WARNING: THERE ARE SOME GRAPHIC DETAILS.
Katherine's POV
Standing at the edge of the window with my hands resting on the cold and wet stone, I could feel a slight breeze coming from the broken mosaic glass above me. Catching small whiffs of burning wood and rotting vegetables, I felt someone brush up against my skirt.
"...you shouldn't be worried..." I asked Edward, who stared off into the distance.
"It's a gruesome death, Katherine. They are allowed to be..."
"They? or you?" I added.
Gazing at each other, Edwards eyes slowly drifted around my profile as his chest rose and fell with every hazy breath he took.
"Everyone here is taking a risk being with you...Henry would put us through the same thing if he knew..."
"Well...I've seen worse...I've been through worse, watching someone die slowly won't make it any worse," I whispered.
"Your Majesty, would you care to sit down?" One of the servants asked, holding a chair open for me near a table.
"No, thank you...they are just about to start."
Abruptly, I could feel the doors leading out of the dungeon burst open below the floor. The crowds' voices grew louder as Francis Dereham was dragged by his arms to the wooden stage in the middle of the courtyard. Chains gripped his wrists so tightly that blood dripped down the sides of his arms, leaving a small trail from the doors to the steps.
"Traitor!"
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" The crowd yelled, throwing vegetables and other objects at them.
"Where's Culpepper?" I heard Edward whisper to the Bishop.
"He was beheaded this morning before dawn...the King ordered it last night."
Watching as the guards tied the noose around Dereham's neck, one of the executors held onto the rope, pulling and tugging on it as Dereham's body flew and convoluted into spasms. His head slowly turning darker, forcing the veins to burst through his skin and his eyes turn dark and bloody.
The excitement of the crowd brought utter joy to the executioner, hearing his laugh as he watches Dereham suffocating before they dragged him to the table behind them.
"Dear God...how long will this last?" I heard the Bishop whisper, as everyone in the room watched as executioner ripped Dereham's shirt.
"What is he doing now?" I questioned.
Watching Edward from the corner of my eye, his body slowly leans over just as the executioner pulls out a brass pipe, burning bright yellow at the tip as he made his way back to Dereham. The smell of cupper swifts into the room through the small crack on the window, forcing everyone to hold their breaths for this next part.
"That's enough." Edward blurted out, shutting the window close with the curtain.
"Edwa-"
"You came here to see Katherine's death...I only have so much time to get you back to Court without Henry noticing." He sighed.
"Come...you should sit. Bishop Levings will overhear for Katherine's turn."
Staring at him as he stepped away from the window, he headed out for the door as the Bishop and two other men stood by.
"Would you like anything to drink, Your Majesty?"
"...no...I'm fine, thank you." I sighed heading for the chair on the other side of the room.
YOU ARE READING
The Arranged Marriage (The Tudor's Series)
Fanfiction***MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY*** Following the divorce of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII of England continues on his search for a new Queen. Enduring the hatred of his people that once screamed his name out of love and the orders from hi...
