Chapter 40 #2
She had gone to Arundel Castle in West Sussex, the ancestral home of the dukes of Norfolk, just weeks before Christmas to see how the dowager duchess was faring.
Lizzy was well, happy to be home and out from under the thumb of her husband.
She was happier still to arrange a meeting between her rescuers and Queen Catherine during her visit.
Now the trio of queens walked among the castle gardens.
The eleventh-century castle rose behind them, the massive walls of pale stone nearly blending with the winter clouds.
Even the castle’s motte, a mound of earth built more than a hundred feet high, had no green left upon its hills.
The only color in the world came from crimson holly berries and hearty evergreens, which had begun to put on their winter show.
Parr missed the forests of Kendal and hoped that by this time next year, she could return to them.
“I won’t ask you to kill him,” Anne said, shaking her head. “You have upheld your end of the bargain in every way, and now it is time for us to do the same.”
Parr glanced at Lina to see if the older queen agreed.
“Parr isn’t wrong,” Lina cautioned. “Poison would be easier.”
Anne smiled, but it had an edge of viciousness. “There is nothing poison can do that my magick cannot. Parr’s battle is not with Henry, but ours is.”
Parr didn’t disagree, but she found herself wondering why Anne was so insistent.
She didn’t think it was because Anne was trying to protect her—rather, she felt Anne wanted to kill Henry, and to do it herself.
The only time Parr had ever killed anyone because she wanted to—not on the Sisterhood’s orders or out of necessity or for mercy—was when she had poisoned the husband of her maid, Cordelia.
It had felt good to know she had rid the world of one more villain, and Parr supposed that was what Anne wanted too.
“I will find a curse that is subtle enough to avoid detection,” Anne promised Lina.
Still, the other woman hesitated. “I want him gone—you know I do. But what will it do to England?”
“What will further wars do to England?” Anne countered.
“Parr has told us where his next interests lie, and you and I both know that women and children always bear the brunt of any war long after the last battle has been won or lost. War with Scotland and France could cost countless lives, never mind the gold to support those campaigns. If Mary does inherit one day, do you want your daughter to have to resuscitate a kingdom on the verge of bankruptcy, limping back from another loss on the Continent?”
“And, though it is not as important as war, it would be my preference not to stay married to him for a minute more than I must,” Parr added, brushing an errant bit of lint from her cloak. “He is a truly odious man, and I very much wish him dead.”
Anne gestured to Parr. “You see? If not for me, then do it for her.” When Lina didn’t respond, she pressed the point. “What more will it take? Does he need to kill another wife?”
“I should like to see him try,” Parr muttered.
“Does he need to start one of those wars?” Anne continued.
“Execute another rival? Push his daughters away yet again? Lina, there will always be a reason not to do this, moral or otherwise, but Henry will always find new ways to destabilize our country and hurt our people. Our daughters. We must stop him now, before he can do any more damage.”
Lina was silent for so long, Parr thought she wouldn’t respond. Then slowly, the first queen nodded.
“Very well. I am with you in this. But we must wait until after the holidays. There will be too many eyes and ears about, and Henry will be wary of everyone, given what happened last year with Kat and Thomas.”
Parr felt a flash of relief—she really did hate being queen. “What can I do?” she asked.
Anne thought for a moment. “We will need access to Henry, likely in his chambers at night when he isn’t surrounded by quite so many people. Even then, there will be guards and the members of his privy chamber and who knows how many others.”
“A sleeping draft in their food or wine would be simple,” Parr mused, already concocting the tincture in her head.
“An escape route too,” Lina added, “should things go wrong.”
Parr nodded. “The queen’s gate is easy enough to access. We can keep a carriage at the ready for you there.”
Anne nudged Lina, that sharp-edged smile back in place, and Parr thought she might be a little bit afraid of Anne Boleyn.
“Don’t look so glum. It has taken us years to get here.
Soon, our daughters will be beyond his reach, and we will be too.
There will be no more worrying or plotting or trying to fix his mistakes. It will all be over.”
Hesitantly, Lina returned Anne’s smile. “Men like Henry do make you wonder how many queens have thought about killing their kings,” she said, looking back at the castle behind them.
Anne linked her arms with Parr and Lina, squeezing them with a giddy, glittering energy. “If only the world had more killer queens,” she said, pulling them deeper into the garden.
Killer queens. This time, even Parr grinned.
Skip Notes
*1 If only shame were enough to motivate men like these to create change.
*2 Even at this hour, I doubted whether toppling a king was the right move.
But knowing that Mary and Elizabeth were restored to their birthright, and that Anne would eventually kill Henry anyway, I gave my blessing, as it were.
All of Gisa’s prophecy had come true so far—why should this be any different?