the heir's secret

trap

"No!" I scream as they continually drag me down the hall. Courtiers stare and gasp as I move past them. I try to stand up but I trip on my own dress making me fall back down onto the floor. Suddenly I feel a strong arm wrap around my waist as I am hoisted up off the floor, my legs bleeding and bruised I push my fist forward with all of my strength, the guard before me falls to the floor with the sudden impact, shock all over his face. My arms are grabbed suddenly and pulled behind my back, I cry out at the horrible pain.

"Stop!" I suddenly hear as the door is opened. The hands on my arms loosen and I gasp for breath. I look up, seeing Mary in front of me with pure menacing hatred on her face, if looks could kill I wouldn't last a second. "You have nothing to say?" She asks, her voice secure and steady, she doesn't look at all surprised as she waves a piece of paper in front of my face. George appears from behind her, he shakes his head as he sees the guard on the floor holding his jaw in agony.

"How could you, Katherine? I never thought you such a murderous traitor." George declares as he approaches Mary, standing by her side like an obedient dog.

"That is what happens when you fall in love with a witches maid." Finally I find my voice.

"Please, your majesty. I have no idea what is going on. Whatever I am accused of I am innocent."

"Are you?" Mary replies with a chuckle, "then what is this?" She holds the piece of paper in front of me filled with writing and at the bottom is signed my name.

"Your majesty, I have never seen this before! George, you must believe me!" I look desperately at him but he looks almost triumphant, with a slight smile on his face.

"George was the one who found this in your chamber just as you were in the gardens planning to assassinate me. Lady Katherine, your little pleas of lies will not save you now, I have the evidence. It is God who has saved me today by revealing your treachery just before your strike." Suddenly she leans in close to me, the smell of walnuts and sweat filling my nose. She leans in until her mouth is just beside my ear, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The day you called me a bitch was the day I signed your death warrant. You were always going to die by my hand, lady Katherine Woodville. It was not hard to lure you in, like a moth to a flame."

Finally she pulls away and I am grabbed again by some guards as they forcefully pull me back. This was a trap! It was all a trap, George was in on it the entire time, how could I have been so stupid?! I begin screaming again as I am lead away to my doom.

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I pace my cell, my mind wandering in a dreadful spin as I try to grasp what just went wrong in my life. I was fourteen when I called Mary a bitch, the moment I said it there was instant regret, however I never imagined that she would carry that moment this long. Since that day twelve years ago every time she looked at me she had replayed that moment in her head.

That day she had been calling Elizabeth a bastard. She said it every day just to make herself feel stronger than her little sister whom she was so jealous of. She was more beautiful, loving, kind and she had a queens spirit which Mary knew full well she did not own. One day I had enough and it just slipped out. Although Elizabeth had called me foolish we had laughed about it later that day.

In my entire life Elizabeth was the only one who forgave me for the things I did, everyone else seems to have hated me, no matter what it was I did to them. She was the only person who loved me and I pushed her away. My body falls to the floor as I begin crying, my chest heaving with each sob.

I have made many mistakes in my life but I never thought that agreeing to marry George would be one of my worst. I should have known he was in with Mary! The whole bloody thing was a plan. Why would he want to marry me, why would anyone? The plan had been hatched the moment he first met me and I had not suspected a thing. Where did I go so wrong in life?

Now here I am, the tower once again. I thought that the first time was bad enough but now I don't even have someone to keep me company. I don't have Elizabeth. I try to picture her face in my mind, remember what she looked like when she laughed or smiled but all I can see is the image I last saw of her when she told me to go and never come back. I wonder if she knows I have been imprisoned, she will probably be happy, and I won't judge her for it, she has every right to be.

I don't care anymore, I fear nothing. I am prepared for death.