The Royal Seamstress | ONC2020

Chapter 7: Wishes

Dear God. How was I ever going to break to Margaret she had to marry to remain at court? Henry waited for my reply to his offer. It was generous, but some part of it I didn't understand.

"If she remains at court and gets married, she will not be a sewing girl anymore?"

"Oh, she will. I'm not planning to marry her to one of the Nobles."

"Then who are you planning on her marrying?" I looked horrified. I wasn't here to make everything worse for Margaret. If he was going to marry her of to some not respected man, how would she ever live with that? How was I ever going to live with it knowing it to be my fault?

"Some of my servants," he said. "Some from her own station. I'm not going to make her worse off than she is. I will promise you that."

I thanked him with a light heart. Sighing in relief. He had actually listened to me. How good of him. I looked up into his eyes and was immediately captured by their glow and warmth. He made me want to stay right where I was. Underneath him. Something inside me made me want to undress and show myself to him. I had never felt this way before. My mother had always taught me to stay away from the opposite sex. She had warned me of their alluring behavior, but I just couldn't resist him.

"Henry," I whispered with a constrained voice. "I need to go. I have a lot of work to do."

"What is more important than your King's wellbeing?"

"The task given by you, Your Grace."

He sighed.

"Why do you keep calling me by my title when I have asked you not to?"

"Because it's not appropriate I call you by name."

"Well, I command you to call me by my name, Elizabeth. The punishment for not obeying my wishes is high treason and death."

I closed my eyes. Now sighing in inner frustration. This was getting more and more intense by the minute. Henry was almost pressuring me to do things I shouldn't. Almost giving me a bad taste in my mouth by not doing what he asked.

"Henry, please," I begged. "Let me go."

"I can't, Elizabeth. I'm too involved now."

Good heavens. The King of England wanted me way too much. He was possessed by the thought of having me. I was too afraid to tell him how I felt. I was afraid it wasn't me he wanted, but just my maidenhead. Maybe he was lying and would cast me out as soon as he was done and had taken what he wanted. He liked my fire. My impertinence. He liked I was beneath him. He could do whatever he wanted to me without me having a real choice of refusing it.

"You need to find someone else to be your mistress," I said decidedly. I had to make a stand for myself and show him I wasn't going to be taken by him. "I can't do it."

"Why not?" he asked in a confused voice. "You're the only one I want to have as a mistress."

"I know you have a dozen other mistresses, Henry. Don't pretend not to."

"Yes, I have many mistresses. I will not deny that but you're not like them."

"And in which way am I not like them?" I asked. "Tell me the difference between me and them."

"You got more fire than half of them."

That was far from a satisfying answer. I had hoped for a deeper and reflected kind of response to my worries. He didn't seem to understand how big a deal it was, he wanted me to fill in the place of a mistress. If I was going to be his mistress, I wanted to be the only mistress.

"That's not good enough."

"What do you want from me Elizabeth?"

"I want you to want me for the person I am. Not for the physical part but for the inside values I possess." I tried my hardest not to panic. "And I want to be your only mistress."

Henry looked at me without a word. I tried to push myself from him, but the weight of his body made sure I couldn't escape. I sighed. I just wanting to get out of here now. I had been in his room too long. If anyone came in and saw us, it would be a catastrophe. It was clear he didn't understand what I wanted.

"I want not only to be your mistress," I tried to find the words in the back of my head. "I want more."

"What can I offer you?" he said. "I would give you anything."

"I want knowledge."

"Knowledge?"

"Yes. I want you to teach me the modern languages and the literature."

"I'm not used to taking demands from others."

"It's not a demand, it's a wish. It's me asking you a favor."

He smiled, then nodded. We had an agreement. I was officially his mistress, but I would gain more from this deal than any other woman before me. Maybe I could even get him to marry me to one of the rich nobles. If I could get any sort of advantage from this agreement, I would take it.

"Tonight, Elizabeth, I want to see you in these rooms again. This time without your clothes."

"Will you also bring the Latin book?"

"Yes," he said and pressed his lips against mine. His kiss was passionate and very different from the last one he had given me in the sewing room. It was so convincible I almost thought he had real feelings for me. But if I let myself be deceived; I would be greatly disappointed when this affair was over.

I didn't leave him right away. I helped him get up from the bed and into his clothes. The grateful look on his face was just the kind of response I wanted from him. Smiles and gentleness. Perhaps I was after all falling for the King of England. Just a little. And that was the biggest danger in this agreement. Me being hurt from romantic feelings for the King, which would never be returned.

Word count: 1045 words.

Total word count: 8073 words.