A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, I had a little trouble with this chapter as I decided to change one key plot element so I had to make that work, and change things around a bit.

This is a somewhat important chapter, with a few key story lines beginning to unfold, but at the same time it is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it.

Thank you as always to everyone that reviewed, or put myself or the story on their favourites/alerts lists. It really does encourage me to continue writing.

I own nothing.

Please read, enjoy and review.

Chapter three:

4th of May 1527

Westminster Palace

She had been married to the King for a little over two months now, and it seemed to her that everyday since her marriage and her creation as the Princess Consort of England (the countries hope for a healthy prince) that every person around (both her people and Katherine's) had been watching and waiting for a sign of a pregnancy.

She had conceived quickly, when her monthly courses had not begun Anne had known immediately that there was every chance she was with child…every chance that she carried a son in her womb. She had sought out a midwife in secrecy, the woman had confirmed Anne's suspicions and taken the money Anne offered her to keep the news to herself gladly. Anne knew well enough that a pregnancy did not always mean a living child would be born; she was in the position she was in for that very reason. The Queen had never found any problems in finding herself with child, it was keeping and delivering the her children that Katherine had had problems with (save the princess), and so Anne had not wanted to tell Henry straight away.

She had kept her cravings and sickness to herself, instead of taking to her bed as most woman did in the early stages of their pregnancies, she continued her daily routine as she had done in her short time as Henry's wife. It was not as if she did not want to tell her husband that she carried his child in her belly, she wanted to scream it to the world; to let everyone know that she had succeeded in all that she had promised, but apart of her was afraid, afraid of all the things her pregnancy might bring with it. The chance of a miscarriage or a stillbirth (or even a daughter) was always a possibility in Anne's mind, Katherine had failed time and time again, what was to say that Anne's own pregnancies would not follow suit? And then there was Anne's other worry, that her husband might take a mistress once he discovered her condition, for the sake and promise of a prince Henry might just forsake her bed for fear of harming their unborn child.

Eventually however she had had to tell him. She did not think she had ever seen him so happy as in that moment that she had told him she was carrying his child in her belly. Katherine had been barren for many years now; it had been a long time (almost ten years since the Queen had birthed a stillborn princess, and Bessie Blount had birthed her bastard), since Henry had been given any hope for a child; not just a son but also a healthy child. Like her he had seen the need to wait to make an official announcement, but she had not been able to persuade him to wait for as long as she would have liked. Anne wanted to wait until she was showing, until she was unable to hide the fact any longer, but Henry would not hear of it. He wanted all of England to know that his gamble in taking a second wife had paid off, he wanted them to see how quickly she had concieved, to him it was a sign that all that had occurred of late was worth it.

Anne too wanted to gloat in her pregnant state, why else would God grant her the chance to deliver a healthy son for England if he had not blessed their union. Yet Anne also knew the way things sometimes went with childbearing and childbirth. Her counterpart had gone through six pregnancies yet she had only one living child, and Anne herself had lost two brothers during her youth. Royal pregnancies were not as simple as just becoming with child and giving birth to the heir the country needed, and even if the child in her womb was healthy, who was to say it would be a boy. There was every chance that Anne could have a daughter before she had a son, and she honestly didn't know how Henry would react to such a thing if it happened, and to be truthful she was too afraid to ask, her husband what would happen if the child she carried were a daughter rather than the son she had promised. To him the child in her belly was a boy there was no other alternatives that he would hear of.

She carried a son. There was no other option available to her.

6th of May 1527

Westminster Palace

Anne was pregnant. Her enemy, her counterpart, Henry's second wife was carrying his child in her belly, as Katherine had done six times before her. Six times for one healthy child, six pregnancies for one daughter, Katherine could not help but wonder how Anne's luck would go in the delicate game of Royal heirs.

To be true Katherine had known of Anne's pregnancy before any announcement had been made to the court and the public. She had spies in Anne's household, just as Anne no doubt had in hers. Queen's ladies the court had labelled to them and Queen's men while those loyal to Anne had been named the Princesses woman and the Princesses men. It was something that no one much liked to talk of in anything but a whisper, the fact that the King's court was all but split in two, each half mirroring that of the woman who was at it's head.

The fashions, the activities and of course the people all went a long way in representing the Queen of choice. Katherine's people were older, there style of dress more conserved, and their activities more moderate. Anne's were younger, new people with new money and new ways, they dressed in the latest and most expensive fashions (in the French style of course), and they spent their time dancing and gambling as if they had no cares in the world. The English court had become like two different worlds, and for now the majority wanted to be in Anne's, but really Katherine couldn't blame them. Why be with the setting son when you could be with the rising one?

For the most part she and Anne had managed to avoid each other, as much as was physically possible that was of course. Yet when one of her ladies had whispered to her that the Princess Consort had been quite ill and tired of late, that she had often retired to bed early, Katherine had immediately assumed the worst. The worst for her that was, for Anne clearly a pregnancy so early in her and Henry's marriage was a success, even if she were to bear Henry a daughter instead of a son, it would still be better than the five dead children she had laid at her husbands feet. She was only twenty after all; Henry would not be displeased in a healthy child no matter its sex, not for their first. It would be all the pregnancies after this one that would truly matter. Henry would not be pleased for just one child out of Anne, even if that child was a male, he would want more, that was just the way with Henry he always wanted more than he was given. No matter the cost.

She and Anne had avoided each other, as much was physically possible these last two months. Katherine of course would not submit, she would not retire as Henry no doubt wished her to, she would make sure she was present at Court and forever in the minds of those around her, let them not forget who the Queen of England really is. She had gone to Eltham with Mary when her daughter had first left court and returned to her residence, but she had not dared stay there long her fear of returning and finding everything drastically changed was too much for her to bear. And so despite her wishes to remain with her daughter Katherine had reluctantly returned after just a week. She was surrounded by people constantly, her ladies, Anne's ladies, the councillors and the courtiers, but Katherine did not think she had ever felt more lonely in all of her life. Even Mary had left her to fend for herself, Henry's sister had attended her brothers wedding celebrations with clenched teeth and a tight smile, thankfully she had not caused a scene, it was no secret that the Duchess of Suffolk wanted little to do with England's first Princess Consort, no doubt Charles had dragged her the festivities all but kicking and screaming, and Mary had left as soon as she was able to get leave from the King to do so.

Katherine couldn't blame her really, Mary had three children to care for and a household to run in Suffolk, she couldn't be expected to keep her sister-in-law company for months on end, especially not when doing so would mean that she would have to play civil towards Henry and his new bride. Mary had never been one to hold her tongue, especially not with such delicate and sensate matters. And so Katherine was lonely, never truly knowing who she could trust to keep her secrets and who she could not.

She would congratulate Anne and Henry on the pregnancy; she would plant a smile on her face and say all the right things. She would be the graceful and courteous wife England knew her as, and she would let nothing ruin her reputation nor her daughter's standing in her father's heart. While it was true that Anne's children would never be hers, it was also true that she would be their stepmother and Queen, and because of that Katherine would make sure that neither she nor Mary ever gave them cause to mistrust them. She had made a mistake with Henry Fitzroy, she had been cold and uncaring to him and already she had heard Anne bragging that the boy adored his newest step-mother, she had made sure that Henry Fitzroy had known her true feelings towards him, but he was a bastard Anne's children would not be. She would not make the same mistakes with Anne's children, she would make sure that she treated them kindly and with warmth as if she were a loving aunt, instead of a despised step-mother, and then maybe one day it would be her they ran to with their problems, her and not their mother that they confided in and trusted. Her that would work behind the scenes to make arrangements for them that suited her wants and needs.

She was still the Queen of England after all.

"We were all greatly pleased to hear of the Princess Consorts pregnancy, Your Majesty," Cardinal Wolsey declared with an almost proud smile upon his face. He wanted to make sure that the other members of the King's council (as well as Henry himself) knew how pleased he was with this latest development in the royal family. He also wanted to make it seem like this had been his plan all along, even though this was never how he had imagined any of this truly going.

The Pope was a coward that much remained true, despite the success that had quickly come from the King's second marriage. When Henry had originally requested his desire for a divorce, Wolsey had been more than eager to oblige him, Queen Katherine was a daughter of Spain, and it was no secret that Wolsey had many friends in France, nor was it a secret that the Cardinal and Queen had never truly seen eye to eye in most matters. Pope's granted King's divorces often, and if not for the Emperor's influence Wolsey had no doubt that Henry would have secured his divorce a lot sooner. Yet Anne Boleyn had never been Wolsey's choice for a Queen of England.

Wolsey would have made the choice of another foreign bride, one that would have better suited his (and England's needs) and if she had of delivered a son and heir for the King that would have simply been an added bonus. He had not known how infatuated the King was with Thomas Boleyn's daughter, nor had he thought that the Pope would be such a coward as to resort to allowing bigamy to occur, but that was the way in this game of King and Queen, you never knew quite what to expect, and now Wolsey had to make this new (and unusual situation) work to his favour.

Katherine would never love him nor would she even trust him, and while he and Anne may not have gotten off to the greatest of starts (he had labelled her a silly girl once) he knew Anne was the one he had to make his ally. Not only was she the woman who had the king's love and attention but she was also a friend of France, and most importantly she was pregnant, he just prayed that England's princess Consort did not have the same luck in producing an heir as its Queen. If Anne did not deliver the King a healthy son (within at least the first three years of her marriage) it would seem as if all this was for naught. And Wolsey would not like to think of what would happen if Anne failed just as Katherine had before her.

For now Anne would have the cardinal's support, Wolsey could not help but think they would both come to need each other in time.

" As were we," Henry responded with a large smile of his own, it had been almost ten years since he had had the hope of having a child, Katherine had given him a stillborn daughter, and Bessie Blount an illegitimate son, but Anne, Anne would give him his heir, " Our son will be born by Christmas, God willing."

" It is the prayer of us all that Your Majesty will be granted his great desire." Thomas Moore put in, never to be outdone by the Cardinal. It was no secret that Sir Thomas was a firm ally and supporter of the Queen, but as a devout Catholic he would never openly disagree with the Pope's declaration. Anne Boleyn's child would be legitimate, and it was best for all if that child were a boy.

At that Henry could do nothing more than nod, he had called his councillors to Court for a reason, and he was eager to get the matters at hand done with as quickly as possible, " I have called you all here to Court for two reasons, Firstly, I wish to put an act of succession through Parliament formally including the children of the Princess Consort as my lawful heirs."

It was of course known throughout all of Europe that Anne's children would be legitimate, that if she birthed a son he would be the next King of England but Henry wanted it done formally, he wanted to announce it to all, that the future of England was invested in his second bride and not Katherine and their daughter.

" I have drafted the Act to be passed through Parliament, Wolsey if you will please." Henry ordered handing the papers in front of him over to his Chancellor with but a flick of his wrist.

Wolsey nodded his head dutifully before reading the papers in front of him to the councillors present, " His Majesty wishes for the Act to declare the marriage between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn as valid, ' that the lawful matrimony had and solemnized between your highness and your most dear and entirely beloved wife Princess Anne, shall be established and taken for undoubtful, true, sincere, and perfect ever hereafter, according to the just judgment of the 1527.' The Act shall also seek to declare that the succession would pass through the heirs of King Henry VIII and the Princess Consort, 'And also be it enacted by authority aforesaid, that all the issue had and procreated, or hereafter to be had and procreated, between your highness and your said most dear and entirely beloved wife Princess Anne, shall be your lawful decried children, and be inheritable, and inherit, according to the course of inheritance and laws of this realm, the imperial crown of the same, with all dignities, honours, pre-eminences, prerogatives, authorities, and jurisdictions to the same annexed or belonging, in as large and ample manner as your highness at this present time has the same as King of this realm; the inheritance thereof to be and remain to your said children and right heirs in manner and form as hereafter shall be declared.'" Wolsey had been about to read the third and final declaration when Thomas Moore interrupted him.

" Your Majesty if I may," Moore said, his voice calm and even, Henry could not help but wonder if he were nervous, " In the unlikely event that the Princess Consort does not deliver a son….."

" I believe, Sir Thomas, that the Cardinal was just about to state such a matter," Henry bit out his voice tight; trust Thomas to remind everyone of Katherine and Mary, " Continue, Wolsey. "

" Finally the act would declare that in the absence of sons that the succession would pass to the legitimate issue female of King Henry VIII, ' And for default of such sons of your body begotten, and of the heirs of the several bodies of every such sons lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown, and other the Premises, shall be to the issue female between your majesty and your said most dear and entirely beloved wives Queen Katherine and Princess Anne, begotten, that is to say: First to the eldest issue female which is the Princess Mary, and to the heirs of her body lawfully begotten, and second to any such issue female begotten hereafter and to the heirs of their body.'"

" Very good Your Majesty," Thomas Boleyn exclaimed with a large and proud smile upon his face. For now Katherine's daughter remained the heir to the throne, but once Anne delivered the boy in her belly the girl could be quickly married off and forgotten.

" Yes, Yes," Thomas Howard added with his own smile. It was his family too that would be benefiting once Anne delivered a son, " Very well done indeed."

" Your Majesty said you had two matters you wished to bring before us?" Charles Brandon questioned, curious as to what else Henry needed to bring before his council.

" Yes, I wish to reopen talks between England and France," Henry stated firmly, " I want the Princess Mary to be betrothed to the Dauphin."

" A fine thought, Your Majesty." Wolsey exclaimed clearly happy with this new development. He had been quite upset when the original betrothal of 1518 had been broken within just three years, in favour of a Spanish alliance, which too had been broken quickly. The Queen's daughter was almost of an age to be married, it was important to make an alliance now while she was still young and still had suitors to choose from.

There was no reason as to why the French would not agree to the arrangement as they once had before.

" We will suggest to the French ambassador that the marriage take place upon the Princesses eighteenth birthday," Henry explained, the Dauphin was two years younger than his Mary and so it seemed only logical to wait until the boy had at least reached his sixteenth birthday. Katherine too might not make such a fuss if she knew she would have Mary with her for a few more years at least.

Katherine would not be pleased, he had said as much to Anne when she had voiced her thoughts in regards to Mary's marriage prospects. He had been surprised really when Anne had bought up the issue, Anne was Mary's stepmother it was true, but it was not as if Mary did not have a mother of her own to think about such matters, yet he had seen the truth in her words almost immediately. It was important to strike while the iron was hot, for now Mary was the heir to the English throne, why not make her the future Queen of France.

He could not help but hear Anne's words at such thought, Her daughter will be a Queen after all, is that not what she has always wanted.

Katherine would see reason eventually. Mary would be a Queen, just as her mother had always wanted her to be.

23rd of June 1527

Westminster Palace

Anne was dressed simply in a tight fitting blue gown, with bell sleeves. She made sure to wear tight fitting gowns in these early days of her pregnancy, it was the only way the tiny swell of her stomach was visible, and when seated in front of the entirety of her husbands court it was imperative that her continued pregnancy be made known. Especially when Katherine was seated just on the other side of her…. their husband.

When Anne and Henry had first married Anne had foolishly believed that Katherine would choose to spend her time in a country residence or with her daughter, at least for the times when she was not absolutely needed at court. Yet Katherine had seemed to have other ideas, she was even more involved in the court life than she had been while Anne was simply Henry's mistress. She was determined to always outdo Anne in everyway, if Anne decided to feast with the court and King, than Katherine would be there too, on Henry's other side with the jewels of the Queen of England always upon her person. Katherine of Aragon would not be forgotten, she was a daughter of Spain and in her eyes she was born to be England's Queen, Anne should have known better than to think that her counterpart would disappear quietly and without a fight.

" How are you feeling Anne?" Katherine questioned softly. It always went like this when they were in public. Anne and Katherine would share some tedious pointless conversation for a few moments, they must both seem civil and content at all times with their situation, Henry would sometimes join in, and then they would cease in their contact with each other. Anne in times past would have chosen to join the dancing and the festivities occurring around them, but now with her pregnancy Anne was careful not to exert herself to greatly. Instead she had made the decision to spend her time cultivating the members of Henry's Court. There were always people eager to gain her favour and Anne was more than eager to give it to them, she still had too many enemies. No doubt that would change once her son was born.

" I am well, thank you," Anne responded carefully, her hand going to her stomach without a second thought, " We both are. "

" I pray daily for your safe delivery." Katherine said not without grace, Anne could not help but wonder if the words were true. Did Katherine really pray for Anne to give Henry a healthy child, when she had so often failed to do so herself.

Anne nodded with a small smile, knowing it was her turn now to start a conversation, Katherine had started, Anne now had to finish it, " Tell me, how is the Princess was she happy to hear the news?"

" Mary prays always for a healthy sibling, she was overjoyed to hear that there would be a new addition at Eltham." Katherine responded her eyes averted. Mary had done as she must and sent a letter of congratulations to her father and stepmother, but her letter to Katherine had held a different tune. Her daughter was worried, worried that Anne's child would replace her in her father's affections, and for that reason Katherine knew the girl seemed bitter. But Mary was a good girl at heart, once her new brother or sister was born, Mary would dote upon it no doubt. She was stubborn it was true, but she was no unkind. Katherine had not raised a jealous nor malicious child.

" Oh yes, well…I had meant was she pleased to learn of her betrothal to the Dauphin?" Anne questioned with a slight laugh, the French had agreed to the betrothal she knew, Henry had told her as much just the last week, and she had no doubt he had sent his daughter a letter informing her of her good luck, she just could not understand why Katherine was now staring at her with dull and confused eyes.

" I am sorry, Your Highness I do not quite follow what you are speaking of, " Katherine responded curtly, her eyes landing on her husband who all of a sudden had a tight expression upon his face, " Henry, what does she speak of?" In her anger in thinking that Henry had went behind her back in such an important matter, and had thought to inform Anne of it and not herself, his Queen and Mary's mother, left her rattled and her Spanish accent coming through.

At Katherine's words Anne immediately faltered, Katherine could not blame her for this, she obviously did not know that Katherine had not been informed, yet she did not speak, she simply bit her lip her pale cheeks growing more red with every second.

" I have reached an arrangement with King Francis. Mary will marry the Dauphin upon her eighteenth birthday, She will be a Queen Katherine, you should be pleased." Henry's answer made it quite clear that his mind would not be changed. Her daughter, her only child, would marry a child of France, Katherine's enemy; but Katherine would not be able to change his mind, not now.

In another time, she would have voiced her opinion, she would have expressed her outrage that her husband had made such a decision without first consulting her, that he would inform their daughter (and whore) before he had her, but Katherine bit her tongue. She had to choose her battles carefully; this was not one she would win.

So the Queen of England bit her tongue, " I am of course pleased, and I am sure Mary will be overjoyed." Katherine responded smoothly, before standing from her chair, and walking from the great hall of Westminster, with her head held high and the skirts of her golden gown rustling beneath her.

She was the Queen of England still, and now her daughter would be a Queen too. That was all she must think of, anything else would cause her too much trouble, and for now she needed to stay clear of all kinds of conflict.

Anne would see soon that not everything was lovely and roses when their husband was concerned.

26th of June 1527

Eltham Palace

Mary stared at the letter in front of her with pursed lips, going over every word in her head over and over as she had for the past four days, since the letter had been delivered. The letter was from her father, informing her that she would soon be needed at court.

Mary was once again to be betrothed to the Dauphin of France. She would be a French Queen, as her aunt Mary had once been. Truthfully Mary didn't know how to feel, she had been raised to believe that she would one day be a Queen, Mary had just always assumed it would be of England, she supposed that France would now just have to do.

Don't forget to pray for your stepmother, she carries your brother in her womb. The future of England, That was how her father had ended his letter to her, she had known Anne was pregnant, her governess had informed her of the Princess Consorts pregnancy once an official announcement had been made, and soon after Anne and her baby were added to the end of all of Mary's prayers, not by choice but rather out necessity. For her mother's sake (and her own) Mary would do as instructed, she needed to stay in her father's good graces, even more so now that Anne was pregnant.

Mary hoped the baby was a girl, she prayed for a sister daily. When everyone else prayed for a healthy Prince of Wales for England, Mary instead prayed for a healthy little Princess. She had no doubt that Anne would one day give her father a son, and Mary in turn a brother. Mary just didn't want it to happen straight away….if Anne birthed a son, within the first year of her marriage to the King, then Mary was afraid that people would start talking of her parents marriage. That maybe it wasn't true and legal, as the Pope had decreed, if Anne could deliver a son so quickly when the Queen had failed time and time again.

It was something Mary didn't like to think of often, but when she was constantly reminded of Anne's pregnancy every day it made it hard not to think of the fact that she could have a brother by Christmas so it made it easier for her to think it would be a sister and not a brother that Anne would deliver her. Mary's betrothal to the Dauphin confused her just for that reason.

There was no guarantee that the child in her stepmothers belly was the long awaited for Prince of Wales, so why would her father want her to be promised to France when she remained his heir. There was no way that the King would ever want his throne on French hands and control, and her mother certainly would not want her promised to the enemy of her homeland, as such Mary had summarised that the betrothal must have been Anne's idea, and her father so willing to please her in her pregnant state had consented without truly thinking of the consequences of such an arrangement could mean.

Anne no doubt was thinking of her own children and their futures. With Mary promised to France perhaps Anne thought that her father would exclude her from the line of succession in the case that Anne failed to deliver him a son. Yet Mary knew better than that, along with the news of Anne's pregnancy also came the news of a new act of succession, which stated that in case of no sons being produced from the King's new marriage that the throne would pass to Mary and her male offspring, if Mary failed to deliver any children only then would the throne pass to any daughter of Anne's.

Her stepmother might have thought herself clever with this little arrangement, Mary would be a Queen of France from her marriage and so it would seem to be unfitting for either Mary or her mother to complain about the arrangement, despite the intentions that may have went behind it. Mary would be the Queen of France, but if Anne thought for a second that that meant that would mean that Mary would willingly give up her birthrights to the English throne, than she was surely mistaken.

Mary would take the French throne, and if God willed it that Anne did not deliver a Prince to take the throne of her father, than Mary would make sure that her own would sit upon the throne after him.

It would be God's will.

1st of July 1527

Westminster Palace

The betrothal agreement between Princess Mary of England and Henri the Dauphin of France was signed and agreed upon by both parties without much excitement. Yet still it seemed that both the Queen and the Princess Consort (as well as the Princess Mary) had been determined to dress lavishly for the occasion.

Queen Katherine had worn a gold gown to celebrate her daughter's betrothal to France. She wore a red coat over the top of the gown, with her hair placed in an elaborate bun. As always she wore the Queen of England's jewels upon her person. She wore a tight smile on her face, yet no one would dare claim that she looked displeased by the events that were taking place.

The Princess Consort had dressed herself in a gown of purple with bell sleeves and a tight fit around her ever-growing bump. Like her counterpart, she wore her hair up in a bun, with a purple tiara sitting prettily upon her dark hair. Her smile was far more cheerful than that of the Queen, but then why wouldn't it be? She had suggested betrothing her stepdaughter to Francis eldest son, and it was she that was carrying the King's child…a possible son. There was no reason as to why Anne Boleyn would be anything other than content.

Princess Mary was of course dressed the most extravagantly. It was her day after all. The heir presumptive to the English throne wore her dark hair down, her lady governess had styled the Princesses dark locks into elegant curls, and she wore a pretty silver tiara upon her head. The dress was by her estimations the most expensive and extravagate she had ever worn. It was blue and silver in its colouring with a pretty lace pattern upon the bodice and bell sleeves, the dress had a small train, and Mary knew she looked a true princess of England in such a gown, yet still she hated it, and even more she hated that her mother had insisted upon her wearing it.

Originally, she was supposed to wear one of the gowns she already had in her pocession. The betrothal had been agreed upon so quickly, and her mother informed of it so late that there hadn't been an appropriate amount of time for her mother to design and oversee the making of a more fitting gown for the ceremony. However Anne Boleyn had quickly fixed such problems, and Mary could not help but grind her teeth together slightly at the memory.

She had been in her mother's rooms, with her mother, Aunt Mary and Lady governess. She had been trying outfits on for a little over an hour she was sure when one of her mothers ladies had come bursting into the room curtsying quickly. She had looked as if she had just been running even though Mary knew she could not have come more than a few steps.

" Your Majesty," She had exclaimed sounding quite out of breath, " The Princess Consort requests an audience with you."

" What on earth could the little strumpet want now?" The Duchess of Suffolk questioned with a roll of her eyes, Mary could not help but smile at her Aunts words. The king's sister at least was still not afraid to show her true feelings in regards to her father's second wife.

" Mary please," Queen Katherine muttered a warning clear in her tone, " What time does the Princess Consort wish to meet with me Lady Horsman?"

" She requests your presence immediately, Your Majesty," Margery Horsman replied an air of nervousness in her tone, " She is just outside."

" Very well," Katherine replied, and Mary could just tell by her mothers tone, that she had been somewhat annoyed by Anne's insistence upon a meeting, " Send her in then."

Anne walked into the Queen's rooms with her head held high. She wore a gown that had been burgundy in its colouring (Mary could not help but think that every time she had seen her stepmother since her marriage to the King, that she had been wearing some shade of purple), the dress had bell sleeves, and golden embroidery upon the waist of the gown. She wore her hair down with a simple headpiece and a matching necklace around her neck. Her bump was growing steadily, yet still the woman could not be called large.

Mary did as she knew she must and bent her knee slightly, her governess sunk into a deep curtsey with a muttered, 'Your Majesty,' but neither Mary's aunt or mother made any effort to greet the Princess consort other than a nod of their heads. Her mother of course was not expected to bow down to her husband's second bride, but Mary knew that her aunt would have been expected to make more of an effort. If her father had of been there Mary knew he would not have been pleased by his sister's disrespect, yet if Anne was upset by it (which Mary had no doubt she would be) it didn't show.

She was flanked by two of her ladies, her sister and Nan Saville, in her hands Nan carried a pile of fabric, and Mary could not help but strain her head to see what it was.

" You wished to speak with me Anne?" The Queen questioned her tone icy but not rude.

" Yes," Anne responded her tone almost identical in nature to Katherine's; " I had come to ask if you had yet organised a gown for the Princess for the betrothal ceremony?"

Mary heard her aunt scoff and saw her roll her eyes at Anne's question, but neither the Queen nor Princess Consort made mention of it.

" We were looking through our options just as you came in, Anne." Katherine stated, gesturing to Mary standing before them in a golden gown. It was a gown she often wore when coming to court; no doubt Anne had seen it before.

" Oh good, " Anne responded with a smile, before motioning for Nan to step forward, it was then that Mary noticed that Nan was not simply holding a pile of fabrics but rather a gown, " I had intended to gift this gown to Mary for Christmas, but it was finished earlier than I would have expected and given how quickly the betrothal was agreed upon I thought perhaps that Mary might like to wear a new gown for the ceremony."

Mary could see her mother bitting her lip in an effort most likely not to yell at her counterpart, yet Katherine never uttered a word, instead she stood gracefully from her seat and walked over towards where Nan Saville was holding the gown in question. She looked over it for a few minutes, fingering the material and going over every detail of the gown with great precision.

" It is a lovely gown," Katherine said finally, " How thoughtful of you Anne to go to such efforts, I am sure Mary would love to wear it. Wouldn't you darling?"

Mary wanted to refuse, she wanted to tell Anne Boleyn that she didn't need her gown, but instead she gritted her teeth and smiled kindly, " Yes, thank you, My Lady stepmother."

So now Mary stood in a dress of Anne's designs watching as her father and the French ambassador signed the agreement that would seal her fate to France. It was the third betrothal agreement that Mary had been a part of, France, Spain and now France again, yet Mary knew that it would most likely be this one that stuck.

At the age of eighteen she would marry the heir to the French throne. At the age of eighteen she would become the future Queen of France.

A/N: So there was chapter three I hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter.

In this Chapter we learned that Anne is pregnant, this was the piece of the story that I decided to change around a bit, and while the changes I made are not evident in this chapter they will be in the next, and I hope no one will be disappointed in the decision that I made in regards to Anne's pregnancy and the child she is carrying.

The other important event in this chapter was of course Mary once again being betrothed to Francis the Dauphin of France. The marriage will take place once Mary has reached the age of eighteen. So still a long wait until that takes place.

Oh and a new Act of succession was also passed. How exciting!

Anyway the next chapter will introduce a new arrival, so please review as it encourages me to write faster.