the queendom ☆ a six the musical fanfic

Chapter 12: Parr

I had found myself pregnant for the first time in my fourth marriage. I had expected to be happy, but my new husband was not much better than my last one, the king. It was hours and hours of pain but I had my daughter in my arms. Mary. Mary after my stepdaughter. I felt myself becoming weaker and weaker as the hours of holding her and watching people hold her went by. Soon I knew my fate would be the same as my husband's sister, Jane Seymour. Night came and the world went dark.

I was happy in the Queendom. There were no men to disappoint me, no kings to force me to marry them, and all the time in the world for me to read and write books. There was only one trouble in my life, or my afterlife, I guess. For some reason, whoever organized the apartments put all of the wives of Henry in the same vicinity. Boleyn was across from Aragon, Howard was across from Jane, and I was next to Boleyn. They all constantly argue from dawn to dusk. Every time I go outside I get bombarded by people asking me what I think of the whole argument. I didn't go out much anyway, but I definitely went outside less because of that.

After about three weeks of my being in the Queendom, Boleyn knocked on my door.

"Nice to meet you, Parr. Have any of the other queens talked to you yet?" She asked right as I opened the door.

"Uhm, no. Why do you care?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry, do you not know about the..." she paused and leaned in closer. "The argument?" 

I stepped back and said "Yes, I have. Much more than I would like to. You're all acting like children." Anne's jaw dropped and her eyebrows arched downward angrily.

"It is a legitimate argument! Yes, they're all being stupid because my life was the worst but the argument itself is totally serious."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure it is, Anne."

"Anyways, I actually came here to talk about just that." She said, stepping inside my blue apartment.

"Make yourself at home..." I whispered, under my breath so she couldn't hear.

"Are you planning to get involved at all or stay on the sidelines? We'd all like to know."

"Oh, so you are all talking?"

"Uh, no. I was just texting with Kitty last night and she was wondering about it too."

Howard's nickname reminded me of the girl. My sister was one of her ladies in waiting, and I spent a lot of time in her court. She was so cheerful and energetic, always dancing or socializing and making people smile. I saw how Henry and all the other men watched her. Like hungry tigers viewing their next target. As the charges fell against her and the crown was taken from her head, I had to stand by the sidelines and watch, no matter how much I wanted to fight for her. I couldn't associate myself with anyone who was at all accused of being against the king, I had to keep myself safe. I needed to talk to her, to apologize.

"Catherine? You there?" Anne asked, quizzically. I gulped and pulled myself back to reality.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I won't be joining in the argument. And honestly I wish you all would shut up too."

"Well then. I've gotten the info I need. Have a good evening, Catherine. And welcome to the Queendom." She said, opening the door and doing unenthusiastic jazz hands. She shut the door behind herself and I sighed. I sat down on my bed and picked up my book again.

There was another knock at the door. I opened it and it was Anne again.

"Hey uh, I just wanted to say thanks for looking after Elizabeth. It was reassuring to know that someone on Earth was looking out for her. And I uh..." She paused, hesitating. "And I think Jane would say the same about Edward."

"Thank you, Anne. It was my pleasure. Your daughter is a very smart girl, and I am sorry you didn't get to raise her yourself."

Anne gulped and looked down. She was clearly holding in tears. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"She will be a great monarch one day, I know it." Anne said. I nodded, smiling. I knew it too.