The Other Henry VIII

What is Love?

At first, she coughed. Then, she coughed some more. It caused her chest great pain, but she coughed anyway. Then, there was blood. Blood poured out and the physicians knew that she had to fight it herself. Dawn arrived, and the Queen had recovered, but the child she had been carrying—
Dead.
The King, with a heavy heart, left for Calais and Sophia was Queen Regent. That only caused more trouble.

17 March 1516
Queen Sophia gazed out of the window at her kingdom. She surveyed it thoughtfully, thinking of the people out there living their lives while she rotted away in this palace. The river was as grey as the clouds that hung permanently above the city, threatening rain but never carrying out the threat. The current was slow, and almost tired, as if it were bored with life already. Henry had been gone 7 months, now, and she had been entirely alone in her palace. Clara had visited briefly from Westhorpe, but she had returned after the King had left for Calais.
She was 22 years old, and should have been living in Hampton Court with two sons and a daughter, but here Sophia stood: no sons, no Henry, and a daughter that she barely ever was allowed to see.
Life was really as grey as those clouds.
Being left Queen Regent, Sophia had to take over Henry's duties, and that in itself was tiring. But she had her ladies, and they were the only comfort she really needed. Diana Westerly, with no King to flirt with, was actually a good person, and Catherine, Mary and Lucy were as kind as ever. However, none of them could heal Sophia's broken heart or melt her sadness, and life in the palace was very dull. Incredibly dull.
There was a hesitant knock behind her, at the door, and Sophia called out without turning around "come in, whoever you are."
"My Lady,"said Diana's voice, and the Queen turned around to face the new arrival. "I have great news!"
"Tell me, for the weather is so glum and I need some consolement,"said Sophia.
"Well, here is a letter from Robert Mansfield, in Calais! They say it brings news of the King,"and Diana held out a sealed piece of parchment. Sophia took it, and ripped open the seal to read:

Your Majesty the Queen Regent—
His Majesty the King is greatly injured, and though it is not fatal, he may not be able to complete the journey back to England for a month or so. I hope that you are well, and the King wishes me to pass on a message. He would like to tell you that he has arranged for the tailor to make you and your ladies-in waitings new dresses, and you may go along as soon as you read this if you like.
Your faithful servant,
Robert Mansfield.

"Good. We shall finally have something fun to do! Call the other ladies, Diana! We are going to the tailor's,"said Sophia, putting down the letter on the table and calling for Betty to fetch her cloak.

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"My Lady,"said Catherine, "what sort of dresses are we going to get?" She looked rather uncomfortable squashed with Lucy and Diana on one side of the carriage.
"Well, I will be getting a blue and purple, I think. I would like to brighten up the mood of the palace, for everyone is so glum,"replied Sophia, looking down and the cream dress she wore with dislike. "You four may choose one colour which is bright, and suits all of you because I would of like one of you looking out of place."
"We must have green,"suggested Lucy, "because our other green ones are ever so pretty, but the style isn't the fashion any more."
"Yes, that would be good,"put in Mary, "it brings out the colour of Diana's eyes." Diana blushed, and smiled at her complimenter. Sophia grew quiet as her ladies chatted animatedly, and she felt a sickening sort of feeling inside her, one that greatly troubled her mind. The reason could not be explained, but Sophia knew it was something to do with fact that Diana had delivered the message from Robert Mansfield. Why hadn't it been a normal messenger? The thought puzzled her a great deal.

The carriage arrived, eventually, at the tailors and the five of them climbed out. Sophia stopped, after being helped down by the footman, and Diana said "are you feeling alright, My Lady?" The Queen studied Diana's bright face, and her constant smiles. There was something wrong, she could feel it. "Yes, I am very well. Let us go inside, it is a little chilly out."

"Well, what do you think?"asked her four ladies. Sophia looked up, and her eyes widened at the beautiful dresses that they wore. It was a fashionable design and cut—the last fashion—with a cinched waist and a low fronted square neckline. The bodice was completely flat, and had any of the ladies been slightly stouter, it would have forced the excess up or down. The green was bright, and pleasing to the eye, and Sophia knew that it was perfect.
"It is beautiful, ladies,"said Sophia, standing up for her turn. The other four giggled amongst them, and a few minutes later, the Queen was standing in front of her ladies and a mirror.
"Why, My Lady.... It's stunning!"praised Catherine, and the others agreed. Sophia looked at herself in the mirror, expecting it to be an average gown, but it seemed to be more than that. This was the dress she received on the day she found out about Henry's injury. It was special.
The gown itself was a beautiful Prussian blue, with the bodice flat like her ladies, but instead of concluding into a normal circular waistline, finished in a thin triangle pointing downwards. The ripples of skirts spilled out from under the point and sides, and it accentuated her tall, slim figure. It made Sophia feel strong again, and that was all that mattered.

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"Diana,"said Sophia, "please sit down. I would like to ask something of you." They were back in the palace, and the Queen and Diana sat in her private chamber.
"Leave,"she commanded, and the servants filed out silently until they were left alone.
Sophia picked up a piece of parchment from the table beside her, and showed it to Diana. Upon realising what was written on it, Diana gulped and looked away. "Diana. You do recognise this, don't you?"
It was the letter from Robert Mansfield, the one saying that the King was injured.
"Diana...."said Sophia gently, "look at the handwriting on this one compared to the last one I received from Mr Mansfield." She picked the second letter up and put it beside the first. The handwritings, though simular, were not the same, and upon realising what Sophia had worked out, Diana through herself at the Queen's feet and cried out "please My Lady, forgive me! I do not know what came over me to do it!"and she burst into tears.

Sophia raised one eyebrow, then stroked Diana's dark curls. "Tell me exactly what you did." Diana sat up, and looked up at the Queen with red eyes.
"I—I took the original letter from the messenger, and I..... I copied it out but I—I added the part about him being injured. The King is completely fine!" And she pulled out the original letter from the folds of her dress and handed it to Sophia. "I am so sorry, My Lady."

Your Majesty—
The King wishes me to inform you that he will return in a month or two, and he hopes you will be ready for him to come. We have been victorious, and the rebels will not bother us again. I hope England has not been plagued by any illnesses as we have here (though only the peasants) and the King wishes me to pass on another message. He would like to tell you that he has arranged for the tailor to make you and your ladies-in waitings new dresses, and you may go along as soon as you read this if you like.
Yours sincerely—
Robert Mansfield

"Why did you do this?"asked Sophia quietly, putting down both letters.
"I thought that I would make you worry a little, to see how you coped and reacted, and now I clearly see that you do not care for the King at all!" Sophia, without thinking, slapped Diana hard across the face with a sickening crack. Diana held her cheek, and stepped backwards slightly.
"I do not care for the King at all, do I? That's coming from someone who has never felt love in their entire life! "Do you know anything about real love? Have you ever loved someone so much that your heart breaks when they betray you? Because when you are in love, you would gladly break your heart to mend theirs and you would willingly sacrifice your own happiness to please them!"cried Sophia.
"That's love?"scoffed Diana, laughing. "No wonder mine has never been broken!"

"Why? Because you have never been in love, or because it has been coated by the love of others like paint trying to hide mistakes? I pity you either way." Diana, who had been inching back from the Queen bit by bit, gave that up and walked right up to her mistress and shoved her backwards right into the table. Sophia landing with a crash on the floor and she did not move again. Servants, who must have heard it, came rushing in and seeing Sophia lying motionless on the floor with the table over her, grabbed Diana by the arms and dragged her out. Other servants carefully pushed away the table and picked up the Queen, who had a nasty gash on her forehead from the table edge, and carried her into her bedchamber where her other three ladies waited on her until she recovered consciousness.

"Where's Diana?"whispered Catherine, carefully wiping away the blood.
"I don't know—some say she was the one who did this!"replied Lucy a little bit too loudly.
"It was—it was an accident,"muttered Sophia, wincing. "I tripped over the table leg." But since she had landed on her back, facing Diana, each silently confirmed that Diana had done it.