Thank you so much for the kind reviews! Truthfully, I had not expected to get as much positive feedback from the story as I did, but knowing that people enjoyed my work warms my heart.

I know that one of my reviewers was puzzled/irked at something that I had written, so I will clarify it here; when I wrote the midwife telling Henry and Anne that they should expect three little princes and princesses, I meant for it to mean that she was telling them they would have three children, and not a guess for the genders of what ultimately became the quadruplets. I thought this might have been implied, due to Henry stating that him and Anne would have three sons, while Anne, being a little more practical, figured that she and Henry would at least have two sons and a daughter, (Ultimately, Henry's confidence that they would have three sons and no daughters played a part in the conversation in which they decided on potential baby names, hence why they had not initially been prepared with names for a daughter), but I do apologize for the confusion. I hope this clears things up, and as always, thank you for the feedback! :)

One more note: apparently the word quadruplet did not exist until the late 18th century, but I have no idea what quadruplets were called before then, so I've taken creative license and made it so that the word existed earlier.

Now, onto the story! The children have been born, and everything is looking up for Anne and Henry, but there are some people who wish it could be otherwise..

CHAPTER TWO

September 10th, 1533

The King had certainly spared no expense for the celebrations regarding the birth of the Concubine's brats. The bells had been rung four times a day for the past three days and would be rung four times again tomorrow for the final time, as symbolic of the four pups that the bitch had birthed. King Henry distributed great foods and wines to the common people and to the court, held Mass for four hours each day with prayers said in honor of his slut and her pups, commissioned a new ship that would be named the Saint Queen Anne, bestowed peerages on the harlot's bastard daughters as well as her devil sons, and, if the rumors were correct, had created a new title of Princess Royal for the eldest legitimate daughter; making it Princess Mary's by rights.

When Chapuys had first heard that the witch Anne Boleyn's labor had lasted for hours without any sign of a child, he had hoped that the complications would continue, taking the life of the false Queen as well as her hellspawn. He thought that perhaps the Concubine had not been pregnant in the first place, and had merely stuffed cloths up her skirts to give herself the appearance of being big with children, but alas, that was not the case.

When Sir William Brereton, one of the only trustworthy men in the court, delivered the news that the whore had delivered four healthy brats instead of the three that had been expected, he felt as though he would become ill, especially because Brereton had confirmed that two of the little bastards were sons. However, Brereton remained adamant that the brats were not children of the King, and were instead the spawn of one of the usurper's many lovers. Brereton confessed that he had not gotten a good look at the brats yet, so as to confirm his declaration, but Chapuys understood that the likelihood of the brats not being the King's were high– after all, Anne Boleyn was Satan's mistress, and her bastards were probably his spawn.

The procession for the christening of the brats was long and gaudy, something that would normally drive Chapuys to retch, had he not been expected to behave as one might expect from an Imperial ambassador. As the Emperor was not currently in favor with the King, due to his continued support of Queen Catherine and Princess Mary, Chapuys's role among those present was next to nothing, though he would have little cause to resent it. He knew that the Concubine's brats were not the true Princes and Princesses of England, as they were born of an illegitimate 'marriage' seeped in witchcraft, heresy, and immorality.

Ambassador de Morette, who was currently standing in as ambassador due to Jean du Bellay's absence, had been chosen to act as the proxy for King Francis, who had been picked as godfather to the Concubine's eldest son. As he carried the brat in the procession, Chapuys could not help but notice the side-eye that de Morette had given him, something that he took as a sign of hostility, possibly in the face of renewed tension between France and the Empire. Perhaps Ambassador de Morette had been instructed by his master to act hostile towards him in order to show King Henry that France was willing to align itself with England against the perceived threat of the Empire, even if the cost of supporting the King meant boasting the bitch and her pups as the legitimate heirs of the King.

Chapuys was sure that once his master, the Emperor, retrieved his letter about the witch's birth, he would be instructed to act like a friend and ally to England as well, forced to acknowledge the false Queen and the hellspawn as legitimate in order to keep relations with the island nation smooth. He would, however, continue to throw his support behind Queen Catherine and Princess Mary, no matter the cost.

As long as Queen Catherine, the true Queen, and Princess Mary, the real princess, were breathing, Anne Boleyn and her brats would never truly sit on the thrones of England.

George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, smiled with pride as he carried his nephew Edmund in hand. To his surprise, the King had privately pulled him aside on the day after the quadruplets' birth to let him know that both he and Anne wanted George to act as godfather for the little Duke of York. The King had also told him that he wished to elevate George to the title of Duke of Buckingham, which would make him the highest peer of England, save his nieces and nephews, who would now be peers by virtue of their status as legitimate children of the King, as well as Hal Fitzroy, who was a duke twice over, as well as an earl. He would even outrank his father, uncle, and the Duke of Suffolk! He did not know what he had done to deserve such kindness from the King, but he was grateful for it.

He had only seen Anne once since the birth, as he had been busy taking parts in the celebrations for his nieces and nephews, although based on what Mary had told him, she seemed to be in good health and good spirits, and would soon be churched and able to rejoin the court. She had made a joke about how once Anne was churched, the celebrations for the quadruplets would commence again, much to the ire of their father, who had unexpectedly not been in good spirits since the birth. It would seem that he had caught wind of King Henry's plans for him as godfather to Edmund, as well as his plans to make him a duke in his own right, specifically granting him a dukedom that would make him one of the first Lords of England.

Or, maybe he had caught wind of Henry's plans for Mary. The one time that he had seen Anne since the birth had been after Henry pulled him aside and let him know of his plans for him, and after George had shared his good news, Mary had shared news that had sent him into a shock; Henry was granting Mary the title of Marquess of Winchester in her own right, as well as a purse large enough to rival any other peers. Henry had made it clear to her that it would make her the premier marquess of the land save Anne herself, who was still technically the Marquess of Pembroke, and as such, she would be treated with every respect worthy of her new station. She was also asked to be the godmother of Prince Edward, as he lacked a royal godmother– the Queen of France was the sister of the Emperor, so she would not do, and the King of Scotland had not yet found a wife who could step in as godmother.

George knew that Mary was delighted for all of their good fortunes, not only for the sake of gaining status, but because she would be able to provide a good life for herself and her two children from her late husband. After he died, he left Mary in a great deal of debt, and truth be told, he did not think that she had never been able to wash the stain away from being known as 'the Great Prostitute.' With her new status and the purse befitting her station, it seemed that her life would be able to start again.

"Ego te baptizo, in nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti," Archbishop Cramner pronounced, dripping the holy water onto the head of baby Edward in order to properly baptize him. He handed Edward off to the French Ambassador, and repeated the process against with Edmund, Elizabeth, and Eleanor, handing them off to each of their perspective pairs of godparents.

The Lady Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk and the soon-to-be Duchess of Richmond and Somerset due to her engagement with Henry Fitzroy, had agreed to stand up as Prince Edmund's godmother, delighted in the fact that the King and Queen trusted her enough to watch over her cousin in such a close manner. Anne had asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to be Elizabeth's godfather, but as he was performing the christening, she was handed to the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, who had agreed to be her godmother. Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey had agreed to stand up as Eleanor's godfather, while the role of godmother was fulfilled by Nan Saville.

"Vade in pace, et dominus vobiscum," Archbishop Cramner continued, smiling at the chorus of amen's that rung out. The toll of the bells collided with the cries of the quadruplets, a sure sign that the Devil had been driven out of them, and as the godparents wrapped their prospective godchildren in their christening robes, the herald began to lead the procession back to the Queen's chambers, where she was waiting with the King.

"God, of infinite goodness, send prosperous life and long to the High and Mighty Princes and Princesses of England: Edward, Duke of Cornwall, Edmund, Duke of York, Elizabeth, Duchess of Bedford, and Eleanor, Duchess of Clarence and of Hereford!"

Archbishop Cramner thought it strange that Queen Anne and King Henry had chosen to ask the herald to omit Elizabeth's title of Princess Royal from the announcements, although he figured that Elizabeth would be proclaimed the new title at a later date and in her own ceremony, which would surely be followed by banquets and celebrations in honor of the oldest legitimate daughter of the King. He followed the procession into the Queen's chambers, walking alongside the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk now that he had finished baptizing the children, watching with pride as the godparent holding the princes and princesses presented them to the King and Queen, who kissed each of them on the forehead in order to give them blessings.

Queen Anne looked radiant; she had not yet fully recovered from the childbirth, as expected since she birthed four children, but she seemed to be making a faster recovery than most women would. Archbishop Cramner's heart fluttered as he watched the King and Queen grant blessings to their children, shutting his eyes as he thought of how glorious the future would be. Good Queen Anne would remain Queen for the rest of her days, and someday, little Prince Edward would sit on the throne as King. Prince Edward would be the first future English monarch to be raised as a Protestant, and as such, it was important that he continued his push for reform, so that the country would be ready for him when it was his time to rule. Whatever happened, he vowed that he would always stay loyal to Queen Anne and her children, who would surely become the Kings and Queens of Heaven someday.

They would bring about a golden world.

September 15th, 1533

She had done it.

Anne Boleyn, her father's Concubine, had done the impossible. Not only had she birthed four children in one pregnancy, but she had birthed four healthy children, including two sons! Where her mother, her good, saintly mother had failed on several counts, the whore had succeeded four times in a row. Why had God allowed her to have healthy children? Why would He forsake her mother and bless the Concubine?

No. He had not forsaken her mother. Mary shut her eyes and clutched her rosary close to her chest, kissing the cross determinedly. Her eyes were red and puffy from her sobs upon receiving the news of the Concubine's victory, swollen as if an insect had struck her and bit her. Ambassador Chapuys had managed to sneak a letter to her in the summertime, informing her of his continued allegiance to her, as well as informing Mary of the newest threats by the slut. He wrote to her, saying that the Concubine had used her dark arts to bewitch the King, her father into granting her the Queen's Crown, something that rightfully belonged to her mother. He had informed her that she was with child, – no doubt with the spawn of Satan or one of her demonic lovers – and that she would continue to bewitch the King into declaring her little bastards as his true heirs.

Mary knew that it was a sin to wish death on someone, and she hated to disobey God and His words, but she had hoped the Concubine would be lost in childbirth giving her father a lifeless child, or better yet, taken in birth with childbed fever, leaving behind a healthy child that would not grow up under her evil influence. When the whore died, her father would be free of her wicked spells and bring Mary and her mother back to court as the pearl of his world and his true, legitimate wife. The witch's children would be made bastards, as Mary had been made a bastard after the usurper ousted her mother, but she would still love her half-siblings, even though they were the children of a Godless marriage and a whore. She would never make them feel as if they would have to suffer for their mother's crimes, and despite their bastard status, she would make sure that her father would treat them with every courtesy and respect granted to them as his children... if they were even his, to begin with.

But it was not to be. The Concubine had succeeded, giving her father two healthy sons and two healthy daughters in one pregnancy, something that her father would surely see as a sign that God was smiling on his so-called marriage. How could this be? The Boleyn witch had undoubtedly sold her soul to Satan, using his dark magick to grant her not one, but four children. According to Chapuys, it was well-known at court that Anne Boleyn was a Lutheran heretic that kept an English bible in her apartments, and that she had witch's marks on her body, such as moles and an extra finger on her right hand. So why had her father not been able to see past her spells and restore Mary and her mother?

If anything, her father seemed to be doubling down on her – the work of the heretic, no doubt. Lord Hussey, her chamberlain, had participated in the christening for Anne Boleyn's children, and when he came back to Beaulieu from the court, he brought a dreadful message with him: come October, Mary and her household would be evicted from Beaulieu, as the King intended to grant the estate to George Boleyn, brother of the Concubine and apparently a soon-to-be Duke. And that wasn't even all. Lord Hussey also told her about a rumor that he had heard; apparently, the whore's oldest daughter, Elizabeth, would be granted the new title of Princess Royal, which was reserved for the eldest legitimate daughter of the monarch, making it hers by rights.

If only the Concubine had not given her father his long-desired sons! Then, her father would see reason and remove the whore from his court, restoring Mary and her mother to their rightful places as his heir and his wife, never letting another woman or child displant them in his affection ever again. But, no, he would continue to boast Anne Boleyn's children as his heirs, leaving Mary and the true Queen neglected by all in favor of the Concubine...

No. There would be hope for her, yet. God works in mysterious ways, she must not forget that. Perhaps He was testing her and her mother to see if they would forsake His will under the pressure of her father, who refused to have anything to do with them as long as they continued to claim to be his Queen and legitimate daughter. Once they passed His test, God would work His will and see to it that her father bring her home and proclaim Mary as his heir, allowing her to be the first Queen of the Tudors and England's first Queen Regnant. I, Princess Mary Tudor, the one true heir to the throne of England, swear that I will never shy away from my duty to God, as He made me the one surviving child of a true and lawful marriage for a reason. She vowed, clutching her Catholic rosary tighter as she looked towards the ceiling in order to show God that she was with Him. I will be the Queen of England, no matter what.

September 29th, 1533

"George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, you are, by order and permission of His Majesty, King Henry the Eighth, today created Duke of Buckingham." Audley droned out, reading the patent of nobility that lay in his hands. It was the first elevation to the peerage in over a year– the last time it occurred, King Henry had raised the Queen, then the Lady Anne Boleyn, to the title of Marquess of Pembroke so that she would be a peer in her own right and so that he would not be accused of marrying a commoner. Now that the Queen had successfully given the King his long-desired male heirs and been churched after her recovery from the ordeal of the childbirth, he would grant the men that the Queen had selected peerages, ensuring that allies of the Boleyn family would be raised higher than any of them might have thought possible even six months ago.

"Arise, Your Grace," George, now the Duke of Buckingham, looked up as the King lifted the coronet of a viscount from his head and replaced it with that of a duke's, returning the smile that his brother-in-law had given him. He took the new sword that the King had held out for him, standing and moving to the side along with the other peers. He watched with pride as his sister, Lady Mary Carey, was called into the room, her new bright red dress flowing behind her as she knelt in front of the King.

Mary had never thought that the day would come where she, who had once been called the Great Prostitute, would be honored as the sister-in-law of the King of England and sister of the beloved Queen, including being granted a peerage in her own right! Her young children, Catherine and Henry, were at the front of the crowd of courtiers watching her elevation, and although she could not see them, she was sure that they had smiles on their faces, proud of their mother for her ascension. Things had been hard for them after William's death; she had not loved him much, as the marriage had been more of a political marriage than one for her love, and he left her in debt, forcing her to sell her jewels and fine clothes before Anne had managed to grant her a pension. That was not even the worse of it - Catherine and Henry had also been slandered after William's death, regarded as unwelcome and unacknowledged bastards by King Henry, her former lover. She knew that it was not true, but it hurt to see that her young children had been tainted by the stain of her reputation. Hopefully, now that she would be a peeress, her fortunes would improve. Perhaps she would even be able to find a second husband now.

"Lady Mary Carey, you are, by order and permission of His Majesty, King Henry the Eighth, today created Marquess of Winchester." Audley read the patent of Mary's nobility, his monotone voice seemingly echoing through the rooms. Mary stood as still as she possibly could as King Henry placed the coronet of a marquess on her head, standing as he invited her to rise. She moved to stand with the other peers, specifically in between her uncle and George, who seemed just as proud as her father was as he walked to the King and kneeled.

"Thomas Boleyn, you are, by order and permission of His Majesty, King Henry the Eighth, today created Duke of Wiltshire."

Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, winced as Audley spoke the words as if they had just cast a powerful curse of pain on him. All of his worst dreams seemed to have been coming true during the month of September– the Boleyn bitch had birthed four healthy children, two of them sons, and all members and allies of the Boleyn family were being honored and elevated, including her sister and that ambitious rat Cromwell. He looked over to see that his wife Catherine had a sullen look on her face, though she tried to mask her smile whenever his son Henry looked to her. Suffolk knew that Catherine was just as angry about the turn of events as he was, if not more. After all, her mother had once been Catherine of Aragon's most faithful lady-in-waiting, and Queen Catherine was her namesake.

At first, the couple had believed that Anne Boleyn had birthed a daughter or a stillborn, as even after the news that the first two children were delivered, there was no news of what the baby's sexes had been. The two had begun a small celebration in their private chambers, celebrating what they had believed to be good news, only for the bells to begin ringing and putting an end to their small moment of victory.

It was hard to think that Anne Boleyn had won. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true. She would remain 'Queen' for the rest of her days, as Henry would never think to supplant the woman who had given him four healthy children in one pregnancy, much less two sons. Good Queen Catherine and Princess Mary would stay abandoned and disgraced by the King unless they accepted lesser, downgraded titles and professed their allegiance to him and the Boleyn whore. Suffolk regretted that the people of England, who had once declared that they would accept no other Queen than Catherine of Aragon and no other heir than Princess Mary, had begun to turn their backs on the fallen Queen and Princess, accepting Anne Boleyn and her pups as Queen and heirs. If the rumors were true, even the Catholic conservatives in the North were becoming more accepting of Anne than they had been previously!

Cromwell's elevation to the title of Earl of Essex snapped Suffolk away from his thoughts, making him realize that he had missed the elevation of another man, apparently an uncle of Anne's who had had nothing but ill fortune in his life. The elevation ceremony was now over, and the fanfare began as the King escorted Anne out of the room, leading her into the hall that held the banquet in honor of those who had just been elevated by the King. Suffolk, upon entering the banquet hall, ushered his wife and son away from the main action, sitting in a near-remote corner of the room.

"I can't believe that the whore has won," Catherine Brandon hissed under her breath, watching as the King honored his so-called wife and the 'fine' men that he had chosen to elevate today. She was sure that she was the last person that wanted to be in the room right now, as she had considered Anne Boleyn to be her mortal enemy, despite having never spoken to the woman personally. While she knew that Anne Boleyn was a reformer, like her, she did not care for the fact that she had supplanted Queen Catherine, a good, true woman, in order to ascend to the throne. Her mother was Queen Catherine's closest friend and confidante for years, and now she wasn't even allowed to see her, as her household had been dissolved and anyone suspected of being sympathetic to her was out of favor with the King and forbidden to come into contact with the Queen.

And it was all thanks to Anne.

"It isn't fair!" She protested, keeping her voice lowered as she saw her husband's lips form a scowl at the sight before them. Anne Boleyn had begun to dance with her brother, the new Duke of Buckingham, while the King smiled at the pair, looking as besotted with her as ever now that she had given him what he had desired most of all. "Families pray for even one strong and healthy child every day, yet God decided to grant the wicked Boleyn bitch four in one pregnancy? Queen Catherine, the truest and honest woman England has ever known, had seven pregnancies, and all she got from it was a sickly daughter and a short-lived son!"

It was a sin to wish death upon others, and Catherine knew that, but she couldn't help but think about how glorious life would be if the ship that carried Anne Boleyn back to England had sunk, or even if she had been carried off during the bout of sweating sickness that she had nearly died from all of those years ago. Had Anne Boleyn died before she could do any damage, Queen Catherine and Princess Mary would not be abandoned as they have, and there would be peace throughout all of England. It just wasn't fair that a good, pious woman such as Catherine of Aragon was left alone and destitute, while a woman who caused so much damage just to satisfy her own ambitions had been granted everything that she had ever dreamt of and more. It pained her to think about what Queen Catherine must be going through, even more now that the witch had given the King the healthy sons that he had dreamt of since the moment he was crowned. She must think that her cause would die out because Anne Boleyn had won, and that everyone who once supported her would now abandon her, but in that feat, she would be wrong.

Catherine was her mother's daughter, and she would continue to support and defend the rightful Queen, no matter the cost.