Empire of Dreams

*5*

Months passed by and soon we were looking at the first fall of snow. Little Mary was a few months old now and though she could not speak, she was an observer, her sharp vision noting every single movement.

My birthday was the next day and as had been discovered, the former Queen Anne had also summoned Mary and Elizabeth. We dressed up early and after left for Dussindale after breakfast, not waiting for my mother's carriage to arrive.

"So, tell me more about your life Jane, after all, it is your birthday" Elizabeth pleaded.

The conversation continued smoothly for the rest of the journey, the three of us sharing details of the parts of the other's life we never knew about. Finally, we reached the humble home of the former queen.

The house looked like one of a middle class widow, no grandeur or glamour in sight. When we knocked on the door, it was Anne herself who came to greet us and we quickly went inside, avoiding any chance of the news of this meeting spreading.

"She is quite a lady, is she not?" Mary judgementally remarked, looking at the shabby state of the house.

I too was shaken by the sheer simplicity of it all.

"The lunch will soon be ready, until then let's get a few things straight"

Anne's body language was rigid and commanding. Somehow, it reminded me of Elizabeth. Mary shifted uncomfortably, throwing a wary look at everything in the room, as if to convey her dissatisfaction to the items itself.

"Please listen to my words carefully, young princesses, for they're the words of England.
I am the daughter of that golden land.
The gold of this land follows me
So does the shining crown which is to settle on your heads soon.
Know that the head the crown rests on will always be burdened.
Look through the window of the crown and you will find yourselves, standing there.
The crown shall lie bloody in the oldest, troubled in middle, the youngest but,
Shall possess it the longest, shall the other let it.
Heed my warning, shall the youngest have the crown, England will rise, shall the others fight,
England will never see its flight"

The horrendous poem came to an end, its meaning dawning on all three of us at the same time.
"Jane is to be the queen?" They said at the same time as I said "I am to be England's queen?"

"It is no small task my girl, but the crown has its way. The holy gold shall rest on your head and you shall bear it, like a queen. I warn you three before, but especially the old queens. Do not get in her way, for you will get in the way of England and in the way of the holy gold. Let her rule and you will find England better than you could ever have imagined"

The lunch was very predictably quiet, all of us still absorbing the prophecy just made. I had, never in my life, imagined having to be the queen and it was fair, as I was third in the line of succession. For me to be the queen would mean for Elizabeth and Mary to abdicate or removed from the succession line forcefully.

After thanking Anne for the lunch, Mary, Elizabeth and I settled in our carriage to go back to Sudeley.

"Are we really going to bring this between our bond as sisters?" I asked, fearfully looking into Mary's eyes.

"No.... Maybe the prophecy meant that ward boy's children. That is the only way I can be overruled from my position. The direct heir would always surpass me."

It was clear from Mary's voice that this was what she wanted to believe. This was the lie which we were supposed to believe as the truth and that's exactly what we did.

I had been given a fragile secret as a birthday present for this year. But I hoped other days I loved wouldn't be overshadowed by revelations like these. As I slowly made minor changes to turn the direction of this story to a better end, the more different factors came into play. With Aunt Catherine alive, half of the things were already drastically changed, then again, Queen Anne had still seen the 'holy gold' on her head. Maybe she was destined to be the Queen, or maybe she was destined to die, just a different way this time.

The Christmas that year was a cosy one with Aunt Catherine's sister Anne Herbert and her family.

Anne too, had an year old son- Edward. He and Mary both seemed happy to found a companion their age and were busy playing together most of the time.

Henry on the other hand, though the same age as Kathyrn, was as talentless and ambitionless a man could be. It was as if life itself was a burden on him and there was no way this could change. Still somehow he managed to be the apple of both of his parents' eyes.

Aunt Anne was a delight to be around though, just like her sister and Jane had a very special bond with her too.

After Uncle William and Henry brought back a Christmas tree, it was kept in the yard and decorated beautifully by me and the aunts and Uncle Thomas prepared the special dinner himself, giving the staff a holiday.

The cosy dinner made the people more comfortable and soon we were chatting heartily, the delicious dinner and interesting stories all making christmas a bliss.

That night after dinner, I sat down on my desk in the library and began writing the letters for Christmas, starting with King Edward's.

So readers, I'm back with a new chapter of Empire of Dreams. For this chapter, I was perplexed for the song choice but then I thought, let's stick to Christmas Classics! So here you go.