The Traitor's Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Rumor has it that the queen has awakened," someone whispered into Elizabeth's ear.

She had been reading and enjoying a quiet breakfast in the palace garden, soaking up as much of the sun's warmth as she could. She'd successfully managed to escape nearly everyone, and was basking in the silence, up until that moment, of course. She turned to see who had spoken to her, but only met the retreating back of a person dressed in the king's livery. It was likely one of Mary's many spies.

Elizabeth sighed, then placed her book aside and stood from the stone bench that she had been sitting on for the past hour. She brushed the bread crumbs off of her blue gown, readjusted her skirt, then gathered her belongings and made her way up the stone path to the palace's back door. As soon as she entered the building, she could immediately feel the excited energy and hear the whispers of those around her, all of them speaking about the queen and her recovery. 

It had been a little over a week since the queen had been poisoned, and the woman's state was unknown, aside from the few rumors that had spread around court. Some even swore that the queen had died, and that the king had managed to find a woman who looked identical to the queen, who he would use to fool his courtiers into believing that she was actually his wife. Of course, it was a ridiculous rumor, but Elizabeth continued to hear people whispering about it.

She immediately made her way up to the queens rooms and had managed to weave through the crowds of people who were all lingering outside of the queen's apartments, but was stopped when someone called her name. To her disdain, the voice belonged to Thomas Dormer, who was waving her over. With no other choice but to see what he wanted, Elizabeth walked the few feet towards him, until she stood a comfortable distance away from him.

"Sir Thomas," she said politely, although her eyes held no kindness in them.

The man tilted his head towards her, then nodded to the queen's apartments.

"Did you hear?"

Elizabeth nodded. "How could I not?"

The two looked towards the queen's door, where two guards stood and blocked the way for any courtiers who took it upon themselves to try and enter the room. 

"I hear the king's in there," Sir Thomas said with a pointed look towards Elizabeth.

She kept her eyes on the carved door.

"I would imagine he is," she replied carelessly. After spending the whole morning away from people, she was far too calm to allow someone to annoy her at the moment. 

"Rumor has it that the queen won't be able to bear anymore children. The poison completely ruined that option for her."

Elizabeth said nothing, while Henry arrived by her side. He nodded to the two of them, then copied them by turning his attention to the door.

"I just got done speaking with the king," Henry said. The annoyance in his voice immediately caused Thomas and Elizabeth to look at him.

"And?" Elizabeth prodded. 

Henry chuckled at the eager looks on the pair's faces, which only caused their eyes to grow wider with anticipation. He took a deep breath, then pretended to choke, which resulted in him breaking into a fit of coughing. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, then tapped her foot impatiently. 

"Excuse me," Henry apologized after he had "controlled" his coughing. "Anyway..." He trailed off. "What were we speaking about?"

"Your Grace," Elizabeth practically growled. The two had vowed to stay friends nearly a week ago, but relations had been tense between them nearly everyday after. Instead of things going back to normal, the conversation was forced, and Elizabeth went back to trying to avoid him like she had been doing before. But this time, she didn't make it as obvious that she was avoiding him as she had the last time they weren't getting along.