28th January 1547
The king lay dying. The slender, athletic figure of his youth had all but disappeared; only his spirit now hung on to his past vigor and energy. The wound in his leg had destroyed his ability to hunt, but not his hunger for it. His many wives had destroyed his faith in love, but not his desire for it. He was overweight and bad tempered. He longed for the days of his youth, when he could ride carelessly through the woods of his kingdom, Charles Brandon at his side. But now Brandon was dead. Cromwell, too, was dead. Wolsey was dead. More was dead. Everyone was dead, and only he was left. Of all his closest advisers and friends, he had outlived them all.
His children sat gathered around his bedside. His eldest Mary, her silken hair the exact same shade as her mother's. And Elizabeth, his youngest daughter. The daughter he had sacrificed almost everything for hoping she would be a son. He regretted treating her so terribly for the most of her childhood, and blaming her for the actions of her mother. And finally his son, his darling Edward, Prince of Wales. His eyes were those of his mother, the most kind hearted and goodly wife the king had ever had. Mary's hand grasped his cold one, and as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek, her father smiled.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1RDWV3mKj
"Do not weep for me Mary. Pray for me, but do not weep." He said, his voice thin and worn. She nodded silently. In her other hand she clutched her rosary, (such an obvious display of Catholicism, and yet her father, who had tried so hard to abolish the Catholic church in England, did not seem to mind) praying already for his soul.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmohwDLtBj
All too soon, he was gone. He had said goodbye to his wife Katherine, and kissed the hands of both of his daughter's. His son, still a young boy, looked at his father with fearful eyes.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlw9BQxJ4n
"You are to be king, my son."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vPT6EHSan
"Yes, sir." He said bravely.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyefb2d97e
"I was not much older than you, when I came to the crown. I have faith that you will govern England well. You shall be a just and honorable king."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyswHj9nbyG
And then, his eyes had closed, his breathing had stopped and his grip on his daughter's hand loosened.
One.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqwOm4giSi
The first he heard was the sound of rain hitting the window. When he opened his eyes, the room was dark, save from the light of a few candles. Henry saw her before she noticed he was awake. She was sitting in a rocking chair by the fire, mending one of his shirts. He recognized her instantly.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaAE2CcRTI
"Katherine?" He asked, his voice hoarse.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wGvlOu8FO
"Husband." She said, beaming.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZqrKF4xi5
"I thought I was..." He began.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFPNy2KRO1
"You are. I am too." She said simply, with a shrug. "Consider this as your path to the afterlife." Before he could respond, she began to speak once more.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJkElXigxH
"I trust you have raised our daughter well? I was always proud of her."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQd3Bd4GYSY
"She is much like her mother." Henry said with a smile.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NZdrvGTjj
"Then I hope you have not treated her in the same way that you did me." She said coldly. Henry remained silent. "I was your lawful wife, Henry. You know that as well as I. Was the Boleyn girl worth it? Did she give you the son I could not?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwKmtPeB9b
"I regret bitterly my actions towards you. If I could but return to the past..."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyyvyXZ2xv
"I will forgive you. All I ever wanted was an apology."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsHWaB9Ura
"Then I am sorry Katherine. I am sorry that I took Mary from you, and I am sorry that I humiliated you, I see now that I was wrong. I see now that I was misled."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqZ2jr3bqY
She did not reply, and a small smile formed at the corner of her mouth.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXvy6XgWOY
"All I ever wanted." She repeated. She nodded to the door. "You may go."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCR58WQaPv
"Go? Go where?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcR6ejSwCL0
"I am sure there are others waiting for you." She said simply, turning back to her sewing.
Two779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbmfY8kGVR
Henry stepped through the door. He should have been in a hallway, dark and cold. Instead, he was in the grounds of his favourite palace. It was summer, and the sun was blinding. His eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, and he saw another woman. She was dark, much like Katherine. She was wearing a deep green that had always suited her. The pearls at her neck hung just as they always had. Her neck itself was as slender as it had always been. There was no scar across it, there was no indication... no notion that he had... that she had been condemned... there was nothing to suggest she had died so violently.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ImuDMAeRf
"Henry." She said smoothly. Her voice was like melted butter and all at once, he was transported back to a time when he loved her.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIxQLg0aHn
"Anne." He said curtly. He had forgotten what she had looked like. Forgotten the sound of her voice, forgotten the curve of her hips and the soft skin of her cheeks.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70decgBY0X
"We were here, do you remember? When I told you I was expecting Elizabeth? You were so happy." She looked towards the castle behind them. "Does she remember me? Henry please, tell me that she has been told how much I loved her."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MogrVxMl3
"She knows why you are not with her today."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxPOSzCaka
"I am not with her today because of Cromwell." She said coldly. Her eyes were dark, her face had lost any trace of good humour it had previously possessed.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXt240dCgVe
"Cromwell gathered evidence I could not argue with, Anne."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZcSQyn5fu
"Did it occur to you that the evidence was false? Did it occur to you that murdering me was not the only option?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPlqaRPtyt
Henry was about to protest, to insist that it was not murder, that death was the penalty for treason and it was not murder. He found himself weak, too weak to argue.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIeCRBQ0iX
"I wanted to see her grow up, Henry. I loved her so, so much. Maybe I could not have given you a son, but you robbed me of my daughter."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTp7NOqsyf
"If it is any consolation to you, Cromwell is dead. He was executed." He said, fighting back a hysterical laugh. Anne however, did laugh.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUw6nColgA4
"You sign the death warrant for everybody, don't you Henry? I am amazed you did not execute yourself."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSd7bPoltkn
He had always admired her sharp tongue, her bold wit.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlmekQbnd9
"I am sorry, Anne. For taking away your chance at being a mother." He looked into her eyes, those deep, dark eyes that once promised everything he desired. All at once, he was on his knees before her. "I beg you Anne, forgive me."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRyhEGRYb3
She grasped his hand and kissed the back of it.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡij8M9Rbc7g
"I shall always love you, my king." She whispered. "You can continue, now."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8fjERCyqX
Henry faltered.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLSl0f715g
"If I could stay, if I could make things right, I would do it."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5h6CXyUBk
"I would have you stay. I would have us go back to how we were, when I was carrying your child and the both of us were so hopeful that it would be a son and heir. I would have us go back to those days and never leave, but I have a feeling that you have others to see." She said, taking a step back. He nodded, and bid her good day, leaving her alone in the grounds of their summer home.
Three779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu97bkPxhaY
This time, Henry was in the Queen's chambers at Richmond. They were empty, devoid of all furniture. But she was there; her golden hair still as bright as he remembered.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1TmvU7W5M
"I was starting to think you would never arrive." She said.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfP2TURA1o
"Jane." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. Of all his wives, she had never betrayed his trust. She had given him a son.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNN2Zturk3W
"Were you with her? With Anne?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5wYZbijNj
He nodded. She smiled.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvDKXn5DM1
"I do not mind. But I do not wish to speak of her; forgive me, for I know not how long we have, and I must ask you about our son. Is he well?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjOZevVUD1
"He is king." Henry said softly. Jane's face warmed.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMSmuXC0ur
"He shall be a wonderful king. Is he strong? He is not sickly? And he is kind and generous and fair and honest?" She said, her words rolling into one another. Henry laughed.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6H7aXx1tbF
"He is perfect. He will be a remarkable king. I have complete faith in him, he is your son, after all."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uU3c0lv0G
"Indeed he is." Jane said, smiling at the floor. "You have nothing to apologise for here, Henry. You need not stay."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXrsYvTZ39
"I love you Jane. Of all my wives you were the most true, the most kind, the most beautiful. You died giving me my son, and every day I thank you for it. You were the most selfless woman I ever knew. I stay not because I want to apologise, but because I do not want to leave."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaovlB5MoRu
Jane blushed, a soft pink colour that Henry had always enjoyed. She was a true English rose.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJWNAz3iYI
"What lies beyond this, Jane? Katherine mentioned an afterlife. When I go through that door, what will I see? Who will I encounter there?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kFZ8UyZVW
Jane shrugged.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHKZRLIl9T
"That is up to you. The afterlife will be waiting for you, and I with it. We will see each other again, husband."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbq283EM6cj
"If I will see you again, does that mean I am to see Katherine again? And Anne?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImptROLFyo
Jane bit her lip.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xGFnpQXZ5
"I do not know, husband. That too, is up to you."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGaOZJbbZA
"Then I shall see you, and only you, again Jane." He kissed her cheek softly, longing to stay.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSyLcTTqLQ
"You must go, continue with your path Henry. The sooner you reach the end, the sooner we shall be reunited."
Five779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBI8MIvryg
He was in the country. It was not a house he had been to before.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzexAQpt93b
"This was where I grew up, Henry."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1LImVeVz2
Her voice encouraged his anger, her face made him resentful of her.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUS2Ens83k
"Katharine Howard. I hoped I would not find you here."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6OSovEBJv
"You had me executed Henry, where else would you expect to find me but in the land of the dead?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqQ9RWYJWM
"You were guilty."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHBAYQAzgP
"Perhaps it runs in the family. Anne was my cousin after all..." She said venomously.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7Obt0uIwQ
"You go too far." He said, turning to leave.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOdMjjqtf8
"You won't be able to leave. Your business here is not finished."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxcf95PzDg
He stopped with his back to her. He said nothing, waiting for her to speak.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbdDj3KyGo
"I was a child when we met Henry. A girl, not a woman. I was not ready to bear children, to be a wife. You expected too much of me."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvzn816tqx
"Perhaps I did, but I am not the guilty party. You admitted to adultery with Culpepper yourself. Our marriage was a lie, just like so many of my marriages."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpQ1A2aeCf
"I was a young girl, Henry. A young girl in love. I made a mistake. You could have sent me to a nunnery, had the marriage annulled. Cutting my head off, was it necessary?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8fAEDAupu
"Then I apologise, I made a rash decision. I was angry."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hum0AwSF4
Katherine's expression softened.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDfQawJB7T
"Do you remember what you called me? Your rose without a thorn."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2X35YGqXmE
"I was wrong." Henry said.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUxjVTJd1y
"Aren't we all?" She said lightly. "Aren't we all dreadfully wrong about something? I was wrong thinking I could never be caught."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7h6Et7e32
"I have been wrong on many counts." He said despairingly, sitting on the small bed in the center of the room. "I had More executed, my oldest and most honest friend. I drove Wolsey to death, and I had Cromwell executed. I exiled Charles from court when he married my sister, and I treated my daughters terribly. I fear I shall be forever remembered as a tyrant."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjolMBUbduB
"No Henry. I do not think you shall be remembered as a tyrant. I think you shall be remembered for having so many wives. Most men only have one, you know? Not five."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbDtdh2HkH
"Six." He corrected her.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjxsmIEUhX
"Six. Of course you married again after me. Who is she?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnzi7GfYPj
"The lady Catherine Parr."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iZXIwa0Wq
Katherine nodded her head slowly.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1y9XrvMrI
"I am sorry Henry. I was a foolish child. I do not doubt that your faith in marriage is shattered all together?"779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbG6XChYTcg
He nodded. "Apart from Jane. Jane was my one true wife."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BU25BOEFt
Katherine smiled slightly. "Then go to her. I am sure she's waiting for you."779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡConoPVZ8br
He looked towards the door and she nodded in encouragement. He rose from the bed, bid her farewell and opened the door into a bright, white light.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMztu4NGQOp
He knew that the wives he had wronged so woefully would never forgive him fully. He knew that he had been wrong. He could see that now, now that the troubles of living no longer weighed heavy on his shoulders. His leg no longer bothered him, he was healthy once again. He regretted his actions in life, but knew that he had changed the face of England's landscape forever. He knew his name would never die, he knew his line would live on through his son.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpExsExjRL
And so, Henry VIII passed into the halls of the dead, where so many of his predecessors had gone before him. He had been king on Earth; he was king once more in the land of those that will live forever.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcODPyXaKE7
The afterlife was not a physical location. The afterlife was not a cloud on which the saints danced. The afterlife was an idea; the afterlife was the guarantee that his memory would live through the ages. The afterlife was memory. The afterlife was knowing that hundreds of years from now, people would remember his name. And with that, King Henry, the eighth of that name, stepped into the afterlife.
Authors Note: I have not included Anne of Cleves or Catherine Parr in this, purely because they were still alive when Henry died. I wrote this because in life, his wives never got a say, never got to protest. In death, they were equal. I feel that if they could have met, his wives would have been much more blunt and forward with him. I would also like to think that Henry would have realised his mistakes (although this is probably unlikely!) and asked for forgiveness from his wives. Also, personally, I do not think that Jane was the wife he truly loved, but for the purpose of the story I have gone down that route. 779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2eR3Ygtvv
Also, I hope the end makes sense. I wanted to get across the point that kings do not need an afterlife, for they are still very much alive in memory; but to get to that point, Henry needed to let go of his tyranny and rash behavior in order to be worthy of such remembrance.779Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHWSu4JU3U
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