#Katherine Howard likely didn’t even know her cousin had been beheade

[herstorshe]

Why Catherine Howard Was Not Just a "Stupid Teenager"

TRIGGER WARNING: Discusses and mentions sexual abuse & harassment, r*pe, and childhood abuse

Catherine Howard, out of Henry VIII’s wives, is generally considered a stupid “bad girl”. In the last few years, this idea has come into question, partially due to the modern Me Too movement of women calling out men for sexual harassment and abuse.

Catherine usually gets this reputation from her series of sexual and/or romantic affairs, both premarital and not. This was the reason she was eventually beheaded on February 13, 1542.

There were three noted affairs that Catherine likely had. The first two were before she married Henry, while she was staying at her step-grandmother’s boarding house due to her being an orphan.

The first affair was when Catherine was about 13, with her music teacher Henry Mannox, who was at least in his twenties and probably in his thirties. We do not know if the two actually slept together, but there was definitely some sort of romance between them. It is unclear if this relationship was consensual or not, but we can guess that it probably was not, considering the fact that Catherine was so young and Henry was so old. This relationship occurred because the Dowager Duchess, Catherine’s step-grandmother, hardly supervised the many young girls who were in her care at all, resulting in men coming into their private chambers at night.

The second affair was when Catherine was about 16, with Francis Dereham, the Dowager’s secretary. Allegedly, they called each other “husband” and “wife”, and Francis entrusted Catherine with several wifely duties, such as keeping track of his money when he was away. Catherine and Francis both admitted later on that they did sleep together. Their relationship ended about a year later, when the Dowager Duchess found out. Francis was sent away to Ireland, and he and Catherine may have had intentions to marry once he returned. If they did exchange vows before sleeping together, they would technically be considered wed. Catherine later maintained that Francis had raped her, however.

Catherine’s uncle found her a place in Henry’s wife, Anne of Cleves’s, household, as he knew that Henry was losing interest in his fourth wife, and Catherine was known for her beauty. Henry’s eyes soon fell on her and he divorced Anne of Cleves.

Catherine married King Henry VIII in July 1540. She was probably about 17, and Henry was 49. During her marriage, Catherine may have been romantically or sexually involved with one of Henry’s courtiers, Thomas Culpeper. She may have considered marrying him before Henry proposed to her. The two were allegedly having secret meetings in Spring 1541, supposedly arranged by Jane Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies in waiting, as well as the widow of Catherine’s cousin, George Boleyn (brother of Anne Boleyn). Soon, all of this came to Henry’s attention and Catherine was sent to the tower of London and beheaded.

Here are the reasons that Catherine Howard wasn’t just a “stupid teenager.”

Women had very little power back then. Women were blatantly taught that they were inferior to men, and men were taught that they were superior to women. Women also had no legal rights.

Catherine especially had very little power. Catherine was a teenage orphan who had never had a good parental figure, and was not very well educated. She was noble, but poor. Until she was queen, men probably didn’t have hardly any regard for her, and so they would not feel guilty if they hurt her.

She was a child. What would we think of a 13-year old orphan having a romantic and possibly even sexual relationship with her much older music teacher today? Sounds pretty suspect, right? Catherine was quite young in all of her relationships, and was significantly younger than at least 2 of the men she had relationships with (Henry Mannox and Henry VIII).

Catherine said that she was raped by Francis Dereham. During Catherine’s trials, she quickly claimed that there had been no marital contract between her and Dereham, maintaining that he had raped her. Why don’t we believe her? The fact that many don’t believe this claim of hers would not be considered fair if this had happened in the modern era.

Sexual abuse and rape are still very common today, and women had even less power then. Even now, rape and other forms of sexual abuse are still very common, due to the continual systemic patriarchy. And then, women had even less rights. Of course sexual abuse was quite common then, even if the history books don’t call it that. People had different ideas of right and wrong back then, especially when it came to conduct with women. We need to take what men back then said with a grain of salt when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse. They did not have a fair understanding of what was fair in these cases.

Everyone says you can’t look back at the past with today’s eyes. But I argue that in some cases you do. If it is on the issue of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc, we need to consider it with today’s standards because primary sources from times in the past are often very prejudiced.

Catherine was a young girl who had gone through a lot before she was even 15 years old. Her mother died when she was very young and her father abandoned her soon after, sending her to an unsupervised boarding house where she was harassed and probably assaulted. She never had a good parental figure, and she was pushed around by men her whole life. She didn’t even make it to 20 years old, being executed for something that wasn’t even her fault.

Sexual Abuse & Harassment Resources

Sending love to everyone. You are not alone.

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Donate to Rainn, anti-sexual abuse nonprofit: https://donate.rainn.org/

The K Howard Project (anonymous forum + support group for survivors): https://thekhowardproject.weebly.com

Resources (Many of these include very triggering content!)

“Catherine Howard.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. URL.

“Katherine Howard: Vixen or victim?” The History Press. URL.

“Tudor women.” Geni. URL.

“The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Part 2.” History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday. Youtube. URL.

[maxiskindahere]

Love november week 2!!

ive been sad and stressed all week so i’m sorry if this ones bad i am trying my hardest:)

cant remember if i did parrlyn or araleyn but now it’s Parrward, Clevemour & Araleyn, because i’m built different

~

Beheaded cousin fluff, takes part after the fic where Kit took Anne’s choker-

i don’t remember the name

i’ll put the link here when i find it

https://whoopsitsmax.tumblr.com/post/631960149214494721/angst-october-day-14

~

For the next few days, tension surrounded the house.

Whenever Katherine was in a room, Anne left, whenever it was dinner time, Anne would eat in her room.

It had gotten so bad that the Queens had awoken to screams during the nights once again, from both Queens.

Anne always use to help calm Kitty down; considering she was the only one who understood it, but now? she stayed in her room, longing to console her cousin but she still felt upset with the girl, and it would do more harm than good.

Anne sighs as she leaves her room, a red mark clear on her neck as she walks downstairs. The girl had a nightmare the previous night, screaming in sync with Katherine - which wasn’t uncommon for the Queens - which led to the other Queens not hearing her.

The girl holds her - very broken -choker in her hands tightly as it gave her some sort of comfort, before she entering the kitchen, ignoring the look she got when the Queens finally realised she entered without leaving immediately.

“Anne, what are you doing up?” Catalina hesitatingly asks, as the other Queens stay quiet, “I’m just getting water, I’ll be gone as soon as I get it.” Anne mutters as she gets a glass down from the press, her back turned to the group

“What happened your neck?” Jane asks softly, now noticing the red marks around it, Anne shrugs “The usual, it’s fine though.” Anne replies softly, Katherine scoffs under her breath but Anne hears her and turns around with an annoyed look on her face “What’s your issue, Katherine?” Anne questions the girl, who freezes up realising Anne was actually talking to her

“You had a nightmare.” Katherine points out as Anne claps sarcastically “10 points to the teenager.” She says rolling her eyes and going to fill up her glass “You shouldn’t be rude, Anne, she’s just trying to help.” Cathy says in defense of her girlfriend, setting the second Queen off as she turns around and glares at the survivor

“First of all, Catherine, I’m allowed to be rude after what she said, second of all, where was this ‘help’ when I was being harassed by the interviewer for not wearing my choker? where was this ‘help’ when she broke my choker?” Anne sneers as Catalina and Jane stare at each other, not knowing what to do

“Annie, she has a point, I’m just trying to help.” Katherine says softly, not wanting to anger her cousin anymore, “It’s Boleyn or Anne to you, Howard.” Anne hisses as she redirects her glare towards Katherine, who frowns at this

“Hey, babes let’s go back to your room, okay?” Catalina says softly, as Anne sighs, looking at the girl she admires, before grabbing her water and storming out of the room, before Catalina could follow Jane stops her, shaking her head softly

Catty sighs before looking towards her goddaughter “are you trying to make matters worse?” She questions genuinely wondering what is going through Cathys mind

“No, but it’s unfair on how she’s being to Kitty, it wasn’t even that bad.” Cathy says defending her actions as Kitty shakes her head “It was, don’t you see how she’s bringing her broken choker around and not even leaving the house? I fucked up big time, Cath.” She mumbles as she plays with her hair

“Have you tried talking to her?” Anna questions, speaking up for the first time, she didn’t condone Kits actions but dear god did she want everything to be cool again.

“She ignores me.” Kitty says in defeat, before the Queens here a smash of glass in Anne’s room, followed by a loud scream of curse words, before it went completely silent, “Kit, go check on her.” Jane demands, leaving no room for protests as she physically drags Kit to Anne’s room

Katherine hesitantly opens the door to see her cousin crying into her knees, bloody glass on the floor, “..Anne?” Katherine starts softly, “Fuck off, Katherine.” Anne whispers tearily, but Katherine shakes her head before sitting down next to Anne

“I said fuck off.” Anne mumbles, wiping her tears away, looking up at Katherine “You said it before, us cousins got to stick together, even if you hate me.” Katherine says with a weak smile

“I don’t hate you, chatte, I hate what you said and i’m upset that you broke my choker.” Anne says, now staring down at the ground, avoiding eye contact, “I’m sorry.” Kit whispers softly, pulling out a choker - which she had bought for Anne a few days prior - from her pocket

“I got you this as an apology.” She says as she places it on the floor infront of Anne, who hesitates before picking it up “Thank you, you’re not forgiven completely but.. thank you ” Anne mumbles before smiling softly at her cousin, “wanna put it on for me?” She asks, Kitty smiles widely before nodding, quickly putting the choker on Anne’s neck, covering the scar

“Janes gonna be pissed when she realises I broke the glass.” Anne says after a moment of silence “Probably.” Kit agrees with a soft laugh “Want to head down?” Anne asks with a smile, Kit nods before grinning “race you there.” She challenges before racing out of the room, Anne let out a gasp before racing down after her, laughter laughing the stairs

“Kit! that was so unfair!” Anne complains as the girls reach the kitchen, “You two make up?” Jane asks with a smile as she sees the two together

“she’s not forgiven but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

~

i’m so tired rn lmaooo

sorry it’s bad

[alexeiadrae]

All You Wanna Do, Katherine Howard’s song from Six the Musical hit me in the face with how the narrative on Katherine Howard, Henry VIII”s fifth wife, has been mishandled through the centuries.

Admittedly, I haven’t read much on her, other than Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser’s accounts of her life in their anthologies on Henry VIII’s wives and having her pop up in biographies of other figures from the time that I have read, and when I visited London and toured the Tower of London the tour guide believed that she was guilty. Alison Weir’s and Antonia Fraser’s portrayals of Katherine Howard were so different that it left me without a good feel for what happened. And I’ve since heard so many conflicting things about whether or not she was guilty of adultery that it’s hard to know what to believe.

Yet there are some facts, as this song shows, that makes the true horror of Katherine Howard’s story obvious, though admittedly it’s only in our very recent modern times that we can even begin to describe what happened to her. And the facts are that from the time Katherine was 13, she was groomed and molested by men who were much older than her and eventually executed for it.

Katherine Howard was a cousin of Anne Boleyn but from much less fortunate circumstances (she was also a more distant cousin of Jane Seymour). Her parents had so many children that her father could not afford to provide for them and had to send her away to live with a Dowager Duchess who neglected her, and she was poorly supervised and protected as a result. When I’d read accounts of her life before she was married the age of Mannox never came up. It was only in 2005 that a biographer posted the idea that he’d groomed and abused Katherine, and given how young Katherine was and how she describes Mannox’s behavior towards her, I have to agree.

Katherine later became involved with Francis Dereham and may have had a marriage contract with him. The details of what happened, though, are murky, though I have read reports that Katherine said that Dereham raped her.

When Henry met Katherine, he was entranced and infatuated. He was 49 when he married her. She could not have been more than 17, and possibly she was as young as 15. And like any young woman who attracted his attention, her ability to say no was limited. I’ve never really gotten a feel for how she felt about marrying him in the sources I’ve read, but Henry was past his prime, old, with hideous leg ulcers and rather obese. By then his temper was violent and unpredictable. Draw your own conclusions about how likely it was that Katherine Howard desired the match.

Once married, Katherine supposedly became intimate with a courtier named Thomas Culpepper. Here I don’t know what to believe. I’ve read accounts that she slept with him, accounts that said she didn’t, I’ve read that Culpepper raped her, I read that she refused to sleep with him so Culpepper went to Henry and told him Katherine was in love with him (this one I have a hard time believing. Culpepper was also executed, and Culpepper would have had to know that if Henry found out that he was involved with his wife then it would have been a death sentence for him, so if this one is true then Culpepper was extremely stupid). I’ve also read that the issue was not whether or not Katherine had sex with someone after she married Henry, but that she had sex with Francis Dereham before she married Henry and that it was considered treasonous that she did not reveal that to Henry. In fact, Katherine’s history with Dereham lead to people blackmailing her for their silence, which lends credence to this. Further, Dereham was also executed, even though as far as I know his contact with Katherine happened before she married Henry.

Whatever happened, the facts that we do have show that from a very young age, Katherine was groomed, molested, possibly raped, married to a much older man and thrust into a role she was never prepared for, and then beheaded when she was no older than 19 by her fifty year old husband. 

Whatever happened, this time it seems as if Henry believed the charges against his wife as he was completely distraught that his newest plaything had been touched by another pair of hands (here is the world’s tiniest violin...)

As for Katherine, she was hysterical in proclaiming her innocence. Yet she came to accept the inevitable. She asked to have the block she would be executed on put in her chambers so she could practice placing her head on it just right.

While in the context of the time that Katherine Howard lived in we can understand the treatment she received and how it was sanctioned in the time she lived in. It does not mean that it was right. While we still have a long way to go in terms of protecting children from predatory adults, this shows how far we’ve come. And I also think that whether than debating whether or not Katherine was innocent or guilty, the focus needs to be on how impossible, harmful and unfair her situation was. There was no justice in beheading a teenager who had been mistreated by a series of much older men.

All You Wanna Do is a powerful song that challenges the narrative that asks the question: was Katherine innocent or guilty? The true narrative is how Katherine was molested and abused her whole life and then executed for it. I hope that future historians and biographers will be mindful of this when telling her story. There’s another animatic for this song that is rather good, so I will include it here.

[secondbutthole]

Another Light || Memories Lie

“Knew you’d mess up eventually.” That was the voice of her step-grandmother that spoke then, Agnes circling around Katherine with a small click of her tongue. “Stupid girl. You really can’t keep yourself behaved for more than one minute, can you? First being promiscuous with two men while you were in my care and one other out of wedlock, and now keeping your unlady-like temper in check. You put the Howard’s name in shame.”

It was true, wasn’t it? Katherine squirmed in her seat, the wood panelling glowing a soft orange from the small candle lit in front of her. She wanted to say something, to apologise for not living up to her step-grandmothers wishes, but she found herself unable to speak. She was ashamed of herself, of the woman she had been and the woman she is now.

“It can’t be helped, I suppose. Still, I don’t believe I raised you to be such a whore.” Agnes sighed, taking a seat on her chair with a small frown. She locked eyes with Katherine, her dull and lifeless gaze terrifying the youngest queen and sending chills down her spine. “What to do with you, Kitty?” The nickname made her wince- how did she know it?

And then the scene changed. She was in front of all the queens now. They were sat on a dining table like one from the castle, the five of them on one side- sitting like mannequins- while she sat on the other uselessly. Their faces were blank, mouths neutral and eyes devoid of anything. They each had their costumes on from the show, the only vivid thing in the entire scene whereas Katherine was just in the clothes she wore when she was working under the Dowager Duchess, a pale dress down to her toes and a bonnet with shackles and chains with Those Men’s names on them, weighing her down.

Panic was rising in her throat, unable to move any of her limbs as Catalina’s dead eyes bore into Katherine’s own.

“L-Lina,” She stuttered, breath coming in uneven as she tried to pitifully stand. “Please, I’m sorry—”

“Save it, Katherine,” She said coldly, palms placed down on the oak table to give her a more intimidating stance. “The others and I have been thinking and we don’t want you here anymore.

Jane continued on, “Anne and I don’t want to even consider you as family, which is fine by us frankly because you never were in the first place. I care for the other queens deeply but for me to even consider you a friend fills me with shame.” She spat. “It’s not in my interests to befriend some sluts.”

There was a pause as Katherine sniffed, wrists straining under the Dereham chain as she wanted to rub at her eyes, to get rid of the tears from her face. She couldn’t, and it was the most humiliating part.

“I regret knowing you.” Anna sighed. “In both lives. The only useful thing you did for me was taking Henry off of my hands. If I could take back the dance, knowing the type of person you are now? Then God knows that I would.”

“You ruined my life,” Was all that Cathy had said, and she didn’t even bother saying anything more. Katherine couldn’t blame her.

The only one that hadn’t spoken yet was Anne. Katherine couldn’t even look at her, choosing to look at the loose threads on her dress.

“I can’t believe I called you my cousin.” She didn’t sound as angry or upset as the other queens that spoke before. She sounded cold, lifeless almost, and it made her so uncomfortable. “At least when I got accused of adultery and got beheaded, I knew it was a lie. Can the same be said for you?”

“A-Annie, I didn’t want it, you helped me to realise—”

“Off with her head.” Anne had cut her off, and before she knew it, she was on her knees in front of the executioner. Her head was on the block, and the last thing she heard as the slash of the blade through the air—

And then she woke up.

Her pillow was soaked, her chest ached with the effort of trying to breathe, but she was awake and wasn’t that enough?

The queens words rang in her mind as she checked her phone for the time. Messages filled her screen from her family, but she could only ignore it and looked at the top of her screen. Three in the morning. She ought to go get some water and then she’ll just figure our what to do from there. Sleeping wasn’t an option and she wasn’t sure if going to the other’s room was appropriate- even if she wanted to. Tiktok was an option, she supposed, padding out of her room and going down into the kitchen.

Anne was there, getting some snacks of her own and it was then that the younger of the two cousins stiffened. “Annie,” She breathed, her eyes tearing up again.

Anne seemed surprised to see Katherine, and although she seemed a little nervous (which was so unlike her), she still offered that one hundred pound smile and opened her arms which the other queen uselessly tossed herself into with a loud sob. “I’m s-so sorry for all the hh-orrible things I’ve said,” She managed, hiding into the green queen’s dressing gown. “I d-didn’t mean any of it. I—I’m s-so scared and overwhelmed, Annie, please—”

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Anne shushed, kissing the top of her head soothingly and rocking them back and forth in the kitchen. “You want to tell me about what’s going on, Kit? Please? We’re all so worried for you…”

“Anne, I can’t…” Katherine pulled away sadly, rubbing at her tired eyes and moving to the sink to fix herself a small glass of water. “I need to go back upstairs now.”

“Kitty? Katherine, come on,” She plead. “What’s gotten into you?” She didn’t get a response as Katherine moved upstairs again, just as quiet as she’d come in. Anne knew better than to push and prod, not wanting to be snapped at like just the day before, but she was just thankful that some progress had been made.

[sweetestrequiems]

Enough is Enough

Requested by: An anon as lovely as a sunrise. Thanks for sending a letter! 

Summary: Anne Boleyn and Catalina de Aragón tend to act all tough against each other on stage. But one night, something about Boleyn’s tone during the show had hit Aragón right in the heart. A knife felt as if it was stabbed and twisted into her chest. Boleyn comes to the realization her delivery might have been enough to hurt the Spanish queen.

Character(s): Aralyn (Catalina de Aragón / Anne Boleyn) (Yes, the other Queens are in this.)

TW: mentions of miscarriages, mention of Boleyn/Howard beheadings (“I had not one, not two, but three miscarriages!” / “Nice neck, by the way!”)

A/N: Y’all want angst? I’ll give it to you. But I have never written Aralyn in my life so this might end up more hurt/comfort than angst if anything, really. I really hope y’all don’t crucify me and throw me out to the wolves. I tried my best. 

Nuestra Señora de Providencia, la Virgen María... this IS hurt/comfort.  

Have mercy on me, Aralyn shippers. 

Tag List: @bchcadcd | @mindless-pidgeon

––––––––––

A normal show night for the six wives of the Tudor monarch tended to end in laughter with their ladies in waiting.

But on this peculiar night, that was not the case for one of the six wives.

The show had been progressing on as normal, until the end of All You Wanna Do, which did bring quite a heart wrenching reality into the show. And then came the fight Catherine Parr always had to break up. Normally, the ladies knew their tones and how to keep it lighter than the subject matter, but tonight felt off. And the feeling of being off came from the first and second wives of the Tudor monarch: the Spanish paragon, Catalina de Aragón, and the supposed mystery, Anne Boleyn. Was it just stress, or something else? They did not know. And quite frankly, they would probably never find out.

“Oh, okay. Fine, fine! But then, when Henry decided he had had enough of me, he didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye!”

“Same!” Responded the young Katherine Howard. She looks over to her cousin Anne Boleyn, who looked rather aggravated.

“Oh, yeah, same!” The brunette’s voice was laced with anger. “Nice neck by the way!” 

Something seemed to have hit Catalina in the heart when Anne so aggressively delivered what normally was Katherine’s line. With a gulp, the Spaniard knew she had to keep going. “Okay, alright. Well, now live up to this: when my one and only child had a raging fever, Henry didn't let me– her mother!– see–” The usual cut off from Jane Seymour. “Oh, boo hoo! Baby Mary had the chicken pox and YOU WEREN’T THERE to hold her hand? Ha, y’know, it’s funny... because when I wanted to hold my newborn son... I DIED!”

The slightly comedic cut in from Anna of Cleves. “Guys, I have the plague!” Followed by, “Lol, just kidding! My life’s amazing. But in defense of myself, I was humiliated on an international scale.” Anne Boleyn was just seeming slightly more snide with her deliveries today. And it all seemed to be pointed towards the Spanish queen. “Oh yeah! I can’t imagine what that must've felt like. Who else could possibly relate?!”

“Oh, pipe down Anne!” This was the more difficult part of the whole argument. This is what hurt Catalina the most to say, but tonight, the pain just hit her like a train. The mistresses bit came out just fine, but oh heavens, Anne went to take a full swing with her attitude. There was an angry smile on her face. “Well, I had not one, not two but three miscarriages!” Was Catalina not catching the hint about something? Or was Anne genuinely angry at her? She, quite frankly, could not tell.

So much so, that her confusion upon delivering the response line of her five miscarriages was a little weaker than usual. The other four queens had noticed this shift in Aragón’s tone from confident to slightly meek, and the aggression in Boleyn’s. They all glanced at each other, the concern carrying into the next moment, but nothing was physically said until the show was over. A hand grabbed Anne Boleyn’s shoulder, and tightly squeezed her until she turned around. Catherine Parr, who normally had to act as a mediator for the show, now had to do it outside of the show.

“Anne, what was that?” The sixth wife blinks, the concern coming back to her face. The second wife took one of her in-ears out, raising an eyebrow. “What are y’on about, mate? What d’you mean ‘what was that’? I’m fine.” In typical Boleyn fashion is how the brunette answered. With a soft sigh, Parr furrowed her eyebrows. “Anne, your delivery tonight of your lines? Extremely aggressive. Especially towards Catalina. What got into you?” This only got a shrug. “I was just doin’ my usual thing, Cathy. Relax, would you?”

“The usual for you isn’t unwarranted aggression we all felt, especially Catalina, and I’m quite sure of that! You need to find a way to tone it down, Anne.”  The second wife gave a carefree shrug, humming to herself as she headed on past the sixth wife. With a bit of a miffed sigh, Parr just hoped Boleyn would maybe realize she was being a little too... calm about all of this. But to where as Boleyn was calm, Aragón was not. A rather concerned Seymour and Anna of Cleves were with the woman, trying to calm her down.

“Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said?”

“Nein! Du hast nichts falsch gemacht!” The fourth wife crossed her arms, a little aggravated her Spanish counterpart would blame herself for something so trivial. Most of her was willing to bet that Boleyn was experimenting with her delivery of lines and went too far, but a small part of her really thought there was true animosity between the two. She was aware the couple had been together, but she also knew they had trouble getting along at first because of the historical past. Maybe Boleyn had some suppressed anger from something? No one knew.

Cleves furrows her eyebrows, sitting down next to Seymour, opposite of Aragón. “You two haven’t fought recently, have you?” A shake of the head from the Spaniard. Her eyes looked a little defeated, and even Seymour could see the hurt. The confusion in the Spaniard’s eyes had the Englishwoman’s lip quivering into a pout almost. “Go talk to her, Lina,” the meek voice of the third wife somehow tended to bring comfort to even the most bothered of people. A tensed up first wife made eye contact with the fourth, and then the third, nodding. “I will, I promise.”

Of course, dinner that night at the household was rather... quiet. None of the queens were really talking much, but Aragón herself wasn’t at the dinner table. The first wife was eating dinner in her room, with a Netflix show playing as background noise. She wasn’t minding it much attention, because her mind was elsewhere. She kept trying to remember what she had done wrong, or even what her and Boleyn had recently argued about. Nothing could come to her mind. She was humble, loyal, and really tried to swallow her pride all along. A knock came to the bedroom door.

Probably Seymour, so Aragón allowed for whoever it was to come in.

She was not expecting for it to be her partner.

“Lina...” The second wife seemed to have guilt written all over her face. “I came to check on you... since you were talking to Anna and Jane earlier, I didn't want to interrupt.” A nervous smile. Boleyn must’ve began feeling the weight of her guilt in the realization Parr had hit her with much earlier that evening. “Lina, I’m sorry–”

“Did I do something wrong, Anne?”

There it was. The hurt and confusion reflecting in Aragón’s eyes, and it made Boleyn feel but the worst, too. Maybe, just maybe... she should have warned her partner she was going to try and change the delivery of her lines. Almost immediately, the second Tudor wife paced over to the first and pulled her into a tight hug. “No, Lina. No... no. You didn’t do anything wrong, I just impulsively do a lot of stupid stuff without telling other people.”

Silence. The embrace was warm. It was helping Catalina calm down.

“I changed my tone tonight because I wanted to try something. Seeing if maybe getting just a little more heated would add anything. I did it to Jane, and to Kat even. I didn’t realize though, it would actually feel like a stab in the heart to you. They weren’t very happy about it either, if it brings any comfort. But really, Lina, I’m so sorry...” The brunette gave her partner a kiss on the cheek. “I should’ve probably sat down and spoken about it. I would never actually intend to–”

“I know, Annie, I know. I’m just glad you managed to come and apologies about it.”

[thenamesreader]

If I Could Tell Her

Prompt: “So you do have feelings after all.”

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For the time Katherine Howard had known Anna of Cleves- both pre- and post-reincarnation- she had been the one to be neutral on most things. She was pretty chill and wasn’t one for drama. She exchanged witty banter with Anne every now and then and the two would come up with pranks together when they were in the mood.

Otherwise, Cleves didn’t show- well, it wasn’t to fair to say no emotions. Just rather little emotion when it came to certain things. From the few times Kat tried to talk about some rather intimate subjects or when the others tried to settle debates, Cleves didn’t have much to say.

So, when Kat had noticed Cleves being unusually flustered when around her, lately, it was more than off-putting. Kat had only seen her flustered once and that was after Anne had pulled a prank on her. She was quick to cover that up with a laugh and smile.

That smile that brightened up the whole room...

I’m getting off track, Kat told herself as she doodled in her notebook. She had been writing ideas for a song but she had tiny sketches of puppies and flowers in place of words, now.

“Kitty!” Anne’s voice called. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming!” Kat called back, before closing her notebook. She’ll figure out what was going on with Cleves later.

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“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kat asked.

She and Cleves had been left alone and Kat had decided to bake some cupcakes. Cleves had offered to help and was now looking at her while they baked in the oven with the softest look on her face while Kat cleaned up .

As soon as Kat spoke, Cleves’ face went red and she scratched at her chin. “I was just... thinking,” she answered, unusually hesitant.

“You shouldn’t scratch like that,” Kat responded, grabbing the German queen’s hand with both of her own as she noticed the nervous tick. “Is there something you wanna talk about?”

Cleves only glanced down at the floor. “Um, maybe later,” she told her.

Kat gave a small smile. “Okay.”

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Volleyball was one of Kat’s favorite sports. Especially when they went to the beach. Sure, it was almost rare with how far away it was from their home. But, it was summertime and that meant beach volleyball. And of course Anne had to know this. She was her older cousin after all.

She was playing 2v2 with Cathy (it was almost a wonder how she was coerced from reading) on one team while Kat played with Cleves on the opposing team. The German Queen proved to be rather competitive and a formidable player. Kat wasn’t that great at volleyball but what she lacked in skill she made up with sheer enthusiasm. It helped to beat Cathy and Anne in the game.

Anne complained about cheating, which Cleves and her younger cousin denied. The quarrel probably wouldn’t have been settled if Cathy hadn’t dragged Anne away to Jane and Aragon were.

“They cheated,” the beheaded Queen complained.

“Mhm,” was Cathy’s only response as she turned the page in her book.

Anne pouted before laying her head in Cathy’s lap. Cathy started to comb her fingers through Anne’s hair, relaxing her as Anne found Cleves and Kat back on the volleyball court. It seemed the German Queen was teaching Kat how to better her skills in volleyball with the way she was demonstrating the correct ready position. Kat copied her but apparently wasn’t still doing it incorrectly- Anne couldn’t see that well since she was too far away- since Cleves placed a hand on her back to correct her. Anne’s eyes narrowed as she noticed that her hand lingered a little too long before she moved away.

“What’s that face for?” Cathy asked as she closed her book.

Anne gestured to where Cleves and Kat were, the two now doing passing drills. She could hear Cleves shouting some type of encouragement as they played.

“What am I looking at?” Cathy inquired, seemingly confused.

“Watch,” was Anne’s only response.

The two were quiet as they watched the two other Queens as they passed the ball to each other. That wasn’t strange. But, then, Kat tripped as she went to go and pass the ball as it went out of the court and Cleves immediately went to help her up. That wasn’t strange, either. Cleves always helped Kat when something happened. Or tried at the very least. It all depended on the situation.

But, then, Cleves held Kat’s hand for too long. There was no reason for her to be holding her hand for how long she did after she helped Kat up.

“I don’t think I’m following,” Cathy spoke up.

Anne gave a sigh. “You can’t see that they’re smitten with each other?” She asked.

“Are they?” Cathy responded.

Anne chuckled as she leaned up to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek. “I love you, Cathy, but you can be so oblivious.”

Those two were madly in love and Anne was gonna prove it.

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Katherine had had enough. Apparently, everyone else had, too, considering that they had shut her and Cleves in a room together.

Cleves was continuously banging on the door, shouting what sounded like expletives in German and how much she was gonna kill them once she got out.

“They’re not going to let us out,” Kat told her.

Cleves growled. “They will if I have anything to say about it,” she huffed as she attempted to open the door again. After only a few minutes, she gave up and went to sit down next to Kat.

The two were quiet for a few moments, Cleves laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. It was interrupted as the German Queen started tapping her foot in a slow rhythm and humming to herself.

She had told Kat that she did it to psyche herself up when she got nervous after Kat had a nervous breakdown after one of their shows. Kat had tried it herself and it really did take her mind off of whatever was making her nervous. She knew in a moment that Cleves would start speaking to her.

“Can I talk to you about something?” She called just as the thought passed in Kat’s mind.

“What is it?” Kat turned toward her, laying on her stomach to be level with her.

She took notice of Cleves’ cheeks lighting up with a blush. “Have you... have you ever been in love before?” She asked.

Kat chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought. She had been young when she had died and all the... well, it wouldn’t be fair to call them partners or anything other than abusers. She wasn’t sure if she had any romantic attraction to any of them in her young innocent mind. She remembers having crushes on some others about her age between them all but that was it.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t experienced the rush of romantic attraction that Anne seemed so passionate about until she got reincarnated.

“Not before coming back,” she answered. “Why?

Cleves gave a sigh. “There’s this girl, okay?” She started.

Kat nodded for her to continue, feeling a bit of jealousy that someone else took Cleves affections. She squashed it down. It was unfair and unnecessary. She should be happy for her friend.

“She’s smart. And pretty,” Cleves continued. “She’s a bit of a gremlin, too.”

That sounded a lot like Anne. But, Anne was with Cathy. Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it was someone else she didn’t know that reminded her of Anne.

“I think she gets it from her cousin. But, that’s besides the point,” the German Queen said. “The point is I don’t know how I can tell her that I’m in love with her.”

Kat hummed. “I think you should just say it out right,” she told her. “The worst thing she can say is ‘no’.”

Cleves seemed to think before she turned over and looked down at Kat. “Katherine Howard, I don’t know I can say this any other way but I...”

She lowered her voice, mumbling something. An uncharacteristic trait for Anna. She was actually pretty loud. “I’m sorry. What was that?” Kat asked.

Cleves took a deep breath. “I said I’m...” she started mumbling again.

“Still can’t hear you.”

Cleves’ face became red with a blush as she clenched her eyes shut. “I said that I’m in love with you!”

Kat felt time stand still as she processed the words. That was why Cleves had been acting weird? That was why she was acting more flustered than usual?

“You’re in love with me?” Kat asked.

Cleves didn’t look at her as she nodded.

“Me?”

Cleves nodded again.

“Katherine Howard. Who is me. You’re in love with me.”

Cleves gave a small laugh. “Yes, you. I don’t know about any other Katherine Howards out there.”

“So, you do have feelings after all.” Kat whispered.

Cleves tilted her head a bit confused. “I don’t know if I should feel insulted by that or not.”

Kat turned over to look at the ceiling. “Hold on,” she told Cleves. “I need a bit more time to process.”

“Take all the time you need,” Cleves responded.

Wow. Everything made sense, now. She didn’t have to be jealous of anyone (even though she shouldn’t have in the first place). She didn’t have to wait anymore.

Kat steeled her resolve before turning back to look at Cleves. “Alright,” she said. “I have something to tell you, too, but you’re going to come closer.” 

Cleves looked confused but she followed Kat’s instructions. Kat took a deep breath before she leaned in close to Cleves ear. “I love you, too,” she whispered.

“Really?” Cleves responded, seemingly shocked. A wide smile split her face as Kat nodded. She gave a very uncharacteristic girlish squeal- something Kat knew she would never get enough of anytime soon- as she wrapped her arms around the other girl and fell backwards, pulling Kat with her.

The two laughed with each other, delirious from their overwhelming feelings before stopping to stare in each other’s eyes. Cleves’ eyes searched Kat’s before she spoke again. “Can I kiss you?” She asked.

Kat already felt like she was falling more in love with her. “Go right ahead.”

Cleves hesitated a bit more looking Kat over a second time. From this, Kat knew she was making sure that she wasn’t uncomfortable. 

Good God, this woman was gonna be the death of her.

Cleves, finally, leaned forward and pressed her lips to Kat’s. It was soft- almost cautious in a way. Kat liked it. It was better than- was it fair to call all those others in her previous life kisses really?

Cleves pulled back and Kat was amused that she was the one with a dazed look. “Wow,” she breathed out. “That was the most amazing thing to happen in my life.”

Kat gave a small chuckle as she laid her head on Cleves’ chest. She was just content to lie in her embrace.

But, the moment was ruined as someone slammed the door open. Kat sat up to look up at the offender and found Anne standing in the doorway with Jane, Cathy, and Aragon.

Anne blinked, slowly. “Oh,” was all she said.

“Why did you bust down the door?” Cleves inquired, sounding a bit irritated as Kat was.

Aragon rolled her eyes as she gave a sigh. “Anne said you two should’ve come out by now and wanted to know what was going on.”

Kat narrowed her eyes at them. “How were we supposed to get out if we were locked in?”

“Spare key in one of the drawers,” Anne answered as she pointed at the dresser. A Cheshire-esque spread over her face as she looked them up and down. “You two seemed to have worked out your feelings. Aragon and Cathy owe me £16.”

“I thought we established that there would be no gambling in the house,” Jane scolded.

Anne gave a “tsk”. “We’re grown women, Jane. We can do whatever we want with our money.”

“I refuse to hand my money over to you,” Aragon muttered, not going unheard by Kat.

“You were betting money on us?” Cleves asked, sounding incredulous.

“Unfortuanately,” Cathy grumbled, seeming particularly grumpy about it. Her mood was changed as soon as Anne gave her a peck on her cheek.

“You’ll win next time, babe,” Anne told her.

“How come I didn’t know about this?” Cleves asked, sitting up with her arms still wrapped around Kat.

“Why would we tell you we were betting on you?” Anne retorted. “Kinda ruins the secrecy.”

“I probably would’ve confessed sooner if I knew my money was on the line.”

Anne gave a melodramatic gasp. “Is that all you see my little cousin as, Anna of Cleves?” Anne dramatically fell into Cathy’s arms. “Just a cheap prize to be won? The shame.”

Kat obviously knew she was joking but Cleves didn’t seem to get it as she began to panic. “Wait- I didn’t mean- that’s not-” she stuttered.

Kat gave a small smile before giving her a small peck. “She’s just messing around,” she told her.

Cleves calmed down but she looked embarrassed. “Right,” she murmured. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kat reassured her.

“Let’s leave them alone, now,” Jane told the others. “I think they’ve had enough of us for one day.”

Cathy picked Anne up as she stayed in her arms. “Up you go,” she muttered before carrying her away. “Congrats, you two.”

“We still have stuff to talk about, Cleves! This isn’t over!” Anne yelled from down from the hall.

“Pipe down, Anne,” came Aragon’s sharp quip.

“Bite me, Catherine.”

“Please, don’t fight. It’s ten o’clock at night.”

Kat shook her head. Anne really was something else. She gave a small yawn. She hadn’t realized how tired she was. Today was a bit wild.

“Hey,” Cleves called, Kat looking up at her. “Let’s go to sleep, yeah?”

Kat yawned again, not fighting as Cleves guided her to lay back down. “Sounds fun,” she mumbled. “Good night.”

Cleves gave her a kiss to the top of her head. “Good night, love.”

Kat gave a content sigh. This was going to be a wonderful, wonderful experience.

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Prompt swap with: @theatergirl06

A/N: Fact: This went through three title changes before I settled on the title. Also, I’m sorry in advance if the ending feels rushed to you. I’m not good at ending things.

[parrlyn-4life]

Freeze Your Brain

(Credit to the person who came up with the Six-Heathers crossover! I don’t know who they are but if they come across this, I hope you like it!)

(Ok, so, basically, it’s May 19. The day Anne Boleyn was exicuted. The queens were worried for Anne but she just stayed her usual self. Until they went to a 7-Eleven. Also, this is in college. I had a thought that ‘Anne’ is short for something. So, Anne’s full name is Annette. Don’t ask how the fork I came up with this. I don’t remember if I saw that hc somewhere but if you guys did, let me know if there’s that hc somewhere on Tumblr.)

Nicknames for the three Catherine’s/Katherine’s:

Aragon- Lina

Parr- Cathy

Howard-Kitty

TW: Swearing, mentions of scars, and mentions of cutting

______________________________________________

“Ok, what are the rules again?” Lina asked. 

The queens recited the rules for the fourth time this morning. Today was May 19. Anne’s deathday. They did the same thing every deathday: Recite rules until they remember the rules. They were all friends since kindergarten. Well, Lina, Cathy, and Anna were friends since kindergarten. They met Jane in first grade. Then Kitty in third. Kitty was in first grade when she met them. They took her under their wing. And then Anne in fifth. When they met Anne, it was sort of an accident. Cathy was helping the office with letters. She was told to bring a letter to a Boleyn. She didn’t know which Boleyn, since there were two in the school. They had combined the Elementary and Middle schools together but in different wings. Cathy went to Anne’s classroom, thinking the letter was hers. Cathy had asked for Anne. The teacher said there was no Anne in her class. Only an Annette. 

Anne had stood up and said, “My nickname is Anne. My full name is Annette.” Cathy turned around and looked at her. She gave her the letter and got out of the classroom, going back to her own. She had to admit, Anne was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Back to the present, everyone started to have breakfast. Finally, Anne had woke up. Everyone looked at her.

“Morning, babe,” Cathy said to her girlfriend. Anne smiled. No tear tracks, she made an effort to get ready, and there was no redness around her neck like when it was Kitty’s deathday... Did Anne even know what day it was?

“Do you know what tod-” Jane was about to say before she saw Anna glaring at her. “I mean... Do you know what you want for breakfast, Anne?” Jane ended up saying. 

“I’ll have a strawberry smoothie, Jane!” Anne said while sitting down at the counter. 

“So, what are you guys doing today?” Kitty asked. 

“I’m going for a walk in the park with Lina!” Jane said, smiling at Lina. Lina smiled back.

“I’m going to watch a couple of movies with Kitty,” Anna said. Kitty cheered.

“And I’m staying with Anne,” Cathy said, looking at Anne. Anne winced.

“Sorry, babe... I’m spending my day at 7-Eleven...” Anne said, looking back at Cathy.

“Anne, you always go to 7-Eleven on this day for the past three years!” Anna said. It was true. The queens had been reincarnated in the year 2017. Now it was 2020.

“I know... But a tradition is a tradition! So I say, I’m going!” Anne said with determination in her eyes.

“Mind if we tag along?” Kitty asked, knowing the rule: If someone were to go out on their deathday, the others would have to go with them so that they won’t do anything stupid. Anne smiled.

“Sure!” She said.

______________________________________________

“WE’RE ONE OF A KIND, NO CATEGORY! TOO MANY YEARS, LOST IN HIS STORY!” Everyone screamed sang. They were on their way to the 7-Eleven near their college. They had put on an audio of their song and sang. Loudly. “WE’RE FREE TO TAKE OUR CROWNING GLORY! FOR TWO MORE MINUTES... WE’RE SIX! WOAH, WOAH, WE’RE SIX! WOAH, OH, OH! WE’RE SIX! WOAH, WOAH!” They sang. 

“FOR FIVE,” Anna sang.

“FOUR,” Kitty sang.

“THREE,” Anne sang. 

“TWO,” Lina sang.

“ONE MORE MINUTE,” Cathy sang. They all started to make up dance moves for the music break.

“WE’RE SIX!” They all sang. Once the song finished, they were already at 7-Eleven. They were laughing as they got out of the car. It was at this time that Jane noticed that Anne was wearing a jacket... The weather was 83 degrees. Why would she be wearing a jacket in this heat? 

“Anne, aren’t you a bit hot in that jacket?” Jane asked as they walked into the 7-Eleven, which was empty, except for the people working at the registers.

“Nope!” Anne said before practically running to the slurpee machines. The others went after her. When they got there, Anne was already getting her slushy. 

“Anne, can I ask you a question?” Kitty asked. Anne nodded at her cousin as she finished getting her slushy.

“What is it?” Anne asked. Kitty looked at the others.

“I’m sorry...” Kitty whispered before looking at Anne again. “You came here two days ago and now you’re back here... Why?” Kitty asked. The others looked at Kitty and Anne. Anne sighed and looked at Kitty.

“Two days ago. 1536,” Anne said. They were confused. “Think about it!” Anne screamed before storming off, paying for the slurpee, and walking outside. The others got slurpees’ as well. They walked outside to where Anne was. She was sitting on the curb and sipping on her slurpee rather quickly.

“Annette Boleyn, don’t drink so fast! You’re going to get a brain freeze!” Jane said. Anne pulled away from the straw and shrugged.

“That’s, like, the whole point I wanted to come here,” Anne said.

“Annette, why are you being such a mega bitch?” Anna asked. Anne sighed.

“I’ve been through three deathdays... They start to get blurry,” Anne said. The queens looked at her. Anne looked at Kitty. “You really wanna know why I came here two days ago?” Then, Anne looked at the others. “Do you guys want to know why I’ve come here for the past three years on two seperate days?”

“You don’t have to tell us, babe,” Cathy said. Anne shook her head.

“No... I want to,” Anne said. The queens all looked at each other. Now the Anne they knew and loved was gone. They had never seen Anne this serious about anything. “Well... You guys know how I was accused of... Many things when I got beheaded?”

“Yeah...” Lina said.

“What does that have to do with this?” Anna asked. The others kept on asking questions, interupting Anne everytime she tried to answer a question.

“Well, if you all would just shut up and listen, it would help me a lot,” Anne snapped. They fell silent. None of them had been this scared of her before. “And you know how my brother was pulled into all of that, right?” Anne said, looking down at the pavement and taking a long sip of her slurpee. The queens thought for a moment before realizing.

“George’s deathday was two days ago...” Cathy said.

“Bingo,” Anne said, still looking at the pavement. They all fell silent. All they could hear was the slurping of them drinking their slurpee’s. “All I can trust is this concrete oasis. It seems every time I’m about to despair, there’s a 7-Eleven right there...” Anne said, breaking the silence. 

“What’s so special about this place, anyways?” Kitty asked, looking at the building behind her. Anne chuckled.

“Linoleum aisles that I love to get lost in...  I pray at my altar of slush,” Anne said. The others looked at her weirdly. She laughed.  “Yeah, I live for that sweet frozen rush!” 

“So... You come here for the slushies?” Anna asked, lifting up her slurpee cup and pointing at it. Anne nodded. 

“Freeze your brain... Swim in the ice, get lost in the pain. Shut your eyes tight till you vanish from sight. Let nothing remain!” Anne said before slurping her straw quickly.

“Annette, you’re going to get a brain freeze!” Lina said. Anne didn’t listen.

“Just let her do it, Lina...” Jane said to her girlfriend. Lina sighed and nodded. At the same time, Anne pulled off the straw quickly and grasped her head with her other hand. 

“Annie?” Cathy asked. Anne gave her a satisfactory smile.

“Freeze your brain... Shatter your skull, fight pain with more pain. Forget who you are, unburden your load. Forget in a day, you'll be back on the stage. When the voice in your head says you're better off dead...” Anne stopped herself before continuing. “Don't open a vein...” Anne whispered. 

“Anne?” Kitty asked. Anne didn’t hear her. She took off her jacket, revealing multiple scars on her arms. 

“Oh my gosh, Annie...” Cathy whispered. Anne let tears go down her face but kept a fake smile on her face.

“Just freeze your brain... Freeze your brain... Go on and freeze your brain...” Anne said before looking at the others. “Does anyone have any makeup remover?” Anne asked. Kitty passed her a wipe. She took it and wiped her neck. It took the others a second that Anne had put makeup on her neck. Why? To hide the redness around where her scar is.

“My god...” Anna said. Anne looked at all of them and pointed to her head.

“Try it,” Was all she said. They all took a long sip of their slushies. 

“Oh shit, there it is,” Cathy said while gripping her head. Everyone laughed but stopped immediately, having a brain freeze as well.

[qualquercoisa945]

“But He Loved You,” Over And Over, “He Loved You.”

AO3 Link

Title Inspiration- Burned Out by Dodie

happy birthday you bad bitch i missed you so much and also special thank you to @lailaliquorice for reading over this with me and being an actual angel with me asking for feedback, and @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts and @the-quiet-winds who were the first ones to read the one linked above- i really hope you two like this one

Trigger Warnings- Far more cursing than usual, mentions of abuse, denial of abuse, argument and shouting

“Well, you can’t really blame us for having trouble connecting when the only thing we all knew for sure that we had in common is that the same guy fell in love with us over five centuries ago.”

And there it was. The smoking gun that had Kath clench her fists and glare at the floor in front of her feet.

The six of them were hanging out in the living room after the last show of the week, and somehow, the topic had turned into how they interacted early into the show’s production period.

“It was all so awkward.” Kath let out a slightly forced chuckle at Anna’s groan- this topic was never one of her favorites to discuss, but she’d be fine so long as the topic moved on quickly enough.

But then Aragon spoke up.

“Well, you can’t really blame us for having trouble connecting when the only thing we all knew for sure that we had in common is that the same guy fell in love with us over five centuries ago.”

That line. That fucking line.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard it before- she had to hear it every time they performed a show. Still, the way it was phrased… she didn’t know exactly what about it bothered her, but jesus fuck did she hate it.

She let out a bitter chuckle, still not looking up. “Yeah, right, loved.” She mumbled out.

Within moments she felt everyone’s gazes on her. She tensed just a bit, then looked up. “What?” She asked, perhaps more forcefully than needed. “I’m not wrong!”

“Katherine,” Catherine began, using a firm tone usually reserved for Anne and, more rarely, Anna, that usually had Kath swallowing dryly as memories of dark hallways with cracked walls and harsh, low, threatening voices clouded her mind, but this time barely got more than a flinch, “what do you mean by that?”

Kath stared at her incredulously, then let out a disbelieving laugh. “Catherine, please. You don’t seriously believe the fucker loved us, do you?”

This had the other queens shocked, but Kath, instead of her usual gentle “are you alright?”s, simply raised an eyebrow. “Why’re you looking at me like that? It’s true!”

“Katherine.” Parr spoke up, staring at her with a calm sternness to her tone. “I think you need to calm down.”

“I think you lot need to stop treating me like a child!” She finally shouted, shooting to stand up. Everyone else was frozen in place, as if Kath’s shout had sent a wave of energy through the room that had paralyzed them.

“He didn’t love us.” She growled out sharply, turning to look at Aragon with a steely glare seldom seen in her eyes. “Like, Aragon, really? He married you because he needed the alliance with Spain. Don’t forget that your marriage with Arthur was also arranged. It was a political alliance, little more than that.”

Katherine watched as Catherine of Aragon, the queen that usually carried herself the tallest, all but shrunk into herself. Good, she thought, biting back a smirk. “And also, what kind of fucker throws someone away after 24 years of being married to them? Not to fucking mention the way, or better yet ways he exiled you and separated you and Mary, because then we’ll be here all fucking day.”

After one last, silent look exchange in between the eldest and youngest queens, Katherine turned to look at her cousin, who was staring back at her silently, almost as if studying her. “And Boleyn, holy fuck where do I begin with you? I mean, in between suppressing your opinions, the gaslighting, the arguments that frankly are a common factor to all of us but were especially bad with you because you dared-” she did sarcastic air quotes there, emphasizing the word- “to have your own opinions and voice them, and, you know, fucking beheading you, I don’t think I really need to explain why what he did was abuse.”

With a huff, she turned to face Seymour, who spoke before Katherine herself had the chance to. “Don’t. He did love m-”

“Fucking hell, open your fucking eyes, Seymour!” Katherine roared, her voice echoing across the otherwise silent living room as she glared daggers at her frien- her band mate. “He didn’t give a fuck about you until Edward was born. You went through the exact same shit that Boleyn did, but the difference is, you kept your head because you kept it low. Had Edward been a girl, I really doubt you’d still be known as ‘the only one he truly loved’.”

The two maintained eye contact for a while longer, Seymour’s eyes disbelieving while Katherine’s blazing, before the latter turned to look at Cleves, both glaring at each other with a steely gaze, as if they were mortal enemies and not people with a friendship lasting across multiple lifetimes. “And god, Cleves, please don’t tell me you think the fucker that publicly humiliated you by divorcing you because of something like your fucking looks after making you come over from a foreign country to another you knew nothing about loved you. I trust you to be smarter than that”

She immediately moved onto Parr, but was once again cut off. “That is enough, Howard.” Parr’s calm but stern tone was enough to at least make Katherine slow down. “You’ve said enough. I think it’s time you calm down now.”

Katherine stared at her incredulously, mouth slightly agape, before chuckling as she ran a hand through her hair. “God, Parr, I thought out of all of us, at least you would be willing to fucking listen to me for once.” She clenched her fists, ignoring the sting of her nails digging into her skin. “I mean, c’mon. You only married him because you’d die otherwise. At most, he wanted someone to entertain him. And don’t even get me started on the fact that he near-” “HOWARD!”

The shout, coming from the usually calmest and, most importantly, quietest queen, had all of them freezing up, Katherine included. She felt as if, all of a sudden, what she’d said throughout the evening had hit her, and when her brain processed what she had been about to say, she understood exactly why Parr was glaring at her, seething with a rage none of them had ever seen from her.

She took a deep breath, then huffed softly, swallowing the lump in her throat that she’d learned to recognize as a telltale sign of crying coming. “And considering I sing about it every night, I really doubt I need to explain that what he felt for me was anything more than lust.” She growled out, a low and rough sound, a distinct contrast to the girl’s usually high pitched and cheerful voice.

“So-” She cut herself off when she felt that same lump forming again, glaring sharply at the other queens. “So don’t tell me he loved us. Either you stayed quiet, looked pretty, and gave birth to a boy, or you were nothing to him. And that isn’t love.”

She gave one last look at the others, then spun around in her heels and walked out of the living room, storming up to her room and slamming the door behind her. As soon as the door was closed though, she flopped onto her bed, clinging onto her pillow as the tears and sobs she’d fought so hard to keep back finally started to make their way out of her body, exhausting her until she fell asleep.

[politics-notmything]

Peace is a lie - Episode one

(Peace is a lie)  (Help sheet)  (Episode one)

TW- violence, beheading, lightsaber battles and bad language

Catherine of Aragon moved her hand to grace the handle of the purple lightsaber resting on her belt. She glanced over at her partner, Jane Seymour who looked much calmer than she was. Jane had always been a peaceful one. Where Catherine would rather listen to the higher-ups and follow rules, Jane would follow her heart and that’s how they ended up coming back to the Jedi temple after their patrol with 2 force-sensitive children. Their names were Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. 

Katherine Howard was a shy girl with potential and when Aragon’s teaching failed to help her understand the ways of the force, Catherine of Aragon turned to Jane Seymour to help her. Jane took Katherine as her apprentice and taught her how the force controlled all things in the galaxy. 

When Katherine learnt about balance and peace, her older cousin Anne would train with Catherine of Aragon and her goddaughter, Catherine Parr.

Anne Boleyn was outgoing and everything a Jedi wasn’t. Her form was careless and her attack was sloppy. She lacked discipline and self-control and her movements and actions were chaotic. Anne would always act on instinct and she almost drove her master to madness. 

However, her best friend and training partner, Catherine Parr thought she was the greatest Padawan in the world. 

Catherine Parr was just like her godmother, she was top of the class, always focused and her form was flawless. She was perfect. 

Anne and Catherine’s first mission once they became Jedi, was to pick up a delivery of supplies on a small planet called Naboo. This is where our story begins. 

Catherine Parr had just finished unloading the last of the supplies onto their ship and noticed that the loading bay unusually quiet, 

“Annie?” Catherine boarded the ship only to find her best friend sleeping in the cockpit with her legs resting on the control panel. “Oh, my yoda- Annie! Aragon’s going to kill you!” 

“She can’t kill me, it isn’t the Jedi way,”  Anne grumbled as Catherine attempted to shove her feet back onto the floor. 

“We didn’t come all this way for you to sleep, Anne.” Catherine huffed, “I need your help to me make a deal with the supplier, Jane didn’t give me enough credits.” 

“And what should I do about it?” Anne grunted as she stood up to grab her lightsaber.

“Figure something out. Improvising is your area of expertise.” Catherine followed closely behind her friend. 

“That’s not the only thing I’m good at.” Anne shot Cathy a knowing wink as she exited their ship, “Let’s go, BD-6.” 

BD-6 was Anne’s droid. The BD unit is an exploration droid Designed to assist with exploration in remote and dangerous locations. So, it wasn’t much of a surprise that Anne found her small friend when investigating an imperial crash site with Katherine who later helped explain that BD-6 saved their lives when their ships’ hyperdrive started failing. 

BD-6 jumped onto Anne’s shoulder as she headed over to the Gungan who sold them the supplies. The Gungans are tall humanoid creatures with a flexible structure and strong leg muscles which allowed them to live in the waters of Naboo. However, they would often trade supplies with the Jedi in exchange for money and their protection. 

“Greetings-” Anne began, 

“Misa already know you have little credits.” The Gungan answered, “Misa know you are Jedi.” Anne looked over at Cathy who just shrugged. 

“So, do we have to pay?” Anne tried to bargin,

“Misa suggests you turn around.” The Guncan pointed behind them at their ship, 

‘Wait, what?!” Anne Boleyn turned around just in time to see a masked figure load their final crate of supplies onto a speeder bike and drive off, “son of a-!” 

Anne didn’t have time to ask questions, she didn’t even stop to hear what Cathy had to say before getting on a speeder bike of her own and chasing after the enemy. 

“I’m very sorry, but I have to go,” Cathy said farewell to the Gungan and quickly boarded the remaining speeder bike and went off to find Anne. 

She caught up to Annie pretty quickly and the sight she saw wasn’t what she hoped to see. Anne had acted on instinct and was now fighting the sith. There was no way Anne would survive this without help. 

beeooop..?

“BD-6,” Cathy rushed over to the droid sitting on the back of Anne’s stolen speeder bike. “Send a message back to Catherine and Jane, tell them that a Sith has intercepted our mission, Annie’s fighting it and we need help!” 

Anne Boleyn was way out of her depth, her green saber clashed with red and she felt weak as she was launched into the air for the second time. She could see Catherine Parr arrive in the corner of her eye and was obviously radioing something back to the Jedi council. Backup? Help? Anne would be killed if they ever found out about this. She needed to prove herself. 

Anne couldn’t stand being underestimated, she wasn’t weak like Aragon said she was. She was a Jedi. Why wouldn’t anyone see that?! 

The Boleyn girl decided to attack with everything she had. She started forming a plan and would try and confuse the inquisitor who went by the name of ‘Henry’. 

It was all Cathy’s fault… yes, Catherine Parr was always so good at everything, that was the only thing standing in the way of her and becoming a Jedi master. Catherine couldn’t do something like this! 

Wrong. 

Anne was distracted and was knocked back by Henry who was about to behead her when a blue lightsaber suddenly blocked her vision, Catherine Parr had joined into the fight. 

“I’ll kill you all!” Henry raged.

‘So much anger,’ Cathy force-pushed him away, she wasn’t good with one-to-one combat! “Annie?” Catherine glanced around the battle area, the only thing she saw was the inquisitor walking towards her, a sly look on his face as he spun the hilt of his lightsaber. 

Henry was gaining ground as Cathy stood in a ready position. She couldn’t let herself get consumed by fear! Fear was the path to the Dark side. Henry threw his helmet off and towered over her, red light was emitting all around them. This is it. 

Meanwhile, Anne watched from her deflated position on the floor. Her green lightsaber was out of reach and her best friend was about to be slaughtered by an inquisitor. Anne felt hopeless again, she was angry that they had got themselves into this situation, angry that she couldn’t do anything and feared for Cathy, she loved her! She wouldn’t let this happen. 

Anne Boleyn pushed herself up off the landing pad that the two were fighting on and limped over to the fight, she used the force to grab her lightsaber on the way. 

Catherine Parr was struggling to hold Henry off. She used her lightsaber to protect her from being beheaded but just wasn’t strong enough to hold it for much longer. Henry was pushing it back and Cathy started to feel like she was ready to die. 

A swoop of green light illuminated the area and Anne was running towards them. Henry didn’t have time to react before Anne leapt into the air and used the blade of her saber to slice into Henry’s shoulder. 

“Finally, a worthy opponent.” Henry force-pushed Catherine back into a nearby wall and readied himself to take on Boleyn. 

Anne was overcome by anger, she charged towards Henry and their lightsabers clashed! Anne jumped back and spun her lightsaber back to her ready position. Henry did the same and they ran at each other one last time. Anne jumped into the air in the last second to catch henry off-guard and it worked! By the time Henry realised her plan, he was surrounded by Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour.

“Anne, go see to Cathy, we can take it from here.” Jane ignited her blade, ready to fight. 

No….

“No!” Anne was high on adrenaline and had no intention of coming down, “This is my fight!” Anne Boleyn had changed, she wore a face of hatred and disgust, her eyes had turned a harsh yellow and she had sweat and blood seeping from her forehead. 

“Anne Boleyn, that’s an order-” 

“No! You never believed in me Catherine, now I’m going to prove why you should.” Anne force-pushed Aragon and Jane into the abandoned speeder bikes and directed her attention to Henry. “Let me show you how this ends.” 

Henry was scared, he had never seen this happen to a Jedi before and started to back away. This wasn’t the plan! Anne thrust out her open hand in his direction and Henry stopped moving. Anne was now in control of his every move and she was ready to kill. Boleyn used her free hand to ready her lightsaber and Henry couldn’t fight the force that held him in place. 

It was now Anne’s turn to do the killing, she let Henry go and he fell to the floor in a heap. Boleyn raised her lightsaber and a green light would be the last thing Henry saw before his head was removed from his shoulders. 

Anna of Cleves, couldn’t help but watch with a smile. This was all going to plan.

[excaliefur]

Cathy’s Relationships with the other Queens

DISCLAIMER:

I have written this around what Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have created, it is not 100% realistic in what happened in history. It is not written around any of the actors, they are not their characters. 

This can be read with platonic love, familial love or romantic love. Read it however you want. !They are not based on the actors! I cannot emphasize that enough!

Its a character study from my point of view, I may write some other fics about somethings I have mentioned here, I already have a plan for the Elizabeth Incident.

TW: Swear words and like some words that aren’t nice I guess?

Catherine of Aragon:

It’s a mother daughter relationship. They weren’t close in the past life since her father died early on in her life and her mother needed to be able to provide for them. Also because Catherine simply didn’t have time and she had other duties to do. Cathy heard a lot of stories about Aragon from her mother, Maud, Aragon’s lady in waiting. When Maud passed away, it killed her. But now in the reincarnation era, she could hear stories about Maud from Aragon. Besides that, they had helped each other a lot from the beginning.

Aragon helped Cathy when Cathy was facing writers block, nightmares, trauma, survivors guilt and many other things, she was a non judgmental figure who was there for her all the time, out of everyone, Cathy was probably the most open to Aragon. Cathy was a common sense filter for Aragon, when she needed to rant about her problems, when she needed another persons opinion, whenever she just needed a shoulder to cry on, Cathy was there for her. On quiet days, they can often be found together, just reading or softly discussing odd things. Aragon is teaching Cathy Latin, and its going well considering the fact that Cathy already knows Spanish, is learning French and German, and she is obsessed with William Shakespeares works. Cathy is helping Anna and Aragon improve their English. 

Anne Boleyn: 

Anne and Cathy had a lot in common. At the beginning, they barely acknowledged each others presence, they bonded when Kat ran away, and when Jane decided to take part in the annual prank war. Soon they were inseparable, they did everything together, they read together, ate together, analysed works of art and slept together (not that way, get your head out of the gutter) Cathy comforted Anne from nightmares and vice versa. That was before the Elizabeth incident. They don’t talk about it anymore. It took time for them to regain each others trust, but slowly they did. And their relationship regained the same level of closeness, maybe even closer. During prank wars, they are almost never allowed to work together, because of Anne’s intelligence partnered with Cathy’s common sense. They are a force to be reckoned with. Normally, Anne comes up with outlandish plans that go against all of science, and Cathy splits up the parts that wont work and fix them so they will. Anne then takes psychology in to hand and they both manipulate their targets right where they want them. Both of them are master manipulators, although Anne hates using it for evil. 

Cathy’s lies saved her life once and now she only uses it for good and she guides Anne as well. Contrary to popular belief. Anne Boleyn is very intelligent and very well rounded in many aspects. She does crosswords daily and she works with Cathy on puzzles and riddles that are very hard to crack. When they went for a team bonding escape room, Cathy and Anne worked out every puzzle. Anne loves to learn and especially with Cathy since Cathy never judges and already knows Annes capability, they are often found watching how do they do it or how is it made together. Sciences are their favourite subjects to learn together although both of them are highly skilled in the arts. Anne and Cathy have a plan to make a comic book series someday, although both of them are master procrastinators. Anne is teaching Cathy french. 

Jane Seymour:

Jane and Cathy had a lot of history, even without ever having met in their past lives. They both died the same ways and Cathy married Thomas Seymour, Jane’s brother. So they were sister in laws and married to the same guy. A bit awkward to talk about. They didn’t ignore each other but they weren’t fighting to spend time with each other. They got so bad that when they began to work on the musical, Cathy, the resident writer. Sat down with everyone individually to get their stories and they would work together to figure out which parts to keep in the musical and which to cut out, for a variety of reasons. But they avoided the conversation for months until the final deadline was approaching and they had nothing written down for Jane’s part. 

Catherine (Aragon) took things into her own hands and forced both of them to sit together and speak, she was there to make sure they stayed but once both of them broke down, she left them to talk. They both broke and started crying, Cathy and Jane had a talk and settled their differences. Now they have a sibling relationship, Cathy protects Jane and vice versa. Jane is often found dragging Cathy from her laptop and forcing her to sleep and cutting her off from coffee when she was close to a caffeine overdose. Cathy had overdosed several times, and every time, Jane had been by her side when she was given activated charcoal and was puking her guts out. Cathy was by Janes side when Jane regained bad memories and had panic attacks from mild fevers and sickness. Jane was terrible when anyone in the house was sick, so if she got sick. It was an all hands on deck situation to calm her and help her rest.

Anna of Cleves:

Anna and Cathy were surprisingly close, they met several times in their past lives, but it was much more formal then. Now they are frequently called the chill squad, they watch from the back seat as shit goes down. Aragon and Jane are the mum squad, Kat and Anne are the beheaded cousins and Anna and Cathy are the chill squad. Anna made witty comments as they watched Anne do something stupid and Kat laughed, and Cathy responded with comebacks as they watch Jane and Aragon yell at them. Anna and Cathy tend to be the laid back ones, and although they seem calm, if you mess with any of the queens, Anna and Cathy are the ones that respond the hardest. Anna has a short temper and is likely to want to yell until her voice is hoarse, which is horrifying and sure to scar anyone, however, Cathy usually comes up with a clever plan that costs the person more than their mental health. Likely their jobs or their marriage. Nothing too extreme. 

They also had their sensitive times. Anna had crippling self esteem issues. What Henry said and did in the past life, may not have seemed to hurt her, but it did; it hurt her bad and she felt awful. While she hid it. Cathy could see through her facade. And broke her down, just so they could rebuild, stronger than ever before. Cathy also had problems with survivors guilt, and who better to help her than another person in the same situation also with survivors guilt. They spent hours talking about stuff they could have done to help others. They ranted to each other, they yelled at each other, they cried to each other. They fought each other as coping mechanisms. Until Aragon found out. Aragon put a stop at those unhealthy coping mechanisms and one day all three of them made a trip to a gym. Aragon told them that they were going to learn boxing. It confused them but they agreed. They took boxing classes for 1 hour and 30 minutes each week and in a year, they were pretty well skilled. Now Cathy and Anna, when they feel overwhelmed by anything. Instead of taking it out on each other, they box fair and square. Cathy and Anna are best friends and can be seen in the gym practicing hard, or on the roof, stargazing and chilling. Cathy loves to learn new things and she spent hours with Anna just learning about Germany and German culture, it helped Anna relieve burden as well. Anna is teaching Cathy German now and Cathy is helping Anna improve her English. 

Katherine Howard:

Cathy and Kat were probably the closest from when they first met. In their first lives, Cathy met both Katherine Howard and Anna of Cleves when she was in Mary I’s household. Cathy is constantly by Kat’s side whenever she needs it. She is the only one who is allowed to call Kat kid. It used to be term of endearment but when Cathy accidentally called her kid, Kat felt safe. They have a sibling relationship where Cathy is the older over protective sister and Kat is the innocent, naive but scarred younger sister. Cathy is the kindest towards Kat than anyone else. She sort of stands behind Kat as Kat does some silly stuff looking intimidating and scaring anyone who would dare to mess with Kat. Kat is oblivious to all of it. Kat generally goes to Anne or Jane for anything to do with nightmares but Cathy is always ready to help her out. Often, neither of them get sleep so they have a Disney movie marathon until one of them fall asleep. 

Kat persuades Cathy away from work using cuddles and her puppy dog eyes. Often times at night when Kat can’t sleep she just enters Cathy’s room and watches her work. Those times Cathy also goes to sleep. Jane and Aragon’s secret weapon when they can’t get her off of her laptop and Anna can’t force her into her bed, is Kat. Cathy cannot say no to Kat. Anne became overly protective of Kat and refused to let her near Cathy during the Elizabeth incident, but Kat broke out of her grip and everyone made up. To this day, whenever anybody goes at Kat, calling her a sl*t or a wh*re, their life will be ruined by Cathy, as much as Cathy would love to deck them. She knows how to ruin somebody’s life by a single phone call. Although Cathy was extremely short, her glare could paralyse a grown man.

[annieetandreastudio]

Inspired by a fanfiction found on Wattpad called "A Second Chance"

Couple: Araleyn, Parrmour, Katanna

(but will only be mentioned very rarely, for those who do not like the couples that I propose or who do not see the queens ending up together)

* small definition

Catherine of Aragon:

I was lying on my bed that would soon become my deathbed, and I only wanted to see Mary, but Henry forbade me, and all because of my companion Anne Boleyn it's all her fault I can't see Mary, but no, it's not Anne's fault that I can't see Mary, it's Henry's fault, forbade it, Anne had nothing to do with it, I felt a huge pain in my chest, I felt my heart hurt horribly, I closed my eyes for the last time and saw only darkness

Anne Boleyn:

Today is the day when the man I love got me executed for the reason that he was not fed up with me and wanted to marry Jane Seymour my second cousin, my family thought that I was a whore or even a slut, except my brother George but Henry had him beheaded for "having had incestuous intercourse" * with me, but that's not true I didn't sleep at this George, I the only person I wanted to see was Elizabeth, the guards took me to my execution the same place where yesterday my brother was also beheaded, among us three only Mary had escaped death, they bandaged me eyes, I heard my executioner take out his sword and at that moment, the sword separated my neck from the rest of my body

* incestuous: Having sex with a family member

(like your father, your mother, your sister, your brother or other, in France it seems to me that it is illegal to do that with his brother or his sister)

Jane Seymour:

Today October 12, 1537, my son was born Henry looked so happy but only twelve days after I died, I would have liked to be with him, to see his first steps, in short to see him grow up, but no he did. Had to die but I hope you are happy and that you are stepsister Mary and Elizabeth will be there for you

Anne de Clève:

After being divorced from the king, I was not executed, I was only a friend to him, he let me go to see him so I was present when he married this poor fifteen year old girl, but the reason he got divorced was my portrayal and he publicly humiliated me, I died of cancer, I was among all of Mary I's stepmothers the only one to have seen her coronation

Katherine / Catherine Howard:

Today I too will be beheaded for having cheated on the king, but whether it was with Mannox, Dereham, Henry or Thomas, he all wanted the same thing, my body when I thought it would be different but this will never be different, Thomas who was so nice to me, he was like the others, he wanted my my body, I was directed to my execution, I was in tears, I was blindfolded and I I walked over to the chopping block and put my head on it, my executioner pulled out his ax, and at that point my head was separated from the thing every boy wanted. . .

My body

Catherine Parr:

Today I gave birth to my daughter Mary Seymour, but the problem is, I'm dead, and I'm sure sooner that Elizabeth hates me now, I was the one who had left Thomas the "raped" , and fired her instead of having her, but today I closed my eyes for one last time and saw only the darkness of death

(Just a little clarification, I don't really know if Thomas Seymour if he raped Elizabeth so that's why I put him between guimet, not because she says it's okay, no at all)

Edward VI Tudor:

I was dying, my advisers asked me to choose someone to succeed me, and I chose my cousin, Lady Jane Gray, I hope my half-sisters will take it especially Mary, I hope she will not do him more harm than she had lived, I felt that death was near very near, that's why that day I passed away

Jane Gray:

Mary had locked me up, All because my cousin appointed me as heir to the throne, she mounted an army against me with her stepsister Elizabeth, I was going to be executed, at least I would have more to undergo the pressure of my parents, I bandaged my eyes myself, put my head on the block and had my head cut off

Mary I Tudor:

I was on my deathbed, I was forced to admit that only Elizabeth could ascend the throne after me, I died * and heard Elizabeth cry only for a few seconds * before hearing nothing more and just before losing any contact with the living world * I felt Elizabeth pass her hand over mine and tell me that she was innocent about the Protestant revolt, I wanted to tell her in person that she was the next to resign, but I never had the time to tell him *.

* I don't really know if Elizabeth was there when her half-sister died so there you go

* Same reason as last time

Mary Stuart:

I had been locked up for several years, and the one who held me back was my own cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, I was taken to my execution and obviously she was the one who had me executed, I was bandaged. Eyes, and my head was cut off

Elizabeth I Tudor:

I was lying on my bed thinking about everything I had done in my life and during my reign I hope my cousin doesn't mind too much for having her head cut off, I wonder if I 'arrived at crossed paths with Mary, if she wouldn't blame me for making England a Protestant country and not a Catholic, I closed my eyes and never reopened them, which meant I was dead , and they named Jack Stuart to succeed me, that is to say the son of the one whose head I had cut off

English Tradution

(For those who don't understand French)

[oh-boleyn]

katherine / infamy

words: 4880, one shot, language: english

anne / jane / katherine / catherine

TW: there are suicidal thoughts, slutshaming, victim guilt, minor ways of self harm, nightmares and some other things.

this turned to be a character study rather to any other thing but oh well, it's done

the commentary between scenes are things I got from internet about Katherine Howard.

Katherine Howard was just an attention seeker.

(…)

When they first arrived at the twenty-one century, Katherine Howard felt alone. It was a whole new world; one she didn’t have a clue of what was it about. Didn’t even have the advantage of knowing other women, except for Anna of Cleves, the only one she met during her short time as queen when they shared a dance, but nothing more.

The rest of them were just rumours while she was in court. Names nobody dared to say. Histories without faces, blurry memories. All of them carried themselves as queens. All of them except her, who was just a frightened nobody in the middle of five of the most powerful and celebre queens.

(…)

Katherine Howard was a silly flirt who actually did sleep around even after she’d married the king.

(…)

They had all been thrown into a small house. With thin walls, two bedrooms, loud queens and just one bathroom. She shared room with Anna of Cleves, this royal Germany queen who was the second divorcee, and Anne Boleyn.

A cousin she never really had the chance to meet, since Henry decapitated her when Katherine was still young. Anne Boleyn, her famous, notorious cousin, a mystery to this new world. Anne was perfect, smart, pretty, even her reincarnated version had the long dark brown hair and big curious eyes. She knew about politics, debate, could talk fluently in English and French.

In the new world, Anne Boleyn was an icon. A notorious woman who got beheaded because of her opinions and incapacity of keeping quiet was something admirable today, and everyone loved her, as the French court once did.

The opinion about Katherine was not the same. Not then, and not now. She was a traitor before, and now she was a naïve who couldn’t even save her own life. A foolish, provocative girl who warmed her way into the king’s bed, and other beds too. She didn’t have a legacy, didn’t left anything to be remembered.

(…)

Katherine Howard: Whore or Victim?

(…)

Money and finances were not something she was interested. She wasn’t good with numbers, Francis always said that. About how she was so lucky to be so pretty, or else nobody would want her as a secretary. With the years she had been discouraged to keep trying, so she just stopped.

Not every woman had been made to be good with it. Katherine considered herself more of a pretty face, rather than someone with a great intellect. It felt shallow, now more than ever. Her life was just like that, being a pretty face, smile, conceal emotions. She was raised by her step-grandmother to please. Emotion were not needed when trying to grant pleasure to someone else.

The other queens weren’t like her. And maybe that’s why they were so worried about making money or getting jobs.

The great salvation came by Catherine’s hand. Catherine Parr, not Aragon. Rewrite their histories, if everyone could make money out of it, why not them? It could be a way to reclaim what happened to them, set the record straight, be view as the real queens they were, not just six who banged the same guy.

(…)

Katherine Howard – The Material Girl?

(…)

“Catherine, almost moved into a nunnery, and then not.” Her voice sounded snob, trying to mock the other queen. “That could almost be really hard for you.” She concluded with a fake pout.

Her heart was beating faster every second. She was never good at arts.

Even when trying to please Manox, her first music teacher, he always wanted more. She could always be better, greater. It was never enough, no matter how high her voice went while singing, or how many times she practiced dancing, or how much her hand aches after playing one instrument for hours, she was not enough.

Not enough like the air in her lungs while performing. The rest of the group were natural, delivering their lines perfect, playing with the silences making it enjoyable and funny. But she wasn’t like that, she talked way too fast, pronounced words unintelligible and forgot that she had talk.

The musical, a fake competition, didn’t help her. It didn’t bring her release, or peace. Katherine felt always numb, there was no connection between what she was doing and her own story. Her past life just felt like a numb blurry dream.

(…)

Katherine Howard, a slut 17-year-old queen who was beheaded for being a slut!

(…)

It came to Katherine attention how much Catherine (of Aragon) hugged Catherine (Parr). They were usually together, helping or making each other’s hair and make-up. She knew Cathy was Catherine’s goddaughter, but the physical affection takes her by surprise anyway.

The idea of touch being something soft, delicate was so out of her range. Her father was bed-ridden and her mother died while she was young. After that everyone was rough. For the Duchess, touch was only a way of punishment. Katherine sometimes saw the ghost of bruises she would have when she didn’t behave like a lady, when her feelings were shown.

Touching was never something appreciated after that.

(…)

Manipulative, flirty seductress.

(…)

The show was doing well, so well that they bought a new house.

New is a way to say, because it’s old, really old. It needs to be fix, the stairs crack, it is too cold, and there are leaks in the bathroom. But it’s bigger, and each one of them get a room or something like that. Catherine Parr takes the basement, and Anne takes the attic. Anna decides to stay on the only bedroom that is on the first floor. And now Katherine is stuck between Aragon and Seymour.

The room feels impersonal, and Katherine is going crazy trying to make it feel more like her. She paints it, buys a carpet, a desk. When all of it fails, she starts pinning fanart to her wall, photos with Anne and Anna, tickets of plays and movies they attended. She is trying to make new memories but it doesn’t work, it feels like she is just pretending. As if she stole a life. It feels numb and impersonal.

An empty room could be a good metaphor for an empty brain. God knows she had never been bright.

(…)

The Tudors Season 3 episode guide says “As Henry presses for an end to his new marriage, a new sexual conquest emerges – young prostitute Katherine Howard”

(…)

“Kitty, I bought new chokers.” Anne says one day, entering her room.

Katherine doesn’t like buying new necklaces or chokers, maybe because she feels them dreadful. Still she wears them every day. The scar around her neck is a darker colour than her skin, resulting in a brownish tone to it. It looks grotesque. Internet, that magic source of information calls is a hypertrophic scar, thick and raised injured skin.

“Great.” She responds, smiling.

“I thought you might like the pink ones, after all you wear a lot of pink.” She started passing Katherine pieces of electric and baby pink fabric.

“And you wear a lot of green.”

“What can I say? It’s my brand.”

“Are you okay, Annie?” Katherine asks when she notices Anne does not have her usual energy.

“Yes, just Aragon getting on my nerves.” Boleyn sits on her bed. “I’m sure she hates me. It’s not news, we been knew for like, I don’t know, five hundred years. But I hoped it would change.”

“I’m sure she hates me too.”

“Why would you say that KitKat?” Anne frowns. “Did she say something to you?”

“No, but I’m sure she is not too fond of me. Mary wasn’t.”

The look in her cousin’s face does something to her stomach, twisting it. Anne loves her, and Kat knows she does. She uses pet names with her, and calls her Kit, or Kitty or variations of it. Anne tries to protect her. But Katherine knows she doesn’t deserve any of it. Why would she?

Even when she is trying her best, Katherine can’t love Anne back that easily. It doesn’t come natural to her. Giving her love to someone never resulted in anything good. Honestly, it resulted in death. She feels guilty about not reciprocating, but it’s the best way to keep the other queen safe.

“I love this pink.” She tries to change the conversation.

(…)

Michael Hirst describes her as a “Lolita figure”.

(…)

Not even in court, where nothing was private, and people would get into anyone’s problems, people had so much opinions. Nowadays, with social media and phones, everybody had a word. Parr said something about it, about Warhol and how we imposed the new “five minutes of fame”. Social media helped to convey that.

While she was dead, people made up their minds about her. It would be nice to say that they found her just to be someone trying their best, but for the most part it wasn’t. They described her as this femme fatale. A sexually active, young woman, who seduced a whole court.

Five hundred years later, she was still nothing more than a common harlot.

The movies, and TV shows helped with it. Always naked, disposed to just fuck. A toy. A possession. The king’s favourite flower.

Katherine couldn’t be really mad about it, because that was all about her. Even her solo was about how she was the ten among these three. Aragon was the faithful wife, Boleyn the witch who made England break the church, Seymour the one he truly loved, Cleves the great queen of the castle, Parr the feminist writer.

Katherine Howard was the pretty one.

There was no personality to it, just a pretty face that happened to be compared with real queens. Of course, she would never win.

(…)

A nymphomaniac.

(…)

The first time she doesn’t feel drugged or numb comes after a show.

They were just heading out, tired out of their minds. Katherine just felt tired, as always. With that voice in the back of her head telling her how she was weak for not giving more every performance.

A man took her by the wrist, and a wave came from it. Her whole-body getting tense. It comes from her wrist, all through her arm, to her shoulder, finally getting to her neck. And now she can’t breathe. His hand is still there, firm, while she is trembling.

It could have been hours, or minutes, or seconds, but her mind was panicking and racing. She couldn’t seem to hold on to a thought, instead everything became overwhelming, a dizzy feeling. Her body not responding her calls.

“Kitty, can you hear me?” A voice quietly talks. It must be Anne; she is the only one who calls her that.

“We should take her inside.” Another voice speaks. “It’s not safe here.”

“Outside air can help, Jane.” She starts focusing in what the queens are talking. “Kat?”

She manages to break the amount of nervous on her and starts breathing heavy, as if she just ran a marathon.

“I’m okay.”

She sounds raspy, more tired than before if it was even possible.

“Can we go home?”

Parr gives her a hand to take and stand up, but she refuses and decides to stand up by herself. Instead of going to Anna’s car as she would usually do, she heads to Aragon’s, sitting in the passenger seat, making sure to set distance between her and the other queen. Luckily nobody makes questions, and Parr rides with Cleves and Boleyn, so the car is not packed.

(…)

A girl whose only education was into how to please a man.

(…)

She didn’t think it was possible, but it gets worse.

Now, instead of feeling nothing, she feels too much. Way too many bad things. She feels something raw coming from inside of her. It’s so sad, it’s eating her from inside. Her limbs are so tired, but now she can’t sleep. There are nightmares keeping her awake.

It results that feeling was not good after all.

But at least, it makes her feel alive.

After a night full of nightmares, she would just go to the kitchen and serve herself, and usually Cathy Parr, a cup of coffee. If it wasn’t enough, another cup wouldn’t do any harm. She sometimes drank energy drinks if her first cup was not even of a little help, but tried not to rely on them. It was not healthy.

The rest of the queens didn’t bring up what happened, nor her new sleeping habits. Anne would shoot her concerned looks, but nothing outside that. No words.

She must not care. Katherine thought. She knows I’m Katherine Howard, too idiotic to even be sad.

She managed. Pretended to be happy, to have energy. To be oblivious.

(…)

A reckless fool.

(…)

“Jane, just stop it, okay?”

They were alone in the theatre, the rest of the queens were heading out to a bar, instead Seymour and Howard were going home. Katherine was just so tired after just two hours of sleep, and Jane simply didn’t liked bars as much as the rest of them.

“It’s cold, put on a coat or something more, you will catch a cold.” She tried to give the teenager her pink sweater, but all she got was rejection.

“Just don’t.” Katherine bitted her lip, but couldn’t help herself and snapped. “Stop acting as if I’m a child.”

“You are nineteen.” Jane stated.

“I am like five hundred years old.” There was bitterness in her voice. “Nobody cared about me being nineteen when the king beheaded me. They didn’t even care when I was younger, why now?”

“Because I care about you.” The blonde tried to look for Katherine’s eyes, but she was too focused on the ground.

“You shouldn’t.”

There were just too many connotations to what she was saying. She felt trapped inside her own mind, a mind that was useless. As long as she looked pretty, nobody should care about anything else. It was more than enough. Feelings were too complex and ended in tragedy, and whoever cared for her would have to see her downfall.

If she didn’t take them down with her.

After all, Thomas cared. Or so he said.

(…)

Cold, calculating and ambitious.

(…)

The nightmares would just not stop, even as much as she tried.

She would just wake up, agitated and breathless, with the images still going through her mind, even when her eyes were open looking to her bedroom celling.

Katherine tried all the things internet said about sleeping without nightmares. Don’t sleep on her stomach, drink something warm first, try to be warm. Nothing worked. It just got worse and worse, to a point were her still shaken up body would not response once she was awake, instead looking at dark figures that painted the walls in her room.

Internet calls it parasomnia, she calls it her brain just can’t seem to work properly.

It’s one night when after an episode she hears a knock on her door. Heavily moving aching muscles, she opens it, revealing Aragon with a bag of crackers.

“I heard you were having a nightmare.”

Katherine lets her in.

“Why the crackers?” She asks, while sitting back on her bed.

“They say that if you talk about a nightmare without eating something first, it will become true.”

She offers one to Katherine, who accepts.

“I am not sure it was a nightmare.” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it either.”

They fall into a not so comfortable silence.

“Why are you awake?” the teenager asks.

“Nights are a hard time for me. I can’t close my eyes without a memory appearing. Tonight, is Mary.”

“I remember things about her.”

“I do too. I still can remember when she was a baby, you should have seen her. Her hair was so soft, and her skin looked like porcelain. Like a doll, too perfect to be real.”

“I wasn’t even born when she was a baby.”

Aragon laughs unpredictable. “You got me there.” Her face turns darker. “I can’t wrap my head about the things she had done. What they say about her. Bloody Mary, a ghost story. She was just so kind before.”

“Life in court can change you.” Katherine establishes. “Those were other times; other things were allowed. Things people now would consider monstrous.”

“No, that is still no excuse.” Catherine smiled even with eyes full of tears. “I won’t keep you up any longer, there’s no need for it.”

“You can stay here.” Katherine spoke before thinking. “If both of us have problems sleeping, it might be good to be together.”

It becomes a thing, when they heard the other one was up, they would get a bag of crackers and go to the other room. Spending nights talking about meaningless things, trying to take their minds out of dark places.

Katherine discovers Aragon knows a lot of history, things that people have already lost, or that she never heard of. Spanish proverbs and idioms, details of her time as queen. It becomes their night time stories. Talking about the older queen’s past but never about the younger. There is something so appealing for Katherine about history, a curiosity she didn’t knew she had inside her.

It helps.

(…)

It is easy to see Katherine as a spoilt child, a child saying “I want, I want…” all the time and sticking out her bottom lip and sulking if she didn’t get her way.

(…)

Anna is objectively pretty. She doesn’t have the fine gestures of Aragon, or elegancy as Parr. She doesn’t have striking green eyes like Anne. But Anna is still attractive. Full lips, dark skin, and short hair. She chopped it off as soon as they landed to the modern times, and never let it long again.

Anna was also the only one who could remember her time as queen.

Still she doesn’t talk about it, she just ignores history all together. Cleves is great at support, noticing when they are tired and buying stuff for make them feel better.

They are friends, or so she thinks, still there is a lot that is out of the line. Things they never talk but all of them know. About her own past as queen, how Jane’s actions have led to Anne getting beheaded, about Parr’s implications with Elizabeth.

Katherine wonders if they had Googled her. If they have seen the show made about Henry. She is afraid because nobody talks about her truth, is either morbid retellings on how she was abused, on how they pimped her way into Henry’s arms, or about the teenage, spoiled brat she was.

Kat doesn’t think she is either of them. She is not just someone they used to climb their way into court, nor just a teenager who had everything she ever wanted.

Maybe she is something in the middle, constructed by pieces of it. Just pieces because she knows she is not whole; she is breaking beyond repair. Every day it passes it’s another piece, another fragment missing. A nightmare long forgotten; a night lost from her mind.

A rose without a thorn was unnatural after all.

(…)

No other wish but his.

(…)

Katherine realizes her costume is the smaller one, and not only talking about size.

She sometimes feels exposed, and wishes for pants or a better skirt, but the costume designer assured her it was better that way, to play the seductress and then surprise the audience with her real story.

Whore or victim, no in between.

At least she loved pink.

“Kitty, you ready?” Anne asked.

They were at a big studio, and their performance was going to be on TV. All the queens were so anxious the house was as loud as ever, even at night.

“I’m a little bit scared.” She admitted, punishing herself for admitting that.

“Don’t be, you do perfect every night, today is just one more day.”

Emotions fills her for a moment. And it’s not as usually the horrible, dreadful feeling, but rather a warm one.

“I love you Annie.”

Her heart is beating fast, fearing rejection by her cousin. Instead Boleyn hugs her, procuring not to squeeze her in any way she might panic.

“I love you even more Kitty.”

They stay for a while. It’s been hundreds of years since the last time someone hugged her and talked about love. But it felt real. A family bond that she never thought she could have again.

“Now, get prepared, you are going to kill it tonight.”

(…)

Had many characteristics of a juvenile delinquent, who was spoiled, fawned upon, and flattered.

(…)

Jane is the first one to start seeing a psychologist.

She has a survivor’s guilt, even when she was the one who died. But it was honest that she was also the one who came back. Katherine wants to help, but doesn’t know how. Dying is easier when you wish for it. When you leave no one behind.

“How was therapy?” Kat asks when Jane gets home after the first session.

“It’s good, I think. Talking about it was like releasing a breath I didn’t knew I was holding. I know there is still a lot to work on, but I feel like it is a good decision.” She smiles. Jane lets her hand in the table, offering it to the teenager without a word. She takes it. “Thanks for asking, Kitty.”

“Can you not call me that?” Katherine pleads, giving Jane’s hand a little squeeze. “Annie calls me that, and I like it being a thing with her.”

She knows it’s cold to just say that, but Anne has been the only one to call her that. From the moment they arrived, while everyone called her Katherine, for her cousin she was Kitty. It gave her a feeling of comfort, of belonging to a family. Boleyn was her family.

“No problem, we can look for another nickname.” Jane smiles. “I want to bake cookies, what do you think?”

(…)

Could this ‘whore in the bedroom’ really be a virgin?

(…)

“Are you okay, Catherine?” Kat asks.

The survivor was still in the kitchen, even when it was past midnight. Her face was slammed on the table, illuminated by the cold light of her notebook.

“Yes, just can’t seem to get this done.” She straightens her spine.

“What is it about?”

“Just about Spain history, and the colonies.”

“Can I read?”

“Yes. I will make tea.” Parr handles the computer to the fifth queen.

Catherine takes two mugs, and chooses peppermint tea for them both. When the water is hot, she serves it, and takes the sugar to the table.

“It is good, really.” Howard says.

“I can sense a “but”.” Catherine laughs.

“You are only taking one side; you should know how Spain sent a lot of people from the church on missions to re-educate the natives. Las misiones Jesuitas. Politics and religion were more connected than what this make it look like.”

“That’s… Very true. I didn’t know you were interested in history.”

Kat can feel her face getting redder and warmer, embarrassed.

“It’s great, if you ever want to work together, you know where to find me.”

Work. Work together.

The teenager is not sure about how to react.

(…)

If only she had been willing to put her pride and title aside, (…) she may have lost her title as queen but kept her head.

(…)

When she realizes how much her life had changed, it’s more than half a year since they arrived.

There is still something obscure, twitching inside of her. The voices of a million ghosts, and even more people now with their opinions.

Researching history with the first and the last queen helps her. She starts noticing the changes in the discourses, how things that could be empowering before now are just mere normal things. The idea of a part of history she missed is attractive, and she spends hours on Wikipedia and blogs before talking to Parr about trivia facts she finds of the years they were dead.

The house gets better by the time. Having it painted, changed the plumbing, renewed the stairs. It also gets better with them, slowly growing into a group, learning how to deal with each other.

It’s slow, but it gets better.

(…)

I have to conclude that Catherine was incredibly stupid and foolhardy.

(…)

Katherine decides to start therapy. Jane talks highly of how it affected her, how she resolved so many things about her past. And the youngest queen just wants that, to be liberated, to step out of her own shadow.

At first therapy was good, having a chance to talk about her feelings, about living with people who were totally strangers. Adapting to a new world. Having a cousin. It all comes easy, it’s just the way it is. It gives her a short feeling of release, of being liberated, but it always quickly vanishes.

Not everything can always be smooth sailing in her life.

“What is a child?” Her psychologist, a woman in her middle thirties asks.

“A child?”

“Yes, what do you consider a child?”

“A really young human, I guess.”

It’s a weird question, and she feels as if she was being interrogated. That is what exams must feel like.

“I can’t really remember a lot from my childhood.” Katherine starts. “It’s just things. My mother died when I was five. I loved dancing; my father let me study it. I was never good at important things, such as math or music.”

“Why you weren’t?”

“I’m not sure. Manox always told me how I wasn’t enough, how I should try harder and be better. Francis was also like that, telling me to be quiet, to please. My grandmother also was like that, wanted all of us, the ladies to be better.”

She waits, thinks how to continue.

“I think what I always wanted to do was to make them proud, to be always better. I wanted to be liked, just that. I thought that if I was better my father was not going to leave me in a place full of people I didn’t know.”

Katherine can feel herself thinking again, trying to put her thoughts into words once, and once again.

“Why do you do this to yourself, Katherine?” Her psychologist watches her straight to her eyes. “Why are you hiding things for me? You think, and think, and think again, trying to control what your saying, how you move, how you act. I can’t judge you, and I won’t. You need to be real here, or else therapy is not going to help.”

“When I was real, I died.” Tears are streaming down her face; a pout is there and she doesn’t want to look so much like a child, but she feels small.

“Were you real? Why did you love him?”

(…)

She must have had rocks in her head.

(…)

It takes time after that, to really open up.

It takes even more time to notice that a lot of her thoughts weren’t hers, but rather thoughts she had attached herself to. It becomes difficult to realize that she is made of other people’s opinions. That she is just a victim of an adult game. It doesn’t come easy, and when it comes, it breaks her.

It breaks her to the core, to a point she is not sure how to act because that’s all she has ever knew.

(…)

Katherine had been shameless. She had been deceitful. But that was all.

(…)

Anna is there when she gets back from one therapy session.

“How was it today?” Cleves asks.

“Was I just a child?” Katherine returns a question.

“Explain that, please.”

The queen who lived the longest makes the youngest sit on the couch.

“Was I just a child when I arrived to court?”

“You were. You were so young and knew so much about things I couldn’t even imagine.”

“I thought I was an adult.”

“That’s what older people want to make you believe to manipulate you. “You are wiser”, “Too mature for your age”, “You know better than others”.” Katherine is trembling, but that doesn’t stop Anna. “They made you believe you were ready so they didn’t have to live with their own guilt. But you are just a victim.”

The teenager starts crying, and Anna hugs her.

“I thought it was my fault.” She admits. “I thought it was me.”

(…)

There is so much that is not known about her that I am still thinking of all the ideas that people have suggested.

(…)

Dealing with trauma is not easy. Katherine slowly learns to manage. Sometimes is harder, when breathing exercises are too much for her panicking brain, or when nightmares can’t seem to stop. But she still gets out of them, learns not to blame herself.

She learns to be loved. Truly love. Not to fear emotions.

Katherine gets mad, and forgives, taking matters into her own hands. She learns to be young, to be carefree.

She learns to unlearn everything she knew, to question other people opinions about herself to the point she knows who she is, and can’t bring herself to care what an history book or some random person on internet has to say.

It’s hard, but she learns to own and embrace who she is.

[rumours-spiral]

for five more minutes

part 2- divorced

note: this is part 2 of a multi-fic series detailing the queen’s second lives. any feedback is greatly appreciated!

word count: 1863

warnings: none

Catherine and Maria remained in that abandoned chapel for a few days. Maria would tell Catherine of all the wonders of the 21st century- the witchcraft that was modern medicine, how quickly cars could move, the concept of running water. She found herself amazed at every new invention, every law, but a growing sense of dread crept up beside it. It felt like she was on another world. Nothing was familiar to her anymore, and she had so many questions she didn’t want answers to. But she found much comfort in prayer and Maria, and she relied on both heavily. Her lady in waiting had soothed her nerves with the mere fact that she had adapted so well, and made up for the assurance that that alone couldn’t provide in spades.

But even her closest friend couldn’t sate the foreboding growing quickly in her. It felt much like the darkness in the chapel- they were comfortable in the warm glow of their candles, but there was always a deep blackness in the chapel’s corners that would stare at her, and never fully disperse. Similarly, they had lived in relative happiness until Catherine finally asked the question that had been gnawing in the back of her mind.

“Were we the only ones brought back?”

Maria paused her reading immediately. Apprehension took residence in her eyes as she stared at the pages of her book blankly, trying to think of a suitable answer. Catherine had died partly into Anne’s reign- she didn’t even know Henry had another four wives. She had been too afraid of Catherine’s reaction, too afraid to shatter the fragile peace they had to bring it up. The queen had asked before of how they were brought back, and why, and Maria answered as honestly as she could. Catherine had frowned at the very heavy implications of witchcraft, though Maria had been careful not to say it outright. But they never discussed the others.

She spoke very cautiously after a moment, not even bearing to face her lady as she did.

“We... weren’t.”

Catherine didn’t comment, only frowned in a silent request for Maria to continue. Maria hadn’t seen the expression, but knew from the terse silence anyway, the way Catherine’s posture from the corner of her eye had straightened as it so often did when she felt nervous.

“Henry had four wives after you,” and Catherine still did not speak. She supposed it was more out of shock than anything, so Maria spoke quickly, longing to get this over with.

“Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.”

Catherine recognised a few names. Parr, her goddaughter, stood out to her the most. She felt remorse at the mention of her in that list- Henry was so hard to please, and the girl was only young the last time she had seen her. At the same time, however, a small part of her felt a kind of justice at the knowledge Anne had been replaced, just as Catherine had- just as she had warned her she would.

“And... they were all brought back?” She asked. Maria nodded her head, and Catherine slumped against the pillar she was sitting against slightly.

“As was Anne Boleyn, and a few other ladies in waiting.” Maria clarified quietly, but she didn’t mention the ladies’ names or elaborate, so she allowed the comment to pass. She bristled slightly at the mention of Anne, an ancient anger simmering in her; she allowed herself a moment of that familiar feeling before brushing that aside, also.

“What happened to them? The other wives?” Anxiety swiftly replaced the anger, and her stomach twisted at the thought of what her answer could be. She could understand Henry having another wife after Anne- the girl may have got what she deserved and died early, leaving Henry to find another. But four other wives made her uneasy. Maria’s face sobered impossibly more.

“There’s a popular rhyme about your fates,” she whispered. The atmosphere suddenly turned grimmer than Catherine had remembered anything between them ever being, even in her final days, and any irritation she had felt at the immaturity of a rhyme was fleeting once she actually heard it. “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”

Catherine was left breathless at the sheer number of wives he had. She already knew he had six, but hearing them all grouped together like that was sickening. She next thought of the actual words. She was the first divorced, of course, but-

“Beheaded?”

Maria was crying silently now. Her gaze lifted to stare at the old rows of pews across the room, but she looked like she was seeing something else. She nodded, that look still there, clearing her throat gently in preparation to speak. “Anne Boleyn was beheaded in May of 1536, under false charges of incest, adultery, and witchcraft. Her cousin, Katherine Howard, was executed in 1542 under charges of adultery,”

A small part Catherine felt a sick sort of vindication at that. At knowing Anne finally was punished for how she ruined Catherine and her daughter’s lives, that she finally had her revenge on Anne for how she had ruined everything. That she, ever the good wife, had put up with Henry for twenty years, and Anne and her immaturity couldn’t last even five. But nausea roiled in her stomach when she reflected upon Maria’s words of “false charges”, and the vindication turned to shame very quickly. Anne had died for no reason.

“Henry had grown tired of Anne, and frustrated that she couldn’t provide a male heir. He had people testify falsely against her, and gave her an unfair trial.”

The nausea increased so much so that Catherine felt inclined to hold a hand to her mouth. She and Anne hadn’t liked each other, by any means- but she and Catherine had been close for a time, and she had always appreciated her wit, no matter how she hated herself for it. And she most certainly didn’t deserve to die in such a way. Anne and Henry had seemed genuinely in love, and such a brutal betrayal...

She thought next of Katherine and it was now that she noticed the tears running down her own cheeks. She remembered faintly, when Anne had first come to court, all daring French dresses and that damned smile, back when they had been friends, Anne’s mention of a cousin. The birth of a Howard, sharing the same name as the queen she spoke to. She inhaled shakily at the connection, and lowered her hand minutely to say in disbelief,

“Surely, she didn’t die in 1542. She would only have been-“

“19.” Maria finished. She gave a tiny nod, and Catherine’s very chest ached. What had happened to Henry to make him cruel enough to falsely execute a woman he had turned the country upside down to marry, and to then execute a- well, a child. Adultery was wrong, yes, but she couldn’t imagine the pressure the girl felt at being queen so young. Maria told her other stories of Henry’s cruelty with a distant voice, and the pressure in Catherine’s chest worsened. Henry had his temper, but he was kind and chivalrous towards everyone when he and Catherine were wed. How had he turned into such a monster?

She supposed there were signs. Signs in even his very divorce from Catherine- he had ruined so many lives just so he could marry someone he was never meant for. He hadn’t allowed Catherine to see Maria, or her own daughter, in the years and days leading to her death, purely because he was petty. Perhaps she should’ve seen this coming. She could’ve prevented all the pain Henry almost definitely brought upon the consorts that came after her. Maybe if she had tried harder in their marriage, if she had provided a son, if she-

Maria cut off her racing thoughts with a fierce hug. She shushed her gently, crying herself, and she let Catherine dampen the shoulder of her clothes.

She was reminded of a similar embrace between her and Anne suddenly. Catherine tried to bite down the anger she felt rise up like bile in the back of her throat at the thought of her. It was Anne’s fault- Catherine had warned her of Henry, begged her to just let them be. She had even protected the Boleyn girl from her husband, but Anne had grown to care for him, and then they had both wanted what wasn’t theirs- and their tempers were too ferocious to allow them to not get their own ways. Aragon had hated Anne for that courage. And two had been murdered for it; two had been cast aside; another two had suffered greatly. Because Anne had tried too hard, and Catherine hadn’t tried enough. She blamed them both.

They had sat embraced for hours. Maria would tell her happier stories, primarily of her goddaughter’s success. The pride and a deep fondness from the tales had calmed her. Catherine was sure she had fallen asleep at one point; it had all felt like only a few minutes, even when Maria told her the time by looking at the clock on her wrist. The queen remembered, amused, the way she flinched the first time she saw her do that, clutching her rosary to her chest in fear. To her own surprise, however, she had become quite fond of the little contraption. She would fiddle for hours with its chain and its settings, falling in love with its colour (that she would later be told was ‘rose gold’). She became infatuated with a piercing Maria had in her eyebrow, as well. She didn’t fully understand it but it looked pretty all the same. She stared at that glinting piece of metal, her head still on the girl’s shoulder, while she asked her next question:

“Is this where we will live?”

Maria shook her head softly and Catherine felt relieved. Though blankets, food, pillows and books had been brought, the chapel wasn’t exactly comfortable to live in.

At first, Catherine had felt much trepidation at the thought of seeing the outside world. But after days in the chapel, only hearing of the glorious new century and not actually seeing much of it (barring Maria’s fashion and the odd way she spoke), she was quite eager to do something. Maria told her about the flat she shared with three other ladies. She revealed that their plan had been to keep the queens into their respective ladies’ rooms until they had grown as accustomed as they could, before ultimately introducing the queens to each other one by one. The two latest queens- Howard and Parr- resided with Lucy and Toby a short distance away. Catherine had been kept in a chapel so that she might feel more comfortable, although this plan meant that she would eventually have to travel through London.

Catherine hummed softly at the end of the explanation. Neither were quite sure if it was acceptance or approval, but Maria took it as a good thing that Catherine was willing to meet the others nonetheless. She understood Catherine’s restlessness (and was admittedly quite bored as well), and within the hour they had gathered their few belongings and were walking out the chapel doors.

[jane-fucking-seymour]

Turning Things Around Was Easy Because Of You

“Thank you for your time, Katherine.”

Kat coughs as she moved to get out of the chair. It had been only a week since she came back to life, and only two days since she had gotten out of the hospital due to the pneumonia that had unexpectedly come with it, wandering the streets during a thunderstorm and collapsing due to a panic attack in the street. She still didn’t feel great, but she was taking the medicine and trying to stay as warm and as dry as she could.

When the six ex-wives had all met in that chapel - the one that Jane Seymour had been buried in - she had thought that maybe they could get along. But when she woke up in the hospital, Kat only saw Bessie. And when she was released, Anna and her had parted ways.

It was rough; she had been staying in a park, hidden in a corner of it that she observed had not a lot of traffic. She had stolen a blanket from the hospital and kept her old clothes in a bag which served as a pillow - Bessie had given her new clothes while in the hospital - so she had the bare necessities, she figured. She could survive.

It was rough going. She still had a fever, her cough wasn’t going away and Kat was sure she would have to go back to the hospital a few days from now. Still, the warm bed and free food was something she was looking forward to.

“Call me if you need anything,” was what Anna had said, but Kat just... she just didn’t feel like she could. She didn’t want to be a bother. To her knowledge, everyone else was on their own; surely she could as well?

She’s considering that thought when she accidentally walks into someone. She yelps, falling to the floor and coughing up a storm because of it. She groans, a hand to her head; this well and truly sucked.

“Katherine?”

Kat blinks, looking up. There, an uncertain woman was looking down at her.

“Jane?”

[[MORE]]

Jane gave her a small smile as she kneeled down to meet the fifth queen. “Hello. I didn’t expect you to be here.” She offers Kat a hand. “Getting an interview, too?”

“They wanted me to talk about my experience as queen,” Kat explained, taking the hand and standing up. “Figured it was a good idea, I dunno.”

Jane hums in agreement. “It’s nice that some people care, yeah?” She asks. Then, she looks around. “And between you and me, the money is nice as well.”

“The money?” Kat asks, tilting her head. “You’re getting paid?”

Jane blinks. “You’re not?”

“No-“

“Jane Seymour? We’re ready for you.”

Jane looks over at the men in the room Katherine just left. She turns back to Kat, looks at something - someone? - behind her, then hugs her again.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay? We should keep in touch, all of us.”

Kat nods mutely, watching as Jane disappears through the door.

She’s staring at the door as she hears them start the interview, frowning, until gentle hands suddenly put a nice, warm coat over her shoulders. She startles, looking back, only to find...

“Joan!”

Jane’s lady in waiting, Joan, smiled softly. “Hello, Lady Katherine,” Joan says with a gentle nod. “You’re still recovering from your illness, right? Do you have some place I can send a car to?”

Katherine frowns and gives an address. Joan immediately tilts her head.

“That’s a park.”

“I know.”

“You’re staying there?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Katherine is relieved that Joan doesn’t give her weird looks or anything. She takes out her phone and does something before she looks back at Kat with a smile.

“While we’re waiting, how about you and I sit down over there?” Joan asks, pointing to the nice, warm couch right next to food. “Did you have anything to eat today?”

“A little,” Kat said as she moved over with Joan, “but my stomach doesn’t feel all that great.” When Joan frowns, Kat scrambles to dismiss the concern. “It’s probably just coming back here, to this new world.”

“Lady Jane doesn’t have that issue, and I know Lady Catherine didn’t either.”

“Which Catherine?”

“... we’ll need to sort that out later, I assume. But this time, I meant Aragon.”

Katherine lights up at the name. “Oh, she seems lovely. Parr, as well. And my cousin and Anna, of course. Everyone seems really nice-“ Katherine is cut off by a coughing fit, which she barely is able to stay sitting upright for. Joan puts a gentle hand on the girl’s back and frowns deeper as she watches Kat suffer.

Hadn’t she suffered enough back then, she wonders?

“Here, if you don’t mind, Lady Katherine...” Joan gently pulls her over to her side of the couch. Kat tenses at first, breath hitching, before she gently melts into the embrace. She’s leaning against Joan now, head on the girl’s shoulder, half-laying down.

“We can rest here until your ride arrives,” Joan says gently. “And you can take some food for home.”

Kat smiles and nods. “Thank you, Joan,” she mumbles, eyelids already heavy. Joan just wraps an arm around her and smiles.

Jane Seymour leaves the room about an hour later, smiling gently when she spots her lady with the resting Katherine Howard. Jane had some sort of mental link with Joan, they’ve realized, which led to them being on the same page when they saw the shaking, still-ill Katherine only less than an hour ago.

“How is she doing?” Jane asks gently, leaning down to smooth some hair away from Kat’s face. “She has a slight fever.”

“She’s been resting,” Joan reports, looking down at the girl. “I called Bessie, she said they’d get down here as quickly as she could.” She looks down at Kat. “She said she was living at the park across from our flat.”

“She may not have anywhere to go,” Jane confirmed. “She didn’t get paid for any appearances and I don’t think she has a lady to help,” she pulls the jacket Joan had wrapped around Katherine earlier closer to Kat’s chin. “Poor girl. She’s so young, beheaded at that age... and now she’s alone in this new world.”

They’re silent for a few minutes, letting the girl rest, until two women arrive.

“Thank you, Jane,” Anna says, giving Jane a gentle smile. “For helping us find her.”

Bessie moves over to Joan, checking Katherine over, as Jane moves to speak with the fellow queen.

“She has a slight fever, but that’s normal for recovery,” Jane says. “She’ll need someone warm and dry and, well...” she looked back st Katherine. “I would love to take her in, but I figured you’re the closest with her, so...”

“Of course,” Anna smiles and nods. “We’ll take good care of her.” Anna tilts her head, though, when she sees that Jane is still staring at Katherine, still worried. “... if you’d like, though,” Anna says, “I would be happy to have you visit her? She needs all the friends she can get out here, and I’m sure she’d love the company.”

Jane smiles brightly at that, turning to face Anna. “I... I would love that, actually.”

Anna smiles back. “I’m sure she would as well.”

Katherine mumbles something in her sleep. Something about Henry.

The two queens frown.

“... you should get her home, Anna,” Jane says quietly. “Joan, if you could help Bessie-”

“Of course, my lady,” Joan says softly. Joan hands Kat off to Bessie, who then hurries off to get the child into the car parked just outside he building.

“She’ll be okay, yes?” Jane asks, looking over at Anna.

Anna nods. “We will make sure of it, but maybe come over tonight for dinner?”

Jane smiles again.

“I’d love that.”

And, just like that, Katherine Howard awakens from her dream.

She tilts her head, thinking back to what she just saw.

“Was that... a dream?” Katherine wonders out loud, frowning. “Vision?”

She hears someone hum immediately next to her and looks up to find the still-asleep Jane Seymour, a soft smile forming on her face. Katherine looks curiously as Jane sighs again, curling closer to her daughter. Kat frowns, though, when she hears Jane speak in her sleep:

“Take care of her, Anna.”

Kat gently shakes Jane awake.

Jane blinks, looking around before she registers a weight on her chest (literally, this time). She looks down to find Katherine staring at her.

“Hello, Kat,” Jane says softly, yawning. She stretched slightly. “How are you today?”

“You were sleep talking,” Kat says. “I think it was from back then. From when we first met.”

Jane makes a thoughtful hum. “I had been dreaming about that time I saw you in the interview, about a week after we got back. Remember?”

“Yeah. I was dreaming about it, too, actually.” Katherine shrugged. “I... it wasn’t a great time for me. But it was the start of things getting better.”

“I cannot believe they tried to scam you like that,” Jane huffs. “I’m glad we got you your money. And I’m glad we all banded together to make sure you continued to get compensated for your time.”

“And you got me into Anna’s place,” Kat reminds her. “I probably would have had to stay in the hospital the second time longer if it wasn’t for you and Anna.”

There’s silence.

Then, Jane looks down at Kat.

“Kitty, look at me.”

Kat does, tilting her head curiously.

“Can you promise me,” she holds out her pinky for Kat to see. “That no matter what - at any time, in any place, even if the show is done and we’re miles and miles apart - you always call me if you need help. If you WANT help. At any point in time, whatever you need. I’m here for you, Kat. So are the rest of the queens. We won’t let you go back to then.”

Kat looks at Jane with a smile and makes the pinky promise with a chuckle.

“I promise,” Kat replies. “Though you and I especially won’t be too far from each other ever, you know. You’re stuck with me, Mum.”

Jane smiles and pulls the girl close.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, my love.”

[secondbutthole]

Reprise

TW: this is the aftermath of the above quotes, starting just after the attack. Please proceed with caution.

--

Katherine was stupid. She was so, so stupid and she hated the fact that she got herself into this mess.

“Look at me,” Mannox sneered, looking down at the shivering girl by his feet and taking great pleasure in the soft groans that left her lips from the pain she was in. The men- Henry, Francis and Thomas- had finished with her; used her just one last time because chances of meeting again like this was so slim. That’s what the girl was telling herself.

Still, she didn’t dare look at the old music teacher.

“He said to look, Lady Katherine.” Thomas sneered, and all Katherine could do was let out a pained gasp as her head was yanked back. It burned her scalp, her eyes stinging and blurring with tears she couldn’t control at all.

Francis huffed at the entrance to the small alleyway between some pub and the kebab shop that the girl was in just before. “Can you guys hurry it up?” He seemed impatient, obviously a little freaked out at the idea of being caught.

Clicking his tongue, Mannox could only grin and crouch down to be at her level. Placing a palm rather gently on her cheek, noting the way she flinched back rather violently at the action, he smirked and gave it a light slap. “Just remember who you truly belong to,” He drawled. “Those queens your living with? They’ll kick you out soon enough. And Katherine, just know, we’ll be waiting.”

Without warning, the grip on her rather loosened ponytail vanished causing her to fall forward and into the ground with a grunt, and she stayed as silent as she dared as she heard the footsteps get quieter and quieter and quieter until all she could hear was the ambiance of London street.

Katherine pushed herself up with a quiet cry, nails, broken from trying to fight off the men, digging into the ground to give her something to focus on rather than the ache down by her thighs. She breathed in deep a few times to keep grounded before grabbing her phone that had fallen from her jacket. She pressed the button to check her notifications and cringed at the time.

Half ten. She’d left at eight. She looked blankly at all of the Whatsapp messages from their shared group chat as well as individual messages and all the missed calls from all of the queens and it made her heart break a bit in her chest. On shaky legs, breathing deeply to try and cope with the pain on her back, between her thighs, her chest- everywhere- she picked up the bag of cold food that got her into the mess to begin with and began to walk down the street towards home.

It must have taken her, what? Ten more minutes than usual? Before she finally got there. She flinched every time someone went passed her, or when she felt a breeze from a passing car, of even when she had to stop at a crossing. But she was finally home, in front of a detached house in a pretty decent street, actually, and she placed her hand on the handle of the door and…

Paused.

She didn’t want to go inside. She didn’t want to face everyone, not when she had barely started to calm down. But now that she was here and knowing there was going to be five women in there who were going to be so disappointed in her. Katherine stood there for what felt like an eternity but, in reality, was only four minutes before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

She was overwhelmed quickly by the voices that surrounded her. The queens all surrounded her, and they just kept talking. They just wouldn’t stop.

“Katherine Howard-Seymour,” Jane’s voice broke, “Where in the world were you?!”

The rest of the women fell silent as they waited for an answer. When none came, it was Aragon’s turn to talk next, a deep frown set on her face. “Did you not know how worried we were?”

And it just kept coming and coming; “We were about to call the police-” “I can’t lose my baby cousin--“

And then she started crying, legs buckling from under her and the bag swiftly forgotten on the floor as she sobbed and screamed incoherently. Parr reached out for her with a soft “Kath,” and seemed to jump a mile out of her skin when the brunette frantically tried to slap the hand away. It was such a weak and panicked attempt of getting the other woman to back off.

“Ss-stay away,” She whimpered, hugging herself close as she shuddered. It was like they were crowding her again, throwing her on the floor—Katherine let out a started sob, unable to shake the images from her mind as she curled up on the carpet.

“Shh, Kitty,” Anne was the next to sit down, just in front of her cousin, and all she could think to do was offer her hand. It took Katherine a few minutes, but she took it and she squeezed as tightly as she dared. Progess.

“A…. Annie….”

“What happened, Kit-Kat?” Anne asked, voice soft and low. Next to Jane, she was one of the only people that Katherine let in properly, and because they were cousins, they often helped each other through panic attacks. Anne might be boisterous, but she knew how to calm down when it came to her family.

“Mannox,” Came her strained reply, and she lurched forward to hide into Anne’s shoulder with a shaky sob. “A-and Dereham, and Cul—C-Culpepper.”

A heavy silence washed over the group, anger rising in different levels. Cleves looked like she was ready for blood and Parr was raring to do something. Anything.

“Oh, Kitty,” Jane whispered.

It hadn’t occurred to them that many of the people in their past life could have been reincarnated too.

Anne’s hold tightened a bit before the other beheaded queen turned back. She locked eyes with Parr, and with a sigh, she mumbled. “Call the police, will you?”

This was going to be a long next few months, and all the progress Katherine had made in terms of going out on her own or even speaking to male fans had been destroyed. And all for what?

Aragon moved off into the kitchen to make tea. Jane hovered over the cousins as Parr sat on the stairs waiting for the receptionist to pick up. Cleves couldn’t even be in the same room, only one breath away from leaving the house to find them and ensure they wouldn’t be reincarnated again.

“Please don’t let th-them find me again,” Katherine’s voice sounded so wrecked, so tired and it made Jane sit down and hug the two beheaded cousins tight.

“We won’t.”

[sweetestrequiems]

The Tower of London

Requested by: A lovely and wonderful Anon! Thank you for sending a letter. <3

Character(s): Anne Boleyn (Other Queens are in it too, and even the Ladies in Waiting! But like Silence is Never Better, the focus is on one queen’s internal monologue.)

Summary: Anne Boleyn, the mystery. The one who changed history–– the temptress. What history tended to call her, when she just honestly lived her life. After one long two show day, Boleyn finds herself stuck inside of her head, unable to get out. As the Queens had a free day the next day, they were making plans to stay up all night and marathon movies. Little did they know though, that Boleyn was having another episode of nightmares. Slamming the door shut, she feels compelled to head to the Tower of London, needing the quiet of the square to allow herself to scream.

TW: References to Insomnia, Depressive Thoughts Mentions of Boleyn’s beheading/Flashbacks Nightmares Panic Attacks

A/N: This will also be posted on my AO3 account! But enjoy the Boleyn angst. She’s my favorite queen to write about. And yes, I have double and triple checked the foreign languages (French/German, since Spanish is my native language). This is fairly long, just a disclaimer of that. Enjoy it! 

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“Anne Boleyn, don’t you dare walk out that door.”

“Watch me.”

But it was too late. The wooden door was slammed shut, leaving five women in bewilderment at what had just happened. This was not normal behavior for Anne Boleyn, and anyone could attest to that. What had been festering in her head over the past few days would not leave her alone. The slamming door made Katherine Howard flinch and hunch her shoulders reflexively.

“Annie?”

Now, what happened during the day that Boleyn acted out in such a manner?

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Bright and early morning.

One could smell the coffee, and that partly due to the fact that Catherine Parr used a french press. There was the sounds of the morning bustle with a rather surprising outburst of laughter from Catherine of Aragon. The last of the queens to wake up was Anne Boleyn. With how she had been feeling lately, the second wife found herself staying up later than most usual nights, and that was late enough to hear the occasional groan of frustration from Parr while she wrote.

As the door to the room opened, the other queens heard it. And enthusiastically, they all looked over at Boleyn. Katherine Howard’s eyebrows furrowed just a little, but she just shrugged it off and carried on with her bright expression after a few moments. “Anne! You’re up late. You... okay?” Her cousin in pink ran over to her and grabbed her hands. Boleyn just looked up and yawned, nodding. A small smile came to her face. “Yeah, of course! Just slept in a little later than usual.”

“That’s how we all tend to get sometimes after our days off,” Anna of Cleves gave a laugh. “Come on, slowpoke. The last seat is yours and Jane didn’t want to start breakfast without you.” The German pointed at the chair next to the second empty one, which was Howard’s as she was up and holding on to her cousin. “We’re a big family, and as such, we will eat like one. At least in the mornings, because sometimes you ladies are crazy.”

“Easy for you to say. You and Anne are the craziest of them all,” a quiet snort from Jane Seymour. The blonde woman just shook her head and allowed her smile to be present. “Come on, you two!” The cousins looked at each other with a nod and went to sit down. “Now that we’re all here, we can––... why is it that you always only drink coffee in the morning?”

A little huff, and a bit of a heavier Manchester accent from Parr. “I like coffee, what can I say? I also eat a bit while I stay up at night, you can’t blame a girl.”

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1:30 pm. Thirty minutes before show time.

“Good afternoon ladies! This is your thirty minute call.”

A soft mutter from Boleyn as she responded, “Thank you thirty.” Aragon opened the door to the dressing room up, sitting down next to the green queen. “You still haven’t done your hair, bombon? Want me to do it for you?” A sigh was the response. Anne just looked up with tired eyes, shrugging. “Yeah, you can. I just haven’t been sleeping well these past few nights, is all.” Standing up, Aragon placed herself behind Boleyn, running her hands through her hair for a moment.

A knock. A collective “Come in.” came from both of the queens.

The one to open the door was Maria. “Hey. Parr wanted me to pass a message to you both,” the drummer found herself leaning against the door frame. “She wanted to ask if you two in here wanted to go eat after the first show. We’re all going, Maggie included after we convinced her to. A qué les parece eso, Lina?” There was a pause. Anne didn’t really want to go. She didn’t want to feel like such a negative ball of energy when the other queens were happy.

“Me parece bien. Necesitaban algo más, Maria?” Looking over to the door, Aragon’s hands kept working with Boleyn’s hair, trying to get her ready for the show. She had everything else done, and she was in costume, but her hair wasn’t done. “No, that was all. I’ll tell them that you’re undecided. Is that fine, Anne?”

“Oui. Je vais leur rendre visite plus tard. Merci, Maria.” Maria gave a very confused look at Anne, before realizing what she said. “Ah, okay! Yeah, no problem.” Then again, she just heard the “Yes.” and “Thank you, Maria.” as her clues to smile and give the queens a thumbs up. “I’ll leave you two to get suited up to kick Tudor ass. Ah, Lina, no te olvides de lo que hablamos.” Anne Boleyn just stared at herself in the large mirror. Something about her mood definitely did seem off. What was going on through her head? What could’ve possibly been burning at her core that she just couldn’t get off her chest? Well, the answer to that... quite simply put, is nightmares. She was reliving traumatic nightmares from the day of her beheading. She didn’t really know if she could get through the two show day without freaking out.

––––––––––

A thunderous knock rattled the doors of where she was being held in the Tower. 

Why was Anne in her modern body? Was this another nightmare? It was, and she could feel herself reliving everything.

Her right hand clutched onto her chest, the rattling of the door getting progressively louder. The once bright-eyed queen felt herself cower into the corner. Why was this happening again?

Just as soon as the rattling became a thunderous boom, the nightmare seemed to stop. This was not the case. Anne found herself now outside of the Tower of London, trembling. She felt herself be pushed down, and her head be almost thrown to the scaffold. Looking up at the massive crowd, she saw herself. Another modern version of herself, who looked just as mortified as the Anne Boleyn on the literal chopping block.

Right before the sword struck her neck, everything went black.

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Anne jolted back into her reality, almost jumping through the roof when Cleves put a hand on her. The sudden short breaths from the one in green made the fourth wife worried. She helped her counterpart up, and gently pulled her towards the door. “Beruhige dich! Geht es dir gut?” The German woman gave a side hug to the second wife, with a nod being the thing she responds with.

“Ladies, this is your final places call.”

“Thank you, places!” Aragon closed the door to the dressing room and gave Boleyn a pat on the shoulder. “You’re okay. You’re with us. Come on, let’s go kick some serious Tudor ass and take our stories back.”

––––––––––

To think, that was only the first half of the day. The second half went much worse.

Normally, Anne Boleyn was one to go and greet the fans. Take pictures with them, sign things. But she quite literally could not handle the crowds tonight. Sure, it wasn't the first time this happened, but not even to this degree. Sitting in the dressing room, out of her costume and back into the pair of sweatpants and oversized pullover she loved to wear. Her hair remained down and all. Taking just a few deep breaths, her left hand came up to the choker.

It was burning like crazy. Her scar would not stop hurting. Her head would not stop pounding.

“Anne? Hey, are you ready to go home?” Katherine Howard, her beloved cousin. She wished she could share what was paining her with the girl, but she could not find the strength to open up. A nod came from Anne as she grabbed her bag and followed Kitty outside of the room, and to the exterior of the theatre where everyone else was waiting. “I got her! She was just zoning out.”

“Sorry. I just... I needed to breathe.”

“Well relax, babe. Everything’s all okay with us. You know we’ll give you the space if y’need it,” Catherine Parr nodded. The Ladies in Waiting all stood with the Queens, with nods going across the board. Maggie stepped up, gently taking Boleyn’s hands in her own and whispering. “Est-ce les cauchemars? You look pale from it.” Just a subtle nod from Anne. “Oui.”

“I figured so. Call me when you get home, okay? I’ll try to help you calm down,” with a smile, Maggie pulled Anne into a hug and then headed back to the other Ladies in Waiting. The four waved and headed off on their way, with the Queens all heading back home themselves.

This is where things begin to get messy.

––––––––––

It was about maybe 11:45 at this point. The stars were out and the queens were all in the living room, with Katherine somehow laying across all four of the other women sitting on the couch. Anne Boleyn? No where to be found. Probably in her room. 

She was staring at the scar in the mirror, choker tightly gripped in her hand. It felt like a fever dream–– standing in front of the mirror and seeing her head. The second wife felt herself beginning to shake. Her legs felt weak, her chest began to crush itself underneath its weight. Why wouldn’t it go away? Why wouldn't it leave her alone? She slammed the choker down on the vanity in her room, the thud getting the attention of everyone else.

A rather worked up and on the verge of tears Boleyn stormed out of her room, and snatched Jane’s keys from the key rack. That brought instant concern to Jane Seymour and the other queens. Katherine Howard sat herself upright and leaned forward. “Anne? Anne, what’s going on?”

“I can’t take the constant thundering knocks and the crowds! Everything burns, damn it! I... I need to go! I need some sort of closure for this,” Anne Boleyn started for the door. Jane Seymour immediately stood up, and started to pace over to the queen about to exit the house.

“Anne Boleyn, don’t you dare walk out that door.”

“Watch me.”

But it was too late. The wooden door was slammed shut, leaving five women in bewilderment at what had just happened. This was not normal behavior for Anne Boleyn, and anyone could attest to that. What had been festering in her head over the past few days would not leave her alone. The slamming door made Katherine Howard flinch and hunch her shoulders reflexively.

“Annie?”

––––––––––

It was going to be one hell of a drive. And she made sure to take her time.

But Anne Boleyn knew exactly where she was going.

The car seemed to have jerked to a stop, but it didn’t.

Shuddering, she got out of the car and closed the door, keys going into her pocket. Her steps began to feel like they were echoing in the silence. Looking up, her fists closed. The Tower of London, the very dreaded spot that she met her untimely fate, and where her cousin was murdered by Henry for things out of her control. Looking around, she realized she was alone. And for the first time that she could recall, she just fell to her knees, and let out a shrill scream.

“Damn you, damn you! Why don’t you ever leave me alone?!” Her hair fell over her face as she started crying. If she walked any father, she would’ve been where she was so many centuries ago, watching a crowd and awaiting for her head to get sliced off. “Let me live in peace! I just want to sleep one damn night!”

Forcing her tear-stained face to look up, she tried forcing herself to take a deep breath. 

The silence wasn’t unnerving, but rather welcoming. It was almost telling her to come closer to the Tower, and to the very spot she once stood in centuries ago. Standing up, with her whole body now shaking and her fighting back tears, Anne Boleyn began to walk forward. A slight breeze began to blow from the west, and it helped move some of the hair off of her face. Feeling herself fall to her knees again, Anne just screamed.

She was screaming. Yelling. Crying. Anything she could do to release her frustration. Her hands came up to her neck, and held it rather tightly in attempt to ease the burning down. She knew her throat would be shot from this. She knew she would not be able to sing, but she needed the release of emotion. It was almost cathartic to her. The Tower of London was giving her a second chance at letting her emotions out, as she couldn’t really do it on that fated day.

The breeze picked up as Anne continued to holler out and do whatever she could. The tight, crushing feeling of her chest was slowly going away. 

That was all she needed. She just needed to focus her emotions on something. This was that something. The silence was the something, and she could cry out to it and feel safe. There was no judgement, no looks of concern. Just Anne Boleyn and her feelings. Managing to stand up, she looks up at the night sky. Stars littered everywhere, but she can't help the anger from the recurring nightmares being her focus.

“Why, you bastard! Why did you have to kill her! Why us?! What have we ever done to you to get treated so terribly?! You broke Aragon’s heart, took my life, forced Jane into submission, made Cleves have terrible self doubt...” Her voice just got louder. “And Kitty! Poor Kitty died because of your total bullshit! It wasn't her fault! It will never be her fault! Do you hear me, Henry?! It was never her damn fault!”

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She didn’t know the time.

Boleyn found herself at a lot more ease. Screaming until you literally couldn’t was not the healthiest thing to do, but it was the only thing she felt compelled to do. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she looks at the screen. Missed calls and text messages from the other queens. And Katherine’s was the most recent one.

Annie... please come back home. We’re really worried about you.

All she did was respond with, I’ll be there soon. I promise.

And true to her word Anne Boleyn was. She showed up back at the house maybe at around two in the morning, with the other queens all swarming to hug her when she got back. For the first time in maybe...  a while, Anne could say she felt okay. She felt... fine. And being in the silence for a few hours truly was what made her feel so okay.