the queendom ☆ a six the musical fanfic

Chapter 6: Howard

TW: Processing trauma from sexual and emotional abuse and death/beheading (I'm not including anything graphic)

I thought of my cousin, Anne Boleyn,  as I kneeled before the chopping block. Only six years earlier she was sentenced to the same fate I was about to endure. The wind blew on my already frozen cold face. I rested my head on the block. The crowd roared as the executioner lifted the axe. The world went black.

My adjustment period to the Queendom distracted me from processing all of the trauma I experienced on Earth. On my first day, my cousin Anne visited my apartment.

I opened the door, painted pink, and Anne instantly hugged me, despite the bags of snacks she was carrying.

"So I guess you've heard how I died, then?" I muttered while she continued to hug me.

She finally pulled away and said "Yes. I have. And I'm here for you." She said, taking my left hand and stepping inside. She dropped the grocery bags by door.

"You've got a nice place here!" She said looking around my pale pink and black room.

I nodded silently, tightly smiling. She turned back to me, also smiling. I felt myself fall apart inside and burst into tears. She ran over to me before I slumped onto the floor, and lead me over to the bed as I sobbed on her shoulder. We sat on the bed and she put her arm around me and hugged me while I cried.

Eventually I was able to mutter "I wasn't ready to die."

She rubbed my back and said "You've been seriously wronged, babe. You have a right to be angry."

I let out a groan before saying "At least we're together now."

"Yes. And now I can protect you." She said, gripping me tighter. "I love you, cuz." I was quiet, but in my head I was telling her the same thing. I didn't think I would be able to tell anyone that out loud for a while.

We were in a silent hug for a while. We didn't know each other very well at all on Earth. Anne only visited me at the Dowager's place once, when I was 10. That was pretty soon before she became queen. She did send me a letter before she was executed. But of course we have a special connection now that we're in the Queendom because we're cousins and were both beheaded.

Anne finally broke the silence by saying "I brought snacks. Food here is delicious! So much better than court food." I sniffled and rubbed my nose while she grabbed the bags of food. She dumped the food on the bed -- it looked like a bright, shiny, yellow pillow that crunched and a lot of little squares that read "chocolate". 

"We'll just cozy up under the covers, eat some snacks and watch some TV."

"TV?"

"Oh, it's impossible to explain. Just let me show you." She said, grabbing a black rectangle sitting on the bedside table. She pressed something on it with her finger and an even bigger black rectangle on the wall lit up and started speaking.

"Agh! What the heck is up with that painting?" I cried, staring at the moving painting. Anne laughed.

"It's the TV! You can watch stories with it."

"Woaahh... that's cool." I murmured, getting under the covers with Anne.

We spent a couple of hours watching a random show on the TV. It started to get dark, and Anne paused the TV.

"Hey, you gonna be ok tonight?"

I gulped. I was still terrified of being alone. I was terrified that someone would sneak in and hurt me again. I knew I couldn't die again, because I was already dead, but... I still felt unsafe. I shook my head.

"Then I'll stay right here, by your side. I'm here for you." She said, hugging me again. I felt my eyes water up.

"Thank you, Anne." My voice broke. "No one's ever told me that." I started sobbing again. She hugged me tighter. "I don't even remember my mum. She died when I was little. My dad abandoned me and my siblings and sent me to a relative's house." I choked up again. "No one's ever cared about me, unless it was for their own benefit." 

She kept hugging me while I cried quietly. Eventually I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning to Anne snoring next to me. I yawned and then remembered where I was. I sighed. I missed life. I missed dancing. I missed dogs. I missed singing. Then I realized that I could do all of those things in the Queendom. And there were no men. I was safe. Anne would always be there for me. She said so herself. But could I trust her?