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Whitehall Palace. August 1, 1540.

The celebrations around Henry VIII's new queen continued for the next few days and everyone was of good spirits. The King was especially happy and enjoyed showing off his new young bride off to the entire court. If anyone had any objections to Henry marrying a girl who was barely an adult, they knew better than to say them where he or someone close to him could hear. Unfortunately, it was proving impossible for Anthony and Catherine to have any alone time together at all. During the day, Henry would use her to illustrate how the good Lord had seen fit to bless with such a woman as his wife and his queen and during the nights, Queen Catherine had to be on hand to satisfy the King's sexual appetites.

Meanwhile, Anthony was plagued by hearing Ethan's good fortune. Now that he and the Lady Mary were in an official courtship, they were spending a great deal of time together and now they were allowed to meet unsupervised. Mary would invite the younger Barker to dinner and they would converse and laugh. Anthony could not help but fear that quite a few of those laughs were at his expense. Catherine's marriage to Henry was truly the turning point in the brother's relationship. Inch by inch, they slowly began to drift apart like icebergs on a freezing ocean. Anthony was becoming obsessed with Catherine Howard and was pining for her like a love-struck fool. Ethan, who was fed up with watching his older brother being so foolish as to entertain thoughts of an affair with the wife of the cruel and tyrannical Henry VIII, was splitting up his time between visiting with the lady Anne of Cleves at Hever Castle and courting the lady Mary Tudor in her chambers.

"How have you been faring, your grace?" Mary inquired as they both shared a jug of expensive wine in her chambers. She and Ethan were alone except for one of Mary's ladies in waiting who had been kept on hand to tend to her mistress's needs, if she had any.

"If I am being completely honest milady...I have fared better." Ethan admitted as he sipped his tea.

"What troubles you, your grace?" she asked as she looked at her suitor with concern.

"My fool of a brother, please forgive me if I sound vulgar, but he has a habit of thinking...with his other head; if you take my meaning." he said slowly. Mary was silent for a few moments, before a tiny giggle escape her lips.

"That is vulgar indeed, your grace." the princess said as she covered her mouth; not used to hearing such language.

"I'm sorry...it's just...he's been upset about the wedding and it's getting frustrating to listen to day in and day out." the Duke griped.

"Why would my father's wedding to his newest mistress upset your brother?" Mary asked, feeling confused by the statement.

"He is under the impression that the lady Catherine Howard is making a huge mistake in agreeing to marry his majesty." Ethan admitted with a sigh. Mary looked at him with a look of surprise, but kept her composure.

"What would compel Lord Springfield to believe such a thing?" she asked as Ethan looked uncomfortable.

"It's...it's not my place to say such things, milady." The last thing that he wanted to do was talk shit about her father; mainly because he was unsure whether or not she would run to the King and inform him about what he had said. Mary seemed to be reading his mind and placed her delicate hand over his.

"It is all right your grace, you may be honest with me in all things." she insisted as he nodded before continuing to speak.

"He is merely considering that fact that his majesty divorced two of his wives, beheaded one, while another died in childbirth. "Being the Queen of England is a dangerous game that Catherine may not be fully prepared to handle." Ethan replied as Mary drank her tea calmly.

"I suppose there is truth in that statement." the princess relented.

"I mean, look at what he did to your mother!" Ethan exclaimed. "She was a good and pious woman and he threw her aside for..."

"The Boleyn whore," Mary spat with venom.

"Yeah..." Lord Chicago muttered as he squirmed in his seat.

"His majesty taking Anne Boleyn as his wife and declaring me a bastard hurt me deeply; I have never denied it before and I do not deny it now." Mary insisted as she tried desperately to keep her composure and not out her father as the tyrannical demagogue that both she and he knew that he was.

"Milady..."

"He is the king and we must follow his will, no matter what we may personally wish." Mary replied in a dutiful voice. "Ours is not to dispute or to question right and wrong, ours is to obey." Ethan knew that Mary Tudor merely wished to do right by her father, but he was filled with great pity for this good woman. He knew how much Henry's choices hurt her and how they would eventually shape her into becoming the vengeful theocrat that made history. He rose from his chair and kneeled before the English princess.

"I do not care what his majesty says, you are not a bastard and you are certainly more than a lady." Ethan swore as he looked into her gorgeous eyes. "You are the most beautiful princess that has ever walked God's green Earth. Mary looked at him with tears of joy at being acknowledged for what she truly was. The princess said nothing as she leaned down and planted a kiss on the head of her beloved suitor.

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