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Disclamer: I do not own The Tudors, it's Showtime's property. I only have fun with the characters.
Summary: Henry's prayers had been answered but everything comes with a price.
Author's note: I am so sorry fo the delay between chapter 2 and chapter 3! A monthand a half! The first two weeks were because I did not feel like writing. The rest of it was because I have now a job. Yes, a job! Someone has been crazy enough to hire me! * laughs * Anyway, enough of this, let us go on with the story!
WARNING! STRONG LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE ILL-AT-EASE WITH IT, FEEL FREE TO SKIP IT.
God's gift comes with a price
Chapter 3: The Courage it takes
Despite Lady Rochford's warnings about Katherine being Henry's mistress, Jane had welcomed the young woman with open arms.
' Life has been hard for her. Prejudices must not make it even harder. ' She thought
Katherine had been a bit clumsy at first but the queen could see how much and how hard she tried, she always wanted to please her and to do things the proper way. In a way, she reminded Jane of the teenager she used to be. Her new lady-in-waiting had touched her motherly vibe.
Katherine had been intimidated by Queen Jane at first. But under her charm as well. She looked regal but also gentle and fair. Nevertheless, the young Howard girl never forgot that Jane was her sovereign, she had to be perfect in order to stay by her side. The first day had been Hell for her, she made mistakes upon mistakes, got scowled by Jane Boleyn and by accident, she had made a glasss of water fall on the ground, it shattered into small pieces in a loud sound. To her surprise, Queen Jane had been quicker than her first lady-in-waiting and she had rushed by her side.
' Lady Howard! I hope you are not hurt! Show me your hand! ' She said, with a genuine concern
Relief spread on her face when she saw that the newest addition in her household was not hurt.
' I am so sorry, Your Majesty... ' Katherine said, feeling so low and ashamed
' Lady Howard, this is only a glass. It can be replaced. I'm very happy that you did not cut yourself. You look stressed, why don't you come and talk with me a bit? Perhaps it will cheer you up. '
The young woman had been stunned by Jane's reaction. King Henry did not lie to her, when he told her that his wife was the milk of human kindness. She was never used to be put first. Even her own mother had no eyes for her, despite her girl's wants to please her. She was no fool, she knew that her uncle placed her in Jane's household so that King Henry would see her more often and make her the next Anne Boleyn, with a happy ending this time.
' Or a legitimate son with Howard's blood... ' She thought bitterly
She also knew that her king had set her eyes upon her. She saw it deep in his blue eyes, he desired her.
' No, he desires my body. '
But so far, Henry had been a true gentleman to her, much to her surprise. He never made any crude proposition to her and when he saw her, there was always at least a third person. He respected her and treated her as a lady, a token of respect she was never given before. Henry desired her but she knew he loved his queen and wanted, tried as hard as he could, to remain faithful to her.
With such nice people, how could she play them and make them parts of a plot they never knew of, she wondered. This wasn't right, she thought.
' Where do my loyalties lie? ' She often pondered
She had to obey to her uncle. He made her leave the care of the Dowager Duchess. He placed her at court. But as an english lady, she also had a vow, a vow to serve and obey the king and the queen of her country, to never do them any wrong. And trying to have King Henry in her bed, to give him a child to cast away his queen was treason. Henry and Jane had been good to her while they had no reason to. She was a stranger to them. Yet, they gave her respect and somehow valued her for how she was. Her family saw her as a mare, only good to bed and make babies. If the king wanted her to share his bed, she would obey, no one could deny a king. But she would do nothing to make him cross that line. Not when a king made her feel that she was worth something more than a fresh and young thing to be impregnated. Not when a queen was so kind to her when she perfectly knew that she could be a threat to her. She would close her eyes and imagine Henry and Jane when her uncle would beat her because the king hadn't bedded her yet. It would help her forget the pain.
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It was a nice evening of July, a small breeze eased the hotness of the day. Henry had joined Jane for dinner after having seen Elizabeth. He had heard of her huge progress in latin and to congratulate her, he had offered her a book, knowing that she ws craving knowledge. Edward had made him proud too, his teachers praised his intelligence.
Jane looked radiant in her pale blue dress, her hair down and the saphire necklace he had offered her for her birthday.
' Your Majesty? ' She asked
' Henry, Jane. My name is Henry. ' He teased her
Ever since he almost lost her, he realized that she had never said his name and he missed that. She was not a stranger, she was his wife, the mother of his son, the stepmother of his daughters!
' Henry. ' She corrected herself
Nothing ever sounded as beautiful as his name uttered by her sweet voice.
' I want to thank you, Henry, for placing Lady Katherine in my household. She is a true delight. A spring breeze. She has improved a lot and she is so willing to do things correctly! I love her very much. '
Henry smiled at that. He was happy that Jane had accepted Katherine so easily. But soon, he saw that the joy that brigthened her blue eyes disappeared. He saw that every month. It meant that she wasn't with child, that she was so sorry for it.
' Henry... I've been thinking about it for quite a while now. Our son is a strong lad, but God's ways can't be read. It seems I cannot give him a little brother. '
' What do you imply? '
' Perhaps it would be for the best if I retired from court and became a nun. You would be free. Free to marry someone who could give our son a brother. Give England a new prince to love. '
It shocked him to hear her speak like that. It was a beautiful offer she gave him, another proof of her love, of her devotion to their family, to their country, but how could he accept? He could not live without her. How could such an idea reach her head in the first place? He knew that she argued with one of her brothers. Maybe his words still rang in her mind. But as hard as he tried, he could not picture his existence without Jane. No matter how he desired Katherine.
' Our saviour would be blessed if he had such a beautiful bride but unfortunately for him, I have no desire to let you go. I love you, Jane. This is all that matters. As you said, Edward is a strong boy, he takes after you. Everything will be okay. '
He got up and went to kiss her smoothly. Soon enough, this token of his affection turned into sweet sweet love making.
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9th of September 1540
It had been a long day for Katherine but she did not complain. She loved Queen Jane, serving her was a pleasure rather than a duty. The moon was already high in the sky, so the sight of burning candles in her uncle's appartments surprised her, he never waited for her. Never.
' Uncle must have some visitors. ' She thought
She walked a bit more and soon she heard men voices. Among them, her uncle's.
' The queen is not pregnant. ' The unknown voice said
Hidden behind the door, Katherine listened and tried to see who was inside. She thought she hadn't seen the person correctly, he was forbidden at court. Yet, here he stood, hidden in the shadows, he certainly got inside in secret. Her other uncle. Thomas Boleyn. Why was he here?
' And Katherine still hasn't tasted the king's manhood inside of her. She does nothing to have him fuck her. ' Thomas Howard added
' As useless as her cousin Anne. A rebellious child who does not know how to spread her legs and make a son. '
' Katherine can still be the queen. The king has his eyes on her, he just does not want to admit he wants her. If Jane was gone, perhaps his guilt would leave him and lift up his virility. '
' Do you mean poison? '
' Katherine would never agree to poison the queen but we can make her the poison bearer without her knowing. We could hid the poison in a jewel she would wear and a spy could get close to "arrange" it, steal the stone and poison the queen. ' ( 1 )
Horrified, Katherine tried as hard as she could not to make any sound. Her heart was racing. They wanted to kill Jane! It was going way too far! If she had any questions to whom she had to be loyal before, now she perfectly knew that she had to be on the side of goodness. They wanted to kill an innocent woman, to deprive a man of his wife, children of their mother, a country of its queen, just to gain power through their niece's vagina. It sickened her.
' I have to tell the king! ' She thought
Leaving quietly, as soon as she was far from them, she started to run to Henry's office. It was late but with luck, he would still be awake. He had to be. It was the only way she could tell him in private. Relief overwhelmed her as she saw light in the room she was running to. She knew she was going to be rude, appearing without being announced, but the queen's life depended on it.
Seeing Katherine entering the way she did, her hair being a mess, out of breath, made the king understand that something was wrong.
' My uncles... The queen... They... They will... ' She tried to say while panting
' Calm down, Katherine. Breathe and explain yourself. '
After a few seconds, she had managed to get her breath back to normal.
' I've overheard a plot, Your Majesty. My uncles, Thomas Howard and Thomas Boleyn, want to poison the queen to put me in her position. They want to create a jewel with poison in a gem, make me wear it and place a spy in the queen's household. The spy would pretend to arrange the jewel for me but he would take the poisoned gem and empty it in the queen's food or her drink. '
Henry could not believe her, yet Katherine had no reason to lie. It was also dangerous for her, revealing it to him.
' Are you certain of what you have heard? ' He asked
' I am, Your Majesty. '
He took her by her shoulders.
' What you just did was very brave of you. You have done well. We will take charge of the rest. We will investigate, carefully. '
' Can I be of any help? I'd die if something happened to Queen Jane. '
Henry smiled.
' You already helped, sweet Katherine. This is going to be a tough moment for you but I need you to pretend and act as if you never heard what they say. Continue to be the charming girl you are, the obedient niece they expect you to be. When they give you the jewel, I want you to come to see me. I'll have it inspected. Can you do that? '
' I can and I will. ' She said, determined
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Two weeks after that, Thomas Howard called his niece.
' Sit, my dear. I have a gift for you. You work very well for the queen, she has told me good things about you. I thought you needed to be congratulated. ' He said, handing her over a small package.
Inside of it was a magnificent necklace, made of gold and emeralds.
' It is so beautiful! I love it! Thank you so much, Uncle! ' She said
He helped her putting it on and she kissed him on the cheek.
' Now off you go, you would not like to be late. '
She bowed and ran out. As soon as her uncle could not see her anymore, Katherine headed to Henry's office. Charles Brandon was near the throne room.
' Lady Howard. ' He greeted her
' Your Grace. What a lovely day, don't you think? '
He understood. That was the signal. Henry made Katherine know that this sentence would give hints to his trusted friend. He introduced her to the king, who helped her remove the necklace.
' A perfect replica of one of Queen Jane's jewels. ' He said, as he watched it.
His experts checked out every stone, every gems. It was the emerald on the left that contained the poison. He took it out and replaced it with one filled with pure water. Katherine put on her necklace and was then free to go and attend the queen. She had done her parts. Now, it was Henry's spies' turn to do the rest.
In the early days of october 1540, they had gathered enough evidences to testify that Katherine did not dream the conversation she heard. A squire of Thomas Howard confessed that he helped Thomas Boleyn entering the palace. He swore that he never knew of the plot. He was even ready to give all the details Henry needed.
' He's only a boy of sixteen. Look at him, with his blond hair and his green eyes, he only did as he was bid, to please his master. A simple tool. Just like they wanted Katherine to be one. ' He thought ( 2 )
He granted him his pardon. The squire helped them find the man who created the necklace, the bill, everything. Thomas Boleyn was arrested on his lands and Thomas Howard under the eyes of court. He turned his head to see Katherine.
' You did this! You! You treasonous whore! Ungrateful brat! ' He shouted
' The traitor here is you, My Lord. ' She said in a cold voice
Their guilt was evident and on the 24th of October 1540, they were beheaded.
The very same day, a miracle happened.
Jane Tudor, née Seymour, learnt that she was pregnant.
To be continued
Just one more chapter and the story will be over. I apologize again for the delay and I will try to write and upload the last chapter quicker.
( 1 ) Inspired by Game of Thrones. This was just a great plan, I wanted to re-use it.
( 2 ) I had Lancel Lannister in mind when I wrote that. I just love him to much.