matter what happened. And now they both knew the overwhelming sense of loss and the crippling sensation of never knowing a child conceived. Jane allowed all her pain and anger and sorrow leak out of her as she cried in Anne's arms and Anne just held her, soothing her with calm assurances.
A/N: Sorry that nothing of substance has happened in the past few chapters, I just wanted to showcase what is going on in everyone's heads after the birth. In this chapter in particular I just wanted to highlight how close Anne and Jane are becoming. I know that a lot of people are saying that they don't like the friendship between them, but I've always loved the idea of them finding common ground and developing a relationship. I think the parallels between them are just too strong and I think that Anne would be sympathetic seeing all the abuse she went through happening to someone else as well. And lord knows that Jane is in need of a friend. Just my interpretation :) I promise things will start happening again soon! Please keep reading and review!