the heir's secret

stay strong

The interrogation started yesterday. We had just woken up in time as we heared a key turn in the lock of our door and then it opened before us, the creek echoing on the walls. Guards entered. Elizabeth held my hands tightly, she had cried dreadfully the night before but now her face shone with confidence. She looked every part a queen.

"Stay strong." She whispered into my ear before she was taken away for questioning. I was left many hours alone in the prison room. Pacing back and forth, my mind wandering. How far would Mary go? I remember wondering. She is a brute. She has killed many of her people because they did not follow the Catholic faith. Elizabeth is a Protestant and the daughter of the woman who caused Katherine of Aragons death. Mary hated Elizabeth, mainly because of what her mother did to her mother, but somehow I do believe that Mary does have some kind of respect for Elizabeth. This respect may be the only thing that saves her.

After what had seemed like an eternity I had suddenly heared the key in the lock for the second time. I had jumped up with enthusiasm, expecting to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway, her fire red hair shining with beauty, but when the door was opened I saw nothing but guards.

"Katherine Woodville, you are to come with me." I wanted to run to the other end of the room and scream at them to leave me alone but suddenly a rush of confidence forced my head a little higher and my voice a little stronger.

"Very well. Do what you must." I replied. They lead me down the halls, our footsteps echoing off each wall like a voice in a cave. Last time I walked down these halls was almost two years ago when me and Elizabeth had come to visit Lady Jane Grey. Poor girl. That was the first time I came face to face with Mary's brutality. Finally we reached an old wooden door and a guard opened it slowly. Inside was two men. They stared at me as I walked inside, the movement of the material on my dress was the only sound that was heared. The door shut behind me with a loud bang, but I did not flinch, all the while staring straight back at the evil looking men.

"Take a seat, lady Woodville." One of them said as he gestured to an old wooden chair in the middle of the room. I accepted his invitation and slowly sat down. I quickly looked around me, searching desperately for any torture weapons, my heart slowed a little when I noticed none. At least Mary is keeping to her word I thought.

"Where is Elizabeth?" I asked before either of them had even opened their mouths to speak.

"She is being questioned." One replied. "Now then," he carried on, "do you know why you are here?" I knew exactly why I was there. I tried to slow down my breathing, my panic was starting to kick in. I replied that I didn't and this was when the other man started speaking.

"Elizabeth Tudor, the queens own sister has tried to push her off the throne by an uprising. She agreed to help Sir Thomas Wyatt with a promise of her becoming queen." I tried to look shocked by this news as he said it, feigning disbelief.

"No, Elizabeth is her majestys most loving servant she would never go against her."

"So she hid this from you? Her servant who has never been seen away from the lady's side." He replied, moving further towards me, his glare becoming stronger.

"Has Elizabeth said that she has done this?" She couldn't have. She wouldn't have given in so easily. Never.

"No." He replies with a smile as if to say but we soon will.

"Well then do not talk as if it is definite that it has happened." The questioning lasted for ages. They made me talk until my throat went dry and I could feel my eyes beginning to close with tiredness. As blackness from outside started seeping into the room and candles had to be lit the questions carried on. They asked me about every single thing I knew about Elizabeth and about her relationship with the queen. They even asked me about my own mother, calling her a traitor. They tried to brake me like the legs of a chair. They thought me weak and feeble. They did not think that I would persevere, I could see the astonishment on the faces but they were becoming frustrated.

"This is not over." One of the men said before I was lead away. "I will get this out of you. You will admit." You can try. I was taken back to my prison cell in the dark, the only light coming from the candles aligning the walls. When the door was opened I saw Elizabeth on the bed, beneath the covers already fast asleep. I ran to her putting my arms around her body. We were safe for another day. How long would this last?

Now it is the day after. The interrogation started again this morning but it was only Elizabeth who has been taken. She was quiet when we woke and did not say much. She asked me what they had asked and I told her. She did not tell me what they had asked her. As they led her away for the second time she seemed less confident than the first time. Whatever they had asked her, it was working. Dear God, Elizabeth. Queens do not show their weaknesses. Stay strong.