I'm so, so sorry for the delay. Due to that I'll treat you with a chapter from Anne's point of view.
Anne, born Boleyn, now the Countess of Northumberland paced in her and her husbands suite at Whitehall. She was furious for what had been done to her sister and future niece or nephew. The thought that the Seymour's had nearly succeeded had been devastating. She had to make sure that they were punished and that the superstitious King did not take this as a sign that his relationship with Mary was cursed.
If the King and Mary parted Anne believed that it might start good for her sister but her ability to be involved with her children would decrease and soon she would be called a whore again and shunned by all. Anne refused to see that happen. Determined she strode out of the lavish rooms into the stone hallway making her way the even more lavish rooms of the King. She might have to fight the guards to let her in but she would talk to the King. Her husband knew her well enough that he would not even be surprised.
As she entered the first room the guards recognised her and sent a pageboy to ask if the King would receive her. She waited in tense agitation, wondering if she could actually defy the King if he refused to see her. Anne was much relieved when the pageboy returned and bowed before her begging her to enter swiftly.
The King was standing at a table looking down at some documents. While he looked infinitely calmer and in less disarray the toll of the past days while Mary had been unconscious and finding out that one of his courtiers tried to kill her and the mistaken belief that he actually had any interest in the man's sister who he could not even remember the face of made him more than a bit paranoid. He sighed and looked at Anne who sank down in a curtsy.
"Lady Northumberland, please do not tell me that Mary has turned for worse again?" He looked worried and the frown on his forehead deepened. Anna straightened out of her curtsy and hastened to assure the King that her sister was in as good health as the present circumstances allowed.
"Mary is resting Your Majesty and the physicians say that it is good that she is resting since it will make it more likely that the child survives." The King nodded and sat down and gestured for Anne to sit down as well. The King looked at her a short while. Anne could not help but to feel that he was not really seeing her but someone else that his thought were revolving around. She doubted and hoped it was not Mary since he looked far from pleased.
"My Lady Your brother is still young and I will be given the counsel of your husband soon, but you seem to me to be a calm and intelligent woman. What would you like to happen to Mary's attackers?" Anne knew that the King already had his own view he only wanted it to be strengthened. While she knew the court in France infinitely better than the court in England she still understood it and its king as good as any courtier. The King was as most kings, proud. The thought that someone was able to poison someone he considered to be under his care someone who in reality belonged to him in more ways than the fact that he was their king, would not sit well with him. What king would be able to handle that without feeling the thirst for revenge to prove that in the end he was always victorious? She was more than happy to give him the answer.
"It happened at Your Majesty's court against someone close to Your Majesty. It was not only an assault on a woman but also her child and Your Majesty. That kind of crime can only have one consequence." The King nodded and dismissed her and Anne was sure that the Seymour's would not live long since after all, all men had pride. Women often did have pride, but that was most often directed against other women as men just assumed that they were inferior to them. The priest preached at church their role to be obedient; they belonged to their fathers or husbands and were assumed to be unable to think. Therefore most girls at court could not even read. This fact was something that disturbed Anne greatly as she herself had benefitted from a great education from her time at the continent as well as her sister.
With a hopefully successful mission Anne steered towards her sister, knowing that her husband would like to talk to her after his meeting with the King. While her husband was a jewel among men, one of the few who recognised that they were also intelligent beings and not his property, he was still a man and he would have liked he to speak to him before since he knew the King better and knew if it would have been a bad time to try and persuade him. Most of the time Anne would have liked that situation as well, but this was no ordinary matter.
In Mary's room Anne curtsied deeply to the Queen who was sitting by Mary's side doing needlework. Only Maria de Salinas the Queen's faithful companion was with them. Anne rose from her curtsy for the Queen when she smiled tiredly at her. Being with royals frequently is hard for ones knees Anne thought briefly.
"Please sit down Lady Northumberland. Your sister has been resting well. I am thankful that she has not had any nightmares for at least a couple of hours." Anne nodded and sat down by her sisters side looked a bit scared to see her adored sister only a few years older than her lying still on a bed so pale. While she could see her breathing, the visions of an even paler Mary who barely breathed with a pack of physicians around her would not leave her. She took her sister hand and squeezed it gently and then took up some needlework herself. Nothing else needed to be said between the two ladies that both cared deeply for the woman on the bed.
Anne knew herself enough to know that she had not always been happy about being in her sister's shadow. Despite being the younger sister Anne had been the one who had been sent to grand duchess Margaret's court as a child to serve as a maid. She had been sent to the Queen of France's court later on and had stayed there with her sister. There Mary had overshadowed her when she had become the mistress of the King of France. While Anne herself would not like to be a mistress she did not like to be in the shadow of her sister as it had been Anne who had been their father's favourite.
Anne would have been resentful of Mary's position in England as well as the sole mistress of the King and the de facto highest ranking lady in England behind the Queen, Princess Mary and the King's sister. The King's sister did not visit that often anymore but she did not seem to have anything against Mary. Perhaps it was because Mary had been there so long. However Anne had found something that made her happier than being her fathers favourite and soon realised the manipulation he exercised over his children as she fell in love with Percy. As he was the heir to the Earl of Northumberland he was one of the most powerful peers in the realm and Anne most certainly was not what his father had in mind for his bride. For the first time in her life Anne had been thankful that her sister was a king's mistress and received more attention than Anne when the King supported Percy in his endeavour to marry Anne. Her marriage had made her life so much more than it had been before as her father no longer had any power over her and she did not need to lie to her husband about who she was who for some reason Anne hoped would never disappear seemed to love her unconditionally.
A commotion at the door made Anne look up and she quickly rose from her seat and curtsied as the Princess Mary entered the room. An unusual sight these days Mary was without her half brother and while she quickly curtsied to her mother she son ran forward to her mother and gave her a hug. She was lifted up into her mother's arms as only a few attendants could be witnesses before turning around to Anne. She gave Anne a big smile.
"Aunt Anne is it true that you and Aunt Mary used to live in France. My tutor told me while he was telling me about the court in France. Was it different form England? I know that I might marry a prince form France one day; I heard some of the maids say something like that, which is odd because I thought I was engaged to my cousin the emperor. Is it nice in France?" Anne smiled at the excited Princess who since the incident with Mary's attack had been sometimes acting like the adult she most of the time portrayed to the public and sometimes her age as a little girl who did not understand most of the things the adults thought up. Anne did not really know what to answer her about her marriage as that was something she definitely did not have permission to explain to the little Princess. The Queen looked quite troubled about the Princess's remarks and Anne would not like to be the Princess' governess. On the subject of the French court she thought about the less than subtle adultery and immorality and took a deep breath.
"I like France very much Princess it is very beautiful. However for me the place I will always love the most is Hever castle because that is where I grew up. My husbands home is however a very close second. Both are very beautiful even if they are different." Anne smiled at the Princess as the Queen looked Anne in the eyes and signed for her that she wished to speak alone to her daughter. Anne excused herself and as she was walking away form the room she heard some of the attendants step out no doubt to give the royal ladies their privacy.
As Anne stepped into the rooms that belonged to her and her husband she saw him leaning against one of the windows. She took a moment to admire him as the sun reflected against the window and almost created a halo around him. He looked up as the footman closed the door behind her. He walked towards her and smiled while shaking his head. He cupped her face between his hands and kissed her.
"You are insane. If the King had been in a different mood he could have banished us both or cast his suspicion upon us." Anne looked at him ready to defend her reasons when he managed to cut her of by kissing her again.
"However I cannot be upset since you did it all for your sister which is why I am vey happy to be married to a woman who loves her sister more than her ambition. Never change. I love you." Anne smiled as he kissed her again. As she said life was vey different with this man with a legal hold ever her than with her father as the one to act as her Lord and guardian. Her father had been banished and while he was still a knight he was not welcome at court. Everything that he had strived for, peerage and wealth, and tried to sacrifice his children for they had received while he was alone and bitter, all because of the King falling for Mary in away he had for no other mistress.
Anne could only imagine what would have happened if the King had not supported her marriage to Percy to please Mary.
So should the circle come close here or do you want me to continue? I'm studying double at the moment, but everything should get a little bit calmer after Easter. Please tell me so that I know if you still enjoy the story.