happyfalcon | Prompt: Captured

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Prompt: Captured

((ooc: Open for anyone to tag, but beware the historical mindfuckery. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Is to rescue Anne Boleyn from the prison tower of Emperor Charles V in Spain.))

It seems the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, was not content to sit idly by and let Henry VIII, King of England, mistreat his aunt. Catherine of Aragon, the unhappy queen, had been neglected and ignored by Henry since her miscarriage of their son. Henry grew angry, thinking his marriage cursed by God and had thus sought to create male heirs by his mistresses.

Though Anne Boleyn was different.

She had refused his advances at first, to the chagrin of her father and uncle. Anne hadn't had interest in the king - and did not take to the idea of being referred to as "The Second Great Prostitute" like her sister, Mary. Still, after a while she had broken down and agreed to be the king's One True Mistress - though they had yet to share a bed. Still, that didn't stop Henry from pursuing a divorce from Catherine.

That's what had made Charles angry.

A few secret letters from Catherine told him the truth of how she had been mistreated by the king, and how he sought to divorce her in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Outraged, Charles had sent orders to his ambassador to take a few men with him and kidnap the queen and her ladies.

Kidnapping the queen and bringing her to Spain would free her from the king's cruelty. And, as Anne was a lady in waiting to the queen, she would also be captured, and Charles would be free to execute her in his realm. The charge: Treason against the queen of England.

So Anne was locked in the prison tower, awaiting her punishment. What would it be? Hanging? Drawn and quartered? Anne knew Catherine would want the slowest, most painful death imaginable for her...but Anne would not give the satisfaction of showing her fear. Even locked in the tower she remained strong and refused to cry.

But in her heart, she wondered: Where was her brother, George? Where was her father? Where was the king?

Would anyone rescue her?

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"I--" He'd never really explored the possibility. She's a noblewoman pursued by the king. He's a common man, a sailor in the king's navy. Those two groups don't tend to mix.

"You know it would never work out, no matter how much we might want it to."

She's a bit sheepish at that proclamation - of course it's crossed her mind, she's an intelligent woman after all.

"I know but..." She struggles for words now. "....it seems so silly and so selfish...but I don't care."

Still, slightly put off by the response, though in truth she should have expected it, Anne looks away from him, even takes a step back.

"Anne." He hopes he hasn't offended her. "We both know it's not practical, but that doesn't mean we have to stop seeing each other. That's certainly not what I want."

She bites the inside of her cheek, trying to keep herself from saying anything more. It's not really working out too well though - but it does give her a moment to think about her words before she says them.

"I don't...want that either," again she forces a small smile before glancing up to him again. "Forgive me, I spoke out of turn and wasn't really thinking. T'was indeed silly of me..." It's a lie, but she suddenly doesn't enjoy the situation she's in, so she's attempting a way out.

"What do you want?" This is not the way this conversation should be going.

She's caught off guard - it's not a question she's been asked before. Ever. It takes her a minute to process it, but even still, she doesn't quite understand it - even if it is a relatively simple question.

"What do you mean, 'what do I want'?"

"What I asked. What do you want?"

Anne stares a moment, still contemplating the question. But after a moment she looks to him again.

"Happiness. Freedom of choice. Is that so wrong? I want the ability to say 'I don't want the king I want-'" Her pause isn't out of hesitation or fear, it's frustration. But she blurts it out: "-you!"

He steps closer. "You have that, just perhaps not in the way that you would like."

Well that addresses part of one issue, but not the others - and as he said, it's not exactly to her satisfaction. She opens her mouth to speak again, but she finds she can't and she just turns away. One hand covers her mouth, as if in thought. She sighs after a moment, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Forgive me, I should not have grown so cross nor should I have projected my problems upon you," Anne still keeps her gaze cast away from him. "They're for me to deal with."

"We've both known for awhile now that it could only ever be secret meetings."

"No, you're right," Anne glances out the small porthole to the ocean and air outside.

"...on second thought, perhaps I should dine alone in here this evening," Her gaze finally goes back to him, though her hand is still in front of her face. "Please do express my gratitude to the captain?"

She's becoming a bit cold in her responses now. She seemed sure of herself before, now - not so much. Things had been much easier before, why did she have to go and open her mouth?

"None of us would ever see our family again." That maybe means more to him than it does to her, he couldn't say for sure.

He nods. "I'll tell him."

"I agreed with you, did I not?" Anne snaps the response more than she meant to.

True enough, her family treated her poorly, but she knew that wasn't the case for him. To not see her family again, that was fine. She wouldn't ask that of anyone else, however. She was not that selfish.

She stared out the porthole again, trying so hard to focus on the water, to keep herself from getting emotional. It was unbearable - eventually the king would ask for her hand, and if she gave him an answer other than 'yes', she'd be dead and done one way or another.

It was not what she wanted, nor what she had ever asked for.

There doesn't seem to be a way to fix this conversation, to make the situation better, other than to promise to give her what she wants, which he can't do. The best thing now is to give her space.

"I'll be back later to check on you again."

Anne gives no response. She wait until the door is shut again, then she bites her lip to keep herself quiet even as tears fall steadily down her cheeks.

After a few minutes she roughly wipes the tears away, kicks off her shoes and slides into bed. But she's unable to fall asleep.

Hours later, he comes back down and knocks on her door again. "Anne?" He waits for a response.

There's a pause as she considers whether or not she wants to see him. She doesn't move from the bed and continues to face the wall.

"...Come in."

He opens the door and comes in, then closes the door behind him. "I brought you some food." He sets it down on the desk, then pulls the chair out. "I'm sorry about this."

Anne sits up slowly, pushing the covers away before turning to face him. She's quiet for a while before she replies.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry..." The admission comes with difficulty. "You risk your life to save me...I repay you by getting upset...it was wrong of me, please forgive me."

"Of course I do. I've never truly been mad at you, and I wasn't now either." He's silent for a moment. "I know that your life isn't how you would want it to be. I also know I'm not the one with the power to change that for you."

She opens her mouth, but thinks better of it and closes is again. A weak smile appears on her lips.

"No, you don't. No one does, really," Anne muses. "If I refuse to continue meeting the king, he'll find some reason then it's-"

She mimes a haphazard slashing motion across her throat.

"Off with my head." Then there's the alternative. "If I continue, and things progress the way the king wants, especially now with Catherine separated from him in Spain, he'll propose."

The very thought makes her sick to her stomach. There's a very long pause before she looks up to Killian again.

"I...I cannot marry him. I can't."

"And your father and your brother can't help you here. They wouldn't, if they could, because they could benefit from your marriage to the king."

"I wish I could help you."

"Precisely," Anne sighed. She reached up, rubbing her forehead with both hands.

She shakes her head slowly.

"Maybe I was better off in the tower in Spain...I don't know what to do."

"They would have executed you if you stayed in Spain."

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