"Eustace?"

"What?"

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"I am sure of it. You have nothing to burden yourself with. If it is discovered, the blame will fall on me. Your children will be safe and you can be free to marry whoever you like."

"There is no one I want to marry more than you." She said, their lips touched, he put his arms around her tiny waist bringing her closer to him. They had waited. Five years they lived between stares and silent smiles, hiding their love from her father, her husband and her children and then when the moment came to act upon it, her father had told her that he had another match in mine.

She was tired of being sold to, and treated like a brood mare. She was a woman, a royal one at that. In spite of what the rest thought, she was still the eldest offspring of the King of England. More royal blood ran through her veins than her siblings combined. And her children were just that -children. They could never inherit the throne as long as she lived.

'I shall be Queen. Just like mama wanted.'

Mary woke up and found herself on her cell again. She wiped a tear from her eye. "You should have given us the baby." Ravena said. "In Chapuys' hands we will never have it and she will learn the same baseless nonsense the rest of your family – "

"Stop it! I am tired of these talks; I am tired of these arguments. My son and daughter are not tools for you and your icy sister to use. They are my children, born out of love and I know it in my heart that they are safer with their brother than with you."

"Half-brother." Ravena corrected. "He will never see them as his brother and sister. To him, they will always be the son and daughter of the woman who corrupted his father and caused his death. They will grow up in shame and when their powers manifest, people will fear them and curse them and burn them just like my brother in law burned my niece."

"I was burned because of you. My father loved me. You turned my mother into that monster. When you finally realized your mistake you brought me back from the dead. Is this what makes you happy? Seeing me suffer? Your own flesh and blood."

"Please! I gave you a better life than you would have had as my niece. Believe me you wouldn't have liked it. After I was defeated by Snow White and her army of dwarves and Huntsman, you would have suffered the same fate as I. Now, you are a princess. Or at least you would still be if you had listened to me instead of going with your heart like Catherine."

"At least I made a choice. I chose family." Mary said. "I might not have had the golden life with you as my aunt, but I didn't have such a golden life as the daughter of Henry and Isabella. Henry VIII was always cruel to me, his endless cajoling of my maids and my mother's, brought humiliation to us both. And when he took my children away from me, threatening me to take me from the line of succession if I didn't marry old, syphilis ridden Francois, that was the last straw."

"Queens are not meant to be happy my dear. You should have learned from your mothers. Freya lost everything to love, your mother too and so did your grandmother. She also made a choice and it was your father. You are after all a girl, and though she had big plans for you, she still clung to the belief that her son would come to her senses. Poor Spanish Princess, so much ambition wasted away by love and faith."

"You are lying. My grandmother would have never chosen my father over me."

"Oh, but she did." Ravena said and showed her the secret conversation her mother had with her chief lady in waiting, Lady Willoughby. After it was over, Mary shook her head vigorously.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Truth always hurts, but it will set you free. All you need to do to avoid your twins a life of pain and shame is give us permission and we will take them, and then this world can be theirs for eons to come."

It was tempting. Mary almost said yes. Almost. My children, King and Queen. But look at who will reign over them. Could she trust Ravena and Freya to keep their word? Would Ravena do the same unto them if they followed their hearts, like Freya did when she married without her sister's permission?

Will they burn their babies too? It was too risky. "Remember who you are Mary. La hija de Isabel Habsburgo y Enrique VIII de Inglaterra. En tus venas, corre la sangre de los reyes Catolicos y eres descendiente de las casas mas antiguas de Europa. Algun dia seras reina." [1]

Oh mother, she mentally prayed. I wish I could make our dreams come true but if I do this it would mean giving up my soul. She had already dishonored herself once, she wasn't going to do it again. Eustace had lost everything because of her. Their children had the potential for greatness, they could rule this earth and make it whatever they wanted to be, but in the process many lives could be lost.
I can't live with that on my conscience. Her mother had risked everything so she would grow up to be a good and just queen. If she couldn't fulfill her mother's wishes to be queen, at least she would live by her code and be good.

She told Ravena no.

Ravena became livid. "You foolish girl! Do you have any idea what me and your ancient mother did so you could be reincarnated? Do you even know what you have? Your line, our legacy could live on. This wretched world could be theirs. Everyone who harmed you would finally pay." She finally calmed down. Hearing the heavy footstalls she transformed into a golden bird. "Love. What a waste." Before her door was opened and her new maids came in, Ravena said lastly "Mark my words dear Mary, blood always wins. In time your children will realize what they are and they will make a choice." Then she flew away.

Alice FitzMore spotted a young handsome man sitting in one of the tables below. She asked her brother if she could greet him. "Nay, Alice. You are better off here playing with your niece and nephew."

"But Your Majesty, they are no fun. All they talk about are clothes and swords. I want to hear what he has to say. He is very fair." She said, blushing as he turned their way.

Her brother disapproved and reminded her that as the King's sister, she had to be on her best behavior. "But I am just a bastard, I do not have to hold myself to the same rules of conduct as your royal peers."

Henry frowned. She had too much of her father in him. It was always hard to look at her without being reminded of his real father and their mother when she learned she had sent him to the scaffold. She never forgave him and cursed him afterwards.
The hardest part came when he arrived at Kimbolton to check on his newborn sister. In spite of the poor conditions his mother lived in, she did her best to make sure her bastard daughter was treated like a Princess.

~o~

[FLASHBACK]

"Mother." Henry said walking into her bedchamber. He thanked God that she was dressed appropriately. After hearing countless rumors, he'd not be surprised if she had another lover in her bed.

Seeing the look on his face, his mother scowled. "What are you doing here Henry? Haven't you humiliated me enough? First you kill Thomas, your fa-"

"Don't say it." His voice had an icy tone to it that scared some of her maids and made them walk away. His mother told them to stay. "Unlike you Henry, I can trust my ladies. They will not betray their Princess." She cooed her daughter after she started crying. "It's alright sweet-cheeks, your mama is here." She sang to Alice and the babe immediately closed her eyes, sleeping soundly. "Isn't she beautiful, Henry? She reminds me of you when you were little."

"I know. You've told me the story many times."

"You were so little and slept so soundly. They always say 'it's the terrible ones. They were always terrible. We should have known'. Bunch of nonsense. You were such a jolly little fellow and you were so happy. And then they took you from me. I used to blame Lady Richmond and Henry Tudor but I was so young, in my teens. I had no idea … When you were crowned King of England, it was the happiest day of my life and when you married Isabella …" She looked down at her sleeping child. "I prayed long may they reign. I suppose it is all my fault. When Thomas and I met at the church, his daughter overheard us. He told me 'You put a bastard on the throne of England.' I was angry. How dare he. But now I often wonder if he is right and this is the price for what I did. Then again" she said looking at him again. "it could all be you. Human nature I suppose. Some people are meant to be evil, others not."

She kissed her daughter's forehead and walked to Henry. "Why are you here Henry?"

Henry didn't answer her, instead he made a gesture and his guards came forward. "What? No! No! Henry! No! Not my daughter! Henry, please she is my baby." The guards managed to wrestle her out of her arms. "Noooo!" Her cries combined with her daughter's, Henry turned away and ordered his men to give him his sister.

"Damn you Henry! Damn you and your whole brood!"

~o~

That was the last time the two saw each other. Two weeks later she died. Alice was in the custody of the Mores for a while until her namesake, Lady Alice Middleton died and her stepchildren proved unable to look after her. Henry could have let her rot, but he felt an obligation to her. She was after all his blood, and as the daughter of a King, he couldn't let her be raised by rebels.

The first years were hard to get used to. He would try and avoid her as much as he could but one day he found her playing with his younger daughter Bess. She looked so normal, so pure, naïve. Right there, he committed himself to protect her, to keep her ignorant of her parents. He prohibited any books written by Sir Thomas More in her study, in the school room. She was only to learn what his son Edward and his grandchildren Eric and Alberta learned. Alice didn't like that. She constantly asked about her father. But Henry always deflected the question.

"You are the daughter of a King, as such you must ask befitting your station. Now go and sit down next to Alberta and Bess."

She sighed. "Fine."

Henry looked down at the young man seated below. Chapuys' brat. The spitting face of his father except his eyes were different. He guessed he got it from his mother. He'd briefly caught a glimpse of his younger grandchildren. They looked a lot like their father as well, but their eyes were like his and Mary's.

Eyes were the window of the soul. And no matter what, it was the eyes that always told where you came from.

He had been disgusted when he learned about his daughter's affair, but more disgusted when he learned about her betrayal. At first he wanted to believe that it was Chapuys who put her up to that but the evidence didn't lie. Her daughter, proud like her mother, and a whore like her grandmother.

That night Etienne watched over his siblings. Siblings. He was eighteen! He was not that much younger than his stepmother. Good God! What had his father been thinking?! He has always been very objective, a clear thinker. And he risked it all for a woman and a royal at that!

He was about to throw his goblet across his siblings' room when he remembered how sensitive they were. They were disturbed by every little noise and as if that wasn't enough, every time he wasn't with them at night, they would start crying. Things would fall off, his servants would wake up and everyone would fight each other.

"Two days and I already am at patience's end." He swore underneath his breath as the two woke up and wailed. "Mother of Christ!" These two were going to be the end of him. "Would you please shut up!"

The girl wailed harder. "Fine, fine! I am here. You want me to sing a song? To yell? I can yell. What do you want me to do?" His half sister wailed harder. He dropped his hands in the air. "I give up."

And then it stopped. He turned around and saw his two siblings looking at him. "What the … You … you can understand me?" His siblings looked at one another, made hand signals then laughed. He rolled his eyes. "Great, now I am imagining things. Just … let me sleep for this night at least."

His siblings said nothing more. Their poor brother was exhausted, he'd be no fun in this state so they slept as well, letting him have a dreamless sleep, free of worries and the emotions that plagued him since he arrived to England.

Eustace looked at his locket. The King allowed him to keep it. He doubted that he'd let his son or his younger children have it. He heard his son had acted as their godfather with Mary's sister as her godmother.

Fleming informed him that the two had been named after celebrated Greek rulers, Artemisia I of Caria and Alexander the Great. He smiled bitterly. At least they will grow up safe. He hated the idea of them being raised by their grandfather. The man was a snake, it was a pity that he didn't take Mary with him to Annency when he had the chance. We could've been so happy together.

He forced himself up, gripping his cane. Tomorrow he'd be executed. He recalled when Etienne visited him.

~o~

"Excellency," the warden said, opening his door. "You have a visit."

He frowned and stood looking at the door.

"Who?" He asked. His eyebrows rose with surprise as he stepped in. "Etienne?"

What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Antwerp, he had not seen him for so long, it was amazing to see how much he had grown.

"What are you doing here?" Stepping closer, Eustace saw how alike the two were. Same face, same hair as when he'd been young, and same skin color. The only thing that was different were his eyes. Green-Brown like his mother who had died giving birth to him.

He saw the pain in his eyes. Etienne always thought so highly of him, and seeing him now like this, brought so low, was akin to someone stabbing him in the heart.

"The Emperor and Granvelle requested my presence in this country, also Francis Van Der Defelt, your replacement since your arrest, did as well. They are all very concerned to your refusal to accept Cranmer's decision that your marriage to the Duchess Dowager is invalid. The Pope has invalidated your union as well."

"That's why you came?"

"I came to see you. In all reality, it was Van Der Defelt who should be here. I convinced him to let me come."

Eustace laughed lightly, why didn't that surprise him? Etienne's tutors always said he could sense when something wasn't right.

"Father you are prolonging your suffering and hers as well by denying the council and His Holiness' decision. I don't like seeing you like this." His son stated. He sat next to his father. "You gain nothing. If you just accept what everyone is saying, they can find a way to get you out of here."

"I can't Etienne." Eustace said gravely. "I can't. And even if I could I would rather die than to let her face death alone."

"Father, they are going to kill you. Look around you, look at yourself! Is this what you really want?" His son yelled looking directly into his eyes. "You can't save her. She made her choice. Let her rot, die. She is not yours to take care of anymore."

"It's my fault she is here. If I lived I would never live with my conscience knowing I was responsible for her death and the death of my unborn child. Besides, this conversation is useless. Henry is not going to let me go. He is going to kill me and make me an example to all future diplomats who dare to cross the line. Do you really think I am here because I married her? I am here because I was involved in a plot to overthrow the king and split the country in two." Eustace explained. "He could let me go for the marriage, he could let us both go for that. But he will never let us go for conspiring against him."

"Maybe not both."

Eustace tilted his head, having a dark suspicion of where this was going.

"Maybe you could say that you no had no idea and that your involvement was only due to your marriage. You were tricked since the beginning and your 'wife' only mentioned it on the day you were arrested. Makes sense. You said you loved her and the thought of betrayal is something that you cannot live with."

Eustace could have smirked and feel proud at his son, he had the same conniving spirit as him, but this was not like other times. He was disgusted by what he was proposing.

"It is your only chance." Etienne stressed.

"Etienne, I love her. I would rather die than live without her." Then he added "I am old and with gout. I would die anyway, especially if the Emperor forced me to stay here. It was a matter of time."

"The great Eustace Chapuys is giving up?" He asked with a denouncing tone. "For a woman? Father please think this through … don't leave this world, it is not your time, don't leave us."

"Us?"

"You probably know. All these months and the King has not killed you both yet. He is waiting for the Dowager Duchess to give birth. It is the other reason why I came here."

"I suspected." He said. "Will you … Is there any plan in relation to the child?" He asked, forcing himself not to sound weak. He couldn't lose his composure, not even in front of his son. If he gained custody, he would face a lot of hard times and it didn't benefit him to remember him miserable, cowering and crying.

Etienne did not look at him.

"Etienne come on, it cannot be much worse than what I have imagined."

He still refused to look at his father, his hands were clasped tightly.

"The King is considering, mad as this suggestion is and not many people approve. (Those who do are of the conservative faction.) To have the child stay here with me. I would be given your old homestead and apartments at the embassy. But you don't have to worry about that since not many are in favor of this plan and I sincerely pray that if she lives through this delivery, she has only one and it is a girl."

Eustace didn't miss the disdain in his voice every time he referred to her. "I hope it is a boy and he is raised by you." Though he didn't disregard the possibility of twins. Mary refused astrologists, saying they were charlatans. Chapuys partly agreed, but he had met interesting people. He didn't believe in magic but he believed in what he saw and he had seen some of them done great things, including his late friend, Agrippa. Before he died, he said that Eustace's legacy would be carried by his three children. Eustace thought it was product of the tonics his friend was given during his final moments. But maybe he saw this.
He laughed mentally. 'You'd think the first thing he would write was about his.' But would he listen? Eustace was a cynic and a damn proud one. But Mary was always his weak spot and recalling the times they'd been together, he didn't regret a thing. If given the chance to go back in time, he would have done the same things. 'I would have killed a thousand men to remain by her side.' And in theory he still could. If she wasn't pregnant, he could maneuver a way out of this cell through his connections in the North and stir a rebellion in her name.

He smiled at his son. "I am very proud of you. There is no one on Earth that I would trust more with a child of mine."

His son was having a hard time keeping it together. "I am going to die." He moved his hand to take his son's. "My time here is past. I have made mistakes, I've made terrible things and I've made people happy, I've made many good things. You are one of those good things." Knowing what his son was thinking when his expression darkened, Eustace advised him not to take it out against his sibling. "He or she will be your brother and sister, your blood and he or she will be innocent."

"How can I forget when it is one of the reasons you are here. If you never fell in love with her, if she didn't grab you with her claws you would not have been here."

"I would have. I would've plotted anyway. The only difference is that I would've done it because she was my master's cousin. I did it instead because I love her. Perhaps you should stay here for a while and if not then leave. Don't resent anyone. Don't resent me or her, because if there is one thing all this has taught me is that life is not something we can predict. I've always said I wouldn't fell prey to love or passion but I did. Life is not something we can predict. Don't judge son." He whispered.

His son was unable to contain his tears. "You think me worthy of raising her child."

"Not hers Etienne." Eustace reminded him. "Mine. It is not in you to hate and yes I think you are worthy and capable."

"What will I say to it -I mean him or her when I am asked about you I don't want to tell my sibling that you died this way.."

"Tell him that his father fell in love with his mother and that he didn't want to leave her. And he chose to go with her, to follow her wherever she would go."

Etienne closed his eyes and embraced him. "Dad I will need your strength when I am with my brother."

"I will be with you." He said. He was now crying too. "I will always be with you and with him. Always. I will always help you. When you talk to me, Etienne, I will be listening, I will help you. I will give you strength."

Etienne promised his father that he would eradicate the hatred he felt for Mary for his sibling's sake and that he would never hold any grudges against him.

"I love you son. I love you Etienne. Never doubt that." He said kissing his son's forehead.

~o~

His son had been partly right. If it hadn't been for Mary, he wouldn't be here. But he wasn't one to blame others for his mistakes. They were his own, he could have easily avoided all this mess but he didn't want to. He loved Mary and after the two finally admitted their love for each other, he began writing to Granvelle, his son and finally his master, to convince them to form a Holy League and send weapons to the Northern Rebels. "The North," he wrote, "is the key to victory."' Once Mary was crowned Queen, he would take holy orders* and serve the church in England.
Charles V was bewildered by this. He could tell as much in his letter. He probably thought it impossible that the great Eustace Chapuys could give up an opportunity such as this, for someone else.

The Emperor clearly didn't know him. Eustace had done many things that he wasn't proud of. He saw people as tools, as means to an end, but his family was another matter. He'd cut his veins if it meant saving them.

This is going to be my last act of defiance. Henry VIII would not get any tears from him. Lord Hertford who'd escort him to the courtyard, would not see a weak man, begging him and his brothers for help. The English people would not see a man, old and sick, plagued by gout.

He smiled, thinking of the last time he had looked at Henry in the eye. It was right after he told him that he felt too sick to bow before his Queen. He nearly slapped him but Eustace stared at him, his eyes daring him to do so. Come on, do it! They said. The blow never came and Henry forced himself to go back to the dais, next to his wife.

It was one of his greatest triumphs. The Emperor knew he was the man for the job after that.

If only I hadn't left when I did. Charles needed him in Antwerp and he had traveled to Savoy as well, his brother was dying and he needed to be there. ** During that time Philip, Duke of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach, came. He wasn't a Catholic but neither was he a Protestant. Like Henry's fourth wife, he stuck to the sacrament, supported the Emperor in his fight against the Turks, and was a renowned hero in his homeland, but like so many German Princes he didn't like the Pope meddling in his business. Naturally, Henry liked him. Cromwell would have preferred someone more Protestant but he'd been warned by Mary herself that she would marry no one unless it was to her liking.
Whatever Philip did when he met her, worked. Mary was enchanted by his presence. He heard how she couldn't eat or sleep without thinking of him. When he returned and she had already birthed one child -and was with child again- he felt miserable. He was completely out of place and was tempted to write back to his master, begging for his resignation but then he overheard her wondering the halls.

She was supposed to be in confinement. Her hair was loose and she was crying. He followed her until she reached the gardens. He wondered aloud where the guards were and she told him that they were at a party her father was throwing in Philip's honor.

"He wants another son. He told me get another heir and you will be my priceless jewel again." Eustace immediately understood. 'Typical'. Henry VIII wanted her so she could give him more sons. He never cared about her happiness. If he had been in England, he would have warned her and she wouldn't have to go through this.

He sat next to her and pulled her to an embrace. Mary sobbed. "I can't remember if it is up or down that it is a boy or girl. I just want this to end."

"My lady, my poor, sweet lady." He said.

She nearly fell asleep in his arms. He guided her back to her chambers before the morrow came. Eustace hadn't meant to fall in love with her but he did. And after Philip died he looked at himself in the mirror and told himself that he would march straight into the throne room and propose an Iberian royal for the Princess, but half way there he stopped.

Mary had already been miserable under one charming husband, what would a man with no morals and libertine as her father, do to her? Charles was angry, he wrote back to Eustace, giving him veiled threats but Eustace held his ground, giving him many convincing excuses as to why he hadn't done his bidding.

And then when Henry signed the agreement to marry her to King Francois, he panicked. A match like that would take her further away and turn into his master's enemy. He couldn't allow that. But before he could suggest that, he discovered that Henry had engineered for Francois I to come to England.

Marillac was good, he had to admit. But the Ambassador of France wasn't as good as Eustace and he informed his master at once. Unfortunately, by the time the news reached Charles, Francois had made his way to Calais. It was only a matter of time before he set sail to Dover. When he finally set foot on England, Mary was shocked. Like her great-grandmother, she rebelled and told her father before an entire audience of French and English courtiers that she would not marry him and go back to Hudson.

Her father wouldn't have that and told her to go back there and pay her respects to her future husband. Mary's response was "I'd rather take ten lashes then be married to that man. How could you do this to me?"

"You are my daughter and you will do as I say. Now apologize to His Grace!"

"No." Henry slapped her. The force of the slap was too much that she clutched her cheek afterwards. Instead of crying though, she just glared at her father and said "I will never forgive you for this" then ran back to her chambers.

Henry was twice humiliated by his daughter, and Francois too. But the latter was not about to be refused by a woman, one he overheard say to Marillac, was far beneath him. And being the Emperor's niece, made her more enticing.

To this day, he harbored nothing but pure hatred for the King of France. Henry VIII was irredeemable in his eyes, but what Francois I did was evil.

Mary hardly spoke about it. Her favorite lady Susan had been there, so had her impressionable new lady, Jane Dormer. Eustace told them they shouldn't blame themselves and instead focus on the present but for someone who had been too close to Mary and another who was too young, this was something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. As for Mary, the scars of what happened that day would never leave her.

He looked down at his fingers. In his middle one was a ring with the words 'Yours truly' in Latin. Mary wanted to give him something fancy, Eustace saw no need for it. Mary would not have 'no' for an answer so in the end he accepted it.

It was a shame that things had turned out this way. In his profession, he should have expected it. He didn't regret anything except putting his princess' life in danger. In spite of what the pope and the rest said, to them, their marriage was valid and as long as their children lived, people would know how much they loved each other.

Artemisia and Alexander. He smiled. What adventures await you.

A/N: That is it for now. One chapter to go.

[1] "… La hija de Isabel Habsburgo y Enrique VIII de Inglaterra. En tus venas, corre la sangre de los reyes Catolicos y eres descendiente de las casas mas antiguas de Europa. Algun dia seras reina." Translation: The daughter of Isabella Habsburg and Henry VIII of Engalnd. You have the blood of Catholic Kings running through your veins. You are the descendant of the oldest houses of Europe. One day you shall be Queen."

*In reality Eustace Chapuys took holy orders before he became an Ambassador.

** Eustace didn't lose his brother until later. But he did left England for over a year because Anglo-Spanish relations were not as stable and Charles showed more interest in forming an alliance with France. When Eustace returned, Henry was already married to Anne and their marriage was on the rocks. Anne of Cleves' union with Henry comes mostly from Charles de Marillac's reports.