A/N: Alright, so I've thought of doing a Tudors story for ages now, but with life being as crazy as it's been the last few months, it was pushed to the wayside. But here it is, and I do hope you all will enjoy it and I will cheerfully accept reviews and all the while cheerfully ignore all flames.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Tudors, Showtime does.

...

A sharp cry tore her from her sleep.

Queen Anne, formerly the Lady Anne Boleyn, felt terror grip her heart as her hands flew to her great belly, as though the touch would ease the pain therein.

'Please no!' she cried inwardly. 'I can't lose you too...Please! Please, don't leave me!'

King Henry the Eighth's second wife had already lost one child before. She couldn't lose another. Not when she stood to lose everything else as well...

...

Katherine of Aragon, Infanta of Spain and Queen of England, the latter a title she would never part with for as long as air remained in her lungs, sat in a chair beside the fireplace where a weak flicker of flames danced against the stonework of the hearth.

Despite her husband the king's cruelty to her, attempting to annul their marriage, forbidding her from seeing her beloved Mary in order to force her to comply with his wishes, Katherine loved him still and hoped and prayed that he would see the light.

"Your Majesty?"

Katherine was pulled from her thoughts as her loyal lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Darrell curtsied and Katherine was pleasantly surprised to see the Imperial Ambassador Eustace Chapuys standing a respectful distance away.

"The Imperial Ambassador, Your Majesty," Elizabeth murmured.

"Ambassador, you are welcome," the Spanish queen smiled warmly as she held out her hand.

"Your Majesty," Eustace smiled as well as he bowed and then took the queen's hand and kissed it.

Even in her dreary and unpleasant living conditions, Queen Katherine still looked dignified as a queen should, which in itself made Chapuys admire her all the more. But it also made him all the more indignant that such a gracious lady should suffer such abominable treatment.

"Have you news of my daughter?" Katherine asked after a few moments.

Eustace gave her a bit of a sympathetic smile. He did not want the queen to believe he was pitying her, but he also wished to express that he understood her pain and that of Princess Mary.

"Her Highness remains strong despite the harlot's attempts to break her will," he reported, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and he could see the queen doing the same.

Eustace felt a bit of pride for the princess; though she was possessed of delicate health, she proved to be just as willful as her mother and her legendary grandmother, Isabella of Castile. And, if one were to be honest, she also had inherited a fair bit of her stubborn will from her temperamental father.

"The harlot demanded that the princess acknowledge her so-called illegitimacy and pronounce her and her little bastard daughter as queen and princess," Chapuys continued. "She even claimed that she would reconcile the princess with the king if she would do so. Naturally, Her Highness refused but the Lady Anne is relentless in her pursuit and will do whatever she must to promote the interests of her little bastards."

"There is another?" Katherine's pale blue eyes widened at this news.

Chapuys nodded.

"The king's mistress is with child once more," the Spaniard explained. "But," the smile returned, "The lady has failed to carry a child to term before, so there may yet be hope."

"Or she may bear another daughter," Katherine was a bit taken aback by the ambassador's almost callous mention of Anne's miscarriage. While she may have led a good man astray and caused Katherine and her daughter, as well as many who refused to sign the Oath of Succession, untold amounts of pain and sorrow, the Spanish queen could never bring herself to wish her child ill. Whatever Anne's faults, the babe in her womb was innocent, and Katherine would never wish the grief she herself felt, which had grown worse over the years with each child she lost, grief Anne had likely felt the first time she had miscarried, upon her worst enemy.

"Another daughter would also serve to show the king further proof of his error to yield to the wishes of his overly ambitious concubine," Eustace replied thoughtfully.

Katherine sighed. She had no desire to speak of Anne or her children, especially if Eustace had miraculously managed to bring a letter from her precious daughter. Oh, what she wouldn't give to see what a beautiful young woman her darling girl had grown up to be!

"Have you brought any word from my daughter?" Katherine asked softly, hoping against hope.

Unfortunately, that flicker of hope died in her chest when Chapuys shook his head.

"The princess was unable to write this time, but she sends her regards to the true Queen of England," Eustace stated with a smile, "And she remembers your words; remain strong and God willing, all will be well."

Katherine nodded numbly. She would have loved to have received a letter, but she must not lose heart. Henry must surely see the truth soon. He must!

...

"How is the queen?" Henry asked, though his tone seemed more like an order.

Dr. Linacre took a deep breath, for he knew the news he had to deliver would not be received well.

"The child was not lost, thanks be to God...but Her Majesty has been greatly weakened by shock."

"AND?!" Henry's eyes flickered with rage.

"Extra precautionary measures must be taken," the doctor explained, all the while attempting to calm the angry monarch.

Henry listened as Dr. Linacre instructed that Anne's confinement must begin immediately, both so her physical body could recover the shock that it had endured and perhaps her excited emotional state could be calmed. She was so close to carrying to the full term, so she must not become overexcited lest she lose their son.

Their son...Henry's son...

The dark-haired monarch felt himself now exasperated with Anne. All this because he was merely exercising his right as king! She was with child for goodness sake! So he could not share her bed without the risk of harming the unborn prince, whose arrival could not come soon enough. And since the queen was currently unable to fulfill her wifely duty, her husband and king was free to comfort himself with the company of another. And even so, his relationship with the Lady Jane Seymour was nothing more than a chaste friendship, though if he were to be honest with himself, he would not regret if it were more...

But Jane was a good, wholesome, and virtuous maiden, an untouched beauty whom Henry could never bring himself to take advantage of. She had stated to him during one of their strolls together that her honor was her most prized attribute and he had no intention of sullying such a delicate angel. Really, his only complaint with her was her mention of the Lady Mary, his disobedient daughter by Katherine. But even then, he found that he could not fault her for her concern for the misguided girl; Jane was merely showing compassion for his young daughter, even if that daughter was a defiant bastard who was bringing about her own misery by continuing to cling to her pretended title of 'Princess' when the true holder of that title was her sister Elizabeth. As soon as she swallowed her pride and submitted to the will of her king and father, then and only then, would he become inclined to show her the kindness he so wished he could now. But he would not reward her defiance, and the sooner she realized that the better.

...

...

So, I do hope that everyone enjoyed this first chapter. Yes, I know the whole 'what if Anne hadn't lost the baby?' thing has been written several times before, but I still wanted to do my own take on it, and I do hope that you all enjoyed the first part here. I can promise you things will certainly become more intense as the story goes on (It's about the Tudors, of course that's a given) and the next chapter, which will be much longer than this little prologue, will be out without fail, on Thursday, November 1st. Until then, I do hope you will leave reviews and let me know what you think of this. Thanks in advance!