paradisa | ♔ douze || now i am indeed queen

Entry tags:

anne boleyn

♔ douze || now i am indeed queen

[Allies & Friends]

Though it is not the way of things, mayhap that is why it will be entirely appropriate in this new realm. This is a prodigious day for myself; indeed for all of England. Whether or not you are loyal to the English crown and country, should you be loyal enough to me as a servant, an ally, or even a friend, I would welcome you to a simple supper I will be having to honor the day His Majesty the King bestowed upon me my crown. Should you choose to come, we will partake before dusk in the castle's own dining hall, where I am most apologetic to inform that no animals will be permitted within for the time being.

~ Anne Boleyn

[ She can't even say 'the day I was made Queen of England', or sign as Anne the Queen, alas her loss foiling everything for her. Regardless, anyone who she thinks is worth inviting will have an invitation delivered to them. ]

[/Allies & Friends]

[ ooc; If you aren't sure if your character would qualify, just PM me and I will say. Plus ones are welcome ~~heck even party crashers are welcome~~. HERE is the thread for the supper (pile onto character threads/threadjack ahoy)! Elizabeth will be missing, which Anne will investigate afterward. :( ]

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[It's her luck that Spike would have come back to the castle this day. He could hear the party going on, and knew who was behind it without so much as peering inside the dinning room. That's typically what queens do, he guesses. And as much as he hates socializing, he can't pretend that he'd rather have been in there.

He then follows her upstairs after he found himself hanging around the lobby, waiting for her to leave. (His original thought was to catch her in the kitchen, but the last thing he wants is to make another scene.) Apparently he still has some things on his chest. While he's usually good at burying that type of thing, this time he can't get past it. There's probably a lesson in pride somewhere in there; either way, he wants to talk to her again before she goes back to ignoring him.

When he arrives on the next elevator up, he can still see her limping along in the hallway. It's only when he looks ahead to the door she's arriving at that he suddenly regrets the plan. That's the trouble with having unnaturally enhanced eyesight.

He debates turning around, but she may have heard the elevator already. So he walks over, slowly, hoping to reach her before she notices the nameplate.]

Be careful. You don't want to trip.

[ She had heard, and naturally assumes it to be Kalinda following after to make sure a certain queen doesn't indeed trip and end up stuck on the ground, so she doesn't even look until he speaks up. At that, her head whips around and she stops suddenly, already irritable over her current concerns. She knows nothing of any nameplate yet, still too close to her own door to see. ]

Must you grace every entrance with an ill-timed and uninvited jest? I will have nothing of you now; be on your way.

[Well, at least he still makes for a good distraction. His eyes break from the nameplate again just quick enough to avoid her notice.

There's a moment when he really does consider leaving her to it, but if she finds out that he knew before she did, it'll just be another reason to avoid him.]

Does it have to be a joke if I'm concerned?

Words. That is all you ever offer, but never when they are welcome. Had you any true concern, you would have shown it when it was needed. You had your chance, and you spat upon it. Do you expect that I ought to humor your fancies whenever that you so please, after showing me such blatant disrespect, nay, cruelty and dishonor? Then you dare showcase such brutalities before another's very eyes, humiliating my person and my station after I had dared risk allow you a simple task. I tolerate much here, but I will not lower myself to be debased by nothing but a bounty hunter, which I now think you are not at all.

No, you have proven yourself nothing but a mummer, Spike Spiegel. Begone from my gaze.

Edited 2013-06-02 02:19 (UTC)

[She still hasn't cooled down any from that incident in the clinic. Spike was halfway hoping that she'd be too drunk to remember.

It hadn't been intentional, anyway. She has a way of making him lose his temper.]

That wasn't uncalled for. [Just maybe an overreaction. How long had he helped her before that one mistake?] But there are some things you should know.

[ It was a big mistake, and this is the wrong day. For multiple reasons, she's soon to find. Right now she's so pissed that he's ignoring her demand that she limps right over and tries to shove past him with her good arm, putting enough force behind it to seriously hurt her leg whether he caves or not. ]

Are your ears clogged?! This is not the day! Mayhap I cannot say it with mine own lips, but I know what I am, and I know what you are, and it is something that is not worth my time. I celebrate this date, and I do so with my daughter, and you will not spoil it. Defy me openly again and I will bury a knife between your ribs when it is not so open, do you hear now, you filthy mongrel?

[He's stone faced throughout her speech, even allowing her to shove him aside to keep her from injuring herself. She's right about his timing; this isn't a day that seems to be in his favor. Apparently for reasons other that the one she hasn't realized.]

Your daughter. [He repeats, but doesn't finish his thought. She makes it hard to say anything when she's pissed enough to be dolling out death threats. It's unlikely she'd interpret whatever he says as helpful, no matter what he means by it.

With effort, he keeps his anger in check, although his next words come out forcefully.]

If it's a bad day, I'll come back.

[ Anne doesn't resist the urge to strongly roll her eyes, because once again she thinks he is the dumbest man she has ever known. Had she not been telling him to leave twice? And that it was the wrong day? Idiot, fool, mummer, why did she ever humor him? Only because she thought it was a dream.

Perhaps he was a dream man, but in reality she finds him to be too dry to ever lower herself for. The fact that he keeps coming after her without properly petitioning her, or even waiting for her call as he should. As she has said. Fool. ]

No, you will not come back. I said you will leave, and you will stay gone. I bid you to stop haunting me!

[ She resists the urge to hit him with her crutch, just continuing on her way with her careful repositioning of her skirts with every step. Even like this, Anne is forever careful of her appearance, in every manner of speaking.

But there is no way to shield anything when she comes to the door and sees no nameplate, her face paling to a chilling degree before she barges in. It only scares her more when she finds that she doesn't need to use the key, and that there is nothing when the door opens. Nothing, and nobody. What items have been left are pressed against the wall just beside her, but she doesn't yet think to turn her head. All she can do is let her weakened legs give out and drop painfully to her knees, mute as the crutch clatters uselessly to the barren floor. Occasionally, something like a sob tries to work it's way out, but then somehow she hisses it back in. Her hand presses to her belly, slowly recovering nails scraping roughly against the satin of the bodice, over and over as she tries to think of other possibilities. ]

Edited 2013-06-03 00:11 (UTC)

[She asked him to leave three times, if they're really counting. And he may really be an idiot, because he is still lingering in the hall when he hears the clattering and choked sobs once she notices what's wrong. He can only be a distraction for so long.

He tells himself that it was better that he let her discover it on her own. As devestated as he knew it'd make her, it wasn't his news to tell. And now the kindest thing he can do is leave her to her grief.

Still, he stops before he gets halfway to the elevator, and listens carefully. She may hate him for it, but he knows her dedication to her daughter. As unstable as he's seen her, there's a possibility that it may be the final push. So he backtracks, and stands just by the door, close enough that his shadow might be seen inside.

He never did that well with following orders.]

[ The footsteps wouldn't have been heard in her shock, but the looming shadow is instantly noticed, and she turns, sleeves in a flurry as she starts to reach both arms out; Only to quickly pull them back and clutch to her chest when she sees who it is. Damn him, but she has no strength to tell him to leave again.

It's then that she notices the stack of wax-sealed letters against the wall beside the door, and the belongings next to them. When she finds her voice, it sounds small to hear ears, but forces her to hold in any remaining sobs. At the least, her eyes are dry. ]

Those, what are they? Bring them to me.

[He hadn't expected her to call for him, but of course there's no hiding that he's close enough to hear. He had to be.

Holding in a breath, he enters, like she was never close to stabbing him if she held a knife instead of a crutch a moment ago. Silently, he bends to pick up the letters, and hands them to her before going back to sort out the rest.]

... It looks like the things she left behind.

[ Her trembling hands snatch the letters, shock allowing her to triumph any aching or screams of pain from her muscle and bone as she rapidly shuffles through each envelope to read the names. These people, why these people? Zelos, why? But she stops on her name, and stares at it for a long moment, then up and over to where the belongings are. She says nothing else for the moment, having no knife on hand and so peeling the wax off as carefully as she dare. This may be the last letter from her daughter she ever reads here. Comprehending that, Anne doesn't even see the words after she unfolds the letter and stares down at it. It takes a stretch for her eyes to finally wander up to the top to begin reading. With every word she clutches the piece of paper closer, and could her skin grow any whiter she might just become another ghost in the castle.

There is much said in it, important and heartfelt words and confessions that should fill Anne with pride and warmth, but no matter how far she gets, Anne's pale blue eyes always travel back up to the top of the foreboding message.

Not yet three. Not yet three.

As she slowly lowers the letter, Anne feels her body start to convulse as the news, and at the math. Today, today, what had she said today? How long has she been queen?

It will be three years today.

No. They had spoken, things had been suggested, that Anne and Henry had died by the time Elizabeth was twenty. That had been difficult to grasp, but easy to assume illness and old age. This? No. ]

No. No, no no no no...

[ She drops the letter then as her voice cracks, only out of fear that she might rip it in half from how unsteady her hands are. This was the last letter she will ever read from her daughter in her life. She is not alive, and she has nothing but a ring and a letter. ]

A ring. A ring, bring me the ring.

[This isn't something Spike wanted to see again. Although he already knew before it happened, that there was one thing that was bound to bring it out in her again. There's only one reason the castle would suck in family and friends, and that's to take them away again. It could be that the only reason that he was compelled to follow her was a ploy from the castle to make her miserable. At least that he can sympathize with.

Looking over the items, he finds the ring she somehow guessed was there. Something in the letter, probably. (Or was it a will?)

He's considerably more subdued when he holds it out for her to take.]

Here.

[ This time she takes what he offers very slowly and carefully, as if it might break in her grip, though it's just as likely she'd drop it. It would only be lost in the skirts spread about her, but she still treats it as if it were made of glass.

Indeed the ring is made of gold and mother of pearl, with Anne's own favorite gems encrusted around it. It's too dim and she is too shaken to yet notice the clasp hidden, instead just distantly appreciating the craftsmanship. Is this the symbol of her daughter's life, or her own death? ]

I am no queen. I am naught but a spectre.

[It doesn't escape him that he may have been the first to find out that her daughter was gone if things hadn't ended up the way they had between them. That he still managed to be here at the same time... It could also be a coincidence, considering how this isn't his first attempt at hounding her. He does have a knack at showing up at the worst possible moment when it comes to Anne.

Of course, she would probably prefer anyone else in the castle to be a witness to her grief. He can only think to move back to the door and examine the remaining objects to avoid watching close enough to anger her again. Leaving may be more effecting, but he's waiting for something. A replacement guard or a friend.

Someone who isn't dead.]

Is that the message she left?

[ Her gaze travels from the small ring in her hand down to the letter resting upon the folds of her skirt. She can't read the words from this distance, but she remembers well enough. The contents of the letter are none of his business, but can the death of a queen be considered a private matter? Not at all. ]

Before she was three. She approaches her third birthday this September. My little girl. I left her alone without a mother.

[ Though she of course had her father, didn't she? There is no mention of Henry, and Anne is too terrified to ask if Spike might no more about him. She is dead, or will be dead, what does the distinction matter now? And Elizabeth is gone. She is gone, and now Anne thinks she might never see her again. When she does, when she returns, she will know nothing of this, and only have months left with her sweet princess and formerly loving husband. Again she nearly convulses, one hand dropping back to her belly as she merely shakes her head. Anne's voice feels thick as she swallows and sniffs, staring ahead into the empty room, dark but for the light brought in from the hallway. ]

As now she leaves me alone.

[With that, she confirms the suspicions that he held for some time, and he finds himself staring again. (Is that what attracted him to her? He has to wonder.) Spike is willing to bet that her death had nothing to do with her character and everything to do with politics. The world of kings and queens isn't really all that alien from the one he left, it just shows itself in different ways.

He can't change that any more than he can change his own muddled past, so he thinks to keep his place by the door, where she can't make out his expression. He isn't used to going through intense shifts in emotion, it takes its toll.

Another time and he would have gone to place a hand on her shoulder. That urge still exists now, but he keeps his resolve.]

She remembered you.

[ And that is something, perhaps. She just stares down at the ring again, before slowly sliding it onto the finger of her injured hand, testing one or two before it fits properly. It's a might heavy for a ring, but then it is bejeweled. Her daughter had the most fanciful tastes, ones that had even outgrown her mother. But they had started somewhere, hadn't they? She said Anne inspired her.

But still, it is too much for her to think about at once. How she died, why she died. She thinks of Mary immediately, and assassins. Then she thinks of illness, and of her king. Did Henry remember her? Oh God, Elizabeth said she had a brother. That he died by fifteen, but Anne had assumed it had been hers. No. Another woman's... He had remarried, he must have. Of course he would have.

Still rubbing at her belly, nails scraping even harder now while she hunches over, she thinks of the pregnancy the castle made her abandon. There is no end to her thoughts. One to another, and then another, and then it's all she can do to keep from losing the supper she only just consumed. Now she feels the urge to give in and weep, but dare not in front of him. Never again, not after the humiliation he bestowed upon her in the gardens. ]

She suffered because I was not there, and his Majesty's affection for Mary was too great. That bastard wench, no doubt she seized her opportunity the moment I was gone. They dare call me a witch, but she was the one to be-spell, I know it. My poor Elizabeth... Oh, my father. My brother. What did she do to my family? I must find out.

[ Anne is sure her eyes are dry and her jaw set before she looks over her shoulder. Why did this man have to be the one here? Why was he always around, even after her dismissal? What did he want from her? Was it as simple as wanting her flesh, like any man, or did he merely wish to teach her a lesson and hurt her for insulting him? ]

If you still have any respect for me at all, any desire to reach my good graces once more, you will do this. You will find out why it is His Majesty allowed our daughter to suffer after my death. You will find out how his bastard daughter brought about my downfall, and report back to me when you have been thorough.

[All he ever does is what he feels like, without regard to anyone but himself, so it's a mystery why he would be standing here with her when she's all but done with him. He's not the kind of man who ever knows what he wants, that's his whole problem. Or he knew, and he forgot once he was resurrected the first time around. It's a constant source of frustration for anyone who knows him.

Those problems don't amount to much in front of a woman who was most likely murdered, desperately asking someone she doesn't even trust to find answers that her daughter saw fit to keep secret from her. He's not even sure where he would begin, but he can't really bring himself to say as much when she's like this. She must have already assumed.]

I can try. [If anything positive could come out of their last meeting, he's set the bar for himself incredibly low. Still... sometimes in the heat of the moment, people ask for things without caring about the consequences.] If you're sure that's what you want.

[ Of course she's sure, or she wouldn't request it. Being second-guessed in this state leaves her irritable, and irritable can easily change into infuriated. But the desolation is hitting her too hard, perhaps, for Anne to consider smacking him. She can't even reach him, he remains so far away.

She tries to fold the letter up as carefully as possible before sliding it into the pocket of her skirt, and moves to stand. It's a dismal attempt, though, and she reaches with her right arm behind her. ]

Help me up.

[Spike keeps his jaw firmly hinged as he steps forward, sensing that he wasn't following proper etiquette in a situation like this. Even now, she still has to instruct him.

He bends down and offers his hand, silent again, knowing that it will mean nothing. As it is, he isn't quite cruel enough to ask for more.]

[ It's a rough process, as her right arm is the good arm but the right leg is the bad leg. She manages to get up without making a complete fool of herself, though it's a struggle to stand. By now she manages, still feeling somewhat numb. It's becoming all too familiar of an experience.

Her grip on his hand is tight, almost bruising but at least her nails have yet to grow back enough to cause further injury. When she manages to catch her balance, Anne starts to let go, but stops at the last moment, not moving away an inch, though she doesn't look at him. There is no grabbing and forcing by his tie this time, at least. She's no queen... ]

Kneel.

[Once she's on her feet again, Spike had planned to lead her back to her room and keep his speech for another day -- but it looks like she isn't done yet. Spike levels his gaze on her for a moment, as if to let her know that she still asks a lot out of a poor bounty hunter from Mars, then lowers his knee.

Who knows why he does it. Aside from the obvious, he'd rather not think about it.]

[ The breath she lets out is almost a sigh, but too shaky to be subtle. Anne had nearly expected him to walk out. It isn't as if he's earning anything out of it... Not really, anyway. But still. ]

I would pay you, but it is meaningless, and you have yet to deserve anything else. If you do this, you do this only out of kindness. Not for me, but for my daughter and the great lady she is to become. ...I must find out why I will not be there to see her grow into such glory, and why she will have to fight for it so.

[ A beat, and her tone drops, gaze dead as she finally looks down at him. ]

Find out who knew... Who looked at me and smiled at me and knew my fate, while I did not know.

♔ douze || now i am indeed queen

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