The sky had barely even began to light up in the dull, gray winter sky, when Elise and three other ladies were entering my room, waking me up.
Elise placed her hand on my shoulder shaking me a little until a raised my head, "what is it? Do we have to start lessons this early?"
"Yes, Princess, if we don't you won't have time to learn what you need to know before having a conversation with the Duke of Suffolk."
I moaned, wanting just a few more minutes of sleep.
"Up, up, My Lady, I would like to introduce the rest of your Ladies," Elise said, her voice perky, and way more alert than she had the right to be.
"Just a few more moment Elise, we were out really late last night," I said, covering my head with my pillow.
"Just a few for minutes, I will be kind, but after that you must get up, no fighting me."
"Okay, okay," I said, giving in, thinking about the events of last night as I rested my eyes a bit more.
I had been introduced to every noble that had attended the celebration last night, so many people that I didn't even have time to truly learn their names before the next would be introduced to me. I had been so sleepy by the end of the night that I could barely keep my eyes open, though the Duke was not interested in going to bed anytime soon. No, he was much too proud of himself for the plan he had concocted, being able to save his sister, and take the money and prestige of bringing England over to the Protestant Nation.
He had gotten insanely drunk, his words slurring to the point that it was hard to understand him. Finally, after many had already left the party, he decided we would retire- and took me back to my chambers. I had hoped he would talk to me more, but instead he pinned me up against the wall, only a breath away.
I looked at him, fear in my heart. My breath came out faster, his chest pressed nearly painfully hard against my breasts.
"Are you a maid, Lady Aske?"
I gulped, "yes, I am."
"Good," was all he said for several moments, staring into my eyes, "when the King takes you, he will know you are his lawful wife."
"Why are you doing this?" I cried, as a tear slipped from my eye.
"You know why I am doing this," he said, booze on his breath.
"No, I don't. You don't need England so bad that you need to ruin my life, you can keep your sister to yourself," I said.
"No," he said, "I am broke, I need this," he said, shocking me.
"That's not my problem," I said, anger washing through me.
"As you said," he whispered, tilting his head just enough to fit it into the crevice of my neck, kissing my softly, "you are from gentry, and that means you are bound to serve."
I closed my eyes as he laid his head on my breasts, tears falling down my face freely.
"Time's up my Lady, time to get up now," Elise said, pulling back the warm blankets, exposing me curled up on my side in my chemise.
Slowly I did raise up, my eyes blurry from my heavy sleep. I looked beside me, the fire a red and orange blur that illuminated the 3 women standing patiently in the middle of the room.
"Uhm, hello everyone," I said, rubbing at my eyes as Elise took my other hand and helped me out of the bed and into my fur lined slippers.
"I have ordered a bath be brought up for you this morning," Elise said, "it is important to be clean in our country you should know, but you are from England, so you know they do not bathe as often. You must bathe though, so that the king does not grow displeased with you. You must be able to give him another heir, many if you are able."
I gulped at the thought, there was no way I would be getting pregnant by this guy. We were told before we left that if we opted to not take birth control, then we would have to promise to be careful and not have sex to avoid a pregnancy. Of course Kate is on birth control, but I am not since I don't have sex nor intended to while I was here.
Damn it. I need to find a way out of here. 5 more days.
The guards brought up the tub and all the water, leaving us in the bed chamber by ourselves," I was sitting in my robe and slippers when they closed the door behind them. Elise came over to me, taking me by my hand and leading me to the tub where the other ladies came up behind me.
Elise had dark brown hair, and brown eyes, always in a tight up-do with a French Hood and Snood Bag that I had noticed, but the girl to my left that has taken my other hand is her polar opposite. Her blonde hair in long and down, it hangs stick straight to her bottom, and on her head is an atifet.
"My name is Clara, my Lady," she said, her voice soft and kind.
Abruptly, her and Elise dip, grabbing the end of my chemise and pulling it straight up over my head.
I bristled at my nakedness, not wearing anything beneath this other than my stockings. My hands shot out, covering my medium sized breasts.
"There is no need to be ashamed, my Lady," another one said behind me, stepping forward and dropping to her knees before me. She pulled a stool forward, touching my ankle and resting it ontop of it. "My name is Mathilda," she said, grabbing my stocking and rolling it down, removing it from my leg.
"It is nice to meet the both of you then," I said, a bit out of sorts. Mathilda had me exchange legs, and did the same thing to my other one, leaving me in my birthday suit. Mathilda I noticed was thicker than the other ladies, her curly, black hair hanging to her shoulders in the same style as Clara.
"My name is Greta, My lady," the last one stepped forward- much smaller than the other ones, she was blonde with blue eyes, her small frame gave her the appearance of a young girl.
"Hello, Greta" I said, jumping a little when I felt Elise and Clara take my hands again and guide me into the tub.
I sat down in the steamy, relaxing water. Not caring at this point whether or not they see my breasts, I leaned back and closed my eyes.
"My Lady, it is time for your first lesson," Elise said pulling up a stool to sit close to the tub.
"Okay, what's first?" I asked.
"You will be expected to be clean, like we discussed. When the king comes to you at night, you must not deny him. Now, do you know the workings of the marital bed?"
"Y-yes, of course I do, I don't need that explained."
"Okay, excellent, and you said you are a maid, yes?"
I sunk a little lower into the bath, "I am," I said.
"Good," she said as she began to wash my hair. Mathilda and Clara grabbed one of my hands and began to manicure them. I closed my eyes and thought about the days to come, eager to come up with a plan for Kate and I.
I needed to ask the Duke if she can go with me, but the chances of Kate being held prisoner here, at least for a while, were very high. That way, he would be able to keep control over me until after I have been secured at London and he feels safe. If that were the case, it would be even harder to come up with a plan to get out of here. First things first I needed to speak with the Duke of Cleves first.
I opened my eyes and looked at Elise who was above me, rinsing my hair. "Elise, I need to speak to the Duke of Cleves-"
"Your brother-" she corrected, "you must call him your brother, even here."
"I need to speak to my brother today," I said as Mathilda handed me a washcloth with a bar of soap to scrub my body.
As I did so, Elise stood and gather the blanket that I used as a towel, returning to the tub as I rinsed myself off.
"He will be here soon to speak with you, whatever you need to talk to him about can wait until then," Elise said, as she held the blanket open. Clara and Greta held my hands as I got out of the bath and was promptly wrapped up.
An hour later, i was dressed in a blue and gold satin dress, my engagement ring and the matching necklace on my finger and neck. I wore my hair down today, choosing to pull it halfway back and a halo of jewels sat nestled along my forehead. The sapphires in it shining brightly even in the dim of the room, I was surprised that I actually loved how I looked. Too bad I am in the situation that I am in.
A few minutes later of feeling bad for myself and a knock sounded at the door, the Duke walked in, his outfit a variation of mine. He walked up to me, bowed, took my hand, and kissed it.
"Sister," he said before leading me over to the two seats in front of the fireplace.
We both sat down, I looked deep into the eyes of the man I thought was so incredibly handsome just a few nights ago. It's so odd how ugly someone can become to you when they do you wrong.
"Will you allow me to take Kate with me to England, as one of my ladies?" I blurted out.
"No," he said just as quickly, shifting his weight in the chair.
"Why?" I asked, noticing my ladies leaving the room at the wave of the Duke's hand.
I watched as they left me in the room with him, closing the door behind them. The Duke then turned to me, but if there was remorse for what he was doing to me in them, he was good at hiding it.
"I will not allow it, because you could easily tell someone about who you were, once you've married the king, you will be in as much danger as anyone if our secret comes out. Then I will send Kate to you, and you can live out your lives in luxury, as a Queen. Isn't that nice?"
"It would be if I had a choice, and chose it," i said, looking him dead in the eyes, holding them.
In front of us, the fire crackled, illuminating the side of the Duke's face, his features sharp.
"You will be happy, you will see," he said, turning to look into the fire, "I am sure that once you have given the King children, you will see him differently."
"I do not want children with the King, you know what he does to his wives," I said.
"That's your destiny, now, Anne. You must accept it. If you do not, your friend will pay the ultimate price. Remember this as you navigate court life, not just here for the next 5 days, but in England as well."
I was silent, looking into the fire. There was nothing else to be said, if I didn't figure out a way to get out of here before sailing, it would be nearly impossible to come up with an idea if I make it to London. As it's Queen, I would be under constant guard, and never have a chance to get away for a long while at the very least. Time is not something that we have though, we needed to get the sample back to the Inn where it could be sent back to 2111.
Damn it.
I looked over at the Duke, who was still looking into the flames in deep thought.
"What do you know of the Princess?" he asked suddenly.
"I know a lot about her actually," I said.
"Tell me what you know, and I will fill you in on the gaps. You meet with the Duke of Suffolk in 3 hours now," he said, making me gulp.
I was ready though, if I acted on board, maybe it would give me an opportunity to get out of here with Kate before I leave like I need. It was going to be tricky but it was my only hope.
"Okay," I began, and for the next 3 hours the Duke poured as much knowledge as he could into me about his family- our family. At the end of it, I felt ready to speak with the Duke, however nervous I had been originally. After all, if I were to get found out and be unbelievable to the Duke of Suffolk, surely they would just let us go... maybe.