Disclaimer: No I am not Stephenie Meyer and do not own Twilight or any of its characters. Most unfortunate.

Summary: The newly appointed King Edward has failed to produce an heir with his wife of fifteen years. At thirty years old Queen Tanya's chances of ever giving Edward a live son have greatly lessened. Edward's Privy Council have decided on a course of action: Queen Tanya will be asked to revoke the crown and her title as wife of Edward. Edward will then marry another. Many young ladies have been brought to court with the task of catching their king. Duty, Loyalty and Threats will bring England a queen who will change their king. But will it be for the better?

A/N: Welcome all to my new story. I know I'm being quite bad starting a new story when I have yet to finish my two other multi-chapter stories. I apologise profusely for that but do plan to finish Falling Tears prior to starting University in September. Moving On I plan to return to once I have finished Falling Tears, but it depends on how successful this story is. I will also be attempting to keep to a weekly posting schedule with this story.

I don't have a set era that this story will be set in but will try to keep it within the 16th Century. I have been inspired by Henry VIII for this story, but fear not King Edward will not have as many wives. I also realise that some people will not like the age difference between Edward and Bella but I wish to keep it realistic to the time. Girls were married off as young as fifteen or sixteen. In this story Edward will be twenty-eight whilst Bella will be eighteen. I state this at the beginning due to not wanting to offend anyone with this later on.

Anyways on with the story and please review!

~Anna-Margaret

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Chapter One: Lacking

The trees rushed past King Edward as he galloped through the forest on his mighty stallion, Agrippa, racing back to his castle. Sir Jasper, his brother-in-law, followed swiftly behind on his own stallion Hector. The two were enjoying the brisk jaunt through the forest following their forage earlier that day.

After being petitioned since breaking his fast, King Edward had decided he needed some respite. Sir Jasper was only too eager to be of assistance to his friend. The two had snuck out of the castle, unbeknownst to the other members of the Privy Council, saddled their horses and took off into the forest neighbouring the castle.

The tall foreboding pine trees provided sanctuary from the world. Rays of light darted between the branches and needles on the trees, breaking up the dark gloom of the forest. The smell and silence of nature was thick in the air, something King Edward enjoyed vastly but was unfortunately unable to surround himself with on a daily basis.

A soft sigh escaped the king as they journeyed out of the forest. The noise of the horses' hoofs on the stone path leading to the castle brought the great weight back upon his shoulders. In amongst the trees he could be a simple man enjoying a brief reprieve. Here, surrounded by the walls of the castle and his people, he had the burden of being king. He enjoyed ruling his kingdom on most days, but as he aged he found caring for his people became more tiresome. It took less and less for his temper to flare nowadays.

"Your Majesty!" the Court Physician, Carlisle Cullen exclaimed in an almost alarmed voice as the two men arrived at the Royal stables.

"Lord Carlisle," greeted the king as he demounted, "what is wrong?"

"I am afraid it falls to me to inform you, my king; her Majesty miscarried just one hour past."

King Edward paused where he stood. His emerald gaze locked on the saddened physician's. The snapping of his teeth was the only sound bar the whinnying of the horses in the area. This would be the seventh pregnancy that the queen had been unable to carry to term. Only one birth had been successful but the young princess was a sickly creature that his Majesty had no time for.

"Sir Jasper?"

"Yes, sire?" replied his friend with an incline of the head.

"Gather my Privy Council," the king commanded, a dark scowl dominating his handsome features.

"Your Majesty, what of the queen?" asked Lord Carlisle almost hesitantly, once Sir Jasper had departed to do as he was bid.

"What of her? Let her rot and decay as she has allowed my child," growled King Edward.

"Very well, your Majesty," replied a subdued Lord Carlisle as the king rushed past him and into the castle.

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Queen Tanya lay in the darkened room awaiting her husband's imminent arrival. She knew he would be angry and would blame her, as he had with the previous miscarriages. She had truly believed this was her last chance, but she prayed to God that he would not be so cruel.

The banging of the door to her chambers woke her from her thoughts. There, standing in the doorway, was not her bronze-haired husband, but rather his blonde-haired lackey. Tanya had never seen eye-to-eye with Sir Jasper. Her grievance with him came mostly from his marriage to the Princess Alice. Tanya's own sister had been greatly besotted with Jasper from an early age, but alas she was not good enough for the high and mighty Sir Jasper Whitlock.

"Sir Jasper where is my husband?" enquired Queen Tanya; her voice strong, hiding her pain.

"He is in the Dining Hall with the other evening revellers."

Queen Tanya gasped at the information. Surely the court knew of the unfortunate incident that had occurred earlier that day. How could they drink and dance and have a gay time when their queen had just miscarried?

"Why does he not come?" she questioned, her voice low.

"He sent me in his place to inform you of the decision the Privy Council and His Majesty have come to. You, Queen Tanya, are to revoke your claim to the throne. You will also sign an affidavit that states your prior marriage to his late Majesty, King Marcus of Italy, was in fact consummated. The king had no knowledge of this until recently when your burdened heart sought you to confess your sins. You will leave the castle within three days as Princess Tanya of Denali and depart to an Abbey, where you will spend the rest of your days."

"If I do not?" questioned Queen Tanya angrily, her temper rising at such demands being put to her.

"It is the king's wish that you do."

"I said Sir Jasper, if I do not," retorted Queen Tanya irritably.

"Then you will be tried as a bearer of false testimony and adultery."

Queen Tanya's eyes closed as a soft groan escaped her.

"How can he do this to me?" she whispered as a single tear trembled from the corner of her eye and glided down her cheekbone.

"Had you not been lacking and given the king an heir this would not have come to pass," replied Sir Jasper before he took his leave of her.

"What is to happen when I am gone?" called out her Majesty.

Sir Jasper paused in his departure and replied without turning back to the fallen queen, "He will remarry."

Sobs broke from Queen Tanya as she mourned the loss of her one and only love. The king had dismissed her from his side. He would go on with life and make a future with another. She would be left to die in an Abbey. As her tears continued to fall she prayed fervently to God that he bring justice for her suffering.

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As the queen lay crying in her bed, the king sat upon his great chair and watched as the court made merry before him. He surveyed the courtiers with a wide grin and continued plying himself with more wine. His sobriety was greatly diminished by the time he called an end to the fun, bidding them all to bed.

"Come, my whore!" commanded King Edward as he passionately kissed Mistress Stanley.

The young men still present jeered at the sight of the king dragging his mistress off to his chambers. The sounds of her moans and his groans of pleasure filled the castle as he left the door open. The sounds paraded through the hallways and many a courtier found much happiness in hearing the noises.

The queen continued to sob as she paced alone in her darkened room. A soft knock at the door made her aware of the noises filling the castle. A pained cry issued from the queen. Her door flew open and within seconds she was being held in the arms of her favourite lady in waiting. The young girl held the woman even after all noise in the castle had quietened and the queen's tears had dried up. She helped her to bed and sat with her, watching over her and singing her softly to sleep.

"Thank you my dearest Bella," whispered Queen Tanya.

"Sleep, my queen."

A/N: So what do you think? This story will hopefully be less angst-ridden than my previous stories but there will be quite emotional elements and some drama.

Edward's horse Agrippa is Latin and means 'wild horse' whilst Jasper's horse Hector is the Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Eachann, meaning 'brown horse'.

For this story I will be thinking up questions you can answer in a review. This chapter's question is: where is your favourite place to go to get away from everything?

~Anna-Margaret

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