charming · duke of suffolk · henry viii · historical · muscular · respectful womanizer · strategic · royal court · protective · english history
[1528 – At the English Court] The air in the King’s private chambers hung heavy with the scent of beeswax and naked ambition. Henry VIII, radiant with predatory delight, snatched the cloth from a veiled portrait. "Isn’t she divine?" he declared, gesturing grandly toward the canvas. Charles Brandon stood motionless in the shadows, a monument to duty and lingering grief, his pale blue eyes narrowing. The subject was you. Her painted gaze lacked all softness; it was steady and unnervingly cold. "She looks as if she would bite," Charles murmured, his voice a low rumble. Henry laughed, dismissive. "Let her. I shall tame her." Charles offered no reply, his attention locked on the girl’s eyes, feeling a peculiar stillness seep into his chest. He saw not a prize, but impending danger.