Time passed, slow and fast, and Henry VIII remarried once again. He married Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, in January 6 1540. He married her because he believed that he needed to form a political alliance with her brother, William, duke of Cleves, who was a leader of the Protestants of western Germany. And perhaps to have a mother figure for his young son, Edward VI. But unfortunately after six months, the marriage was declared unconsummated and, as a result, she was not crowned queen consort. In July 1540 they divorced, and following the annulment, Henry gave her a generous settlement, and she was thereafter known as the King's beloved Sister.
It was soon clear that Henry had fallen for the 17-year-old Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, the Duke of Norfolk's niece. On July 28 1540, Henry married the young Catherine Howard, and was delighted with his new queen, he gave her lands of Cromwell and a vast array of jewelry. But soon afterwards, Queen Catherine had an affair with the courtier Thomas Culpeper, and later with Francis Dereham. Soon the King figured out his wife's betrayal, and had Culpeper and Dereham executed. And Catherine too was beheaded on February 13 1542.
Things were not looking good in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, little Robyn spent her time growing up, training to become a hunter and an adventurer, just like her father. And her father would be so proud of her right now. But of course she still had to help her mother manage the house, do her chores, and continue her lessons of reading, writing, math, music, dance lessons, etiquette, etc. Which was boring, no offence, she just preferred to be out there in the world, running wild and free into the unknown.
When Robyn was 8 years old, she was big enough to go hunting with her father into the woods. It was spring, and it would be the perfect season for hunting, what with all the animals running around. Of course for beginners like her she needed her father to teach her, guide her, and chaperone her.
Robyn braided her long blonde hair, she was dressed into her hunting outfit. She wore a red tunic dress, brown leather boots, a black cloak her mother made her, and brown hunting gloves. As for her weapons, she prepared her crossbow, from her birthday, a small dagger, her father gave her just in case, packed a few arrows and she's good to go.
As for Damian, he dressed into his usual hunting outfit. He wore an olive green tunic, brown breeches, black cloak, hunting gloves, and his black hat. He prepared his crossbow, which was bigger than Robyn's, packed a few arrows and traps like bear traps and a Wolfsangel. Now they are ready for the hunt.
Isabelle wished her daughter good luck at the hunt and bid them farewell. Damian and Robyn ventured into the forest.
"Father this is so exciting" said Robyn, beaming with excitement. "My first hunt with you."
"Yes love, I'm happy to hunt together with you too, but while hunting in the wild woods we have to be quiet, loud noises can alert the animals, that's the first lesson in hunting" Damian explained.
"Oh, yes father, of course" Robyn replied in a whisper.
In the woods, Damian taught her everything he knew about hunting. First he taught her how to set traps around the forest, like setting up snare traps to catch rabbits, placing wolf traps and hiding them with leaves so the wild animals don't see the trap while they step on it, warming up her target practice on her crossbow to shoot on the small targets her father placed for her in the trees. When she was warmed up and ready, it was now time to begin the next step of hunting, tracking your prey.
"Now pay attention Robyn" said Damian. "For this next step you have to track your prey by observing the ground to look for pawprints, then feel the print with your hand to sense if its warm or cold. If the pawprint is warm that means your prey isn't far away, and if its cold it means your prey is long gone. You follow?''
Robyn nodded to her father in response, saying she understood his instructions. They went deeper into the woods, and Robyn examined the ground to look for any pawprints or hoofprints incase they ran into a deer. After searching for a while she finally found some small pawprints, they looked like rabbit tracks. ''Father look!" Robyn called out to her father in excitement. "I found little pawprints, they look like rabbit tracks!"
"Well done, love" Damian proudly congratulated his daughter on her first find. "You know what to do next."
Robyn nodded to her father in response, saying she knows what to do. To hunt down her prey. She felt the pawprints with her hand, and it felt warm, meaning the prey is close. She ran following the tracks, with Damian following behind her, soon she finally found the rabbit right there in the open clear grassy fields, munching on the grass. Robyn knew what to do next after she found the prey, she was going to shoot it with her crossbow. She concentrated her aim on her target, she focused and... shot it. Damian watched her through it all, Robyn caught her first prey, her first hunt was a success.
"Congratulations Robyn, love!" said Damian, proudly. "You have succeeded your first hunt, and caught your first prey, a rabbit."
"Thank you, father" Robyn thanked him. "Does this mean I'm ready to hunt the fierce beasts?" she asked, excitedly.
Damian laughed sarcastically at his daughter's cute enthusiasm. "No love. The rabbit is the basic step of the hunt for a beginner like you. You still have much to learn."
Robyn frowned, she gave her father a pouty look.
"Don't give me that look young lady" he said to her, firmly. "This is just the beginning of your training, now come, we have the whole day ahead of us."
A whole day indeed. They spent the whole day hunting together on small animals, like: rabbits, hares, mallards, pigeons, pheasants, blackbirds etc. And Robyn was getting better and better at her aim, and she was now getting tired of hunting the same small animals, she's eager for a big score.
"Father, I believe I am now better at my crossbow aim" said Robyn, confidently.
"Yes, you are my love" Damian replied, proudly. "You are getting better and better with your crossbow."
"So it seems that I am now ready for the big beasts" she added.
Damian knew what she's up to and he does not like where this is going. "And what kind of big beast do you have in mind?" he asked, looking serious and suspicious.
"Like a wolf or a bear, a fox" she suggested. "Or how about an animal with no claws and fangs like a deer, a moose, an elk. Oh, how about a wild boar? It'll be perfect for my next phase of hunting wild beasts!"
Damian stopped her there. "Robyn, no. No hunting wild boars, you are not ready for that yet. Boars are not the domesticated pigs you see around farms, there's a reason why they're called wild boars, because they are wild and fierce in the forest, they might attack you with their tusks."
"Father I am ready'' Robyn said, feeling impatient. ''I am bored now of hunting and catching small creatures, I am ready for the big beast, and then I will have amazing adventures and live to tell my tales.''
''Robyn you've only been hunting for one day and you already think you can do anything you want in the forest, well no, you are not hunting a wild boar and that is final.'' Damian said to her strictly. ''I will not allow you to hunt a boar by yourself.''
''That's actually the point father'' said Robyn, with a rebellious look on her face. She ran off deeper into the woods by herself. Damian ran after her, but Robyn was quick on her feet, she ran and ran as fast as she could going through the bushes until she stumble upon them and fell down hill and landed on a pile of leaves. When she got up she realized she was in the middle of the woods, she was worried a bit but thought that she wasn't that far away from her father, and she's sure he will find her soon, until then she had a wild boar to hunt, and to her surprise she found wild boar tracks. What luck, she thought. Robyn followed the tracks and it led her to an even bigger opening field that leads leaving her town. There was a clear grassy meadow with the only tree there, and there Robyn saw the boar. She lay low on the tall grass and crawled closer to get a better look for a good aim, she hid behind the only tree in the meadow and examined the boar. The boar was squealing and eating grass, it was a perfect time for Robyn to shoot it, she aimed her crossbow at it, focused, and prepared to shoot. Suddenly she saw two more little wild boars behind the big one, Robyn seized her crossbow to stop and think, the big wild boar she was about to shoot was a mother and those two little ones were her babies, and if Robyn were to shoot her then the little boars would have to grow up with out a mother, she couldn't imagine growing up with out her loving mother, Robyn was about to kill their mother. Feeling guilty and ashamed, Robyn quietly took a step back so not to attract the boar's attention, she quietly snuck away on her tip toes, until suddenly she stepped on a twig, it made a sound loud enough for the boar to hear, uh oh mama boar saw Robyn.
The wild boar charged at her, Robyn panicked, she didn't know what to do, if only she had listened to her father and stayed with him, the only thing she could think of was to run away. She ran back into the woods, she ran as fast as she could but the boar was faster than her what with its four legs, Robyn tried to lose it from the trees, zig zagging to confuse the boar, but it didn't work, the boar was cunning. Robyn couldn't run any longer, she found herself cornered by a wall of the mountain's rocks with nowhere else to go, she pressed her back against the wall, facing the boar, her body frozen and scared, the boar charged at her, Robyn closed her eyes preparing for the pain. Until an arrow shot at the ground where the boar was charging towards Robyn, stopping its path making it scared. Robyn looked up to her left to see it was her father with his crossbow, saving her from the wild boar. Damian aimed his crossbow at the boar's hide this time, when he shoot the boar squealed in fear and was able to dodged it, afraid, the wild boar ran away, Robyn was safe and in trouble.
"Father, you saved me" said Robyn, feeling thankful for her father's rescue. "Thank you"
"Don't thank me just yet you foolish disrespectful stubborn girl!" Damian replied, angrily. He was furious with his daughter and gave her a serious talk. "What were you thinking girl? That wild boar could've harmed you, you can't just run off deeper into the unknown woods, not knowing what dangerous animals are lurking around the forest ready to attack, you could've been killed out there!"
Robyn looked at her father with a sad face, she looked like she was going to cry. "I just wanted to go on an adventure."
Damian tried to calm himself down, but how could he if his daughter would continue to disobey him, and run off recklessly into the forest like that, if she could easily get herself in harm's way like that in the woods then what chance does she have out there in the world?! "Robyn, love. I was out of my mind with worry and anger when you ran off so stupidly into the woods like that, you could've been hurt-"
"I know."
"Let me finish. You could've been hurt because you didn't stayed close to me like I told your mother. I promised your mother I'd protect you, to stay close to you at all times, especially at your first training of hunting. Hunting is a dangerous job, it's not an adventure you can just go gallivanting around a wild forest like this, with wild animals lurking about. You're lucky it was just a boar, boars are easy to hunt for professional experienced hunters like me, not for beginners like you, you tried to catch it and instead it caught you, it cornered you, you're lucky I showed up in time to help you, and now that boar is gone, you've failed to hunt it."
Actually, Robyn was glad she didn't hunt it, she didn't told her father that wild boar was a mother who had two children to look after and she would never shoot a mother, her father wouldn't understand the spiritual empathetic imagination of life, he doesn't believe in them superstitions. "I don't just wanna hunt father, I want to go out there and see the world, just like you did after you were a hunter, I crave excitement, and although I had my first encounter with the boar it was still an exciting experience, despite it being scary I've learned much."
"And what's that?" Damian asked her, curious.
"To always be prepared when you're going on an adventure, and to have my father by side at all times" answered Robyn, with a small smile.
Damian just sighed with a smile. At least my daughter's learning something from her actions, he thought. Damian gave her a fatherly advice, in song form: "Your Time Will Come"
(Damian)
Your time will come my child
You're still young so it might take a while
Until the time comes show me a smile
I know you can be a good hunter
I will support you all the way because you are my daughter
But you're still young so let's not asunder
You need to learn these things step by step, with my help
To survive the world's dangerous depths
So just be patient and don't look so glum
Your time will come
(Robyn)
Everyday I've trained with all my might
So I can spread my wings and take first flight
I'm eager to get out there
I promise you, I am prepared
And I assure you, I am no longer scared
(Damian)
You may have mastered the crossbow, and your aim is getting better
Though you may think you're clever, you're still not ready to go solo
So let's keep working together
You have more talent than luck
I promise you, your time will come
(Robyn)
You're right father, my time will come
(Damian)
You're my light daughter, sweet and prosperous like a plum
(Damian and Robyn)
And together we both know, time will come
After their father - daughter duet, they hugged each other lovingly, and Damian said, in a serious parental voice "Just promise me the next time we hunt, we hunt together from now on, and I won't mention the boar incident to your mother."
Robyn gulped a lump on her throat, she wouldn't want to face her mother's scolding wrath of worry, fear, and anger. "I promise from now on I will always be by your side when we train, from now on we hunt together."
Damian folded his arms, with the feeling of parental superiority. "That's what I want to hear. Let's go home now. You've had enough hunting for today."
Robyn nodded in agreement. They went back home where Isabelle was waiting for them, they have returned with Robyn's bountiful prey of rabbit, ducks, birds, etc. Isabelle was impressed by her daughters approval. "Congratulations my dear. I am glad you have made it in one day in the woods, and I am impressed with your achievement of a bountiful hunt of small animals, we are going to have a feast to celebrate your first successful hunt with the meat you brought. Damian my husband, I trust her first training with you was not too rebellious?" Isabelle can sense he dealt their daughter's mischievous tricks.
Damian didn't know how to answer that one, he just smiled awkwardly and said. "Let's just say, it was a rough first training she had, but she has done well and has learned much in the end."
"And next time, I promise I'll do things better, together with my father" Robyn added. "I can not wait for our next training."
Isabelle just smiled funny at her daughter's enthusiasm for adventure. She'll learn, she thought in her head. When she was cooking the meal her husband and daughter brought, her head was suddenly feeling dizzy, like she was about to have a headache. And then she started to cough.
Something wasn't right with Isabelle, she might be seriously ill.