Empire of Dreams

*3*

The ride to the Greenwich Palace was a long one. After all, it was my third carriage ride and I was still getting used to them. The carriage was comfortably full with Aunt Catherine, her daughter, my mother and me. Though mother was not at all needed, she wanted to ensure that my first meeting with the royals be the most appeasing when I was fourth in line to throne.

The morning had been spent uselessly fussing over which gown I was to wear, finally settling on one in a beautiful shade of brown. I reminded myself to ask the seamstress for more in this colour. It blended well with the nature as the leaves started to dry for the autumn.

"You are awfully quiet, Jane" Catherine remarked.

"Oh, do not mind it" I politely smiled and went back to my thoughts.

The whole time my mother talked about life in the royal court and all about how she and the former king Henry were very close. All I thought about it was that my mother was desperately trying to climb the english society's social ladder. My maternal grandmother couldn't find an advantageous match for my mother in the French court and hence had decided to use the English matches and connections and marry her off advantageously.

Now my mother had high hopes that she would show up out of nowhere and elevate my position to get into the court. But I had made up my mind- I was not being anyone's pawn. I would do and act as I please and that was a right I would not give up under any circumstances.

It was dusk by the time we reached the Palace for our 2-day stay. Servants already began taking the luggage inside while I picked up Catherine's child and descended. Catherine appeared next, a big smile on her lips and eyes twinkling in happiness in anticipation of meeting her honorary children, as she liked to call them. Last came my mother, immediately starting to fuss over her gown and then mine, much to my annoyance.

"Welcome to the Greenwich Palace, my ladies. The King and the princesses await you in the tea room" we were informed as a butler led the way. The halls of the palace were painted bleakly, almost as if they had been painted half-heartedly.

Flashes of what had happened to cousin Edward went through my mind. How our wonderful friendship tragically came to an end. But I already felt the pain of not being able to do anything to save him. He was already sickly and it was not as if preventing the cold could save him. It would certainly extend his life a few years but he would never live to see adulthood. So I settled on cherishing what little time we got together.

The tea room was better than the halls, paintings of old kings and queens and a few of Edward's portraits lined the wall. After having curtsied to my three cousins, walked over to Catherine who called Edward, Mary and Elizabeth near too.

"You four will always be my dearest honorary children and I hope my daughter will be lucky to receive your guidances through her life" Aunt Catherine smiled.

"What is her name?" Elizabeth asked shyly.

"That, you three get to decide. She will christened this Sunday in the royal church. Before that, you get to decide"

"Mary" Mary suddenly replied.

"You are not going to name her after yourself!" Edward protested.

"Sush now, dear Edward. Mary's decision is final then. Mary Seymour it is" Catherine smiled, but Mary simply nodded curtly before walking away.

"She did not take your marriage well, you know" Elizabeth sadly said, "we thought you would be with us forever, but when you married Baron Seymour, Mary was heartbroken. It was almost as if she was abandoned again"

Tears rolled down Catherine's cheeks as she hugged Elizabeth.

"I would never abandon Mary. Nor would I abandon you. None of you! You are all my children, just like Mary and you will be my first and last thoughts each day. You will have my time and my life will always be devoted to you"

I squeezed Aunt Catherine's shoulder assuringly while Edward rubbed her knee and Elizabeth hugged her from the other side.

Until dinner, most of the time was spent with mother continuing to bother Edward continuously while Mary painted the sunset and Elizabeth baked us a pie. Catherine couldn't be happier it seemed, here with all her children. I felt as of I was intruding on something very personal.

"You truly are awfully quiet" Elizabeth remarked, the pie set to be baked in the clay oven of the kitchens.

"Oh it's not that. Catherine looks absolutely delighted to see you all after such a long time. She does love you all wholeheartedly. I feel like I am intruding, you know, disrupting your personal time with her" I admitted.

"That's because what I said was correct and Catherine's marriage to that Thomas was a sham all along" Mary snapped, picking up her painting aisle, the colours dried now.

"That's offensive, Mary" Elizabeth corrected her.

"Fine. Jane, you are an absolute delight to be around but it's Thomas who annoys me" Mary huffed before retreating to her room.

Elizabeth shot me a sympathetic glance and looping her arm into mine, walked me back to the palace.

"There you are! Dinner will be served soon, make haste" my mother dismissively ordered. Instead of returning to my room though, I was convinced by Elizabeth to look into the rooms of each of the wives of Henry the VIII.

Not only were their rooms intact, their wardrobes were complete their dresses.

"I have an idea!" Elizabeth exclaimed before running off somewhere in a highly non-regal manner.

Meanwhile, I explored the wardrobe of Katherine of Aragon. She was a charming and beautiful woman surely, but I found her wisdom and dedication towards nation her more admirable attributes.

Looking through her mostly purple and red regal gowns, I realised just how much Mary was like her. She truly was her mother's daughter. When put in retrospect, Mary was like Katherine, Elizabeth a delicate balance of Anne and Henry's dominant traits while Edward was like Henry, but his sickness was from his maternal side apparently.

Elizabeth was back with Mary and both had a shimmer of rebellion in their eyes.

"Do wish to dress like the queens you are, my sisters?" Elizabeth squeaked excitedly.

"Let us show little ward boy what we are" Mary avidly supported.

With a deep breath to settle my doubts down inside, I nodded.

There was flurry of choosing the gowns and raiding the vanity drawers for matching jewels but when we were finished, even we faltered at our reflection in the mirror.

I looked the eldest, ironically. Much like my mother, my round face had a maturity to it that could not be described, the pearl necklace and long pearl earrings beautifully complimenting my complexion. The gown was deep maroon, suiting me well.

Mary looked as if Katherine had been resurrected. The golden and black gown she had chosen along with the dark jewel someone had probably gifted Queen Katherine made it feel as if she was dressed for revenge. Her blonde hair was many shade lighter than her mother's, but they were otherwise the same. She looked young and charming.

Elizabeth defied everything as usual. Her fiery curls had been left untied, framing her traingular face beautifully. Her gown was a demure blue and gold, making her look regal, brave, masculine but demure all at the same time.

Hand in hand, we all walked down to dinner, knowing deep down they shared a bond mightier than blood. It was the bond of the crown which had been placed on each of our heads, though it was in future I had already started to change.

The song for this chapter is linked underneath. Here ends the 3rd chapter of the Empire of Dreams. Hope you enjoy! :)