His Secret Slave to Scandalous Queen

"You," he said quietly, "should stay this way. Opinionated. Do not let yourself be cowed into a corner, Bella." His voice grew firmer. "Always, always speak your mind."

Bella gave a small, horrified laugh. "Oh, all of this is going to end when the Queen Mother arrives."

Henry’s smile deepened. "I will have your head, Lady Bella."

"Better you have it than she has it," Bella said, laughing softly.

Henry kept hold of her fingers, his thumb resting lightly over her knuckles.

Then he said, "If you want, I can have you moved to a castle away from Whitehall. You will have your freedom, Bella."

"No," Bella said. "I would like to remain near you... Thomas would never forgive me if I left his father to vultures like the princess."

The words flew from her mouth before caution could catch them.

His brows rose. "Lady Bella Cresswell."

She gave him a sheepish grin instead of an apology. She knew she had said something outrageous, knew she ought to regret it, and had decided not to.

He laughed under his breath and shook his head, rising from the chair. "I will send your mother back in."

Bella nodded, then hesitated. "Your Highness... one more thing." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He stopped near the door and turned. "Yes?"

"Do you not find it odd that Diana was a slave? She could easily pass as a noblewoman. She carries herself like one. ... that is not something you learn in a few months. It is not merely good manners...Any governess can teach a girl to curtsy. But Diana has a sort of..." She frowned, searching for the word. "Breeding."

"It is something one is born with," she said.

"Yes," Henry said quietly. "I have thought about it a lot."

"Hmmm." Her mouth curved faintly. "Well... perhaps you should give it a bit more thought."

He nodded once. "Will do."

And walked out.

*****

"Your Grace, His Highness is here to see you," the guard said.

Theodora shot to her feet so quickly the embroidery hoop in her lap tumbled to the floor. "His Highness is here?" she repeated, as if the words had arrived in a foreign tongue. "My son is here?"

The guard bowed. "Yes, Your Grace."

She turned at once, smoothing both hands down the front of her gown. Her fingers trembled as she adjusted the bodice. "Hurry," she said, lifting her chin. "Send him in."

The guard withdrew.

Her heartbeat was wild, foolish. If Henry had come to see her, then all was not lost. Perhaps anger had cooled. Perhaps, beneath all that new kingly coldness, he was still her boy. Her beautiful boy. Perhaps he had forgiven her.

It meant what lay between them could be repaired. She moved to stand near the centre of the room and straightened.

The doors opened and Henry walked in.

"Mother..."

Theodora almost died on her feet. One word. One bloody word, and all her careful poise nearly shattered. Her throat tightened so violently she could barely breathe.

Still, she curtsied.

"Your Highness..."

Henry stopped just inside the chamber. His eyes moved around the room. He took in the paneled walls, the heavy curtains, the fine carpets, the silver candlesticks, the carved chairs, the fire burning obediently in the grate. It was not Whitehall but it was still comfortable. Still elegant. Still worthy of a queen mother.

He had not thrown her into darkness. He had not stripped her of jewels, servants, warmth, or rank. All she had been stripped of was her power.

"Please, sit... Your Highness," Theodora said.

Henry walked in and took the chair opposite her. He said nothing.

Theodora lowered herself carefully into her own seat, smoothing her skirts over her knees. She waited.

Henry, meanwhile, wondered for the hundredth time why he had come. The question had followed him from Whitehall into the carriage, sat beside him the entire journey, and now lounged in the room. Why was he here? What did he expect from her? Wisdom? Comfort? A mother’s counsel?

No.

He had run out of good ideas. That was the ugly truth. All noble paths had led him to the same cursed wall. So now he had come looking for evil ideas, and who better to ask than the most dangerous woman he knew?

His mother.

Cruel, monstrous, unforgivable. Theodora was all of that.

"Henry?" she said softly.

"You have always known I know what you did," he said. "We never talked about it."

"Henry, my son..." She leaned forward slightly. "I know that I hurt you. I should not have," she continued. "But I was desperate to help you. You would not tell me anything. You shut me out. I did not know how else to reach you."

"That is not what I am talking about," Henry said. "I am talking about what you did to my brothers."

Theodora’s face closed instantly.

"I need to understand," Henry added.

"Understand what?" she asked.

Henry’s mouth tightened. "I do not know." He knew what she had done. He knew what it had cost. But he did not know what happened inside a person before they crossed that line and did not come back. "What was it," he asked, "that drove you so wild you would take lives simply to have what you wanted?"

Theodora smiled. Her back remained straight. Her chin remained lifted. If Henry wanted a monster, she would not give him one hunched and trembling. She would give him a queen. "You may not know this...but your father once loved me." Her smile softened, unwillingly. "He could not get enough of me."

"I thought myself powerful because he wanted me. Foolish girl that I was, I mistook desire for devotion. A man’s attention is always fleeting. I did not know that then."

"If it is fleeting," Henry said, "then it was not love."

"You could say that. As soon as the crown prince was born, everything changed. His Majesty changed. He became more attentive to his queen. Then one day, the weekly merchant came to the palace." Her mouth curved. "It is quite silly, thinking about it now. Such a trivial matter." Her eyes had gone distant.

"I found the most beautiful gold ring, littered with diamonds. Dazzling." She looked back at Henry. "I paid for it. What I did not know...was that the queen had her eye on the ring too and had merely hurried to His Majesty to make a request for him to buy her the ring. I was humiliated that day."

"By the queen. By His Majesty. Every woman in court that day laughed at the insults thrown at me. After that," Theodora continued, "the queen demanded that His Majesty rid the palace of royal mistresses. All of us." Her eyes hardened.

"But I never forgot that day. I swore I would become queen. I swore every woman who smiled behind her fan, every lord who looked through me, every servant who whispered my name like filth, would one day feel my power. It was never really about the ring."

"But you did not become queen."

Theodora’s face tightened. "Yes...I did not. But you are king...You are my power. You are the proof that everything I endured was not for nothing. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but—"

"Mother," Henry cut in. "Save it. You do not have to regale me with your speeches...I know they mean shit."

Theodora drew back. For a long moment, neither spoke.

At last, Theodora asked, "Why are you here, Your Highness?"

"I think I am standing on the line of my own moral dilemma and I needed to see you, to remind myself why I need to remain who I used to be and not become you."

"May I help?" Theodora asked.

"With what?" he asked. "Becoming you, or not becoming you?"

"Here is an idea," she said. "Tell me the problem. I shall tell you what I would do, and then you may decide."

"I know exactly what you would do," he said. "You would kill everyone in your way. That I cannot do, Mother."

She smiled, unbothered. "There are other ways, my son, to get what you want. How about this?...I will help you get what you want without spilling any blood. I will solve your problem...and in return, you give me your seal."

"For what purpose?"

"I shall fill in my request whenever I think of something."

Henry slowly leaned back in his chair. "I do not understand."

"Think of it as a free pass, Your Highness. I will solve your problems, no questions asked. Whatever you want, I will have it done. All you will give me," she said, "is your seal on a blank parchment."

"Making an actual bargain with your own son," Henry said, his mouth curving into a sarcastic smile. "How maternal of you."

"It is the only way you will believe me," she replied.

Henry leaned back in his chair. A blank parchment bearing his seal.