Queen Victoria of Cambridge
April 15th, 1521
I sat besides Henry in his council meeting. Much to our dismay a plaque was sweeping through our nation and it has come to our boarder.
"It has come to our attention that Mary, The Duchess of Suffolk has had this sickness for a while Majesties." Lord Hartford said and I quickly looked at Henry,
"Mary! What of little Henry and The Duke of Suffolk?" I asked making sure to put the son first so no one would look at me.
"They have been separated from the Duchess. But they show no signs of having the sickness. A doctor give Mary three days to live and so they say the royal family should say their goodbyes soon." He said and I turned to see the look of hurt in Henry's eyes.
"Thank you Lord Hartford. May you ready a carriage so His Majesty and I may go see his sister?" I offered and Henry let out a noise.
"You a pregnant Victoria."
"And? I have been around sick people the moment we started noticing it." I began as I lowered my hand on my belly.
"Mary was the first one to welcome me as the new Queen. I shall be there to say goodbye." I finished and Lord Hartford nodded.
"The carriage shall be ready in an hour. It take thirty minutes to get to The Duchess's estate." He informed before he bowed his head and left the room.
"How do we tell the children? How do I tell Margaret? She is going through enough with her own sons being away from her." Henry said and I sighed.
"I will tell the children. You speak to Margaret and by the time the carriage is ready, Margaret can decide if she wants to come with us." I offered and Henry nodded before he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"I do not know what I would do without you. When we get there you will see Mary only in a room with a lot of windows. And you will not get close to her." He said and I went to say something but nodded as I bowed my head.
"Of course." I whispered before he released me and I walked out of the room to see Morgana and Emilia standing there.
"The Duchess of Suffolk has the sickness. She is told she will not survive three days. Henry and I are going to see her." I said and I watched as Emilia's eyes filled with tears.
"The children?"
"Will stay here with Morgana. I want you to come Emilia."
Emilia bowed her head and I turned to Morgana.
"I need your help telling the children their aunt is dying. Can you help me?" I asked and I was shocked to hear my voice crack.
I loved Mary when I first met her and then when I heard her crush on Charles I hated her. How could this blood born Princess steal the man I secretly loved and gave an heir too?
"Of course. Shall we?" She asked as we began our way towards the royal nursery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One Hour Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat in the carriage wiping tears away as we made our way closer to Mary's home. From what Lord Hartford told us she had few help staying with her.
Charles wrote her daily and kept her updated on little Henry's progress of him getting older but she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her only living child.
As we approached her home I looked at Henry who's eyes filled with tear.
"Harry-" I began and he lifted his hand to silent me.
"You shall go first. I need a couple of moment to collect myself." He said and I nodded before Julian opened the carriage door and helped me climb out.
I felt one of the babies give a sharp kick and I sighed as I rubbed the spot. Julian followed me towards the door where a pageboy opened and bowed to us.
"Her Highness is in the drawing room waiting for you, Your Majesty." He said and I nodded before looking at Julian.
"Please keep an eye on Henry for me."
"Your wish is my command Your Majesty." Julian said as he bowed before turning around and going to find Henry.
I made my way down the hall and pushed open the door to the drawing room and saw Mary sitting by the fireplace. She looked over at me and gave a weak smile.
"Mary. Why did you not tell us sooner?" I asked as I stepped forward. When I was about three feet away from her she lifted her hand.
"I know." Was all that left her lips. I felt myself freeze before looking at her.
"I beg your pardon."
"I know. I know about your affair with my husband. I know there is a chance Albert is his." She said before she began coughing. I jumped forward and handed her the goblet of water.
She took it from my hand and sent me a weak smile.
"How long have you known?"
" Since it started."
"And you never told? You could've gotten me killed and out of your way." I said as I sat in the chair she had placed those three feet away.
"And have Charles hate me? No I couldn't do that. No matter how much I wanted to." She hissed and I blinked away the harshness.
"Mary-" I began but she shook her head.
"I wanted you here to hear from you. Your words on why my Charles. My husband. The one I've loved since I was a small girl."
I inhaled before placing both hands on my stomach to calm myself.
"Before I came to court, my father had arranged for me to marry Charles and become The Duchess of Suffolk. But then we came to court and Harry saw me."
"I refused to be his mistress at first. I ran away back home for a month until Harry came for me. I fell for his charm and then found out about Bessie Blount being pregnant. I hated him and Charles was always there to comfort me."
"Did you know you were to marry him at first?" Mary asked and I shook my head.
"Not at all. My mother told me she had a potential marriage set up for me but no I didn't know who. Whenever Harry and I fought, Charles was always there. Ready to break up the fighting or to offer me advice. I loved the thought of having someone who truly loved me." I confessed as I turned to Mary.
"If I could back in time and either say no to marrying Harry or saying no to my affair I would chose saying no to marrying Harry."
Mary stared at me for a moment and I nodded.
"I love your brother. I truly do. He gave me Edward, my wonderful sweet blonde boy. And these two growing inside me. But the pain and embarrassment he put me through. I wanted him to feel it too."
Mary let out a laugh before sitting up.
"My mother would've loved you. Your fire and drive remind me of her so much. I lost her when I was very young. She was pregnant after Arthur died, trying so hard to have another boy so there could always be a spare." She began as she stood up and walked closer to the fire.
"Do you love him? Charles I mean."
"More than I should."
"Will you watch over them? When I'm gone. You and Henry are my sons godparents. I want him raised as I was." She began and I could hear the tears in her voice.
"Of course we will. Harry, he isn't taking this well. Neither is Margaret. She shall be coming tomorrow early in the morning."
"They all were the perfect older siblings. They were nearly all over ten when I was born. Margaret, from what my grandmother said, thought I was her doll. She fought my wetnurses to have me." Mary said before she turned to me.
"I won't say anything to my brother. But this shall be something that will come back and haunt you Victoria."
"I know and I shall take my chances when I meet the mighty father when I die." I said before I felt another kick.
"Name one after me. If it is a girl." She whispered as she sat back down and folded her arms closer to her.
"Of course. Do you want me to get Henry now?"
"Please. I need my older brother."