BLOODLINES
—13. As If It Never Was

     That night, Marie fell asleep rather quickly, only to be suddenly woken up by the sound of a voice she hadn't heard in years speaking to her.

"A Tudor boy kisses you and everything I've taught you is undone?" Nora complained, causing Marie's eyes to wide in horror as she immediately sat up from lying in bed, "I thought you were better than that. I thought you had learned from my mistake's and Lizbeth's. The Tudors will bring you nothing but pain and heartbreak. You know that, yet still you allow yourself to fall in love with the worst of them all."

"Harry isn't bad. He is good," Marie argued defensively, beginning to glare at Nora.

"I found myself defending Edward like that all the time, you know. Even when he did something to me that should have been unforgivable. You continue going down this path and you will end up just me, but only worse. You will always have his love, but his eyes will always wander. You never be his wife. He'll have many wives, but none of them will ever be you. You will be branded as nothing more than the king's whore during his reign, just like I was during Edward's. But unlike me, you will never accomplish more than that. You will have your wits but it will mean nothing as a foreigner surrounded by Tudor men."

"No," Marie argued, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she shook her head.

"He will bring you pain. More pain than Edward ever brought me. He will break the world because of his impulsive decisions and still, you will be foolish enough to stand by him," Nora explained as she slowly began to move toward Marie's bed.

"You are wrong," Marie argued in a stern tone.

"I am not. I was you once. I know how kings like him function. Harry will do things as the king. Things that a king should never do. It will tear England apart and you with it," Nora explained in a low, threatening tone, "You should get out while you still can or be forced to stand witness to the atrocities he puts this poor country through."

Marie suddenly gasped as her eyes opened, finding herself now to be woken up by the nightmare. She glanced around, feeling deeply uneasy about the whole ordeal.

_____

It was around dawn when Kathy found herself in agony. She screamed in pain, but concealed it by doing it into a pillow. She clutched her belly, feeling indescribable pain there.

As she sat up and cried out, her ladies tried to move toward her, only to stop when Kathy lifted her hand."I'm fine, I'm fine," She insisted as the ladies watched her in concern, "Just a bad dream. Fetch Marie of Burgundy, will you?"

The ladies nodded, bowing their heads to Kathy before they left the room.

Once they were gone, Kathy winced in pain as she slowly lifted the covers, only to loudly gasp in horror at the sight of her nightgown and sheets covered in blood. She cried out, horrified by the sight. She was miscarrying.

____

That morning when Kathy's ladies were looking for Marie, the Burgundian girl was standing in the gardens at Westminster, waiting for Harry's arrival.

She turned her head, smiling as she watched the English Prince walked over to her with a small smile on his face. "I was glad to get your message," He confessed, wearing a hopeful expression.

"I have an answer for you," Marie confessed, trying not to look uneasy.

"What is it?" Harry asked almost desperately as he moved closer to her.

"I wish to listen to my heart for once and it tells me that I want to be with you, Harry, no matter what troubles come our way," Marie confessed as she smiled softly.

Harry sighed in utter relief as he moved closer to Marie and cupped her face in his hands. "Oh," He sighed once more, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, "What has changed?"

"Nothing," Marie replied, smiling slightly, "But if we've learned anything from our predecessors, if we fight hard enough for the love we have for each other, we may make it work."

"How will we do this?" Harry found himself asking Marie as she smiled down at her, leaning his forehead against hers.

"We must trust in only God and ourselves. He is on our side, not your father's. I just know it," She confessed, causing them both to smile widely.

Harry stared deeply into Marie's eyes for a long moment, his eyes filled with such love and admiration. He affectionately stroked her cheek, just before he leaned forward and passionately kissed her.

Slowly, they pulled away from the kiss and Harry hugged Marie, holding her close to his chest as he buried his face into the crook of her neck.

____

In his privy council room, Henry sat alone with numerous documents laid out in front of him. Just then, the door opened and Marie entered. She politely curtsied before the king, wearing an unreadable expression.

"Your Grace," She greeted him and finally, Henry lifted his head to look at her.

He smiled at her, gesturing to the seat directly across from him at the other end of the table. Despite feeling uneasy, she sat down and once she did so, Henry wasted no time speaking up.

"I have summoned you here to ask you," He began to tell her, letting out a small sigh, "Do you give consent to this marriage?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Marie asked with an attitude and Henry's eyes widened slightly. Marie never dared to speak to anyone at the Castle like that, not in the past ten years that she had been living there, "Tell me, Your Grace, would I make you happy? Would I make you as happy as your wife did?"

Henry remained silent, letting out a small sigh in defeat.

"The answer is no and we both know it," Marie answered in a stern tone, "No one enjoyed the love you two had for each other, especially the Yorks, but it was powerful and true. She loved you, despite everything you had done to wrong her. And you loved her, despite her constant betrayals. The two of you would have never been able to find love like that anywhere else. You are the only ones truly for each other. Ever since you were children, you both loved each other. Deeply, in fact. Despite her being gone for many months now, you still love her and do you truly want to ruin that memory you have of her by marrying another?"

"It was her dying wish," Henry pointed out in a calm tone.

"She was dying and delirious. She didn't know what she was saying. She thought that a marriage between you and me would make you happy, but you and I both know it wouldn't," Marie explained in a stern tone, "She thought a marriage alliance between us would stop a war from occurring between Burgundy and the rest of the Hapsburg Empire, and England."

"Yes," Henry nodded his head in agreement.

"But clearly, my father does not care about me. He's had nearly ten years to come get me and he hasn't. What makes you think a marriage between you and I would form an alliance between you and him?" She asked, letting out a large scoff, "Even if it did work, our children will never succeed us."

"Of course not. Harry's will, as Lizzie's son," He reminded her in a calm tone, "The throne belongs to Harry, then his son, and then his grandson."

"This alliance would not work and you know it," Marie complained in an annoyed tone, "You just don't want to admit it because you fear you'd be defying Lizbeth's dying wish. Queen Lizbeth was smart. Even if she was in her right mind, she would have given you a better solution to your problems. Not this."

Harry suddenly froze and turned to Marie, narrowing his eyes at her. "He's gotten into your head, hasn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marie argued, shaking her head.

"You're in love with him," Henry realized, sighing as he shook his head, "May God help you if you do."

"Give Harry the alliance. If Lizbeth were here, she'd want you to. She'd want you to do everything in your power to make sure Harry was safe upon his throne when you were gone from this world," Marie explained, a genuine look on her face, "Deep down, you know it."

Slowly, Henry walked away from Marie, a hesitant look on his face as she watched him closely.

____

That afternoon, in the throne room, Henry sat upon his throne with Harry to his right and Margaret to his left. "Lady Marie of Burgundy and Austria, I withdraw my proposal of marriage to you," He announced, causing Margaret to turn to him in disbelief, "You will instead be betrothed to my son, Harry, Prince of Wales."

Marie turned to glance at Harry, who was smiling widely as Henry continued on.

"Your heirs will ensure the peace between our country and the Holy Roman Empire," Henry explained and Harry smiled as he turned to glance at his son.

"Thank you, Father," Harry told Henry, a satisfied look on his face.

"Henry—" Margaret began to argue, only to be cut off by Henry.

"I will send my letter to the pope requesting his dispensation. If he grants it, you may be married..." He trailed off, standing up from his throne before he slowly began to walk down the steps and closer to Marie. "Only after Queen Isabella sends Princess Catherine's dowry."

"But that has nothing to do with me," Marie complained as she frowned at Henry in concern.

"Your brother is married to Princess Joanna, Queen Isabella's heir. He is the future king of Spain. And his son will be king after that. He is capable of convincing Spain to hand over the dowry. If that happens, you may marry my son," Henry explained before walking off, leaving Marie feeling uneasy.

Henry had purposely given her an impossible job.

___

That afternoon, Marie traveled to Kathy's room, hoping to tell her about the day she had. She frowned, however, when she found Kathy sitting on the floor in complete darkness.

"Kathy, what's wrong?" She asked in concern as she walked over to the shutters, "Why are you in darkness? You need some light."

"I don't need anything," Kathy snapped at Marie, a cold look on her face as she glared up at the Burgundian girl, "I've been sending for you all day. But you've been too busy fondling with my brother. I needed you. I needed you all day. And you weren't here for me," She cried out, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Kathy..." Marie trailed off, slowly beginning to move closer to her friend, "What happened?"

Slowly, Kathy lifted up her robe, revealing her nightgown to be covered in blood. "I didn't even have the chance to take the elixir," She managed to get out as she stared up at Marie, "It left all on its own. Almost without pain. And so quickly. As if it never was."

Marie began to cry, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. She slowly turned her head, locking eyes on the sheets of Kathy's bed wrapped up near the fire. The contents of the miscarriage were inside.

"Get rid of it!" Kathy suddenly snapped at Marie, trying to hide her sadness as she consumed herself with anger instead, "Bury it! Burn it! Get rid of it. I don't care how, just do it! I don't want to see it."

An uneasy look on her face, Marie slowly nodded her head and walked over to the sheets. She slowly picked it up and left the room.

When she thought she was alone, Kathy walked over to the only open window in her room. She tried her hardest to hide her sadness, not wanting to show her weakness.

Just then, she heard footsteps before a pair of arms wrapped around her, ones belonging to Marie. She hugged Kathy tightly as the English princess began to sob over what happened. "It knew it wasn't wanted," Kathy admitted softly, tears streaming down her cheeks, "If only I had known the same before I was born."

Marie slowly turned to look at Kathy, a concerned look on her face. Did Kathy really think that way?