"Anne"

"Don't." Anne growled lowly "Don't address me with such familiarity, don't speak my name as though we are friends." Her words rippled out through the silent, poorly lit courtyard, her heart racing furiously inside her chest. She hated that she felt so nervous and rattled to be alone with Charles, hated the fact that she felt so utterly aware of his every movement no matter how slight, every blink of his eyes, every bop of his Adam's apple, all of it. Though she comforted herself that it was only natural given that the last time she had been truly alone with the Duke he had taken certain liberties that had left her a trembling mess, she would not allow him to take such liberties again. Not after their earlier conversation, not after how dinner with the King had gone and certainly not after having seen him plotting with the most dangerous of her enemies.

"He'd see me dead, you know. Cromwell, he'd see me dead in order to be rid of me."

As soon as the words left her mouth the startling truth of them settled in and it left her breathless. The seriousness of her situation finally tumbled down upon her, there would be no nunnery for her if the King passed her over, if her enemies win and she loses, she dies. Anne swallowed down the sudden knot in her throat, her eyes burnt from unshed tears that she desperately tried to blink away before they fell. She quickly turned away from Charles, her hand reaching out to grip the cold worn stone of the wall to steady herself as the first few tears began to slip down her cheeks and she took a shuddering breath.

She desperately did not want him to see her crumble, didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but unfortunately Charles must have seen the sudden horror on her pale face because he took a hesitant step forward and called her name in a steady and even tone. When she didn't answer him at all he began to approach her in the way one would a frightened, wounded animal, knowing that at any moment the creature could lash out in fear and go for the throat. Anne briefly entertained the idea of doing exactly that, of lunging for him and tearing him apart with her words. She could easily do it, she had always been so very good at verbal beat downs, even at a young age she had always known the exact words to use, the precise areas to attack. She could cripple him with a few well phrased jabs, but the second she turned back to face him all the fight drained out of her body. The Duke looked exhausted, utterly spent in a way no man as young as he should.

"Anne" he voiced gently and it was the softest anyone had been with her all day, probably longer if she allowed herself to think about it and it made her lower lip tremble. "Why aren't you at dinner with the King?"

Anne huffed wetly, tears falling freely now and without her consent, Charles sighed and placed a large, warm hand upon her bare shoulder and squeezed "What happened?"

In truth she wasn't exactly sure what made her do it when only moments ago she had been desperate for him to never find out about the disaster she had made of dinner, but as she looked up at him the horrible, mortifying truth just spilled out.

"I ruined it" she whispered, licking her tear damp lips as her eyes flickered between his tired blue orbs, searching for some trace of amusement or satisfaction at her failure but finding none.

"Ruined what?"

"Everything! The dinner with the King, my marriage, my relationship with my sister, my happiness! My Father and brother both hate me now and my uncle won't even acknowledge me. You were right today when you said it was easy to be my adversary because I seemingly ruin everything myself, because I do! I've destroyed it all." She exclaimed, her voice wavering with every uncertain breath. "I can feel it all slipping away."

While she didn't have the slightest idea as to why she was telling Charles any of this, it felt simply euphoric to unleash it all upon someone, to finally speak her terror out loud. Even if it was to her enemy Charles Brandon, because despite all she knew about his affiliations the way he was looking at her in that moment was in no way the way one should look upon an enemy. Then to even greater confuse her and their status as enemies, Charles pulled Anne into his arms and held her tightly against his chest in a way that until that very moment she hadn't realized she had needed and craved. The comfort she had so desired finally given to her by the man in her life she had thought the least capable of doing so. She fisted the leather of his jerkin as she buried her face into his chest and let herself sob into his embrace.

Anne wasn't sure just how long they stood out there in the deep shadows of the cool night, seemingly hidden from the rest of the world as she cried her heart out, unleashing at the very least three years worth of pain and frustration. The continuous stress and humiliation of her very public failures that had caused knots in her chest and made her desperate and heavy handed when dealing with Henry, she let it all pour out through her tears. Finally allowing herself to acknowledge how bad the situation had gotten, to admit the terrifying truth to herself that she may never be able to win her husband back, and throughout it all Charles just held her firmly in his arms making no comment nor attempting to silence her tears, he just tighten his grip when her sobs grew more wretched.

It was a long time later by the time her tears began to dry up and her sobs finally subsided, she felt such a bone deep exhaustion, the kind that can only really be experienced after truly breaking down, it was probably the reason that she couldn't find it within herself to be embarrassed by how she had just behaved in front of the Duke. Not that Charles seemed to mind, he had yet to push her away as her face still remained buried in his chest. Anne took a deep breath, inhaling his deeply appealing musk and worked on steadying her racing heart by listening to the Duke's own heart slowly, methodically beat away, gently calming her trembling body with ease.

Charles lifted one arm from around Anne's waist to carefully brush away a bothersome lock of raven hair that the cool breeze kept blowing into his face, the silky strands tickled his chin as he moved to tuck the locks behind her ear. Anne slowly raised her head, tilting her face to look up at him as he continued to brush his fingers though the loose bits of hair that had slipped from the gold pearl pin on top of the back of her head. She was rather conscious of the fact that her eyes were most likely red and puffy from all the crying she had just done in his arms, but there was something rather serene about be alone together out in the night shadows that prevented her from becoming too aware of how much of a mess she must have looked.

It was odd but in that moment she felt no need to speak or pull away, there was no part of her that wanted to break the strange peace that had settled over them once her tears had subsided, it was the calmest and most comfortable she had ever felt while in the presence of Charles Brandon. He seemed to feel the same as he made no attempt to put any distance between them, he just tighten the grip of the arm that was still wrapped around her waist, keeping Anne pressed firmly against his chest.

He looked so handsome in the night light, the shadows hiding them both from the garden lanterns, her breathing had slowed to match his in deep steady draws of air that left her feeling herself being pulled forward towards Charles' face which was tilted down to meet her, time seemingly slowed to a crawl as Anne rose up onto her tiptoes and leaned in, her eyes sliding closed just as her lips met his.

It was odd just how different the kiss was to the only the other kiss they had shared weeks previously, that had been a short wild burst of intense passion, gone as quickly as it came. But as their lips pressed together in the dark of the palace gardens Anne was left feeling a wonderful tender excitement that was so completely foreign to her. There was something delightful about kissing someone and not feeling a desperation for it to fix everything, there was no underlining pressure poisoning the embrace. Their lips fit together perfectly, sliding into place like puzzle pieces, it felt glorious and fragile and nothing at all like what her kisses with Henry were like these days, there was no hesitation nor was there the unfathomable distance that seemed to plague all of the King's affections towards her.

Charles cupped the back of her head, his long fingers threading through the loose wayward curls that had started to slip from the pearl clasp. He licked along the swell of her lower lip begging entrance which she granted with no hesitation, tilting her head back to give him a better angle as his tongue confidently slid past her parted lips. It was a slow, tender dance of a kiss as strangely and wonderfully comforting as crying into his chest had been. There was no rush or intent in the kiss, no thought as to what comes next just the tremendous sensation of compassion and companionship.

Several long moments past in a blissful state of pleasure for Anne as she wrapped her arms around Charles' neck holding on tightly as her lips moved in a leisured rhythm against his, their tongues clashing together in what seemed to be more of a delicate dance than the heady battle that had been their first kiss. It was the somewhat distant thought that they might be seen that caused Anne to finally end the kiss, she reluctantly pulled away but kept her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers playing with the short tuff of hair at the nape of his neck, a small smile played at the edge of her swollen lips as Charles' mouth tried to follow her.

"We could be seen, we need to stop" she muttered quietly to him but made no move to stop him as he pressed his forehead against hers, his large, warm hands holding her hips in place,

"It's late and cold and we are buried in shadows."

"We could still be seen, I had thought that the shadows would hide me from you and Cromwell but you both saw me instantly."

Charles chuckled, the warmth of his breath fanned out across her face "Yes, you did have a rather shocked, caught in the privy sort of look on your face"

Anne rolled her eyes as the Duke continued to laugh lightly at her but her own lips quirked up in amusement despite herself. In truth she did not want to leave his warm embrace nor his presence, she felt the lightest that she had felt since before her daughter was born, weightless in a way that seemed so unbelievably foreign, as though all her many problems and stresses while not gone, simply just couldn't reach her in that moment. She feared that once she left his company, they would all come crashing down upon her again, filling her with anger, frustration and horror once more. However she knew that she and Charles could not be discovered out there in the palace gardens together either, not with Anne looking as much of a mess as she did with her eyes still bloodshot and puffy from crying, her lips red and swollen not to mention that thanks to Charles and his wandering hand the vast majority of her hair had come loose from the gold pearl clasp that now hung rather uselessly at the back of her head. She looked as though she had been ravished.

Anne sighed and let her arms slipped from around the Duke's neck and took a small step back, the cold night air spilling in between them, she reached up and gentle pulled the gold clasp off her head and made quick work of tidying her hair as she placed the clasp in one of her gowns secret pockets.

"Anne" Charles murmured "Don't go to the banquet tomorrow."

Anne stilled for a moment before a deep frown indented her features "Why?"

The Duke looked deeply conflicted for a moment, his eyes cast down to the worn stone pavement "Just don't go, it will make things worse for you if you attend, Cromwell he...just please try to trust me."

Anne pressed her lips together firmly "Trust you? How could I ever be expected to trust you?" her eyes flickered over his face taking in his expression which caused her to add "Tell me why I should not go and I will listen."

Charles let out a harsh breath in frustration "I can't tell you what he has planned but he knows you Anne, he knows how to get a reaction from you. If you attend tomorrow it will be as though he is the puppet master and you are his puppet."

Anne remained silent, she looked carefully at the man in front of her before taking a deep breath "Cromwell has made a plot against me?"

Charles nodded, his eyes now locked with hers as she spoke "And the plot is already set into motion I take it?"

Another nod

"And you won't tell me what that plot is or what your involvement in said plot is?"

Again he nodded, though his face tighten somewhat in response to the question. It had briefly occurred to her that Charles' involvement in Cromwell's plot could very well explain all of his recent behaviour towards her, the flirting, the kisses, all of it could have been part of a scheme to be rid of her. However she very quickly shook away the idea, it would be far too counter intuitive to what Cromwell hoped to achieve, Henry after all was a very jealous man, if he thought for even one moment that his best friend had touched or made an advance on his wife even under the orders of the Chancellor to prove her unfaithful, it would be all three of their heads on the chopping block.

"When you were talking with Cromwell earlier before you saw me, the two of you were arguing about your unwillingness to participate in a certain part of a plan. I take it that the plan of which you were speaking is indeed the plot against me?"

"Yes."

Anne inhaled thoughtfully "And I don't imagine you will tell me what part of it you were unwilling to participate in?"

"I can't" Charles replied unhappily, his eyes lowering as he balled his fists.

She stared over at him waiting for the usual fiery bursts of anger to erupt within her, but for some reason the heat of her temper never came, as she continued to stare at the man in front of her she only felt overwhelmingly tired and a deep, rigid sadness settle underneath her ribs. Anne didn't understand why she seemed to kept forgetting that despite his confusing behaviour towards her, Charles Brandon did not want her as Queen, he had been working longer than even Cromwell to be rid of her, to get her far away from the throne, his best friend and the church. Even if his actions in regard to her were an honest indication of how he felt, that he had some form of real affection for her, it didn't change his beliefs and he believed that Henry and England were better off without her, Anne took an unsteady breath, she would do well to remember it.

"Am I in danger?"

Charles' eyes snapped back up to her at the question as well as the shudderingly breathless tone in which it was asked. He was quiet for a long moment before he finally replied "Yes."

Anne nodded at his answer she had known as much, it was that knowledge paired with her disastrous evening that had sent her sobbing into his strong arms in the first place. She just found herself unsettled by the fact that the man who had so wonderfully comforted her several moments ago, now wouldn't even tell her any small part of the plot made in an attempt to destroy her.

Charles let out a deeply heavy sigh, resignation settling over his features "From now on never be alone for even a moment with any man that is not the King, not even your father and brother. Always keep one or more of your Ladies present with you at all times, avoid touching or being overly familiar with any man regardless of whether they are friend or relation."

Anne's lips parted in surprise, she swallowed down her confusion at the precise nature of the warnings, overcome for a brief moment by a strange warmth growing steadily inside her chest, he was helping her, despite everything he believed he was helping her. "Why are you telling me this?"

Charles let out a short bark of laughter and nervously ran his hand through his hair "I honestly can't understand what I'm doing any more than you can. But you need to hear this whether you heed it or not I will warn you, you are being watched, your every move and action is being dissected and twisted. The King is looking for a reason to be rid of you and Cromwell is set on giving him several."

Henry wanted to be rid of her, it wasn't a surprising statement in anyway but the confirmation of it stung sharply all the same. She swallowed roughly to be rid of the knot that had developed at the back of her throat, and when she looked back up Charles was studying her with a frown spreading along his face.

"The more attention and effort you direct toward the King the less he will want you, ignore him and rest assured he will soon come running, he wants what he cannot have. He's always been that way, even as a child."

Anne had known that once, long before they married, before she had truly come to love him. She had known how to make him crave her, how to make him listen and do as she asked, but she had thought they were long past that, had assumed that because they loved each other she wouldn't need to use such tricks anymore, didn't need to play such games but she was wrong. Grossly and entirely wrong.

"I'm starting to get cold Your Grace" she said softly

Charles nodded seeming relieved at the change in subject "Yes, I think we've been out here long enough. Will you allow me to accompany you back to your chambers?"

"I'm afraid I'm rather dependent upon it, I cannot really walk on my ankle at the moment"

A small playful smirk pulled at the corners of the Duke's lips the effects of which took years off his face, he appeared once more as the vibrant young man she had been paired with at the Dance of the Graces. "Is that an injury attained from when you threw yourself off your horse in an attempt to escape me after the hunt today?"

Anne felt a rush of heat paint her cheeks a blotchy red "You saw that?"

"I saw your face screw up in pain when your feet touched the ground, yes. I figured you had managed to injury some body part but I never got the chance to inquire which"

She cringed in embarrassment, having thought she had hidden her discomfort far better than it now appeared she had. Charles just grinned at her as he closed the small distance between them and offered her his arm, which she took gratefully enjoying the way his close proximity protected her from the steadily worsening cold breeze as they made their way back inside the palace.

The heat of Whitehall's corridor made her suddenly aware of just how cold it had actually gotten while they had stood outside in the gardens, Anne's whole body flushed red as it gradually began to warm up as she limped with Charles' help up the winding hallways to her chambers. They had past several courtiers along the way who had given them looks that varied from shock and confusion to outright distress at seeing them together but she found that she oddly enjoyed being able to confound them in a way so similar to how she had before her marriage, it made her feel powerful and she had to actively work to keep an amused smile off her face, though her throbbing ankle certainly helped with that. It took the two of them twice as long to reach her chambers as it would under any other circumstances but still took less time than it had taken to limp the other way with Lady Seymour. Charles had been endlessly patient and had bore the majority of her weight but even still by the time they arrived at the large, ornate door to her chambers Anne' ankle felt as though it were screaming at her to sit.

Slowly and carefully as to not to put anymore distress on her swollen ankle she separated herself from the Duke, gently pulling her arm out of his grasp and griping the door handle to support herself, there were two smartly dressed royal guards standing to either side of the chambers entrance and for a moment Anne wished they weren't there, she wanted to be able talk to Charles openly before he left, to thank him for what he had said even though she was sure a part of him wished he hadn't said anything at all. "Thank you for accompanying me back here, I fear that I would not have been able to make it on my own."

"No, I very much doubt you would have, Your Majesty ought to have a physician take a look at your ankle, your limping got worse the longer we walked"

Anne waved her hand in dismissal "My physician has already tended to it, it's a sprain, no more than that, I've just put too much pressure on it by walking to and from the gardens when I should have been resting it. I'm sure it will be perfectly fine soon enough."

Charles didn't look convinced but he said no more about it, instead he dip into a bow for her and opened his mouth to say goodbye when she rushed to interrupted "I won't attend the banquet tomorrow"

He looked up sharply, his eyes widening slightly in surprise, she wondered for a moment if he had truly believed that she would not listen to his warnings. His eyes flickered between the two guards before they settled back on her, he swallowed and gave her a brisk nod "I think that is a wise decision Your Majesty."

Her lips pulled up in a nervous attempt at a smile "I think I will be very bored though"

"Perhaps you and your Ladies could play at cards, I heard from the King that you are very good"

"Yes, some nice wine, some cheery music and a couple of games of cards, it could be quite fun maybe Your Grace could co..." Anne slammed her mouth shut instantly cutting off the rest of what she had been about to say, she couldn't quite believe that she had been about to invite him to join her tomorrow. She hadn't even been aware that she had any intention to say such a thing until the words were halfway out of her mouth. She could feel her cheeks heating up again and lowered her eyes to stare at his boots, of course he wouldn't want to play cards with her all afternoon while the rest of the court gathered to celebrate, she wasn't even entirely sure why a part of her wanted to see him tomorrow anyway, despite all his actions to the contrary he was one of her oldest enemies. But she supposed he was also the only person to offer her any kind of comfort in longer than she cared to remember, it was probably very natural for her to want to be around him after that. Still Anne was utterly embarrassed to have said anything.

"Good night Your Grace." she muttered refusing to meet his eyes before turning to open the door to her chambers. Immediately both Nan and Madge swarmed over from their own game of cards to help her limp inside, both ladies chatting so loudly in her ears of their concern for her ankle that she never heard Charles leave.