Prompt: Captured

[happyfalcon]

((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?

Comments

[happyfalcon]

"Uhm...certainly!" She's a little caught off guard but she should have expected this - she was a noble on a ship of the king's navy. Naturally she was going to find herself introduced to the captain. "I just wish I looked a bit more presentable!"

Though that last part brings her trademark smile back to her face.

"More of a gentleman than you? Such a person exists? I rather doubt it."

[seekingcrocodile]

"You've been a prisoner in a tower. He'll understand." It's not like he meets many nobles, anyway.

"Yes. Who do you think taught me?"

[happyfalcon]

"Still, doesn't seem right," Anne fusses with the folds of her gown, dusting it off with her fingers, or at least attempting to.

"Oh, naturally I assumed you were just born with such gentlemanly tendencies," Anne teased.

[seekingcrocodile]

"He honestly won't care. And you don't look bad at all. I wouldn't have known if you hadn't said anything."

He looks down at the floor and blushes. "It took a lot of work to get this way."

[happyfalcon]

"You're too kind, and you're being far too modest again," Anne gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "I've not met a more polite man than you in my life."

[seekingcrocodile]

"With the lords and the kings? I find that hard to believe."

[happyfalcon]

"You'd be surprised," her tone is a little more biting than she intended - not intended towards Killian, of course. It was the contempt that she held for the arrogant lords of court. "The arrogance and pride has made politeness all but forgotten."

"Any sense of chivalry King Arthur and his knights installed in the English has been long gone."

[seekingcrocodile]

"I suppose. With that much power, they don't care how they act because no one can tell them they're misbehaving."

[happyfalcon]

"Precisely," Anne gives a very short nod. "You can only imagine the king's temperament."

She once saw him mercilessly beat one of his servants for delivering a message from the queen in her presence. A sight which had made Anne...uncomfortable, to say the least.

[seekingcrocodile]

"I've never met him personally myself, so imagining will have to do."

[happyfalcon]

"You're better off not, truth be told," Anne pointed out. "I've found that real men know how to behave, know how to work, men like..."

And she's just gonna' stop there, face red, not wanting to be that forward and continue the discussion.

[seekingcrocodile]

"Men like me, you mean?" How to work, how to behave, those are both things his brother taught him.

[happyfalcon]

She doesn't answer right away, just glances to him for a moment, then looks off to the sea.

"...perhaps."

[seekingcrocodile]

He just nods in response to that. "There she is. The Jewel of the Realm. Your ride back ho--to England."

[happyfalcon]

She should be happy. But the smile she gives is a bit forced.

"Well, it beats being in Spain, that's for certain!"

[seekingcrocodile]

"I don't know, I've seen some good parts of Spain. And some good parts of England."

[happyfalcon]

"The only thing I've seen of Spain is a cell...and it wasn't particularly scenic."

[seekingcrocodile]

"The coast is particularly lovely." There are men waiting for them as they reach the ship. "Here we are." She can guess which one is his brother.

[happyfalcon]

"I'll have to take your word for it...unleeess the situation calls for it..."

It doesn't take a philosopher to figure out who his brother is. Anne actually gives a giggle over how similar they look. She gives a gesture to Liam with a broad smile.

"This simply must be your brother!"

[seekingcrocodile]

"It must be obvious," he says as Liam gives them his attention. "Captain Liam Jones, Lady Anne Boleyn."

[happyfalcon]

Anne grasps her gown and gives a curtsey to Liam.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Captain!"

[seekingcrocodile]

"The pleasure is all mine, my lady," Liam replies. "Please, come aboard, and we can be on our way."

[happyfalcon]

She obeys, albeit slowly, however anxious she was to be out of Spain, she was not particularly anxious to return to England.

"I owe you a debt of gratitude that I may never be able to repay, Captain," Anne smiles genuinely to him. "You've saved me, and 'thank you' doesn't even begin to cover it..."

[seekingcrocodile]

"I'm just doing my job, my lady," he replies. He and Killian follow her onto the deck of the ship.

[happyfalcon]

As she steps onto the deck of the ship, Anne again sets to brushing the dirt from her dress.

"Still, your job or not, you all took a great risk for me - and for that I am eternally grateful." Her eyes flashed to Killian again, if only for a split second, before she again sets to fruitlessly brushing off the dust from her dress.