I smooth my hair back under my jewelled headdress as I gaze vacantly into the looking glass. After a bath and in a new gown, I almost feel myself. Almost. Gone is my complete self-assuredness, my absolute faith in myself and my ability. Doubt is a new addition to my personality. My journey has shown me the extreme highs and lows in this life and my confidence has been shaken to the core as a result.
I have gone from a noble woman like any other, with no power of my own, to a Marchioness with land, wealth and the adoration of a King. From this to the ultimate position, England's own Queen, changing the face of monarchy and religion across the country and perhaps the world. I was anointed and touched by God, lifted up to become the most powerful and consequently, despised, woman in England.
I was soon to discover that this power was empty, merely a fleeting illusion. The hatred of my enemies, however, burned brighter with each day, becoming an almighty force with which Henry was able to destroy me with little difficulty or objection. The ultimate wheel of fortune.
Strangely, since my condemnation, I have noticed a sympathetic shift in others' feelings towards me. Perhaps they see through this farce of a charge through to their King's real, less than honourable, motives. Perhaps they even feel some small measure of pity for the woman behind the reviled mask of Anne Boleyn. Now I am not sure where the mask ends and I begin.
I hear a gentle knock on the chamber door and my sister walks in behind me, stopping short when she sees my face in the mirror. She can see straight to my insecurities and fear and it shocks her. She sits down on the bed and tries to give me an encouraging smile. "The children are here Anne, William went to fetch them both when we knew that you... that there was no...that it was the end."
I turn and smile, "I look forward to seeing them. Do they know I am here?" "Not yet, they are still abed, it is not even dawn."
"Of course." I sit next to her on the bed. How long has it been since I slept? The night before my execution had been long and sleepless. Still I am wide awake, but I feel tiredness straining at my nerves and building behind my eyes. Mary fidgets with her bracelet, she is nervous. "William has sent you to discover my intentions?" She smiles with relief that she doesn't have to ask the question. "He just worries for our safety, ALL of our safety Anne." She looks at me pointedly.
"I must leave the country at once. You should all come with me. The hunt will be on for me and all my allies. The King will not stop until he catches his quarry. You must remember how he loves a hunt." I chuckle mirthlessly. "Yes," she whispers. I forget that she has been so sheltered from this new Henry, without mercy or honour. Her memories are a rose-tinted dream of another time. "England will never again be safe for our family. I need William's help to secure horses and supplies. Then I ride for Hatfield."
"Anne, you can't go anywhere near Hertfordshire. That is the first place they will look for you.."
"I can't leave her here, Mary. I will not. I thought I would never see her again, that she was lost to me. Now I have a chance to be her mother again and take her away from this life and all the demons who live within it. She needs me, she is all alone." I get up and move to the door, eager to get on my way. William stands outside the room, as if on guard. He looks from my determined face to his wife's anxious posture knowingly."Elizabeth?" He asks. I nod and walk past him towards the hall. The servants are stirring, dawn is approaching.