As a young girl I was very curious. I wanted to learn anything and everything I could. This sometimes got me in trouble with my nanny. She was a grumpy old woman who was very persistent that she was right. When I asked to see my mother, her answer was always the same "she has left you child". Sometimes I would hear her say things that sounded like "good riddance, that sorceress got what was coming to her".
As angry as that made me, I still kept my mouth shut in fear of being punished if word got back to my father. It was known by everyone that the King did not want to hear a kind word being spoken toward my late mother. He had taken a new wife not long after my mother passed, a lady Jane Seymour. She had bore him the one thing he wanted, a son. But sadly she died during childbirth.
Her son was to be the next king. My stepsister- the Lady Mary would be next after him. And as for me? Well, no one told me what would become of me. I was told I was the "bastard child", at the time I did not know what that meant, but I knew it was not a good thing. It was as if they wanted to get a response from me so that they could send word to the King about what his illegitimate daughter did. Luckily for me, I was a bright child and did not fall for their petty schemes. Looking back on it, I must have gotten it from my mother.
As the years went on, I was still not told what my role in society was, that is until I was called to court to meet with my father and his new Queen. She was a beautiful and kind woman, but she was very submissive to what my father wanted. I heard stories about my mother being a bold woman. I always wondered if she was just too much for my father.
After being called to court, Mary and I were told that we were to be his legitimate heirs again.
I remember all too well keeping a stiff smile on my face and just and saying a polite "thank you your majesty." I wanted more than anything to leave the room. I could feel the look of distain on the faces around me. But now I knew my role.
I was a spare
Not only a spare
But a spare to the spare
After that day, it all went down hill for the King.
YOU ARE READING
I am My Mother's daughter
Historical FictionI look back at the memories of people that have told me I would never be seen as a princess, much less the Queen of England. My brother Edward VI and my sister Mary I were before me in the line for the throne, so I had no intent of being the queen...
