Mary woke up with her face against John's chest. He held her close to him, his hands encircling her back. Mary sat up and glimpsed at John sleeping. She smiled.

Mary had thought about marriage before. When she was a child, she thought that she would be married to a prince or a king. After losing her title as a princess, she had thought that nobody would want her. But the man sleeping next to her was no less than a prince. He was the type of man that no other princesses would be fortunate to have in their life. He was hers. She knew that marrying him would have its consequences, but in the end, she knew that she wouldn't end up like her deceased mother and her children like her.

He was sleeping so peacefully. She didn't want to wake him up. She got up and changed into her once-drenched nightgown. She went to the kitchen to cook an omelette for John and her and thought intently about the night before. The way John looked at her excited her but the way he took care of her made Mary love him even more. The way John promised to not even touch her and tried to stand by the promise was way more than what any other man would have done. "Is this true love?" was what she asked herself.

John woke up and looked at the empty spot beside him. He got up to find Mary in the kitchen and crept up behind her encircling her waist. Mary smiled.

"Looks like somebody slept in."

John kissed her collar bone.

"You can cook?"

Mary turned around surprised.

"Yes I can cook, why, is that shocking?"

"It's just that…"

"You thought that because I was a former princess, I couldn't cook?"

"Yes, I thought I would have to teach you the basics after we've tied the knot."

John smirked at Mary's stunned reaction. Mary turned on the sink and splashed water on him. John returned the favour and chased her all through the tiny cabin. Mary even fled through their cabin door. John caught her and encircled her waist. Mary was giggling as he tickled her. But their smiles were removed just as soon as they turned around. Standing in front of them were her father's guards, content that they found both of their targets.

One guard grabbed Mary and pulled her away from him.

"Let me go."

"Touch her and I will cut your flesh and feed it to the dogs." Without thinking, John punched a guard onto the ground before being grabbed by another two guards. His knuckles were bright red after giving the unfortunate guard a black eye.

"We're here to take you to the king as well," said a guard with golden hair and freckles.

"Please, take me but let him go. He didn't do anything."

"We can't do anything, Lady Mary. We're sent here to follow the king's orders."

"What does he want with us?"

"Ask his Majesty when you reach court."

Mary looked at John. He didn't look the slightest bit afraid. He exchanged her gaze and smiled at her.

Mary looked surprised.

"You're not the slightest bit upset?" asked Mary.

"Why would I be? They haven't taken you away from me, have they? You're still here with me, are you not?"

"John, you don't know how ruthless my father is. He could do anything. Please John, escape the guards somehow."

"I'm not going to leave you. I'm coming with you. Trust me, we'll get through this."

"He could send you to the tower for whatever he assumes you have done," Mary yelled.

"Then I will prove him wrong, Mary. He can't send me to the tower if I haven't done anything wrong."

"You've loved me, haven't you?"

"And you believe that to be wrong?"

"I don't but the king will."

"Then I will change his mind."

King Henry was sitting on his usual throne as he watched Jane Seymour stand at a corner away from the attentions of the court, conversing with her brother, Edward Seymour. But everyone was stunned as the guards burst in with his daughter and John. Mary was in a slightly soaked nightgown. Although beautiful, she looked not the slightest bit like a princess as she did as a little girl. She was in tears. Beside her was John. He didn't look terrified at all as others in his place would've been. He just stared back at Henry with brooding, challenging eyes.

The guards brought them forward to the king. The court was absolutely silent as they all watched in shock.

Francis sat silently at the seat next to Henry's. His cheeks flustered at the thought of the embarrassment he would face when Henry found out that the girl that he had been so deeply infatuated with was his very own daughter.

Henry glimpsed at his daughter. Unlike the man beside her, she stared at the king with terrified eyes; the same eyes that resembled his own.

Noticing her terrified state, John instantly grabbed her hand and squeezed it and released it immediately when he realized what he was doing.

"Where did you find them?"

"We found them conversing in front of a house. When they spotted us, they ran into the forest. Then in the morning, we found them in front of a cabin in the forest."

Henry groaned at the thought of his little girl spending the night with a commoner.

"Guards take him to the tower. He is arrested for seducing the king's daughter. As for you Mary, you will return to court whether you like it or not. For now you are confined to a chamber here in court."

Before the guards could, Mary instantly grabbed John's hand and held on to it tightly.

"No, he's not going anywhere," she said in an intensely angry tone.

"Mary."

"Your majesty, he hasn't done anything. You can't do this."

"I had heard your conversation yesterday with a couple. You were upset with him yesterday, weren't you?"

"Your Majesty that was nothing but a misunderstanding."

"He has defied me. He had broken his marriage with Caroline and from what I see, had an affair with you, my very own daughter. Guards take him away."

The guards started taking him away. But just before he left, he glimpsed at Mary.

"Mary, I will be back for you," he said smirking at her with complete assurance of the words he just uttered.

Henry threw a glare at John. "How dare you, Guards take him away quickly and give him the worst punishment possible."

Mary burst into tears. The audience watched and judged harshly. Many thought that Mary didn't possess the strength and determination that her mother had. They thought that she cowardly threw all that her deceased mother fought for, for the love of a simple commoner. Nonetheless, the younger generation thought it was rather amusing to watch Mary fight for "true love."

Henry watched his daughter immediately burst into tears. She fell to the floor, touched her father's feet and begged for his life.

He had never seen her like this before. It was so unlike everything Katherine had taught her, it was outside of the social norms. But his heart ached at the scene of his daughter in such a position. No matter what, Katherine had always put a façade on and so had Mary the last time he had seen her. But the girl in front of him was so helpless, so shattered.

Henry pulled his daughter up. "Why do you claim to love such commoners Mary? You are so special. You possess such pure royal blood going through your veins. You are my daughter and I will not have my daughter getting married to a man like him."

"And yet you lowered my status down to no less than a maid and when the king of Portugal asked for my hand in marriage to his son, you denied him. The ladies at Hatfield talk your majesty and I heard."

"Mary," Henry yelled.

"Listen, Your majesty. I will no longer be a burden to you or the queen. You know I have many supporters and I also have the emperor's support. I will always be a threat to you. If you marry me to John, you no longer have to worry about me. No one would see a girl who married a commoner to be of any potential to run a kingdom"

People in court were in awe. They couldn't believe that this was the same princess that refused to acknowledge Anne as queen; the same princess that refused to acknowledge her illegitimacy; and the same princess that the late Katherine of Aragon gave birth to and raised only to become a queen.

"Mary, your mother and I have not raised you this way. What do you see in him anyways? The only reason why he decided to have an affair with you was to avenge me for taking away his lover."

"Your Majesty he has told me everything. He hadn't kept anything from me and he's a good, honest man. He would never do that. He loves me."

"Mary, no matter what you say he will be executed for challenging me; for trying to hurt you."

"Your Majesty, must I tell you that he had saved my life. When every one looked forward to take advantage of my bastard status, he was nothing but kind to me. A few goons were after me. If it weren't for him, I'd be somewhere in the gutters, dead."

Guilt sunk through Henry's chest. If he had tried to protect her, she would have never been in such a situation. A few years ago, neither any man nor woman could ever utter a word against his eldest daughter; and now here she was open to the possibilities of ill treatment, rape and murder. She was not a child anymore but rather a beautiful young woman that once was a princess. It came to no surprise that people would find that intriguing and she would be victim to such cruelties. He didn't know whether this was Anne's doings but he decided to deal with her later for this. Mary was no longer the sheltered little girl that she once had been. He should've protected her. But he had failed her.

"He fought all of them in order to save my life. He risked his life for me. Please Fath- Your majesty; he has a daughter of seven years only that loves her father dearly. She needs her father. Without him, she has nobody else left in this world. She'd be all alone. She'd be an orphan."

Those words hurt Henry deeply. He was a father to her once. She was a little girl of seven years once. Henry used to carry her around and say "This girl never cries." Her mother died, she still had her father left in this world, but he had failed to protect her. Yet, she knew the importance of a father to a daughter and he could see in her eyes and the way she referred to him as "Your Majesty" that he had disappointed her; that he hadn't lived up to her expectations.

Mary couldn't bear her father's silence. Mary burst into more tears and her voice turned more desperate, more helpless.

"Please, your majesty say something. Take me instead. You wanted to execute me, didn't you? Then why not take me instead? Please."

Jane Seymour stood there watching the heart-wrenching scene at court. As others at court, she also couldn't believe that Mary could throw everything away for love.

Edward Seymour stood next to his sister observing the scene carefully. "It's a surprise this girl has the King's genes." He smirked at his little sister as she looked at him with confused eyes.

"This is way more than what King Henry would do for his potential wives and mistresses."

Jane Seymour thought intently about her brother's words. He was right; King Henry wouldn't put down his life down for anybody. Instead he would take and ruin lives to satisfy his own interests. Jane had heard about the charges on Anne Boleyn, his current queen and she knew that the king would stop at nothing to execute her even if the charges on her were false. The king's interests lay on her now; and a possibility of a son.

"She's risking her life for him. I wonder if her story will be legendary and told for generations to come like Tristan and Isolde's"

Edward Seymour chuckled.

"How could you possibly think that I would execute you Mary, my own daughter?"

"That's not important, your majesty. Just tell me that you'd set John free. I'd do anything for his freedom. Let him go your majesty, please."

"Mary."

Tears shone in Henry's eyes threatening to fall down and expose his vulnerability to his daughter's words. He knew that he had hurt her very badly and he could do nothing to undo the damage he had done.

"I'll tell my guards to release him."

"Thank you, so much Father," Mary said just as she would say when she was a little girl whenever her father would give her presents.

She was so happy that she was about to embrace Henry but instantly stopped when she realized what she was doing and curtsied instead. Henry could tell by her movements of what exactly she wanted to do, so he pulled Mary up and embraced her, himself.

Everyone clapped and cheered at the wonderful scene. They even witnessed Henry shed a tear.

To Mary however, whether her father embraced her or not or whether he wanted any sort of relationship with her did not matter. She knew she would never forgive him for everything he had done. She just wanted John to be free.

Short chapter, I know but I bet you all enjoyed the father and daughter scene. Sorry I haven't written in so long. I've just been very busy. Well if you guys are confused about the part when Mary talks about how Henry denied her marriage to the king of Portugal's son. I was actually talking about the time when Henry asked for Elizabeth's hand in marriage but whoever it was wanted Mary's hand in marriage instead because they considered Elizabeth a bastard. I just thought it was sad how Henry denied his daughter's happiness. I didn't know who that person was so I made it the King of Portugal.