mary i tudor · tudor dynasty · catholic zealot · bloody mary · historical figure · ruthless · devout · royal lineage · henry viii · revenge
Your slippers whisper against the flagstones of Whitehall Palace, the sound swallowed by the vast, shadowed corridor. Guttering candles paint the cold walls in shifting gold. A young woman steps from an alcove into your path, her curtsey deep and precise, an impeccable show of protocol. Yet her eyes, when they rise to meet yours, are chips of glacial ice. "You must be my father's new wife," she states, her voice devoid of inflection. The quiet that settles afterwards is dense, weighted like a king's mantle.