The Other Henry VIII

Hope for the Future

12 December 1525
"His Majesty has tasked me with planning the celebrations."
Daniel Starling stopped in his tracks, and turned to face his lover with a rather puzzled expression. "But your sister has not even given birth yet."
Edmund chuckled. "I know. To say it is a little premature is an understatement. The King has become stubbornly optimistic these past few months, and there are few who dare to speak against him. It is no wonder that Leia was confined early, for she was the only person who drummed some sense into him!"

The two men were taking a leisurely stroll in the rose garden, though the bushes were starkly bare and skeletal in appearance. There had been no snow yet, which they had decided rather defeated the purpose of cold conditions
"But after a winter like the last one, I am surprised that the people are so willing to make merry. Surely their spirits must be somewhat dampened," he continued.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Daniel cheerfully. "We are English. We do not waste precious moments remembering the worst of times. Speaking of the worst of times... how fares your wife?"

Edmund flinched, as if he was disgusted at the very thought of her. "As far away as possible, thank God."
"Come on, Westover. You've been wed for what, two years? Just put a child in her belly and leave her to raise it in the countryside."
"It is not that simple. There are days when we can hardly stand to be in the same room as one another," he retorted in a low voice.
"It was not that long ago that you were mad for her! Tell me, why did you fall in love with her in the first place? Why do you no longer feel that way?"
"Do not interrogate me," muttered Edmund, letting out a groan of frustration as he kicked a mound of dirt. "People change. It is an inevitable part of being human, Daniel. I have changed so much these past two years that I can barely recognise my former self."

He allowed the following silence to pass through, like a wandering traveller. There was no use in burdening such a light-hearted man with so gruelling a subject.
"I intend to dissolve our marriage," whispered Edmund at last.
"There are no grounds for divorce. What will you say?"
"Irrevocable differences."
Daniel shot him a surprisingly humbling glare, his dark eyes sparkling. Then, as if to purposefully contradict himself, he released a bark of laughter. "That is complete folly, and you know it."
"What else can I say? That I am sick of her?"
"She has not given you a child in all this time. Declare that she is barren."
"Perhaps that is because I have not shared her bed in a year!"

Edmund marched over to a brick wall, damp with the tears of the last rain shower, and propped himself against it. There was no topic in the world that riled him so much as his wife. It was humiliating, especially for a man of his standing.
"Westover, you are a man," whispered Daniel, placing a steady hand on his shoulder, "And she is a woman. You may say whatever you like, and your word will always be taken over hers."
"But I cannot do it. Could you? Could you lie your way out of a nasty situation if it meant destroying a woman's life in the process?"

Daniel shrank away, repelled. "I thought you were sick of her."
"I am, but that does not give me the right to be endlessly cruel. We are both God's children. What sort of man would I be to take advantage of our crooked justice system?" He whipped around suddenly. "And what would be the point? I need heirs. I would simply be exchanging one insufferable wife for another. You and I can hardly be together."
"That is not true," said Daniel, barely audible. He seemed to have shed his pretentious exterior like a moulting cat. "We can—"
"You know we cannot!" roared Edmund, jabbing a finger at him, "You know that! We must forever creep around in the shadows, condemned to live our lives without recognition! Do not lie to me, Daniel, I am not a child!"

"Do you know what keeps me going?" The other man had not raised his voice in the slightest; in fact, he appeared wholly unfazed by Edmund's outburst. "The thought that one day, one sacred day, there will be no criteria for love. No chains. No collars forced around our necks. I dream of a future where freedom governs the kingdom, not fear. Just picture a world like that."
"It is a fantasy, no more. I fear a world like that will be centuries in the making."
"Yes, I suppose we shall never live to see it blossom. But that is not the point," reasoned Daniel with a small, brilliant smile. "The point is... that hope keeps me sane. It propels my spirits to heights I never thought I could reach. That is more that can be said for anything else in this life."