King Henry

Chapter 37 - Fighting Back

"What will it be Henry?" his mother asked.

Seeing a sword being pressed against Henry's neck made Eleanor panic and tears started to burn at her eyes.

"It's okay. Just do what she says Henry. Please," Eleanor pleaded. "I won't be angry with you if you annul our marriage. You can't give up being the King for me," she sniffled, feeling her bottom lip start to quiver as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Deep down she had known that being married to him was too good to be true. At least she had gotten to know what it felt like to be Henry's wife, to be held in his arms and feel his heart beat against hers as their bodies came together as one. She would hold that memory with her for the rest of her life and no matter what happened, no one could ever take that away from her. She would cherish it forever.

Henry stood there motionless and Eleanor waited with bated breath to see what he was going to do, sobbing softly. She had never been so scared in her life.

The guards were closing in on Henry and Arthur with their swords drawn and Eleanor could see a tiny trickle of blood running down Henry's neck.

In one lightning fast movement, Henry elbowed Arthur in the stomach, making him cough and lose his grip on the sword and Henry turned around and snatched it away from him before knocking him out with a punch from the sword's handle.

"Drop your weapon!" the guards shouted, pointing their swords at him, looking nervous, but it was obvious Henry wasn't going to give in without a fight. He twirled the sword around a couple times before throwing it up in the air and catching it behind his back. He balanced the sword on his hand by the tip of the blade before tossing it up and grabbing its handle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked them, raising an eyebrow.

They looked at each other and hesitated before finally walking towards him again.

"Okay," he shrugged. "You can't say I didn't warn you."

Henry crashed his sword against one of the guard's swords, making a screeching sound of metal as they scraped against each other. Henry hopped back, narrowly avoiding getting slashed in the stomach with the blade of another knight walking up to his left.

He now had three of them trying to fight him at once. He pulled a long dagger out of his waist band, holding it in one hand and his sword in the other as he slashed and jabbed, fending off each of the knights as another fell in to take his place.

One of the knights swiped at Henry but he blocked it and then poked the dagger in his other hand into his shoulder in the small space between the armor. The knight cried out, dropping his sword. It was obvious Henry wanted to hurt him but not kill him or he would have gone for his neck.

Eleanor held her breath as she watched, feeling impressed with Henry's skills but nervous for him at the same time. She saw Arthur slowly getting up off the floor, holding his head and he was walking towards Henry's back as he was fighting two of the guards.

Eleanor panicked, looking around for anything she could use as a weapon. She picked up a large, heavy vase and right as Arthur lifted his dagger to stab Henry in the back, she crashed it over his head, knocking him out cold.

Eleanor looked down at the vase in her hands with wide eyes, impressed with herself. Henry turned around and looked at her with raised eyebrows, looking impressed too.

"That's my girl," he smiled, making her face blush.

She stepped back, getting out of his way as he fought off the rest of the knights that were left. He eventually knocked out the last of the twenty soldiers that had surrounded him, leaving a pile of men lying on the floor around him.

He stood there catching his breath, looking back at his mother. "If my answer to your question wasn't obvious, I choose neither. I won't annul my marriage or abdicate my throne. I'm the rightful King and I will choose who I make my Queen and how this kingdom is run. You have no authority here anymore."

Eleanor was so proud of him that she felt like clapping, but she controlled herself.

Then he turned to his brother. "Now Richard, I love you, but give me my fucking crown back and get the hell off my throne."

Richard's eyes widened and he looked intimidated, swallowing hard. He stood up and walked towards Henry, taking the crown off his head. He kneeled in front of him, lifting the crown up with trembling hands and bowing his head.

"Arise brother," Henry said, taking the crown from him as he stood up and placed it onto his own head.

"I'm sorry brother. I've never even wanted to be King. It was all mother's idea and she threatened me if I didn't go along with it," Richard told him with a guilty look on his face.

"How dare you blame all of this on me!" their mother shouted at him. "None of this would have happened if it weren't for Eleanor! Ever since she came here Henry's been out of his head."

She turned to Henry and said, "Can't you see that witch has you under her spell?"

Henry looked over at Eleanor and studied her eyes for a minute and she wondered what he was thinking.

"You're right. She does have me under her spell," he said with a soft smile forming. "But it has nothing to do with magic or witchcraft. It's called love."

His mother scoffed, shaking her head. "The Henry I know would have never fallen in love with a peasant," she told him, wrinkling her nose up in disgust as she looked at Eleanor.

"Well maybe you never knew me as well as you thought you did."

She looked at her son, thinking for a few seconds before shaking her head. "It's a shame that things had to end this way. I had hoped I would be able to reason with you Henry and that you'd come to your senses, but I can see now, that will never happen."

His mother nodded her head at a man behind them that Eleanor and Henry hadn't noticed walking in. He was holding a hollow reed in his hand. Right as Henry looked over his shoulder at him, he blew into the reed, sending a feathered dart through the air that landed with a quiet thud against Henry's neck.

His eyes widened and he reached up, feeling the dart in his neck right before his knees crumpled and he folded onto the floor.

"Henry!" Eleanor screamed, running to him and rolling him over onto his back. His eyes were closed and he was completely limp in her arms. She lightly smacked his cheek and said, "Henry, please wake up. Please," she begged. "I can't lose you," she sobbed, as she rocked back and forth, cradling him in her arms.

His mother scoffed. "Oh for goodness sake. Don't be so dramatic. It's only a tranquilizer dart. He'll wake up in an hour or two in a prison cell."

Eleanor was instantly relieved to hear that.

"I can't say the same for you though," his mother said with an evil smirk that sent a cold chill along Eleanor's skin. "Do you know what we do to witches? We burn them at the stake."

Eleanor noticed some more guards entering the room.

"Seize her," his mother said, pointing in Eleanor's direction.

She panicked, letting go of Henry and running towards the door. It was locked, and she spun around, scanning the room for any possible escape. She had to think quickly because they were closing in on her, but they were slowed down by their heavy armor.

She saw tapestries hanging around the room that led to a balcony above. If she could run and jump, she could climb that tapestry and make it onto the balcony. She didn't have time to second guess her plan. She took off running as fast as she could, jumping and clinging onto the tapestry.

She started lifting herself up but her arms burned and it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. She groaned as she pulled up as hard as she could, but her arms were exhausted and eventually they gave out, dropping her onto the tile floor.

The guards surrounded her and two of them lifted her up by her arms so that she was standing.

"Take her to the stake in the courtyard," his mother said with a wave of her hand. As they dragged her away, kicking and screaming, she saw Henry being lifted onto a board and carried out of the room in the opposite direction.

She cried, wondering if she would ever see him again.