The Other Henry VIII

An Unhappy Marriage

17 May 1518
It wasn't until Diana's baby began to shift in her belly that Henry decided to sleep in her bed every night. He loved running his hands over his wife's belly and feeling the baby kick back, just like he had done when Sophia had been pregnant. The Queen was 6 months in, and her mobility was slowly decreasing as she grew larger and larger. No longer could she enjoy dancing and singing and horse-riding. Not with the next Prince of Wales inside her.

Court was moving to Greenwich Palace,  as Hampton Court was growing old and full of sad memories. Henry around the Queen's rooms sadly, feeling ghosts of past memories and milestones in his life.
This is where Clara was conceived and born; this is where Sophia lay sick and tired of life; this is where she lay crying after her miscarriage; here, Prince George of Wales had been painfully born; in this room, Henry had deserted his Queen and left her to her death; this is where Diana Westerly had flaunted her unearthly body to him on their wedding night, and this is where he and Diana had on slept throughout her pregnancy with the baby stirring in the night.

The ghosts haunted the King of England, and they had to be left behind.

The only problem was that Diana really shouldn't be riding in a bumpy, squashed carriage with her baby so near. As Henry climbed onto his handsome black stallion, a stable boy pulled forwards Diana's white mare next to him.
"What are you doing boy?"asked Henry, looking down on the small stablehand.
"The Queen has asked for me to bring out her mare, Y-y-your Majesty. She plans to ride to Greenwich P-p-palace, Your Majesty." Henry inclined his head and spotted his wife, ripely pregnant, followed by her ladies-in-waiting, heading towards him in a crimson-red riding habit. A velvet hat adorned her head, with a long brown feather laced into it. She smiled at him, her eyebrows raised slightly at Henry's surprised face, and let the stable hand help her up onto her mare.

"What is it, Your Majesty?"Diana asked, her gloved hand holding her baby steady as she grasped the reins. Behind her, the ladies-in-waiting were mounting their own mules, faces slightly anxious.
"You should not be riding in your....condition, sweetheart,"said Henry sternly. His wife laughed.
"We are only riding gently, Henry, and I would love to show the citizens my 'condition',"she said, tossing out her curls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They trotted carefully along the dusty road in the scorching summer sun, trees providing feeble shade, and peasants cheering as they went. Who ever had watched the parade would see the King and Queen riding up front, the Queen with her velvet-covered swollen stomach and the King in his handsome riding wear. Behind them came Thomas Cromwell and Diana's maid-of-honour, followed by the other ladies-in-waiting and the rest of the court all wearing Tudor green and red.

What they wouldn't have seen, though, was the longing looks that both the King and Queen gave to their preferred lovers and the way their eyes seemed to dance with passion.

Henry glanced back at Leia, who sat behind Diana on her pony (for she was a child still). Her blond hair was tangled slightly, straw-coloured in the sun, and her eyes were downcast. She betrayed no sign of emotions.

The King, frustrated, turned to looking ahead, and missed the longing, apologetic look that Diana gave to Thomas Cromwell. Her sharp green eyes were soft and merciful, her beautiful face like an angel breaking her virgin vows.

No onlooker or bystander could see the change in their monarch and his wife. All they saw was a radiant queen carrying her healthy baby in her stomach and a content king merrily teasing the other members of the court.
And only now, at 21-weeks-in, Diana realised just how little love had shaped the baby that she was carrying.

29 May 1518
Greenwich Palace seemed new and strange to Diana as she settled into the Queen's apartments. Everything was different, from the little carvings on her four poster bed to the land surrounding it.