I was sitting in my bed chamber with all my ladies sitting cross legged in the floor. Books, paintings, and maps strewn around the room.
For the last 36 hours, I have done nothing but study, study, study. There was just no time to stuff that much information into my head though, no matter how hard I tried. I was fortunate enough to be able to bring these books with me. I would have to keep working hard though, even if I did make it to England, I would need to keep up my ruse, it would need to be convincing.
I took a deep breath and sighed, getting distracted again as Elise was speaking about the history of my family. She was up to an ancestor of "mine", named Adolph of Cleves- luckily for me all of these people were of simple nobility decent in Germany and not of much recognition to those outside its borders.
The Duke of Suffolk was an older man, his brown hair and beard was riddled with grey streaks, revealing his older age. I came to know after speaking with him for a while, our game of chess proceeding to take forever. Luckily for me, I was good at chess even before boot camp- even enjoyed it.
The Duke had been kind as well, asking me questions about myself, and what I looked forward to most in England, and if I had any questions about the king.
My only question for him was whether he would be kind to me or not- honestly.
After looking at me intensely for several moments, Mr. Brandon made his move, taking one of my chess pieces.
"You are young, and beautiful. The king will only asks what is rightfully meant to be his," he said. "My Lord is the kindest, gentlest, king that has lived. He is developing his empire into something knew, something amazing, and your marriage makes all the difference in that. Together, I am sure you will make each other happy," he said.
It had only been a few hours since our meeting, and still she could remember his words in her head so easily. This was where she was- the real Anne of Cleves- this is what she would have possibly been exposed to. Already, time has begun to unwind and change itself- wreaking god knows what on the future.
One thing was for sure, and it was that if the true Anne had been here, the King would no doubt have been disappointed. He had no idea what she looked like, since most of her features had been hidden by a veil- and now I know why. He had no idea what the true Anne looked like, as vein as the King of England is- there could be no getting around he would have thrown her to the side as soon as he seen her. My mind went back to what Mr. Brandon- his best friend, and right hand man, had said.
"The King already has a son," he had said, "but he will need another one in order to feel secure. That is your task. Do this, and the King will give you whatever your heart desires." At the time I ignored him, instead, opting to move in our game- appearing fixated on winning to avoid answering.
The words ring in my ears though, even as Elise speaks. Time slows, and I am remembering that I wasn't ready to go and be married to this tyrant, I wasn't ready to be married at all.
I looked up, saying a silent prayer as I looked through the window at the top of the cabin- where most of the light streamed in.
So quickly the last few days have rolled by, with no way of escaping in sight, and now the day to leave was upon me. Today, I would have to leave Kate and sail to England- to Henry, and to an uncertain future.
Everyone knew the fate of Anne of Cleves in my time, but what would become of me? Already the past has been changed, so what will become of me? What shall he do with me?
The Duke of Cleves had been diligent about posting guards outside of my bed chambers now that the court had seen my face, the court artist even coming to take a new portrait yesterday, forcing me to stand still for over 17 hours straight- and this time no veil apparently. It was misery, and not to mention I hadn't slept well at all last night. Knowing that my time was up and I had failed in figured out a way for Kate and I to return.
My ladies bathed and dressed me in my most comfortable dress, opting to leave my hair half down again, with a French Hood on my head. Elise finished the look off with fur boots, and wrapping my fur and black satin cloak around my shoulders as Mathilda slipped my engagement ring onto my finger.
Greta comes up behind me, and wraps a pearl necklace around my throat twice to finish the look. As she clasps it in place, she makes eye contact with me for a moment, and I felt as if she was trying to comfort me, her pity in her eyes was apparent. She knew I was afraid. Hell, she was probably afraid for herself as well. This was dangerous work we were all doing here, and while everyone in this time was religious, it meant a lot to me to have the symbol of my religion close to my heart- especially on a day like today. So I was very appreciative of her, and gave her a look that resembled- to my best- a thankful expression.
A knock at the door alerted us that it was time to leave, all the bags had been packed, and were on board the ship awaiting us.
The Duke stepped into the room, his face unreadable.
"Are you ready, sister?" He said from his place a few feet from the open door, where guards stood, ready to escort us to the carriage.
"I am," i hesitated, anger pumping through my veins at my failure, "brother."
The Duke smiled and took my hand, my ladies following behind us as we left the bed chamber. There was not a single work exchanged between us as he escorted me out of the palace, our servants lined up along the hallways as we left.
A proper send off indeed, I thought to myself.
Once we reached the carriage doors, a man stepped up and opened the door for me, taking my hand and helping me inside. My "brother" was able to get himself in without any trouble and sat next to me as the carriage took off.
As we went down the street, people were lined up down the street in packs. When they seen the carriage they all cheered and clapped.
"Be sure to wave goodbye to your people, Princess," my "brother" said.
I gave him an annoyed look but turned to look out the window, and smiled as I waved out at the crowds of people. Men, women, and children- all excited for someone who wasn't even truly their princess.
I sat back in the seat as we approached the docks, the ship coming into view now as we left the main part of the city.
The carriage came to a halt as close as it could to the docks, and a man opened the door for us- my brother stepped out and reaching back up to take my hand. As I gave it to him, he helped me as I stepped out of the carriage onto the snowy ground.
We walked down the dock, where soldiers were lined up in a salute, seemingly not moving at all. We walked down the isle they created, before coming to a ramp that led into the boat. I looked behind me to see my ladies trailing closely.
The Duke turned to me, taking me by the shoulders and looking me in the eyes.
"You are to do your duty, do you understand? When you do, I will return your companion to you, or let her go. Whichever she chooses to do, but not if you do not do as you are told. Listen to your ladies, they will instruct you, as for English traditions and manners, surely you are more inclined to know more than even they would. Remember though, be a good wife to him, you know the dangers."
I held his eyes for a long while before nodding my head, too sullen to fight with him about it.
"Good," he smiled, "go with God, then, sister." He took me in his arms, hugging me tightly. "Do not fail me, or she will die miserably." He pulled away, smiling again. "Go on then, up you go. Goodbye, Ladies. God bless you."
I looked up the ramp into the boat, walking slowly up it and onto the busy deck. As I did, Mr. Brandon caught my eye, as I did his, and he walked over to me. I glanced over my shoulder, to my brother- the Duke, but he was already walking away. I stared miserably as he walked back down the dock and got back inside the carriage before Mr. Brandon made it to me. My heart breaking a little bit as he left along with many ideas I had hatched about escaping- but never had the opportunity to.
"My Lady," he said, bowing, "I am to escort you to the master cabin, if you and your ladies will follow me, please."
"Mr. Brandon," I greeted him as he stood back upright, "I am grateful to see you, even on such a dreary day as this. I hope our prospects for sailing are looking good, I would hate to run into another storm before reaching England."
"The weather is grey, but it is nothing more than a bit of cold weather. We should make it to England in less than a weeks time, perhaps even for the New Year," Mr. Brandon said as I followed him down the hallway and down a small flight of stairs before reaching a larger room, much like my own back at Dusseldorf Palace- but 4 small cots were spread out- no doubt for my ladies. A larger canopy bed had been nailed to the floor, and was neatly dressed. Even a caged in fireplace sat in the side of the room, as it traditionally had in the palace. Altogether, it was a very nice room- much better than my room at the Inn.
"Oh my goodness," Elise said, as she walked in. "This is where we are to live for the next week?"
"Well, yes, but that's not a lot of time considering," Greta chimed in.
"Oh, gosh, I need to know what's going on with Kate," I said, running a hand across my forehead.
"Who is Kate? Is that your companion?" Greta asked, growing braver.
"Yes, she's my friend," I said, trying to think of what I could do.
Thinking back to the ideas I had sprung up on the way here, maybe I could high jack a boat before we get too far away, that would be my only hope that I could think of at this moment. I don't have time to think about it though, after everyone goes to sleep tonight I will take the lifeboat, and paddle back to shore before daybreak. Then, I can bust Kate out, and get back to the Inn before they even realize that i am gone. I'll have to be diligent about it though.
That night, I waited until I heard the soft, rhythmic breathing of all my ladies before I tossed back the blanket and grabbed my robe- slipping it on along with my slippers.
I grabbed the wooden door of the cabin, my heart pounding harder when it began to creak as I opened it, stepping out into the darkness of the stairway. I felt my way around, coming up the stairs and down the hallway rather quickly before coming out onto the front of the deck.
Once I made it to the open deck at the front of the ship, I seen an odd shape covered up to the side, and immediately ran over to it peeling back the protective layer.
A boat! Thank god! I could almost cry, but there's no time.
I smiled instead, and I picked up the paddles and sat them to the side, grabbing the side of the boat and dragging it next to the railing along the side of the ship, getting it ready to push over.
Next, I grabbed the rope attached to it, grunting as I shoved it over the side of the railing and listening to it hit the water not with a splash- but rather a thud. When I looked down it sat on top of the water, floating perfectly though, and I breathed out a sigh of relief at the image.
I picked up the paddles and slung them into the boat as well before grabbing the rope ladder and securing it to the side of the boat for her to get down into her paddle boat, but just as she slung my leg around the railing a hand grabbed her around her front, and hoisted her back harshly, taking my breath away.
"I am sorry my Lady, but I can't allow you to do that," the familiar voice said from behind me- freezing me in place amidst my struggling to break free.
"Mr. Brandon, I am asking you in all humility to let me go," I said, tearing spilling over and down my cheeks.
"I told you," he said quietly, as he held me there, now rocking me as I cried, "the King will not hurt you as long as you do right by him."
"I have heard what he does to his wives, I don't wish to die no matter what my brother says," I sobbed against him, leaning my head back against his chest.
"Fear not, sweet lady, he will not harm you," Mr. Brandon said.
"Mr. Brandon, I-"
"You may call me Charles," he said, still holding onto me.
"Charles," I said, feeling some sort of familiarity with this strange man, "I am scared," I admitted.
"Do not be," he said, "when he looks at your face he will know that God himself has sent you to him. To make a better future for all," he said quietly, taking me by surprise.
"I can't help it," I said crying, but our moment was quickly interrupted when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway towards us. The Duke stood up, pulling me up with him just as my ladies came out.
"My Lady," they said, with a curtsy.
I wiped my tears away, leaning away from Charles.
"Fear not, this situation is between us so long as it is the only time that it happens," he said before letting me go.
I felt the hot sting of embarrassment having lost my shit like I just had, and took off as quickly as I could. Ready to get the hell out of there. I left him standing on the deck, taking off even before my ladies- back down the hallway, down the stairs to my cabin. I jumped on the bed, burying myself in the blankets.
That was it then. I had failed to escape. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought, but at least I had time to plan- and study before I get to England. If I can somehow stall the wedding for a while, I might be able to get away easier.
All I knew was that I had to try, and with 5 days to go before we reached England, I knew I had to take advantage of everything I could. That wasn't a lot of time to prepare but at least I could do it at my own discretion though now, without the Duke of Cleves hovering over everything I do.
For a moment I let my heart skip back to my own time, closing my eyes, and in my mind- crawling into Mama's bed as she read a few chapters of her book at night. I allowed myself to swell on her for a moment, thinking about the conversations we would have when I got back.
I said a silent prayer for her and my siblings before finally trying to lay myself down, and calm down. I could think of another plan to escape in the morning...