Chapter 11:

The journey to Whitehall was filled with silence, the only sound that could be heard was the clacking hooves of the horses and the swish of the ropes that the henchman uses to manipulate the horses outside, inside, two children were asleep in the arms of their nurses, Lady Mary sat beside her sister reading what seemed like the bible, Elizabeth was in the carriage in front of hers; as the official heir to the throne, she had her own carriage where Lady Bryan and her other ladies were with her. Anne sighed as she thought about all that had happened.

In the span of two days, her life had drastically turned once more. She had been informed by Henry that their marriage was apparently still valid and he found out about the twins, professed his love for her once more and had begged her to return by his side as his queen.

Anne smiled as she remembered how Henry had convinced her to return with him to court. She could not believe she had agreed to return to him once more. If she were honest with herself, she was terrified, the last time she was in court, she had nearly lost all her power, she had only saved herself from further humiliation and downfall when she had willingly left. How would the people react to her return?

"Anne, do not think so much, You should be resting." Mary, her sister said as Mary closed her bible and held Anne's hand. She had been watching Anne since their journey to court began. She knew her sister was thinking about what the court- the Kingdom- would think now that she was to return.

Anne sighed and held Mary's hand tighter, "Mary, am I making the right decision? Should I have agreed to return?"

It was rare for her sister to question her actions out loud, Mary knew Anne had gone through so much before leaving court that it had changed something inside Anne, she had become more wary and her fear and nerves would sometimes get the best of her now, but she knew her sister will be back to who she is once she is reassured of her decision.

"Anne, do you love his majesty?" Mary asked, to which Anne immediately nodded.

"Are you happy that Christian and Alice will finally be afforded their rightful and official status as royal children and placed in the line of succession?" she asked, to which Anne too nodded.

"I just worry, Mary. What if agreeing to return was a mistake? You know how Henry is, he blows hot, he blows cold. Who's to say he'll never turn back on his promises to me now?" Anne said, she knew that there was a chance that her return would not work out, that she might be worse off than when she had left. "I've been away for over a year and as short as that may seem, I've changed Mary. What if I am not cut out for court any more?"

"Don't be ridiculous Anne, we've been bred for court, we grew up in court and its all we've ever known." Mary said, "Do not worry to much Anne, the king knows you've changed and he knows what will happen if he breaks his word and promises to you this time. If you the way you handled him is any indication, I'd say you'd fare just fine once we're back at court and, if you for some reason have forgotten your courtly ways, then we will learn together." Mary added. She knew her sister had changed, she could see it in her demeanor, the twins and life away from court and their scheming father and uncle and other courtiers had allowed Anne to finally realize who she is outside of court, aside from being a noblewoman; she had realized that she could put her own ideas and help others in her own way and because of that, she had gathered the love and respect of the people of Pembroke and the towns close to it.

"Thank you, sister." Anne said as she took her sister's hand and squeezed it as a sign of her gratefulness that her sister was with her right now.

The two sisters smiled at one another and spoke no more, both wondering what awaits them once they arrive in Whitehall.

It was afternoon when they arrived in Whitehall Palace and Anne could hear Elizabeth's page shouting for people to make way for her carriage and then for her own.

Once their carriage had stopped, Anne let her sister step out of the carriage first followed by her, soon she and her ladies were being escorted to the audience chamber where Henry and the rest of court would no doubt be waiting for her.

Once she and her ladies were facing the door to the audience chamber, she heard someone announce her arrival 'Anne Boleyn, Queen of England and Duchess of Pembroke', she had not missed the fact that the page had used the title of 'Queen' along her name, she was sure that Henry had instructed him to do so in order to declare to everyone present that she had held on to that title even when she had gone away.

When the door finally opened, Anne and her ladies began their walk to the front where Henry would be waiting to receive her. She noticed that there were many faces around her, awaiting her return and possibly waiting to see how the King would treat her no doubt, but she only cared for one: Henry's.

Anne smiled and curtsied to Henry before speaking, "You majesty." Henry immediately approached her and helped her up before kissing both her cheeks.

"Anne, my love." Henry said as he took in her appearance and noted that while she looked a bit tired from the journey, she was still radiant. "How was your trip?" he asked.

"The journey was fine as can be when traveling with two infants." Anne said smiling as she heard one of the twins fussing about-Alice, no doubt- at being woken from her nap by the sudden movements of her nursemaid.

Turning to where the nursemaids of the twins stood carrying them, Henry immediately took Alice, who was crying at this point, from her nurse and carried her himself while he took Anne's hand in his free one, "My sweet Alice" Henry spoke, Anne did not hear much but she knew that he was speaking words of endearment to their youngest daughter in order to soothe her.

Henry had found out the hard way that the worse thing he could possibly to do Alice is to wake her up from her sleep. Alice had cried her lungs out and would not be consoled until Anne and soothed her. Anne then told him of Alice's peculiar habit of not wanting to be touched by the person who had woken her and would cry until someone else arrived.

When Alice had calmed down, Henry returned her to her nursemaid and then proceeded to carry his son, "Christian, my son." Henry said as he lifted the boy in his arms. Compared to his sister, Christian was calm and observing his new surrounding.

Whether Henry noticed or not, his courtiers seemed to stare at the two children that had accompanied Anne, for some it was a clear indication that they should once again gladly ally themselves with the Howards and the Boleyns while for others, it meant that they should now start seeking the support of the Queen and the Boleyns, when before they had ignored them and supported the Lady Mary, But now, Lady Mary is dead and with Anne blessed with two more children, it was clear to others that the King has deemed his marriage to Anne as blessed by God even if they had led to living separately under the thought that they were divorced when the truth was otherwise.

With Christian still in his arms, Henry led Anne to where their thrones were and, before sitting down, "Let it be known that today, my family is once more united and complete!" Henry said as the courtiers looked at him and bowed in understanding: Anne Boleyn is back and this time, there is no one to dispute her claim as Queen.

After their return to court, Anne's ladies had busied themselves with preparing the Queen's room and arranging her belongings while Anne and Henry together with Mary and George walked over to the nursery to see how the twins were settling and to see Elizabeth too.

Anne pointedly ignored the way the courtiers around them made way for them and bowed and curtsied, whether they were showing respect for her or for Henry, she did not know, nor did she care. Right now, her main concern was making sure that her children were settling in smoothly.

Upon their arrival in the nursery, the ladies flitting about unpacking and placing the children's things where they should be immediately stopped and curtsied to them and once the King had instructed them to rise, immediately went about their duties

Anne then noticed Lady Bryan who was overseeing some of the new ladies that were now placed in the royal nursery from Pembroke who had been initially charged with the care of Alice and Christian.

"Lady Bryan" Anne spoke, causing the Head Governess to turn around and curtsy, "Where are the children?" she asked.

"They are in their rooms, your majesties, I had them placed there while everything here is being settled." Lady Bryan said.

The Nursery had housed only one royal child for a long time and so, immediately after the arrival of the Princess Elizabeth along with the royal twins, Lady Bryan had instructed the ladies under her guidance to prepare the additional accommodations. She was quite glad that the King had seen it fit to have two cradles be brought in along with additional trunks and cabinets for the belongings of the twins, but there were still so much to do and so Lady Bryan had taken it under her responsibilities to see to it that the nursery would be equally divided amongst the three royal siblings.

Nodding, Anne and Henry immediately went to the designated room of the children while Mary and George remained with Lady Bryan.

Anne and Henry were touched by the scene that greeted them; Elizabeth was standing in front of the windows while two ladies carried each of the twins as Elizabeth carefully talked to her siblings, "You see that big pond over there Christian and Alice? We'll go there and count the fishes! There are lots and lots of them and mummy will go with us!" they heard her say as she pointed one finger toward the pond.

Henry smiled, he had not felt this happy in a long time, his precious little jewel was back and happy, he had Anne back and he had his two young children with him. As carefully as he could, he walked over signalling the ladies to keep quiet as he surprised Elizabeth by suddenly lifting her in his arms to which he delighted in her childish squeal of surprise.

"Papa!" Elizabeth said as she faced her father, "You startled me!" she said, giggling.

"Well my precious jewel, I am truly sorry for startling you." Henry said smiling, "How are you today?" he asked, he had not been able to talk to his daughter upon her arrival as the welcome ceremony had been a quick one and he, Anne along with the council and Anne's family went to a meeting that would reinstate Anne as Queen Consort once more.

"I am well papa, I am very happy that Alice and Christian are here now! I can show them the pond, and the garden and all my favorite places!" Elizabeth said, she was happy that her mama and papa were together again and she hoped that they would stay together, she was also excited that her siblings were now with her at Whitehall.

After conversing a bit more with Elizabeth, Henry took hold of Christian in his arms and talked to the child even though he knew that Christian could barely speak and were still just beginning to form words with random sounds. Henry revelled in the feeling of having a son in his arms, a healthy son, a son that was the product of him and Anne.

Henry watched as Anne carried Alice in her arms and sat beside Elizabeth, he watched as his daughters and their mother interact fondly with one another, he watched as Anne laughed at Elizabeth's ever curious questions and answer them as diligently as he could.

As Henry approached his family, he realized that this was what love and happiness felt like, and with that feeling, came contentment.

AN: Well this took a while, didn't it? I had a bit of difficulty putting this chapter into words and because I was procrastinating and studying a lot! Midterms are over and the influx of reports and papers I had to do have finally died down (at least for now) so I was able to finish this up!

Anne is officially back and while there is some uncertainty with Anne's current position, there is no doubt that she is Queen, at least in this story! I know this chapter seems random (is it?) and a bit fluffy and cheesy but you know how our dear King Henry is, he'll ignore the past if it gets him what he wants and in this story, they've decided to try to make it work once more..

I'm rambling and explaining too much aren't I? Anyway!

This is quite a short chapter but I feel that it will serve its purpose in order for the flow of the next chapters! I wonder how I will end this story? I always knew what ending I wanted but now I have a few other ideas so I am having a hard time deciding.. Oh well, I'll probably decide that when the chapter comes. :)

As I said before, I plan to make this story about no more than 15 or 20 chapters but most likely it will be 15. I have a few ideas but I'd like to hear your suggestion! :)

On a personal note, my birthday just came up (last 18) and I just realized that this was the first time I did not have any plan to celebrate it! I usually have a party with my friends (my birthday is drunk birthday- cause someone or a few someones always end up passed out in the bathroom or in a corner of the house) but I seriously didn't plan anything this year and I feel okay with that...

I can feel myself ageing just as I typed those words down guys... :p

Thanks to everyone to still stayed with this story! I would love to hear from you! :)

xx

unamedhpauthor