The Queen is Dead!: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518

I could also be persuaded to try and draw up a family tree for this story, if anyone would like to see one. Although I will say that Henry and Marie haven't finished their family yet, so it would need regular editing as the TL progressed...

I am always in favor of a family tree. But then I tend to dwell a little to long on them :)
 
I almost feel things are going to happily. . .

But great writing as per usual.

They will be going happily for a few chapters yet, I'm trying to get all the pieces in all the right places so that the drama can kick off... And believe me, when it does, it's prolonged...
 
I have put a Boleyn family tree as it stands in 1525 on the 'Alternate Monarchs and Aristocratic Lineages' thread.I will transfer it over here (and include Princess Mary and Hal FitzRoy etc) as soon as it won't be full of spoilers... :)
 
Section LXXVII - June 1521
Harry didn’t waste any time in asking the King’s permission for his union with Lady Anne. As soon as Mass was over the following morning, he slipped out of the Cardinal’s train and approached the King with a bow.

“Sire? Might I beg a word, if it please you?”

“Certainly, Lord Percy. What is it you would have? Speak.”

Henry knew full well what Harry wanted. How could he not, after what had happened at the archery tournament the day before? Truth be told, he did feel a little sorry for the boy, making him ask him so openly for what he wanted. But a public blessing on Harry’s union with Lady Anne was the only way to ensure the Talbots didn’t try to move against the match and ensnare the lad for their Mary after all. And to give the boy his due, though he blanched momentarily, a mere glance at his sweetheart was enough to restore his courage.

“Your Majesty, I have come to ask you to be so gracious as to ensure that I am set free from any unspoken understanding there may be between my family and that of Lady Mary Talbot’s about our one day being wed and to set your blessing upon a match between myself and the Lady Anne of Ormonde.”

“I see. And why exactly would you want to abandon such a prestigious match as one with Lady Mary in favour of one with Lady Anne? You realise you are jilting one of the most eligible girls in the North?”

“I realise that, Sire, and I am sorry for it, but I will not go back on my decision. I love Lady Anne and I believe with all my heart that she will make me happy in the same way that Her Grace makes you happy, My Lord. Or in the same way that Lady Mary will make some other man happy.”

Privately, Harry doubted that Mary, with her whining voice and nagging ways, would make anybody happy, but the kind words were a courtesy he could well afford her, given the circumstances.

“I see. You love the girl, do you? And will you still love her when I say to you that even if I do let you marry Lady Anne, there’ll be no sharing a home or a bed for another year at least? She’s only fourteen and my wife’s, and therefore my, most beloved sister. I’ll not have her damaged or her health endangered, by sharing the marital bed too early. Are you prepared to wait, Lord Percy?”

“I am, Sire. I love Lady Anne and I wouldn’t harm her for the world. I’ve almost lost her once, I will not lose her again. Besides, my sister Margaret always told me that a prize too easily won is no prize at all. I am prepared to wait to take Lady Anne’s maidenhead, if you so wish it, for I do not believe there could be any prize greater than my sweetheart’s most precious possession. I am even prepared to wait with our wedding, if you wish. All I ask for now is that we are betrothed, unbreakably, before witnesses.”

Harry didn’t know what boldness had loosened his tongue so, but while many of the courtiers around them looked scandalised at his speaking of Anne’s virginity so openly, the King looked impressed. He laughed and extended a ringed hand to clap Harry on the shoulder.

“That’s a mighty clever sister you have, Lord Percy. I hope you take her advice frequently.”

“I do, Your Grace. You may be sure of that.”

“Then I am satisfied. If the Queen and Lady Anne are agreeable, I don’t see why you shouldn’t marry her. What do you say, ladies?”

The King glanced over his shoulder and the crowd parted to show the Queen, Anne half a pace behind, as usual. The Queen nodded in agreement and Harry looked eagerly to Anne. Her cheeks were aflame, but her voice too was burning; burning with conviction.

“Sire, there is no man I would rather marry. I accepted Lord Percy’s ring last night, with the gladdest heart it is possible to have.”

“Very well. Kneel. Come here, next to Lord Percy and kneel.”

Exchanging stunned looks, Harry and Anne did as they were told. The King wasn’t going to have them married here and now, was he?

No. He merely stretched his hand over their bent heads, intoning, “Lord Percy, Lady Anne of Ormonde, you have my blessing upon your union. As of this moment, you may consider yourselves betrothed.”

The looks they exchanged this time were delighted ones. Unable to help himself, Harry grabbed Anne’s shoulders, turned her head to his, cupped her cheeks and kissed her fiercely. The crowd of courtiers laughed and applauded. Pulling back from her, Harry couldn’t ever remember feeling happier. They were engaged to marry and nothing could ruin this for him. Nothing at all.
 
Section LXXVIII - June 1521
Am adding another chapter because, quite honestly, I am impatient to start getting on with some of the drama and we need this one out of the way first. It's also not quite so saccharine as the last couple of chapters either, which I think we could probably all do with!

It wasn’t all that easy. Of course not. While Harry and Anne were celebrating their public betrothal, the Talbot were seething at having their favoured match for their eldest daughter snatched away from them. Knowing, however, that the King would not take kindly to having his public blessing of the Ormonde-Percy match challenged, they turned their attentions to the Queen. After all, they reasoned, if anyone had the means to make him change his mind, it was the mother of his heir.

George Talbot, Mary’s father, was no sooner back from Mass than he was in the Queen’s rooms, pleading with her to stop the King from indulging Lord Percy’s whims.

“You have to understand, Madam, there has always been an understanding between the Percy family and ours that Lord Percy will marry our Mary.”

“I see,” Marie’s voice was frosty, “And did you have anything drawn up to make this understanding official?”

“Well, no, My Lady. It wasn’t necessary. Mary has always been brought up as the future Countess of Northumberland. The arrangement simply made sense.”

“Yet, it was an arrangement that no one else knew about, not even the King, who should have had a hand in arranging your children’s marriages. Not even Lord Percy himself was sure such an understanding existed, though he did factor it in as a possibility when he asked His Majesty to let him marry my sister. You cannot blame the King for not taking into account something he did not know about.”

“Indeed, I do not. But Mary has just had her future ripped away from her. She is devastated. And to know that the girl who is to take her place as Lady of Alnwick is...” A second before he finished his sentence the way he wanted to, George remembered that the girl he had been about to slander was his Queen’s sister and cut himself off hastily. Not quickly enough, however, to stop her voice raising.

“Is what, Lord Shrewsbury? Is of lesser blood than Lady Mary? Is that what you were about to say? Need I remind you that Lady Anne is my sister? If a Boleyn of Ormonde is good enough for the King to crown his Queen, then no wonder that a Percy of Northumberland believes one good enough for him. I advise you to accept his verdict and start looking elsewhere for Lady Mary to bestow her hand. You would do well to do so.”

“But Madam...Think of Mary. She’s so upset. For Lord Percy to renounce her so publicly...think of how that has hurt her feeble girlish heart.”

For a split-second, Marie’s face softened. “I’m sure she must be and I am sorry for it. If it is any consolation, you have my word that I will do my best to ensure her a good match. But I warn you, I will never ask my husband to break Lord Percy and Lady Anne apart for her sake. I will not ruin their happiness, not when I myself am so happy in my marriage.”

George Talbot stifled a groan and bowed.

“As you wish, Your Grace. If you have no more to say, then, with Your Majesty’s permission, I shall take my leave.”

“You have it,” Marie waved him away, “Go. But remember, I will not have you or anyone else slander any member of my family again. The days when your old blood meant you could look down on us Boleyns are over. Well and truly over.”

Then she turned her head away, calling imperiously – more imperiously than was her wont, it seemed, if the looks of slight surprise on her handmaidens’ faces were anything to go by - for her son to be brought to her. Her point was made and George had nothing to do save back out of her rooms with her steely warning still ringing in his ears.
 
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”You have it,” Marie waved him away, “Go. But remember, I will not have you or anyone else slander any member of my family again. The days when your old blood meant you could look down on us Boleyns are over. Well and truly over.”

Mike drop!!

Great chapter!
 
No. He merely stretched his hand over their bent heads, intoning, “Lord Percy, Lady Anne of Ormonde, you have my blessing upon your union. As of this moment, you may consider yourselves betrothed.”

The looks they exchanged this time were delighted ones. Unable to help himself, Harry grabbed Anne’s shoulders, turned her head to his, cupped her cheeks and kissed her fiercely. The crowd of courtiers laughed and applauded. Pulling back from her, Harry couldn’t ever remember feeling happier.

Awwwwwwhhhhh.
Squeels in delight.

Yes, I'm sure nothing could go wrong.
 
Turning the question back on you because I can't answer fully without spoilers... Whose life do you think Henry is least likely to want Marie to try and get herself involved in at this point in time?

I am thinking of their immediate family, but she is so in good relations with everyone in the Tudor family right now, so, maybe some great noble Henry is planning to curtail?
 
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