Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and kept reviewing this fic, I appreciate it very much and thanks to SSLE who helped me with some bits of this chapter. Just want to make it clear I put a lot of effort in my fics, I might not be great authors as you or brilliant but I do what I can to please the audience but ultimately I do this to please myself, and I am glad with the result so far. People are free to like or dislike my reading, I don't care, just keep bashing to yourself. ^_^
~C.
"With your heart gone cold you'll turn to violence
With your inhibitions going silent
You will turn and twist and pry your eyes out
Wishing that you could just go back now
You will be the criminal heartthrob
Destroying all that you could ever learn from
For no cause you'll cause destruction
Oh no"
~ "My Turn to Evil" by Lyrics vs. Numbers
She turned to her father smiling for his encouraging words, however they had to consider that she had a reputation to keep. Much like her great, great and great grandmothers, Margaret Beaufort and the pious Elizabeth of York, Annie had to keep her image of the loyal, evangelical mourning wife. What her Aunt's mother, and in her heart her true grandmother, Anne Boleyn always tried to do. It was common knowledge, though nobody spoke of it because otherwise it would be condemned and it would ruin Annie and leave her children stained forever; that she was Eustace's bastards. Everyone who was a keen observer could tell by the way they smiled and by the way they looked, with the exception of her hair. She was a perfect copy of him.
"You have to leave" she swallowed "Before the Archbishop and ..." her tone turned crisp when she thought of her husband and her would be puppeteer "the Earl of Northumbeland come"
The Earl of Northumbeland had not been very pleased when he had been made an Earl of Northumbeland instead of Duke as he hoped for. He always blamed Annie for it and at any opportunity he would not hesitate to cease power and declare himself Regent or worse, Annie feared, name that little minx of her niece Jane Grey, Anthony's old play mate, Queen and marry her to his much younger and puppet son, Guilford. Years, she and Edward had been stalling their wedding, Edward was great at building excuses though in her case she had ulterior motives not to see them wed. Her brother Anthony was fond of Jane, they had known each other from childhood and what affection they had then had not waned as the years passed by and the Duchess Dowager of Suffolk, Frances Brandon, kept them separated. The Dowager Duchess feared that Bess' boy would cease the throne and crown Jane his Queen legitimizing his position as their grandfather did when he took the Yorkist Princess, Elizabeth Plantagenet, as his wife; and pushing from favor all of Frances' other daughters and her allies, including the Earl of Northumbeland. If that was the case for her mistrust towards Anthony, she didn't need to worry, Anthony was a loyal servant of the crown and unlike their younger brother he wasn't ambitious or had cravings for power. He was much their father's son as she was.
"Please" her tone was shifted back to sorrow, her eyes looking pleadingly at him "I will be fine and ..."
Annie closed her eyes remembering the beating as she bit her lower lip which was swollen and hurt her more when her teeth made contact.
Eustace frowned "Who did that to you?"
"I fell" She raised her voice. Why did her father had to be so insensitive? Couldn't he leave her alone for once? The mand had done all he could to protecting her, Annie was not a child anymore, she did not need protecting!
"I just fell alright, there were loosen floorboards in your old house, I told you to repair those when I was last there, I happened to hit on one of them after I fell down the stairs, alright?"
Chapuys said nothing. He looked at her for a great amount of time with his piercing eyes on her face that Annie did not dare to look. She hated those eyes, eyes that she had inherited from him, mysterious eyes, eyes that held so much secrets, eyes that could see right through you and find out the truth of what really happened to her.
"Please" She insisted, pouting like a little girl. In that moment Eustace regretted her leaving her to visit his cottage on her own, but she was the Queen and with her position came an arrogance that Eustace was not prepared to face
"I will leave you then"
But before he closed the door he turned to her. No, he would always be his little girl to him, no matter how many titles and power she possesses, to old Eustace she would always be his loving daughter, his only daughter, proof that his love for Mary once existed. "But I will return soon"
She waited until the sound of his boots faded. She brought her knees to her chest, hugging herself tightly, she curled into a ball and started to cry uncontrollably. She could fear her children kicking, moving impatiently inside her as if to remind her of their existence. "I know, I know" She told them, hiding her head in her chest she looked down on her swollen belly. If it hadn't been for her quick reaction, her children would not be here with her. "I am so sorry, so sorry that I cannot be the warrior mother you expect me to be"
One of them, the one she suspected was a boy moved inside her in a very slow manner. She smiled bitterly, for all his intent he could do little to calm her. She would die as soon as she went into labor, and if fate continued to smile at her the same way it had since her attack began, death would take them as well.
"Sorry" The children oblivious of her thoughts continued to move, her kicker, whom she always insisted to Edward was their son, never ceased.
When he was outside he started searching for one of Annie´s ladies, Phillipa who was he knew, her favorite lady.
"Philipa?" The blond girl looked up to him and bowed in deep reverence "My Lord Hertford"
"I need to know something" He said looking menacing "What happened to my daughter?"
Phillipa narrowed her eyebrows, she wished she could help but she just did not how. Annie had made it clear that she did not need help and she no longer called for Philippa for comfort or gossip as she used to when her husband had been alive. Pipa suspected it had to do with her mother, the Lady Mary Tudor had become more insistent on her demand for respect ever since her brother's death, and more so now that she claimed she had saved her daughter and her unborn children from death.
She looked and made sure no one was watching, and led him to an abandoned corridor. "I am afraid I know as much as you my lord. Has Her Majesty said anything to you?"
He shook his head.
She sighed. "Then we both are clueless. She does not confide in me as she used to" she confessed.
Suddenly she asked, her voice betraying her posture, "Has Lady Mary visited Annie?"
She was nervous and Eustace saw it in the corner of her eyes as she started to blink and her hand flinching as she spoke.
"I was expecting you could answer me that Pipa" He said putting down all formalities as she had.
"Your Grace I have asked her countless times who did it but ... she refuses to answer, she says she fell and you know Her Highness once she says something it is hard for her to say otherwise"
"But ... "
"Your Grace, if I tell you this please don't say it was I"
"I give you my word"
Philipa sighed in relief "The Lady Susan, and Jane Dormer know though I doubt you will hear a word from the latter, she is very ignorant about milady's mother's true nature. You might have some luck with her, though the Lady Susan. She was there when Lady Mary "found" milady"
She then added "She also looks like someone who has a guilty conscience" It was her experience that Philipa knew that people who carried such burden would go as many times to Church or pray to lift that unwanted burden from their backs. But often prayer would not help and they would need to tell somebody.
He nodded. He would go to Susan but he needed support. And he knew perfectly well where he would get. He entered his carriage where Fleming was waiting anxiously for him "Sir? So? What happened to the Queen Dowager?"
"I need your help, Fleming. I need you to send an urgent message to Cambridge to the estate of Duke Alexei Romanov. I need his help to talk with Lady Susan"
"Sure sir, but sir may I ask, why Lady Susan? Has something happened?" He asked
"yes. But the repercussions will be terrible. Thus, I need the Russian cavalry"
"Sir" Fleming's tone of voice turned even more serious, and he raised his voice at his master "I am afraid that is not possible. Have you not heard?"
"What?"
Fleming turned away from his master, he expected the natural reaction from Eustace after this to blow up from anger at his former love interest.
"Duke Alexei Romanov is betrothed, I have heard it from the Lady Susan when I approached her while she was at the chapel. She seemed very disconcerted, I asked her what was wrong but she ran away, and then I heard her tell her mistress that the negotiations with the Russian Ambassador were a success. Lady Isabela is to be the next Romanov Duchess. They all seemed, with the exception of Lady Susan very pleased"
"I don´t care about that. Many things can still happen, remember Charles and Mary? In any case, I know about Alexei feelings for Annie. When I tell him what I have to tell him he will go to Siberia to help her"
Fleming nodded but one thing still worried him, the Lady Mary and the German Duke, whom like all his familiars, eternal rivals of the Orthodox Church, had spies everywhere, and not to mention, he did not hesitate to also mention to his master "The Earl of Northumbeland is hoping as many of the Archbishops to gain control of Her Majesty's heir if she has a son. They are also in a race against time to dethrone our Queen Dowager"
"If she has a son, she will become regent"
Fleming did not say anything more. When it came to his children, his master's reason tended to be clouded. He did not know to what extent these men, friends and others foes of the Lady Mary were willing to go to see their power preserved and if it meant setting one life aside.
Fleming did not finish that thought. Loyal to his master he kept nodding, willing to do everything possible not to see that happen.
In the end of that day while he was in Hatfield and Elizabeth lying down resting, Eustace awaited for Alexis who entered the room shortly after the sun set. "Your Grace"
he greeted his face and mind clear hiding the concern he felt for his beloved Annie. All of the Czar's envoys advised him it was best to take Isabella as his next bride. He dismissed them all quickly telling them he had no one in mind but Annie, or of his choosing, but with the throne of Russia in jeopardy and after being named next in line after the ailing and now sonless Czar, Annie seemed farther from his reach. "Is it true?" He managed to say after a while.
"What?" Eustace asked with a small smile feeling still very connected to Alexei who he regarded as almost a son
"The Queen Dowager, word has spread quickly among my envoys. Official word is she fell"
From behind where he hid his balled fists, he squeezed his nails deeper into his flesh, feeling the sinking feeling of helplessness his mother often warned him never to fall in.
"It´s not true. That is what Annie says but I do not believe it. She is clearly lying"
"I need your help Alexei" Eustace said coming closer to him becoming more intimate
"Will you help me?" -He asked with a whisper
"If it is for the Queen Dowager" whom I hold in deep steam, he wished to say "anything you ask me. I am your humble servant Your Grace"
Lady Susan had stayed in the Queen Dowager's household at Dover Palace in a room next to her Highness. She prayed for the entire night while her son was in the rooms downstairs wondering why his mother had not showed up with his mistress and her husband, the Duke of Bavaria for dinner.
"En nomini ..." Susan prayed for what must have been the millionth time our holy father and rose from bed. She barely looked at herself in the mirror afraid it would be her conscience berating her again for what she'd allowed to be done.
By the time she had arrived to the Queen Dowager's chambers, her mother was already there with her. A sight Susan now dreaded.
She had not noticed it was already morning, or that in any given time the surprise of the century would come to Dover palace with the Duke and heir of the Romanov throne, Alexei Romanov.
~o~
Annie looked warily at her mother. Mary smiled at her daughter kissing her forehead "You look like you could pass for a true Queen. It will all be fine, just remember to smile when your guests come to see you sweetling" she said with such devotion that you could almost believe she really meant all the affection she bestowed to her child.
~o~
"It pleases me to know that Annie has a great father like yourself sir" Alexei never got the chance to meet his father. The man was always away and had left him as any good noble, to the care of his mother. Eustace Chapuys was the only father figure he got to know
"Thank you" He said "I also appreciate that Annie has friends such as yourself"
"What do you want me to do sir to help Annie?"
"We need to go talk with Lady Susan. Both of us. To make her scare to pressure her into saying what she knows about all this"
"I have a feeling" he added "that she is the key to all this"
"Tell me when to get the carriage ready and we will leave immediately" he said without hesitation.
"Shall we leave now then?" Eustace asked satisfied at Alex resolution
"Be my guest" Alexei said moving aside to let Eustace climb into the carriage first, as any good noble Russian knight would to a man as honorable as his foster father.
They both entered it and it rode fast to Dover where Mary and her ladies were. "I will need your help Alexei to attract Susan outside. Mary can´t know we´re here"
"Yes sir" Alexei moved past the crowds of ladies and noblemen that kept swarming into the palace to seek their Queen Dowager's favor or to appear sympathetic on the eve of hearing the latest news regarding her fall.
Susan sobbed walking away from the large crowds and found herself outside, unbeknownst to her that she was being followed.
"Who are you?" She screamed as she looked behind only to see Alexei "Your Grace!"
She said surprised
She bowed to a low curtsy to show her respect to next heir of the Russian throne. Last thing Susan wanted was a scolding from her mistress or the Duke of the Romanovs for not knowing her rightful place.
"Please forgive me your grace, my state of mind kept me from behaving properly"
"Do not concern yourself with what is proper or not" Alexei said and then another voice was heard behind him "For that is what should concern you less"
She turned around, to her next surprise Eustace was there looking formidable as ever.
Susan forced herself to look calm and bowed her head "Your grace" she acknowledged "have you come here to see the Queen Dowager?" She asked and later told herself meeting his eyes, how stupid she was for asking that. Of course he was concerned! Of course he came to see his daughter; it was common knowledge Eustace loved that child more than his own children with Elizabeth. And his wife did not fall far behind. Elizabeth had dedicated all of her time and money to Annie so much that on her wedding it had been her and not Annie's mother, who carried the train of her niece's bridal gown.
Eustace walked closer to Susan, not menacingly enough to make her run, but just enough to keep her where she was.
"No. I came here to see you" He said lower, underlining the you.
She took a step back measuring the distance between herself, both men and the door.
"I have to go"
Making her way to the door, Alexei rushed putting himself in front, his hand grasping the door knob. "I am afraid not" He smiled, the candlelight gave the impression his blue eyes glowed, scaring Susan.
Her heart beat faster, she turned to Eustace "What is this all about?"
"I am curious person. And more than that, my lady" Eustace started "I am a worried father, for you know perfectly well that that idiot of Philip of Bavaria is not the father of Annie but I am and I want to know what Mary did to my daughter. And do not dare to deny that she did not do anything because I know perfectly well that she did. I know that she did. I want to know what she did and moreover why she did"
"No I don't know what you are talking about and if you excuse I have to go back to tend to your "daughter" she is carrying my next King after all" she said dejectedly, her eyebrows arching, staring furiously at them and looking them straight in the eye, displaying her stoic posture, and composing herself quickly so they would not break through her mental barrier.
"Susan!" Eustace said raising his voice at the woman. "You have no idea of what I´m capable of doing to you and to your mistress if I dream that Mary hurt Annie. Now, I know she did, and I already know what I´m going to do...but I want you to tell me why"
"Since when are you my master? You don't scare me, I have faced worse perils and men than you your grace, now if you excuse me, will you let me attend your daughter you say you care for?"
He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the nearest wall, making her wince in pain. "I will kill you you hear me?" He whispered in her ear. "I will kill you" he repeated shaking her.
She snickered the same way she always had when she had the upper hand "You would not, you do not want Mary accusing you so she could tell the whole world what a horrible person you are You want Annie to know that? That you have stained your hands with the blood of a poor, helpless woman?" she raised an eyebrow knowing she had hit a cord there.
"I will do everything to protect my daughter" He whispered "I would go to Hell and return, do you understand? And if Mary and Annie have to hate me for that, then so be it! I don´t care"
"Then she will hate you and the whole world will condemn you, forget your wife or your sons being in charge if Annie bears us a King for the regency after this" Susan said her eyes now shedding tears of rage and fear, looking at him pleadingly hoping that he would have some ounce of sympathy or pity for her in his cold heart.
"I don´t care! This is what I think of your Regency" He spit in the floor "What has Mary done to my daughter?"
"Nothing, please, please Eustace I don't ... I-I don-don't know, I-I hon-honestly don't know" she shut her eyes remembering all the scolding Annie got when she yelled at Philip, how Mary told him to make it look like part of her fall.
"I d-don't know ... please you have to believe me!"
"Susan" He started now more softly "Do you remember when we met? You came to me, so many years ago, when Mary was still in Hatfield attending on her sister? You were so worried about her and I was so in love with her. I would have done everything for her then" He now with a whisper "I would have done everything for her"
"N-no I-I ... N-no ... please just let me go"
"She was so sweet back then. So … pure so innocent … I would not believe she was capable of foul feelings"
She sniffed. She was struggling to get free -"She was. It was their fault, it was this Court ... please let me go Eustace, she is still sweet, she is ... she is." she kept repeating shutting the voices of Annie's cries as she begged her mother to stop.
"I met Mary when she was nineteen. I fell in love with her right then and there. I would´ve kept the wind from blowing on her if I could"
Susan sniffed "She is still that girl " she lowered her voice, barely above a whisper she leaned to his ear, "she still is, and you can keep the wind blowing by letting this matter drop. No-nothing h-happened I-I am s-s-sure"
"No she is not. She changed she is not that same girl, she is not Mary, she is not my Mary or Katherine´s Mary. She is not even your Mary anymore, and you know that, I know that, everyone knows that. The more you keep denying, the worst it is"
"I-I can't. I saw it, nothing happened, nothing happened... I saw ... I saw." she repeated madly revisiting that day. "There is stil-still hope. There has to be, she is taking care of her daughter I know deep down ..." Susan went on to say the same pointless sentences repeating herself over and over again, trying to sound convincing but the more she talked the more she gave out her guilt.
Eustace took pity on her and placed his arms around Susan "Susan …" He whispered "It´s not. She changed. She changed she will not return to whom she was. And no one, no one Susan regrets it more than what I do"
"Please God forgive me" she meant to say it in her head, but when she said it, it came out so wrong. "Please Eustace ... please just let me go. I-I do not want ... I do not know" she cried violently feeling she was going to faint. "I am all my son has Eustace ... I am all he has, don't take me from him"
"Mary will not know you told me. And if the worst comes, I will protect you and Tony. And Alexei will too and Elizabeth"
"Nooo, please Eustace she has that little girl hidden inside of her, I have seen it on rare occasions, she is good I know she is. I grew up with her when she was at Ludlow, I know she is a good mother ... please ... please God"
Please God forgive me, she thought. Please let Annie forgive me one day. She loved that girl, when she'd been living at Hunsdson, Susan had been her only friend. She had protected her when no one else did, when her mother would leave her without care Susan would be there along with her three year old whom Annie could not remember, but he had been her best friend before Alexei.
"I took care of your daughter before you and Elizabeth" she objected to the cruel cavalry he was making her revisit "I fed her, I read her stories. I brought her presents, my son Tony gave her his favorite toys. I love your daughter you know I would never allow any hurt to come to her. When Elizabeth took her from Mary's home, I saw her, I did not rat on her, I knew she would be so happy with you Eustace. Please you owe me this favor"
"I know you mean no harm you never did" He said "And Annie remembers you, she does, she says you and Anthony were the only things she liked back in Hundson, she remembers you"
"He remembers her, he is in the Palace, h-he is right there with her and her mother" Susan said hoping it would give Eustace some relief that his son was watching over Annie "Let me go back inside ... please, I won't tell you were here, it will be as nothing happened. Nothing happened"
Mindful of what her state of mind was Eustace took advantage -something he would not have done in any other situation. But he needed to know what exactly Mary had done to his daughter and more importantly how bad it was that Annie was afraid to tell him.
"Please Susan, tell me why my daughter is terrified of Mary. Tell me. She is terrified of Mary" he repeated –"Terrified, it seems that little girl again that I received in my house"
"There was so much crying, so much crying" she rejected to meet his eyes, she stared absentmindedly in the open of space at the candles which light were beginning to grow dimmer.
"Tell me"
"No Mary what are you doing? What are you doing, don't ... don't, don't do it" she cried staring at the floor at the ghost of Annie. "Stop it ... stop it, she is crying, can't you see she is crying ... even he is shocked she asked him that ... even he is nervous."
"What has she done to her?"
The terrified woman so lost now in the memory of the beating, points her finger in front of Eustace and covers her mouth with her other hand freed from his grip now. She let a maddening laughter "There she is, there she is can't you see her? She is looking at me, asking me for help. Help me Susan, help me please"
"Susan!" He shook her to bring her back to reality but she was so far lost in memory to be brought back. She could hear the screams, the beating, the cries ... "No" she said seeing Mary where she had pointed to Eustace
Seeing it was no use, Eustace decided to keep up with the ruse. "What did she do?"
"Ahh! I am so sorry, she begged me ... she begged me I did not help, I shut my eyes, I did not see all of it. Make it look like she hit herself on the loose floorboard ...I am so sorry, she extended her hand out to me but I shut my eyes. Even he was so shocked that she asked that of him. Mi niña her voice haunts me at night, she kept saying to me this, it was the name I had for her when she was a new born. I stopped calling her that when she became one, how could she have remembered that? How Eustace? She would not stop screaming, she told her to stop ...she would not stop screaming and crying to her mother, mum please, please she said so many times ...he arrived late and when Mary ... oh please, please don't make me say it Eustace"
"What?" He whispered seeing red, his blood boiling "tell me"
"Tell us!" Alexei screamed at her, feeling so mad at Mary that he felt he could stab her.
They all turned to see Alexei, he ran to Susan and grabbed her harder than what Eustace had done and threw her at the floor.
"There is your ward, you saw as she extended her hand out to you, you did nothing! What did they do, what did Mary asked of Philip?" he demanded knowing he would regret the answer, but he had to know. HE had to know what his Annie had suffered.
"Please ... please-please have mercy!"
"Alexei" Eustace said with a warning asking him to be calm
"As you had mercy for her? She begged you to help her, look at her Lady Susan she is extending her hand to you, Mary steps in, he comes in, who is he hmm? WHO IS HIM? ANSWER US!" Alexei did not hear reason, he wanted this woman to tell them everything. He was very disappointed at Eustace, he would have expected him to go farther than this. He was sick and tired hearing this woman's pleas for forgiveness.
"H-he ... h-he did not want to. He was afraid ..." she began to see curling herself into a ball as Alexei approached her again "he was afraid that somebody would find out ... but Mary repeated nobody would know. We can have our chance, and Annie with all that Mary knows will be so disgraced after this if she dared to talk, nobody would want her. Not even -she said that Duke Alexei"
"It´s Phillip isn´t it?" Eustace asked
"I shut my eyes, but I could hear Annie crying. She screamed at him: "You are not worthy of touching me, you are nothing I am not afraid of you. Look at you taking orders from your wife, have you lowered yourself so much -father" she said it mockingly and she laughed, I could hear her spit at him, and that was the incentive he needed. The first blow came and she stopped crying, there was so much silence, I could hear nothing. I opened my eyes ... only for a second. It was only a second, an-nd ..." Susan lifted her head to Eustace "I am so sorry ... she looked to me and I did nothing. He... he was told to again."
"He hit her?" Eustace asked calmly "Phillip hit her at Mary´s orders?"
"I do-don't ... I ca-can't tell, I have said too much, please forget this, it was all product of a mad woman, ha, ha like me, so much cries, he took pity on her after she lost consciousness, he told his G-german maids to bring her here ... p-please"
Alexei was going to open his mouth but Eustace stopped him and went to her and he placed his arms on Susan´s and brought her up gently
"She is not evil, I know she is not. Annie ... she is alright, she still has her children inside her."
He brought the handkerchief and cleaned the tears of her face
Alex could not stand seeing this. Why were they even showing sympathy for a woman who had stood by while his beloved niña had been beaten and humiliated?
"You will return to Mary and we will speak no more of this" Susan nodded and hurried off to her son's bedchamber where he would be waiting for his mother to tell him of his former friend's condition.
"What on earth?" Alexei said
"She was not going to tell us anything more. And we already knew enough, I don´t need details, the images in my mind are already bad enough"
"It doesn't matter we should have coerced her into revealing the whole scope of this! This woman was capable of hurting her own flesh and blood, and what is more she ordered, ordered Eustace her own husband to do it! You heard her! Even the German Duke was surprised he asked her to such things!"
Alex fell down into one of empty stool in the rooms. "Oh God" he whispered bringing his fingers to his forehead in the same fashion his foster parent always did. "It is all my fault. If I would have not gone away to get invested, Edward would have never married her, it would have been ..." me, he thought closing his eyes in remembrance when the Ambassador from England came to tell him that England had a new Queen, Anne Elizabeth Tudor-Wittelsbach. He had never regretted something so much in his life, as not being there before Edward.
"It´s not your fault Alex!" Eustace said "it´s not your fault!"
"She is out of my reach Eustace. The Czar, England itself would never allow me now to get near her, and I have all my closest allies telling me I should accept Lady Mary's daughter to Bavaria, Isabella, all because they care more to appease the Schmalakdic league than my own feelings!" he cried in disdain.
"And what do you want? After all Annie could well become regent"
"And what about us?" he reclaimed "I was there before Edward may God rest his soul. He was a sickly child, whose mother was a fickle little thing compared to you my Duke and Earl's wife, or even that bastard woman's mother, the Princess Dowager! Annie never loved him as much as he loved her, as much as I love her"
I should march into that room and take her in my arms, raise her children and take her into a place where she could never be harmed, Alexei thought going to the door.
"Alexei!" Eustace scolded. "Where do you think you are going?" he asked raising one eyebrow at the insolence Alexei was showing.
He wheeled to see Eustace with an incredulous look "To kill that bastard woman what else? To see Annie, to take her somewhere where she and England's future could be safe"
"No, let us...let us think"
"But..."
"Alexei! I want revenge as much as you but we must think first!"
"I want to destroy Mary and Phillip but we must do it carefully." He added.
"How, pray tell how? Because if it means killing or humiliating them then I want a part in it, so help me God I want them to suffer"
"Yes it does. We will destroy them Alexei, but we must think. First, we should take out all of their support in court; we could start doing that because you could launch a rumor that says you give up the marriage with Isabella, because Phillip was offensive to your country."
"And how will that work? The Czar is on my back, and Ambassador Nikolai Trostky is not helping my cause. It will have to be a hell of an excuse Eustace"
"I have a plan. Phillip does not know how to take up drink. so we will get him drunk with perhaps a little help from one or two servants and in the middle of court you will whisper some words to him and provoke him when he reacts everyone will see and hear
Alex smirked at the Eustace's ingenuity that never ceased to amaze those around him.
"Fantastich" he said in German "I can have Nikoloai there so his excellency will shit his pants along with the other envoys. Isabella will be no longer a desirable prospect" he said using the same words Annie's mother had used against her according to the Lady Susan.
Finding no better way to get rid of that odious Duke's daughter, he turned to more pressing matters, mainly all having to do with his foster father and tutor's daughter, Annie. "You said you promised you would visit. When? How about now? You heard that woman, the Bavarian Duchess is upstairs with her"
"I will go there, will you come with me?
Alexei nodded.
They both hurried upstairs, Eustace with the aid of Fleming since his gout had become a major problem over the years.
~o~
Mary kept giving Annie her food helped by Anthony who was ignorant of Mary's true intentions.
"Mother that is enough" she said not feeling the peaches enough to calm her nervousness or one of her children's incessant kicking. He or she was tiring her, she mentally begged it placing her warm palm on her swollen belly, to stop from wearing its mother more.
Tony knit his eyebrows at the two women, finding Annie's responses very neutral and attitude in general very unfamiliar from the kind and spirited girl he had met many times in Court.
"Annie you alright?" He asked forgetting his place in front of her Highness.
Mary hardened her gaze at Annie and put the plate of food aside, seating next to Annie on her bed. She moved her fingers to caress her daughter's cheek. "She is just weathered by all the visits she's received, aren't you darling?"
When Anthony was about to answer there was a knock on the door. Eustace did not wait for an answer and opened the door smiling at his daughter. When his gaze turned to Mary it turned cold as well as Alexei's.
Alexei entered without looking at Mary for if he did so he would take off his sword and kill her.
"Hello Anne" Eustace was the first one to greet.
"How do you do?" Alexei asked in Russian.
Mary felt Eustace's presence behind her and she was right. Next to him as she turned to the source of the voice that belonged to her daughter's true father, was that Russia's crowned heir, the Duke Alexei whom she intended to make her daughter's husband to help the German league appease the growing tensions between the rebellious German states that had separated themselves from the Holy Roman Empire, and the Russian orthodox nation. If, she thought giving a curtsy to both men, especially to what she hoped would be her future son in law; you could call Russia a place worthy to call itself a nation. It was a hostile land, she could scarcely imagine it would one day become as strong and great as her native country.
Anne's gaze shifted from her father to Alex.
"You forgot to address me properly" she said calmly, radiating from her figure her old strong and iron willed presence, but her beloved could see right through it.
"I am terribly sorry ... Your Majesty" Alexei rephrased bowing deeper.
"What are you doing here?"
"He is here with me Anne. Or will you ask me too, to address you properly?" Her father asked and this time she didn´t have courage to be so cold.
She looked away, she hated her father for being so meddling, it would be easier for all of them if he didn't have to care so much.
Finding no rejection from his daughter he closed the door behind him and Alex and walked forward to see her. Tony smiled, knowing full well the secret of Annie's parentage.
"What...what are you doing here father?"
"I came to see how my daughter was, just as I promised"
"I am fine" She also said that she felt tired and she wished to resume all visits for the day, no matter how important they were.
"Can I stay Annie? Maybe you should have someone to keep you company." Mary offered giving a sweet smile to her Queen and daughter.
"No" Eustace said
"Yes she can" Annie said with an imperious tone "It is my will t-that she stays"
"It is my will that she does not. And you are Queen but I am still your father, and you still obey me"
"Will you go against your Queen's orders? It is what I want father truly, I feel exhausted and I do need company"
"My Lady" Eustace ignored Anne and looked at Mary and with a falsely sweet voice he asked "Do I need to remind you what happened last time we had this kind of dispute?"
Mary blinked for a second seeing a mad glint on Eustace´s eyes as he looked at her
Before Mary could reply with venom at Eustace, Annie lifted herself up with much effort "Father please ... don't make me look weaker. How can you expect me all to rule this Kingdom when I can't even rule my own house?"
"How is your neck?" He asked diverting his eyes from Annie smiling.
"W-what? I am afraid I d-don't understand" Mary said cocking her head at Annie expecting more from her.
"It has some marks doesn´t it?" Eustace asked "Does it hurt? Were you hurt? I mean, did someone hurt you?"
"I-I ... well yes" she decided she would play along Eustace's little sick games. "I had one insolent servant who mistook me for a rag doll, but I took care of him. After all we must all take care of our own don't we Eustace? Do whatever is possible to protect our loved ones and those who matter most to us?" She said cynically.
"Father" Annie's tone turned cold "mother, that is enough, mother stays father and that is my will"
"Yes, I understand about those servants. They can be very insisting. You should only be careful and watch your steps, because they're always in the shadows aren´t they? And then they catch you when you least expect...and then it´s not just a few marks in the neck, it´s much more" He said softly.
"You don't have to worry Your Grace, we have servants of our own, Gardiner has his own men who can take care of a problem, he can help these servants and their masters be silent. There are after all very subtle ways to dealing with a problem not just through savagery" She purred lowering her voice so only the three of them could hear. A happy family reunion, Annie thought being angry at the both of them. Her father had always prioritized when it came to Annie, and now he was acting just like her mother, motivated by revenge, he didn't care about her anymore. She remained invisible, maybe what her mother and Philip said was right, he did not care about anyone but his wounded pride.
"Enough!" She said clutching her belly becoming frustrated with the children inside her kicking her.
Annie felt extreme pain in her heart, both mentally and physically for what she was being forced to do, and what her children were making her go through.
"Father if you really honor your call to me and your adoptive Country then you will do as I say, and no more visits like this unannounced, and you Your Grace" she turned to Alex "will remember who you speak to"
Eustace looked at her feeling sad but not letting her see or Mary "As you wish Your Majesty. I shall let you sink in your unhappiness for that is what you obviously wish"
Annie fought very hard inside not to cry. She nodded and kept her coldness showing so her father would not be motivated any further by any wish of vengeance. It was the best, she decided for all of us. She would be gone anyway with the damage her body had suffered after the fall. But at least, everyone would be safe, and what she would not give to see them happy but this was the lesser of two evils.
"If that is what you believe father then I will not dispute it" Annie said her gaze hardening.
"I do not believe in things, Annie. I know things. Never forget that" He answered making a gesture to Alexei to leave which he did without looking again at Annie
Mary smiled inwardly in triumph as they all left, including Thomas, leaving only Annie and her.
"You did so well Annie, you are truly my daughter" She twined her arms around her daughter, setting her gently on bed again.
Annie, after her mother had changed into her own nightgown, to sleep next to her, began to cry and she found no comfort from her mother who looked away, annoyed by her daughter's tears.
Alex shook his head, declined to arrogate more this facade any longer. The coldness in Annie's voice, she wasn't faking it.
The world had gone truly incomprehensible to Alexei, nothing made sense anymore.
"I have never seen her like this Eustace, when she was married that brat God rest his soul, she was always so strong, she confronted everyone, the Archbishop, the Earls, Dukes everyone including Charles V envoys. We have lost Annie"
"No we have not" He said his face neutral "this is just a setback. Mere a setback"
"There was bile in her throat, she does not want us there for one reason and she is afraid because we are the only one that can see through her" Alex's voice was filled with so much emotion that he realized how much he truly felt for her. He had never shown any care for another woman or person before, except his mother.
"We´re going to win this" Eustace whispered decidedly "We are going to win this"