FRAGMENTS OF A DYNASTY
Summary: Elizabeth has always had to live in fear. Pairings: Henry/Anne implied Mary/Philip of Spain, Elizabeth/Tom Seymour/Philip of Spain, and sibling Mary/Elizabeth. Her first real memory had been of her father and mother arguing. It had been very frightening and she had trembled in her mother's arms. A few days later her mother disappeared forever and she was called Lady Elizabeth instead of Princess Elizabeth. She did not find out what really happened to her mother until Kitty Howard was beheaded and then she learnt of the true dangers of the Royal Court. Displease your monarch in any shape or form and it does not matter how closely related you are to the monarch you shall lose your head anyway. She was in fear of displeasing her father who had such a short temper that one wrong word would send you to the Tower. She was in fear for herself when her father died and she realised he was her only protector at Court. She was in fear of being executed for merely being a victim of Tom Seymour's when he was sent to the Tower. She was in fear when her brother died and Lady Jane was crowned. Northumberland obviously wanted her dead and she fended him off by playing sick. And she was sick, sick to the stomach that she was so cowardly that she would hide under the bed covers and pray for Mary's victory. She thought it would be over when she was embraced by her loving sister outside of London before Mary was crowned. The Spanish ambassador and the Catholic lords and priests whisper poison in Mary's ear and Mary changes from loving to cold almost overnight. Soon enough she has found herself surrounded by enemies that were eager to see her dead and that terrified her. The French may prefer her on the throne because she has no bias towards the Spanish but they were so obvious they would kill her in the process. The Spanish were desperate for her to die she was the daughter of a whore and the personification of the Reformed faith to them. The Catholic faction may not want her dead but they do not want her to be heir to the throne. They would have the Scottish Queen and all her French influences than her. Her own cousins do not stand up to protect her because their loyalties lay with themselves and they are Catholic. If it was not for her staff, Kat, and Cecil she would be entirely alone in this world and that terrifies her. Her followers are no better than her enemies. They plot to put her on the throne and with their failure she is sent to the Tower. The Tower is everything she is scared of, it was the place her mother died in, it was where all traitors were sent, and it was the place where two royal princes just simply vanished. She would either be executed or simply disappear. She was icy cold in her fear though for brief rare moments she would feel comfort. The little boy they brought her flowers, Kat's loving arms around her, and the sight of her sweet Robin who has been nothing but a good friend all these years, they were all comforts to her. but then the little boy vanished, Robin was set free, and nothing Kat could do or say would comfort Elizabeth when she found her mother's name carved in the window sill. She was out of the Tower but not free. Mary would no longer listen to her let alone believe a word that came out of her mouth. She had Elizabeth watched every moment of the day and when Elizabeth was welcomed back at Court to meet her brother in law she was indeed watched every moment of the day. Philip of Spain's eyes follow her and she cannot get rid of that disgusting chill she feels whenever she is near him. He reminds her too much of Tom Seymour – lustful and ambitious while not too hard on the eyes. Mary was bound to have her heartbroken and it will be Elizabeth's fault. Elizabeth kept Kat close to her in those months. She had the door locked and guarded in case Philip took it to himself to enter her chambers in the early hours of the morning like Tom Seymour did once upon a time. She lived in fear and even when she was finally home it did not ease up. She watched the roads warily waiting for that inevitable moment when men will ride up it and arrest her for treason. Because it now seems her very own existence is treasonous. One day it happened. Men rode up the road on their great horses, they looked grim and solemn, and she stood up, back straight, head held up proudly, for she was a Tudor and a Tudor shall never show their fear to the common people. She is taken back when they knell before her. "The Queen is dead! Long Live the Queen!" It takes every ounce of her strength to not crumple in relief. She was free. She was free from fear. She was free from suspicion. She was free to be her true self a Protestant Queen daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her relieve drowns out her sorrow over another family member dead as she murmurs something serene and worthy to remember by history. She no longer needed to be afraid.
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