The Other Henry VIII

Will She Survive?

14 June 1512
Sophia's health continued to deteriorate as the days lazily passed and hope was beginning to feel pointless even to Henry. He found comfort only in his daughter, but Henry knew that he would soon have to leave for Calais and tackle the rebels himself. This fact hurt him a lot, as leaving his wife in such a state seems the last thing to do, but the King knew how crucial this battle was.
He made the decision of visiting his wife one last time.
She lay in exactly the same position as his last visit, and Sophia seemed to have not moved an inch. Henry sat down next to her and stroked her hair. Sophia's eyes opened slowly and she studied him for a moment.
"Oh Henry. My head feels like a thousand hammers are smashing it to bits,"she said in a nearly inaudible voice. The King smiled sadly.
"I am sorry, my love. I must take leave of you to fight the rebels myself." ,
"If you leave me alone, sick and weak, you know I will surely die?"whispered Sophia faintly, obviously fighting to keep her eyes from shutting. Henry winced.
"Please. Do not speak of it. I will leave you as regent over this country while I am gone if you get better before I leave."
Sophia sat up, or at least tried to. "When do you leave?"she blurted out

"The day after tomorrow,"said Henry helplessly and left abruptly before she would start crying. Crying, in his opinion, was something awkward and out of place. He always felt uncomfortable when someone cried in front of him.

Sophia felt hot tears burn her eyes and clouding her already blurry vision as they flowed freely down her face.
Would he ever really leave me? I cannot be expected to heal in so quick a time, can I? I just feel like my bodily functions are slowly shutting down. My head is aching and I can't think straight; I cannot breath through my nose; my limbs are like stiff blocks of lead and of course my heart.
Broken.

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15 June 1512
Henry returned to Sophia's chamber where she lay quite motionless, her eyes closed and not even twitching.
"No! No! Please, no!"cried Henry, running to her side and clasping the pale hand to his heart. "Sophia!"
He then calmed down a bit and sat, not even caring that Sophia's three ladies were standing politely around looking at him.
"Please don't go,"he breathed so that no one could hear but Sophia. A lady stepped forward—Lucy.
"If you please Your Majesty, Her Highness seems to have gotten worse over night. I am—"
"Shut up, you bitch. How dare you speak like that about your Queen? I—" That was all Henry could manage before collapsing near to Sophia and silently praying:
My Father God—
I have not been kind to Sophia
Sophia, the love of my life
The light that leads me to the end
Of this dark tunnel of a world
But please, do not take her from this world
So young, just 18 years of age.
I beg of you, save her.
Your humble servant, this sad wreck of a King.

And the entire kingdom, the whole country, the entire realm seemed to pray with him.