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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0sfWszbHk
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsDc14qm4z
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwM5fvtBNxi
"You are to be king, my son."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFX5gmnVKIs
"Yes, sir." He said bravely.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbHzJf0mNr
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolGH8B2IQS
And then, his eyes had closed, his breathing had stopped and his grip on his daughter's hand loosened.
One.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdzq9voLL0
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOlN1IgFjP
"Katherine?" He asked, his voice hoarse.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mbd3RFesS
"Husband." She said, beaming.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c3XSQKUgc
"I thought I was..." He began.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOB0qz9fNKr
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YynwgLAJb
"I trust you have raised our daughter well? I was always proud of her."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCiECPZFX10
"She is much like her mother." Henry said with a smile.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yo4fRZsTw
"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?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnTX5YdZbO
"I regret bitterly my actions towards you. If I could but return to the past..."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalWW5SwHbO
"I will forgive you. All I ever wanted was an apology."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoc4ljcPfY
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV4QE5c0a2
She did not reply, and a small smile formed at the corner of her mouth.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxD4lKFnwh
"All I ever wanted." She repeated. She nodded to the door. "You may go."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7kyKNnL5V
"Go? Go where?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeXysSgv54
"I am sure there are others waiting for you." She said simply, turning back to her sewing.
Two800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARjmMfUMHr
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe3kcGQI14
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtayExnrd4i
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Dr96xNgLC
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PgMehkzmL
"She knows why you are not with her today."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCAiQaipC7
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yfqhUCj3f
"Cromwell gathered evidence I could not argue with, Anne."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuX2Hag4BH
"Did it occur to you that the evidence was false? Did it occur to you that murdering me was not the only option?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEZ8iLqIa7
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4aAmYGZ1e
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXkOJCPWI5
"If it is any consolation to you, Cromwell is dead. He was executed." He said, fighting back a hysterical laugh. Anne however, did laugh.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlzrLnHnjv
"You sign the death warrant for everybody, don't you Henry? I am amazed you did not execute yourself."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SI5N4O6B8
He had always admired her sharp tongue, her bold wit.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WULLUsXxS
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3II5QjXJW
She grasped his hand and kissed the back of it.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CzYWp0wnx
"I shall always love you, my king." She whispered. "You can continue, now."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpuWdJ5XaX
Henry faltered.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmpket9OEV
"If I could stay, if I could make things right, I would do it."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdzHb4XzcH
"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.
Three800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoH4x6Wayj3
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TtoBXlG9D
"I was starting to think you would never arrive." She said.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2rQnzbsOh
"Jane." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. Of all his wives, she had never betrayed his trust. She had given him a son.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc6SPkpLYE
"Were you with her? With Anne?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoxmUs1cT5
He nodded. She smiled.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8isCvyR42U
"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?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbAC5U0cqq
"He is king." Henry said softly. Jane's face warmed.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgbmJd3Rvk
"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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTuJ0l3cFr
"He is perfect. He will be a remarkable king. I have complete faith in him, he is your son, after all."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjR52daHM8
"Indeed he is." Jane said, smiling at the floor. "You have nothing to apologise for here, Henry. You need not stay."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfgMtavsAD
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6ajAkQWO8
Jane blushed, a soft pink colour that Henry had always enjoyed. She was a true English rose.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2epJppw78n
"What lies beyond this, Jane? Katherine mentioned an afterlife. When I go through that door, what will I see? Who will I encounter there?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvrkPXSnbu
Jane shrugged.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoD2qmHfTMi
"That is up to you. The afterlife will be waiting for you, and I with it. We will see each other again, husband."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q9OngmkWN
"If I will see you again, does that mean I am to see Katherine again? And Anne?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uAwWMDKvx
Jane bit her lip.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFkPiHFn2q
"I do not know, husband. That too, is up to you."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzSMwJ2soF
"Then I shall see you, and only you, again Jane." He kissed her cheek softly, longing to stay.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXvyYyUnd2
"You must go, continue with your path Henry. The sooner you reach the end, the sooner we shall be reunited."
Five800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmY3Ok34i7
He was in the country. It was not a house he had been to before.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkM1duv8XOS
"This was where I grew up, Henry."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUHWRa2FFs
Her voice encouraged his anger, her face made him resentful of her.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg88paiE7FG
"Katharine Howard. I hoped I would not find you here."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmqLitNLv4
"You had me executed Henry, where else would you expect to find me but in the land of the dead?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyMp6caGWN
"You were guilty."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzmYmJTbC3
"Perhaps it runs in the family. Anne was my cousin after all..." She said venomously.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaIb9W8fUV
"You go too far." He said, turning to leave.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EMl9CAbwI
"You won't be able to leave. Your business here is not finished."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjVCP8txeR
He stopped with his back to her. He said nothing, waiting for her to speak.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGpgPLrexP
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4pBLd2sdX
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyaPJ4ov0r
"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?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQiCFw0A2u
"Then I apologise, I made a rash decision. I was angry."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheCsklo2bf
Katherine's expression softened.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaI1so9lao
"Do you remember what you called me? Your rose without a thorn."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadKOI0J81h
"I was wrong." Henry said.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhx6Wf1hLO
"Aren't we all?" She said lightly. "Aren't we all dreadfully wrong about something? I was wrong thinking I could never be caught."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYdutiC33Q
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVrcgWSgVF
"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."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHknblROEH
"Six." He corrected her.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAgMdncpm5
"Six. Of course you married again after me. Who is she?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoUbjk9OTu
"The lady Catherine Parr."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuBGHtQB20
Katherine nodded her head slowly.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8YZZjEJSZ
"I am sorry Henry. I was a foolish child. I do not doubt that your faith in marriage is shattered all together?"800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDPJ70F4qQ
He nodded. "Apart from Jane. Jane was my one true wife."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEYI8dEExm
Katherine smiled slightly. "Then go to her. I am sure she's waiting for you."800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxFaUScZzK
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkPaICkjZt
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgQ3xl9cSu
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25jt0ndhAo
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. 800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn8E6YsD7P
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.800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBGNq1WGQh
800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6J0R6ZLJl
800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKgkwiFiro
800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91PCGIsLSr
