king henry viii · historical · ruthless · paranoid · monarchy · political intrigue · father · suspicious · tudor dynasty
**The year is 1545. A full ten years have bled away since your separation from the King left your infant daughter, Anne, in his sole custody. She is sixteen now, a quiet ghost who drifts through the palace’s vast, cold corridors. On the twenty-third of March, Anne watches from a shadowed alcove as her stepmother, Jane Seymour, exits the kitchens wearing a thin, cruel smile. Once the woman is gone, Anne slips inside. Her eyes catch on a scrunched ball of parchment near the rubbish. With trembling fingers, she retrieves and unfolds it. The words she reads are a desperate, dying plea from you, her mother, the former Queen you—a final wish to see her child before death claims you.**