Chapter 31

For a heartbeat as I woke, I thought everything was golden again. I thought I was England's darling Queen Elizabeth; Edward's Tudor Rose and beloved mother to the heiresses to the throne. I thought England was secure; allied to the Emperor through Mary's marriage to his Ambassador, the Prince of Eboli, and France, thanks to Blanche's betrothal and impending marriage to King Henri.

And then the terrible knowledge of Blanche's betrayal crashed over me anew.

I lay there, seething. How could she? How could she do this to me? Was I not her Bessie, her beloved older sister?

More than that, was I not her Queen? Had she not sworn fealty to me, both in the North when we first heard of our father's death and then again after my joint coronation with Edward? Did she not have a duty to obey me?

God only knew she wouldn't have done this if Father had still been alive. If he'd still been alive; if he'd betrothed her to the French King, rather than my doing it, she would have taken her fate and resigned herself to it…as befitted a true Princess.

As my mind swirled, my thoughts gaining in strength and cohesion every second, my eyes roved over the room, eventually coming to rest on the full-length portrait of my father that hung against one wall.

"What would you do, Papa?" I asked it, pushing back my covers and sliding out of bed to kneel before it as though I was praying, "What would you do? If Blanche had done this to you; if she'd betrayed you like this, then what would you do?"

I stayed frozen in that position, too preoccupied even to think about moving. When I finally rose to my feet, I had my answer.

"Get me Cecil," I growled at Lady Amy.

"Yes, Madam," Lady Amy curtsied and was gone. During her absence, I called for parchment, quills and ink to be laid out on the table in my Privy Chamber.

A minute or two later, Amy returned, Cecil bustling into the room in her wake.

"You called for me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes. Thank you, Lady Amy. You may go. And the rest of you," Having dismissed my ladies, I waited for them to leave before gesturing for Cecil to join me at the table, "Come here. I want you to draw up a new Act of Succession for me."

"Madam?"

"You heard me. An Act of Succession. Now."

Cecil looked both shocked and puzzled, but he didn't dare argue with the determined light in my eye. He turned to the already-prepared table, "Whom does Your Majesty wish to invest with the Succession?"

"Make it clear that I am the one and only true Queen of England and that my daughters by the Lord Edward, the Princesses Katherine and Madeline, are the only true heiresses to the throne. Those and any other children that God sees fit to bless us with," I amended, my hand straying to my still flat belly. Pausing both for breath and to let my Secretary catch up, I then continued, "Anyone who dares suggest otherwise or who, since the death of my father King Henry, God rest his soul, has even once acted as though they do not consider me to be England's true Queen and therefore my daughters to be the true and legitimate Princesses, are henceforth to be considered traitors and are therefore sentenced to die a traitor's death."

"Your Majesty is not including the Princess Blanche in the Succession?"

"Lady Ormonde has forfeited her right to the throne through her marriage, Cecil. Pray do not mention her again," I snapped, reducing Cecil to a servile silence by turning the full force of my burning gaze upon him. He drew up the Act of Succession without any further protest.

"Here it is, exactly as you wished, Madam."

The words were barely out of his mouth before I had pulled the document towards me and was scanning it quickly.

"It will suffice, Sir William. You may go."

In the back of my mind, I knew that I ought to get at least Edward's consent for this measure, but I was far too tense. I just wanted this over with.

In fact, I was so keen to get the next few documents drawn up and see the whole thing done that I didn't even wait for Cecil to bow and leave the room before scattering sand on the still-glistening ink and signing the document, stamping it with my seal a second later.

Pushing that aside, I took a new piece of parchment and began to write, my fresh quill flying across the vellum in my boldest scrawl.

Slowly, the document began to take shape.

By Order of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,

Edward FitzTudor, Earl of Nottingham is hereby sentenced to be taken from his house arrest under the guardianship of John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and incarcerated in the Tower. The aforementioned Lord Nottingham is also promptly to be executed on the triple charges of Rebellion, Treason and Sedition.

Lord Warwick is to receive an annual pension of 150 Marks as a show of our gratitude for his diligent care and attention towards Lord Nottingham for all these years.

Written in this, the second month of the fifth year of our reign, Anno Domini 1551,

Elizabeth R

When I was finally satisfied, I signed and sealed the document and then, knowing the Dudleys were currently in London, and Edward with them, called for a page to take it directly to Sir John Gage, the Constable of the Tower. Lord Nottingham had been a thorn in my side for long enough. It was time to get rid of him.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth, stop!"

I looked up at Edward's voice. He was dashing towards me, Anne hurrying along behind him. They both looked drawn with worry. Edward caught hold of me.

"Elizabeth, please! You've not slept in two days. You've barely eaten. All this stress cannot be good for the child."

"I have a country to take care of. I have to keep England safe," I shook him off and pulled yet another sheet of parchment towards me, beginning to draw up a list of prospective companions for our daughters.

"No, you have a child to keep safe," Edward retorted, even as Anne sorted through the piles of papers spread out before me.

"Elizabeth, what is this?" she exclaimed suddenly. She had my new Act of Succession in her hand.

"What does it look like? It's a new Act of Succession," I snarled.

"You should have discussed it with us!"

"It's too late. It's already in place."

"But by this, Lord Nottingham is a traitor! He's done nothing to you for years! You're not going to execute him, are you? You're not going to have him die a traitor's death?"

My silence was enough. "Elizabeth!"

"I have every right to do it! He's already rebelled once! You know he thinks of himself as the rightful King! He has to die!"

"He's under house arrest! How much harm can he do?"

"More than you think, Anne! I cannot afford to run that risk! Not while I do not have a healthy Prince in the cradle!"

"Anne. It gets worse."

Edward's voice was suddenly hard. I glanced down towards what he was looking at.

It was my sister's death warrant.

In truth, I scarcely remembered drawing that up. The first few hours that I had spent locked in this room had become quite a frenzied blur.

To my relief, I realised that I hadn't yet signed it. However, somehow I didn't think that minor detail would matter to my husband. All he could see that I was prepared to kill my own baby sister.

"Edward…" I started.

"No! You're mad, Elizabeth! Mad! You can't kill your own sister! You can't!"

"She's ruined everything! I don't have a bride to offer the French; she's proved the world right; proved the Howards are hot-headed and impetuous! She knew I didn't want that! She knew!"

"And what will it look like if you kill her! You'll only be reinforcing that view! You can't kill her! You've no reason to!"

"It's betrayal, pure and simple! She's as much of a traitor as Lord Nottingham!"

"No she is not! If you think she is, then he doesn't deserve to die either!"

"I've signed his warrant. I have to sign hers."

"No, you don't. I can get him back. I can pardon him. I can save him. Let me save him, darling. Let me save him."

"It's too late." I said dully, my voice beginning to shake as the full horror of what I had almost done began to sink in.

"It's not. Leave this to me. Leave everything to me."

Suddenly, relieved beyond words, I slumped forward into Edward's outstretched arms, a cascade of tears finally breaking through my defences.

"You promised me she'd do her duty! You promised me it was nothing but a spring flirtation. You promised!" I wept, unable to hide my feelings any longer.

"I know, I know," Edward soothed, stroking my wild red hair.

All of a sudden, as I stood there in his embrace, a wave of dizziness swept over me. At exactly the same time, I felt the skirts of my gown begin to grow sodden. Sodden with something warm and wet.

"Lord Edward! Anne cried, noticing me stumble. In two strides, she was at our side, "Go for a Physician, quickly!"

"But…"

"Give me Elizabeth and go!"

Anne's tone brooked no argument. I felt Edward's strong arms relinquish my waist; sensed Anne's hands encircle me in their place; heard Edward's footsteps fading away as he turned and ran.

Then the world went black.