#ch: catherine of aragon

[rosaliehale]

wedding gowns in period dramas [1/?]

adelaide kane as mary stuart in reign alicia vikander as ekaterina "kitty" shcherbatskaya in anna karenina (2012) charlotte hope as catherine of aragon in the spanish princess lily james as ella in cinderella (2015)

[thetudorsedits]

CATHERINE OF ARAGON with PRINCESS MARY TUDOR

THE TUDORS (2007-2010) | S01E5

[ladyseidr]

redoing tags, including adding character tags now. not including on hiatus muses. including testing muses at the end. so, tag dump:

[marshmallowchaos]

Constance Hatchaway and Anne Boleyn meet

AB: so you beheaded your husband

CH:*sharpening her hatchet* Yes.

AB: dang why didn't I think of that.

CH: because your husband was a king, mine were just rich.

AB: Fair point.

Sally Slater and Catherine of Aragon watching from a far

COA: So that's your girlfriend?

SS: yes, and she's yours?

COA: Oh heavens no.

[raisab332012]

Answer to Why didn’t Henry VIII marry Joanna the mad rather than Catherine of Aragon (her sister) if Joanna was a Queen, a 26 year-old widow, less controversial as she wasn’t married to his brother, and proven fertile with many childre… by Catalina Fometici https://www.quora.com/Why-didn-t-Henry-VIII-marry-Joanna-the-mad-rather-than-Catherine-of-Aragon-her-sister-if-Joanna-was-a-Queen-a-26-year-old-widow-less-controversial-as-she-wasn-t-married-to-his-brother-and-proven-fertile-with-many/answer/Catalina-Fometici?ch=18&oid=1477743675063749&share=20871b1f&srid=7KVRc&target_type=answer

[herestohistory]

On this day: Catherine of Aragon testifies at the Legatine Court, June 21st 1529

Catherine of Aragon, appeared in front of Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars. King Henry VIII wanted to annul their marriage to marry Anne Boleyn and to do so challenged the validity of their marriage.

“When ye had me at first, I take God to my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether it be true or no, I put it to your conscience. If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart to my great shame and dishonour. And if there be none, then here, I most lowly beseech you, let me remain in my former estate… Therefore, I most humbly require you, in the way of charity and for the love of God – who is the just judge – to spare me the extremity of this new court, until I may be advised what way and order my friends in Spain will advise me to take. And if ye will not extend to me so much impartial favour, your pleasure then be fulfilled, and to God I commit my cause! “ - Catherine of Aragon (x) 

[milanvanwaardenburg]

｡◦°◦ 🖤 𝖎’𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖊 𝖆 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 ‘𝖙𝖎𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝖒𝖞 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊.

fan art i drew of the incredible jarnéia richard-noel as catherine of aragon from six the musical. [ ART INSTA ]

[andsjuliet]

you must think that i’m crazy, you wanna replace me?

[thetudorslovers]

[yukinokuro17]

>Autonomous Communities of Spain ver. CH> by @yukinokuro17

© All designs belong to me ©

-Instagram: @yukinokuro

[cecilyneville]

the spanish princess: episode 8

“why are people watching this show if they don’t like it???”

me: 

(i mean hating on this show, not actually watching it - nothing about tsp is fun, the whole thing has been mean-spirited from beginning to end)

ruairi was good as prince henry, but as king henry? awful

“i would not come to help you” so how much more of coa being a cunt are we going to get? bc if this episode is called “peace” i assume she has to...idk...start being a bit nicer

god, fucking finally

if they want us to like catherine bc she’s finally paying attention to mary that isn’t “HMM SHE IS NOT A BOY”, they got another thing coming

catherine was horrible to everyone including her ladies and her daughter, but she’s slightly nicer now so it’s ok!!!!

“men of arran and men of hamilton” the writers have finally realised there are more families in scotland than stewart and douglas

WHY has albany kidnapped james? at first i thought it was a ruse b/w him and meg but apparently not. wouldn’t it make more sense for her to return to scotland to find that angus has kidnapped james?

it makes so much sense for ef to just ignore the fact that margaret douglas exists and keep prince alexander alive

ursula where you been all this time???

finally some semi-accurate headwear on maggie. but ONLY on maggie, not on ursula, bc if it’s anything the costuming on all three series have taught us, only old ladies cover their heads

also finally - laura carmichael is getting some decent material to work with! (relatively speaking)

bessie instructing henry fitzroy is very similar to her tudors counterpart doing the same, bc of course

comb ur fuckin hair dude

i’m not gonna lie, this latin standoff between mary & henry fitzroy is hilarious, like a 16th-century spelling bee

“there’s nothing i can give a girl” except, you know, sending her to ludlow as heirs to the throne were before her, but even that level of nuance is too confusing for fraham

“my brother is more sympathetic to her cause than he has been” this week: henry discovers the concept of divorce

“go to the king anne, smile and win his favour” yet another barely-concealed tudors ripoff

thomas more just like “maggie you’re fucked up bc your life has been so shit”

if henry is speaking about this script then he is 100% correct

oh rosa’s here! so not one but BOTH of catherine’s besties will ditch her, delicious

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THIS IS THE MOST OBVIOUS, CLUNKY WAY TO DO IT LMAO

oh they’re going for a becket/henry ii vibe here with wolsey & henry, don’t mind this

it bothers me SO much that they keep calling maggie henry’s aunt when they never bothered to include elizabeth’s actual sisters after they put cecily on a bus (which, to be fair, was probably for the best)

i kind of recoil when people say “[insert historical figure] would be so offended by this depiction” because if someone like catherine of aragon were shown any modern depiction of herself, her head would probably explode out of confusion and horror. BUT this is so offensive to the real catherine of aragon

i would like to see laura carmichael as elizabeth of york - it’s the big brown eyes

is she doing this out of hatred for her inability to give the king a son??? what does it all MEAN emma

i mean i guess he’s hotter than angus

i know this hunting scene is supposed to reflect something from part one which i didn’t watch, but it just reminds me of the tudors s1 finale when henry and anne fucked in the woods 

also reminds me very much of the great when peter tries to drown catherine

catherine quoting deuteronomy and unwittingly confessing to consummating her marriage with arthur...CONGRATULATIONS YOU PLAYED YOURSELF

soz to sound like a broken record but the fact that people - even some actual critics - watch CH’s performance and think this is actually good acting will never not be funny to me, she’s atrocious. it’s so jarring looking at behind the scenes footage and seeing her smiling, like couldn’t you actually do this on screen? she plays catherine like the woman’s never felt happiness in her life, or any other emotion for that matter

lina’s not gonna sell catherine out and i’m so mad about it, she has treated you like SHIT for YEARS

god, she can’t even cry believingly

HELL YES MEG, DISCO INFERNO

we won’t have time to see meg’s marriage to henry stewart fail spectacularly, which is probably a good thing bc my heart would break

catherine has been absolutely VILE to lina but it’s ok bc she’s said sorry now

“i would speak with you” / “it seems you already are” LOLLLL

so funny that it’s only NOW that they’re getting french hoods of some kind, but not with actual veils because, like i said, only old dowdy matrons don’t get to show their sexy hair

WHAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

i mean, i’m not surprised, given how much fraham hate anne 

“so, you’re playing anne boleyn. congrats! but you’ll only get, like, one line, and you WILL have to get your tits out”

guys she’s so upset can’t you tell

CH got a taste for holding bows on game of thrones it’s the only thing she’s good at

STELLLAAAAAA

of course meg has to actually fire the cannons rather than just train them on angus and his men, but this is very fun

surprised they didn’t point out that one of scotland’s greatest cannons was called “mons meg”

fuck this nice scene between catherine and lina! she doesn’t deserve your forgiveness lina!!!

i guess catherine’s woke levels need to be maintained by keeping her one black friend who was a slave irl

hahahaha i fucking love her

“i will always be your wife, there is nothing you can do to change that” knock knock it’s the reformation

catherine choosing to leave makes no sense for this show or for the history they’re ~supposed~ to be depicting

“you will never take my place as queen of england” KNOCK KNOCK IT’S THE REFORMATION

catherine is an old lady now so we shall signify this by giving her a gable hood

catherine she just asked if the bird was dead jesus

which it should be by now...it’s been around since like 1510??

ah yes, let’s bring back that other metaphor, the imperialism compass 

if all the disgruntled tories had their way this would be on the end credits of every episode of the crown too

and that’s all folks! let’s all be thankful that this show didn’t submit us to an absolute butchery of catherine’s blackfriars speech

[jane-fucking-seymour]

Every Tudor Rose Has Its Thorns - CH 2 now live

AO3 Link here

“So… you think they’re alive?” Jim asks, tilting his head.

“At least one of them is a ghost, I think,” she explains, walking towards the alley next to the theatre. They had gotten their tickets refunded due to “technical difficulties,” despite knowing that the real issue was far beyond that. “But the visions I had when Catherine and Anne went up for their songs… it felt really powerful. It could be more than one. Maybe all of them, just based on the pure strength of it.”

“What, so you think the ghosts of the ex-wives of Henry VIII are… haunting the performers when they go on?” Jim asks. “One ghost doing that, sure, but all of them? Seems pretty unlikely.”

Melinda frowned and looked down at the programme, flipping to the page where the actors were shown. She tilts her head. “You know, they never say what the actor’s names are in here. They just say Anne and Catherine and the rest.”

“Maybe it’s an acting thing?” Jim asks, though he clearly sounds like he’s fishing for an answer. “Some actors do that, live as though they’re the characters they are.”

Melinda nods in consideration, but goes back to the original theory: that the ghosts are involved.

“I mean, it’s not surprising that they would be earthbound if it is actually them,” Melinda says. “Not after everything they got put through.”

“Do you think they caused the technical difficulties?” Jim asks.

“I didn’t sense anyone else around, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” Melinda replies. “Why would they want to ruin their own show, though? It’s about their story, their lives being told-”

“No, they’re not ruining their own show.”

Jim and Melinda jump a bit as they hear a voice behind them. When they turn, they spot…

“You’re Maria, right?” Melinda asks. “You’re the drummer.”

“I am,” Maria nods. “I was hoping you’d still be around. I… I don’t know how to explain this, but I really think you should come with me.”

Melinda watches her for a moment before tilting her head. She slowly walks more towards Maria, gently taking her hand. There’s a slight jolt before Melidna is once again pulled into a vision:

She’s managed to avoid the guards, sneak into the premises, and get to her door. With a running start, she bangs through it, immediately looking down at a woman in bed. She looks deathly ill, yet oddly familiar…

Melinda can hear herself speak Spanish to the woman, crying as she holds her. She can see her arm gently push back some hair, gently speak comforting words to the woman she held, crying out her name as the former queen’s eyes start to dim and close:

“Catalina!”

Suddenly, Melinda was back to the present. Maria looks terrified.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt her, is she-”

“It’s okay, she’s okay,” Jim says, nodding. He keeps an eye on Melinda, though, just in case.

Melinda took a moment to clear her thoughts before she continued. “That was… the other side of the vision I had when Catherine of Aragon’s song came up.”

“Vision?” Maria asks, taking a step back in surprise. “Are you a witch?”

“No,” Mel is quick to dispel the theory. “But I do… have a gift. I can see the dead.”

Maria pales. Melinda narrows her eyes.

“How?” Melinda asks. Maria is quiet, so Melinda clarifies: “How are you alive and dead at the same time?”

She looks down at her hands before she looks back up at the couple. “I… I need you to come inside. To come with me to see the others.” She looks from Melinda to Jim and back to Melinda. “I promise, we’re not… we’re not bad. And we didn’t do anything to cause those issues.” She takes a deep breath. “Oh, I can’t believe Jane’s going to be right on this.”

“Right on what?” Jim asks, stepping forward.

Maria makes a face.

“She said she felt someone else on stage with us tonight. Someone cold. She’s been off ever since.”

That was enough for Melinda to follow Maria into the backdoor.

As soon as they walk in, Maria takes Jim and Mel to the dressing rooms. Melinda recognized the queens: Jane was sitting next to Anne, quietly discussing something. Catherine and Cathy were getting their things together. Anna and Katherine were on their phones.

It’s the latter that speak up first.

“I mean, I’m seeing stuff where people say their electronics went haywire due to a ghost,” Katherine says. “Even as common as we’ve been having it lately.”

“It could also be some faulty wiring, though,” Anna points out, scrolling through some searches. “Or maybe the wind that’s been picking up knocked something loose.”

“I swear, I felt a cold wind, and I…” Jane starts, but she freezes up when she spots Maria and her guests. “Who’s this?”

Maria clears her throat and steps forward. “Everyone, this is Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy.” She looks directly at Catherine for the next part. “Melinda can speak to the dead.”

They’re all quiet for a moment before Anne speaks up.

“Oh really?” She asks, a hint of joking in her voice. Melinda grimaces at that; people usually are in disbelief, but the mocking tone some can get reminded her of the high school and college bullies. It’s not easy doing her job, after all.

“Yes,” Maria continues. “Actual ghosts.”

“How do you think she can help?” Cathy asks.

“How do we know to trust her?” Jane asks.

“I think I know the answer to both of those things.”

Before Melinda or Jim can answer, someone else has jumped to their defense: Melinda recognized her as Joan, the pianist. Right behind her was Bessie and Maggie. All three of them were in normal clothes now, bags left at the side of the door as they move towards the group and stand nearby.

“Maria,” Joan says quietly. “I saw you stumble on Catherine’s song today. You were looking right at her in the front row.” Joan looks over at Melinda, almost pitying her. “And you looked incredibly pale. I thought it might be a trick of the light, but I’m assuming you being here makes it not the case.”

Melinda nods, stepping forward. “I had a vision. I was in a bed, hurting, and someone barged into the room and held me as I died. It felt like the person wasn’t supposed to be there, but I needed her to be there.” She looks over at Maria, who is looking at Catherine. “I think it was you. You called her name as she died, didn’t you? You called for Catalina. That was who you were holding, as she died.”

Maggie frowns. “Not that I don’t believe you, but anyone who knows our histories knows that Maria held Catherine at the end. How do we know this isn’t a trick?”

“Because,” Joan says, “when that… vision… of hers happened, Maria looked completely out of sorts.” She steps towards the woman in question. “What did you feel?”

“I felt… connected,” Maria explains, moving to gently hold Catherine’s hand for support. Catherine, of course, holds it firm. “I felt like someone was connecting with me. And I… I heard Catalina’s cries. I heard what I heard when she died. Then I looked up, and it was Melinda.”

“Did you… see something… during Don’t Lose Ur Head?” Maggie asks, frowning.

Melinda shivered at the thought. “Yes. I saw someone being taken to the block. A young, red headed girl called for her mom-”

Anne stands up quickly, like a reflex, but Maggie quickly grabs her arm. It calms the woman somewhat as she sits back down. Jim stands a bit closer to Melinda as she backed up at the sudden movement, but with things calmer, she relaxes a bit more.

“Not quite how that went,” Anne says quietly, “but if Catherine and Maria believe you, I’m inclined to as well.”

“Sometimes my visions aren’t exact to what happened,” Melinda replies. “Sometimes they’ve got more symbolism in them then actual events-”

Melinda stopped, though, when a sudden chill fell through the air. She felt her head reeling with no warning; she put a hand to it and tried to breathe through it. Jim was calling for her, she knew this, but the voice became less and less her husbands and more and more like someone else.

The lights suddenly turned off.

And he appeared.

What hit her first was a wave of emotions - fear, jealousy, panic.. But mostly anger. A lot of anger. She couldn’t tell who he was exactly, as the Shadows around them were so thick, but he pointed to her and spoke; it cut through her mind like glass.

“You should not be here,” he said, and Melinda winced every time he spoke. “You should not be here.”

“Who are you?” She asks, but he screamed, and the Shadows rushed her, and everything went dark…

… only for the lights to turn on a moment later.

Melinda blinked; somehow, she had ended up crouched on the floor, hands on her head as she looked around. Jim was immediately at her side, checking her over.

“Are you okay-?” He started, but someone else’s voice cut through his question. This time, it didn’t hurt Melinda at all.

“Jane?!?”

The couple looked over to find Jane Seymour collapsed to the ground, eyes unfocused and glassy, breathing rapidly as if panicked. With a nod from Mel, Jim rushed over to see if he could help.

“What’s happened, why is that happening again?” Katherine asks, clearly panicked.

Melinda picked up the clue. “Again? When did it happen before?”

“It happened yesterday, too,” Bessie says, stepping forward. “She’s been having these type of spells for a while now.”

“Anna had some to start with as well, Cathy too,” Joan points out. “But Jane’s been hit the hardest with them.”

Melinda nods, looking over at Jane just in time to see her gasp for air. She coughed, being helped to sit up by Jim.

“Are you alright?” Jim asks, looking the woman over.

“Jane?” Joan is right beside her queen in an instant; now Melinda knew what she meant by they took care of their queens; Joan was Jane’s Lady in Waiting in their previous life, after all.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Jane mumbles, a hand to her head as she collects her thoughts. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s the damned ghost, that’s what’s come over you,” Katherine says, clearly angry. “What does it want and why does it keep on messing with our productions?”

Anne looked over at Melinda before stepping towards her. “Alright, I don’t quite believe you, but… what did you see? Before, in the dark?” Melinda seemed to be confused, so Anne continued. “If you’re having those vision things, I’d assume you’d have one when things go bad.”

“That’s not how it works all the time,” Melinda says, “but I did see the ghost. He was…” she swallowed thickly at the next few words, looking over at Jim. “He was surrounded by Shadows.”

Jim’s jaw set with anger for a moment, before he corrected his expression. Melinda continued.

“He said I shouldn’t be here. He was tall, that’s all I got from it.”

The lights flickered again and Melinda once again felt a wave of nausea. She blinked, squeezing her eyes shut. Catherine frowned when Anna did the same.

“We should leave,” Melinda said through shaky breaths. “Whoever it is, they’re going to try again.”

Anna is unsteady, but she powers through it to get to the alley. As soon as they’re out of the theatre, Melinda feels her head clear up considerably. She breathes a sigh of relief as she looks at Anna; she seems far better, too.

Maria steps forward. “Do you mind if we go somewhere a bit more private?” she asks, looking at the couple. “Our flat’s nearby. Might be the best place to discuss this more.”

“Sure,” Melinda says. “We’ll follow you.”

Maggie leads the group as they walk down the street, Jim and Melinda in the middle of the pack. Maria and Bessie hang at the back. They’re silent, before Maria speaks:

“You’re on the fence for this, aren’t you, Bessie?”

She sighs. “I don’t know what to think,” she replies. “But if you think she’s the answer to what’s been happening lately I think it’s worth a shot.” She shrugs. “Not like we had any success with anything else, so…”

Maria looks back at the couple, who are quietly walking, Melinda’s arm in his. “Yeah. I really think they are.”

As they walk, Jim looks Melinda over some more. “You sure you’re feeling alright?” Jim asks quietly.

Melinda glanced over then shook her head. “A little woozy,” she admits. “The visions are strong, and I think it’s because of who they are.” she gives him a small smile. “I’ll be ok. I’ve got you here.”

Jim tries to smile back, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. Melinda understands this, but her focus right now is moreso on Jane.

“She looks about as good as I feel,” Mel mumbles.

Jane looked as pale as a ghost, stumbling occasionally as they moved towards the queen’s flat. Joan was right next to her, watching her closely as they moved.

“Yeah, and Anna doesn’t look too well either,” Jim observed. Anna was at the front of the pack with Katherine, answering her questions and smiling with her, but Jim’s EMT training allowed him to see the occasional stumble and wince in pain. “It took a lot out of them, too, I think.”

“When we get to the flat,” Catherine says, having heard their conversation, “We can all take a breather there.”

Cathy watches the couple very closely for a moment before she just continues on with Catherine in tow. Catherine narrows her eyes at Cathy for a moment before moving on.

The sound of a child’s laughter rings through the area; it makes Melinda smile as she and Jim are let into the flat. From there, everyone comes together in the living room.

“The weird stuff hasn’t followed us home before,” Cathy says. “So we should be safe here.”

Melinda breathes a sigh of relief; her head already feels like it’s clearing, and some of her energy’s returned. “This place feels a lot better than the theatre.”

“Please, sit down,” Anna says, offering them two spots on the couch. Melinda and Jim sit down next to each other while the others settle down on chairs around them.

Catherine, with a small smile, starts the conversation:

“If you don’t mind, Melinda, I think it’d be best if we just get into it, okay?”

Melinda nodded, and Catherine continued.

“Maria seems to be convinced that you’ve got special powers,” Catherine replies. “And you definitely saw something at the theatre multiple times.”

Melinda nods. “It’s more powerful than what I usually deal with, to be honest,” Melinda says. “I just feel… a lot of energy, coming from all of you.” She looks around the room. “It’s not bad. It’s better than when you were at the theatre. From personal experience, that means the Shadows aren’t able to affect you here.”

“Shadows?” Cathy asks.

“They’re dark energy,” Melinda continues. “Powerful, dark, negative energy. It’s sometimes leftover energy from bad souls, other times those souls are… converted, into the Shadows.” She shivers at the thought, remembering when they took her over, remembering when they made her think and almost do terrible things…

“What’s the Shadows have to do with us?” Jane asks quietly, looking down at her hands. “Why are we being tormented?”

“And some of us more than others,” Anne replies. “It seems to be tormenting Catherine, Anna, and Jane more-”

“Is it, though?” Katherine asks. “You almost died on stage. Again.”

Melinda sat up at that. “You said that it happened before at the theatre, too. Can you tell me what’s been going on?”

They all look at each other, uncertain. Jim speaks up then.

“We want to help,” he tries. “But we need all the information we can.”

“You have to at least believe that there’s truth to what I’m saying, don’t you?” Melinda asks. “You wouldn’t have invited me into your homes if you didn’t.”

Katherine narrows her eyes. “You said you got a vision every time you touched one of us, right?” When Melinda nods, Katherine stands up in front of her and offers a hand. “Well, prove it.”

Melinda looks at Jim and, with a nod his way, looks back at the hand. With some hesitation, she takes it, and-

-she’s suddenly not in the room.

She’s on stage, the exact one Melinda had been watching only an hour before. She’s singing something, on her knees, breathing heavily as she talks about being touched and enough being enough and people supposed to be different. Just as she finishes it, she hastily blows a kiss at the audience as she gasps for air and looks up, a single pink spotlight on her.

The crowd is silent for a moment, and it seems to save her life - she can hear something above her crack.

Her eyes go wide as the spotlight momentarily is blocked by something. Realizing what’s about to happen, she instantly backs up, straight back as a bar suddenly slams right where she just was.

She gasps, catching her breath, wincing as she feels something hit her hand as the bar makes impact with the ground. She ignores the pain as someone grabs her and rushes her off stage, the audience being evacuated…

… and Melinda gasps as she is brought back to the present.

“Holy crap,” Katherine says, eyes wide. “I… Maria was right.”

“What did you see?” Bessie asks.

Melinda catches her breath for a second. “She was singing, then she looked up at the spotlight, and a bar fell and hurt her hand,” Melinda says, pointing to the mark on Katherine’s hand.

“That’s what happened Thursday,” Katherine says. “That’s what happened when I was injured. And I never told anyone who I knew about it.” Katherine looks back at Catherine. “She’s legit, swear it.”

Catherine nods at the girl and then looks at Melinda. “I think it’s enough evidence to continue,” Catherine says quietly. “Now… what would this shadow want with us?”

“The Shadows work best through people,” Melinda says. “That’s how they became a threat to us back in Grandview, they influenced people to make their move.” She shivers at the thought, but doesn’t get too into detail; they’ve only just started to trust her, she didn’t want them to be scared.

Not yet, anyways.

Catherine nods. “So you think it’s possible whoever is doing this is trying to influence us?”

Melinda leans back on the couch. “Katherine was almost killed that time, and Anne was today… did anything else happen?”

“Yeah,” Anna says. “Catherine was almost electrocuted the other day.”

Catherine winces at the memory. “I was on stage and about to sit on the throne during No Way, and suddenly the damn thing broke apart. One of the legs splintered off and cut a nearby wire. If it wasn’t for Maria, I would have been shocked.”

Melinda nods. “Anything else?”

“There was that time Katherine tripped and knocked herself unconscious last week,” Anne points out.

“And the slip and fall Catherine had,” Cathy points out.

“And Anne’s phone literally blew up in her hand the week before on stage,” Maggie added.

Jim had been keeping count. “So it’s really only been physical ‘accidents’ for Anne, Katherine, and Catherine?” He asks, nodding towards the correct C/Katherines to clarify who he was talking about.

Cathy nods. “The rest of us… when those things happen, we start to feel weird.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively. “It’s like something’s there. Something cold. Something not pleasant.”

“You feel an anger, right?” Melinda asks, looking directly at Cathy. “You feel like you’re helpless, and you feel cold and angry and not yourself, right? And you can’t let that feeling go because it’s taking you over?”

Jane nods, but looks wary. “They seem scary the more you talk about them.”

“They are, to be honest,” Melinda says, looking down. “But it’s beatable. It is.” She looks up again, a gentle smile on her face. “With some support from others, we can beat it here.”

Cathy seems hesitant to say something, but after a moment (and a deep breath) she steps forward. “The ghosts that you can see… can you see anyone else?”

Melinda tilts her head, confused. “I’m sorry?”

“Do you see any other ghosts,” Cathy repeats. “Can you see any other ghosts around us?”

Melinda frowns. “Who would I be looking for?”

“A young girl, probably,” Cathy says. “Or, uhm… maybe two women, or maybe a teenaged boy.”

Melinda considers Cathy for a moment before she nods quickly, looking around the room. She’s been at this long enough that she can filter out the queen’s and ladies in waiting’s presence well enough to find other people when she needs to, but right now…

“... there’s no one else here,” Melinda says, looking back at the woman. “I’m sorry, is it someone you know?”

Cathy sighs. “It’s nothing.” She gets up and leaves.

Catherine steps in. “I’m sorry about her.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Melinda says. “I just… who was she looking for?”

Catherine isn’t sure she should answer.

Anne cuts in.

“Well,” she says, getting up. “We should probably start preparing dinner.” She smiles to try to diffuse the tension in the room; it’s kind of working.

Melinda nods and goes to stand up with Jim when Katherine gives them a look.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kat asks, raising an eyebrow.

Melinda blinks. “Uh… didn’t you say you were preparing dinner?” she asks. “We were headed to the door.”

“But then you’d miss dinner,” Katherine replies.

“Sorry, uh, we weren’t aware we were invited,” Jim replies.

“We’ve still got a bit to talk about, if you’re interested in hanging around,” Maria says. “It’s likely this’ll happen at the show tomorrow, too. It’s been like this for a while now. And if you’re our chance of stopping it… well, I think we can all agree we’d want to give you all the time in the world to figure it out.”

“Besides,” Maggie says, smiling widely. “We need an extra hand in the kitchen. Anne’s not allowed in there since the Knife Incident.”

Melinda looked alarmed. “The accidents have been happening here, too?”

“No,” Maggie replies. “We just can’t trust Anne, Katherine, and Cathy to be on their own with a bunch of knives and a dart board anymore.”

Jim looks concerned and Melinda’s very confused.

“Which K/Catherine-” Mel starts, but the queens laugh.

Catherine motions towards the kitchen. “Come on, Melinda, you can chop up some vegetables and we can keep on chatting.”

Melinda nods, then looks over at Jim. “Are you ok with this?”

“Free dinner? Yeah, sure,” he replies, smiling back at her. “I’ll get to work on some research while you guys are talking.”

“I’d like to help with that,” Anna says. “If you don’t mind.”

Mel nods appreciatively. “The more the merrier.”

Jim gives Melinda’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, and Melinda nods in his direction. It’s an unspoken conversation between them - if Mel needed anything, she can go to Jim, and Jim’ll be there. On the flip side, if he found anything out, he could come into the kitchen to let her know. All that exchanged in two movements and no words.

Honestly, Catherine thought as she led Melinda into the kitchen, it was rather adorable how the two interacted. A happy, healthy couple who had each other’s backs. She wouldn’t know what that felt like - not really - but she’s glad at least someone seemed to have a love story out of a storybook. It was a nice change of pace from the usual.

Anna was thinking something very similar as she replaced Melinda on the couch. “You two are something special, aren’t you?”

Jim chuckled. “We’ve been at this for years,” he said, unlocking his phone. “I’m not usually this involved in it, but I’m glad to be when she asks me to.”

“You guys are really adorable,” Bessie replies with a grin.

Jim’s about to reply when Anna sharply inhales some air, frowning as she looks down at her phone. Jim springs into action.

“Can I see?” Jim asks, offering Anna his hand. With some consideration, Anna puts her wrist in Jim’s hand, watching as he looks it over. “Bessie, do you guys have a first aid kit?”

“In the closet,” Bessie nods.

“Does it have an ace bandage?”

“Yeah.”

“Bring it over, please, and some ice in a bag from the freezer if you have any,” he says, and Bessie rushes to grab the requested materials. When she’s not in earshot, Jim speaks to Anna quietly so no one else can hear: “You know, if it was hurting this much, you shouldn’t have let Katherine grab it so often on the way here…”

Anna huffs.

“How’d you know?” Anna asks, tilting her head.

“When we were walking here,” Jim said, “I noticed that you were wincing, but it wasn’t in time with the walk. Then I saw Katherine take your arm and that’s when you winced.”

Anna is impressed. “All that from looking at me?”

“I’m an EMT back at home,” he explains, taking the first aid kit and pulling out the ace bandage. He wraps it and puts the ice on top.

“Amongst other things, I take it.” Anna replies. “More like us than them, right?”

Jim looks up at her, and Anna smirks a little bit. Jim tilts his head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Anna smiles a bit wider and goes back to researching, leaving Jim confused.

Meanwhile, Melinda had been helping prep for dinner, watching as the other queens and ladies were preparing things as well.

“Are you sure it’s ok if we join you guys for dinner?” Melinda asks, cutting the vegetables as requested.

Catherine smiles. “It’s no problem at all. It’s been a while since we were able to cook for people, anyways.”

Melinda smiles politely back before looking around - she can hear some of the others talking in the other room, she can hear a child laughing again somewhere in the building, and she can already smell the dinner cooking. It seemed… peaceful.

“How many people know about you all?” Melinda asks, going back to preparing vegetables. “The truth, I mean.”

Catherine hums. “Not many. A handful.” She nods towards Cathy, who is putting something in the oven. “Cathy is the one to keep track of that.”

“It’s mainly need to know,” Cathy says. “We don’t exactly want everyone to know, it would scare quite a bit of people.”

“So do you have fake names for the board at the front of the lobby?” Melinda asks, genuinely curious.

Cathy nods. “Just there. It’s not in the programmes or anything. Just didn’t feel right.”

Melinda nods, wincing in pain for a moment before getting her bearings together.

Catherine tilts her head. “Are you ok? Here, eat something,” she says, putting an apple in front of the woman.

Mel shakes her head. “Not really that hungry, sorry,” she mumbles, a hand to her head. She sighs. “I was running a fever back in Grandview, too, when this all happened there.”

“What else happened while you were fighting these… Shadow, things?” Katherine asks, tilting her head curiously.

Melinda swallowed. “I… was consumed by it.”

Cathy tilts her head. “Consumed?”

Mel nods. “It wore me down. I couldn’t differentiate ghosts and visions from people and real life.” Her arms involuntarily cross as she remembers. “It was scary. I didn’t think I’d find my way back. I thought I was lost.”

“What got you back?” Catherine asks.

At that, Melinda smiles. “My son. And the memories of my family, my loved ones - it helped me break through.” She frowns. “We don’t have Aiden around this time, though. He was the reason why I could break through in the first place. He gave the opening. And he’s not here.” She frowns. “So… the big question is, what are we going to do if they try to take one of you?”

No one had an answer for that.

Meanwhile, Jim and Anna were sitting in the living room, looking through papers and websites to find leads. They had sat in relative silence for a while - a comfortable one, but silence nonetheless.

It’s broken when Jim makes a small noise of annoyance and puts down a piece of paper.

Anna raises an eyebrow and looks at him. “You alright, Jim?”

He looks over, a bit surprised by the question, but sighs and answers. “Look, Anna, the last time Melinda dealt with the Shadows… she almost didn’t make it out. It’s practically a miracle that she survived.” He sighs. “I know this is important, and I wouldn’t dream of stopping her from doing her work, but-”

“You don’t want her hurt in the process.” Anna finishes, a knowing nod.

Jim leans back a bit, slightly more relaxed. “Yeah.”

Anna thinks about it for a moment before she stands up and walks over to him. “Listen, Jim… I know we’ve only just met. But from what I can tell, you two have gone through much, much worse.” She points to his hair. “Your reflection is blonde, but you definitely aren’t. So, basically… this isn’t your first body, is it?” She looks him over. “It looks good, by the way, though I think I see what Melinda saw in your reflection, which I’m assuming is your second form? So I can see who you were but in reflections I see the body you’re in now?” She shrugs. “That’s what I’ve come to the conclusion to, anyways.”

Jim sits back, absolutely floored. “I’m extremely impressed that  you figure this out so quickly - I couldn’t even figure it out for a while.”

“It was more of theory than fact, but I’m glad I was right,” she says. “Maybe souls can see souls. And maybe you’re not so different from me and my family, and maybe you’ve been through something similar. I get supporting your wife and all, but you take it to an inhuman level.”

“I’m not…�� He runs a hand through his hair; guess it’s time to come clean, he supposed. “This body was someone else’s before it was mine. He crossed over, and I took his place as soon as he did.” He looks her over. “Originally, Melinda was thinking you guys did something similar to the bodies you have now.”

“We didn’t,” she assures. “I know you can’t completely trust me, but we didn’t. We showed up in these bodies.”

“Have you tried sending off DNA or fingerprints or death records?” He suggests. “We’ve seen weird stuff, Anna, maybe you all happened to die at the same time and you jumped in after that. I didn’t remember doing that at first, either-”

“We didn’t.”

The two look over to find Katherine. She’s standing in the doorway, two plates in her hands, Melinda right behind her.

“Kat-” Anna starts, but Katherine moves into the room, offering Anna and Jim plates. They both take them. Jim moves over so Melinda can sit next to him as Katherine continues.

“We showed up with them,” she says firmly, looking over at Melinda.

Mel nods. “These bodies… they’re here, but they’re not,” she explains. She frowns as she looks at Katherine’s hand. “I get visions any time I touch them, and their energies are so strong… it’s like the Shadows, but not threatening. Not dangerous.”

“That’s… not something we’ve seen before,” Jim says. “Payne might know something about that. He said to call him if anything gets wild, didn’t he?”

“I left a message for him already,” Melinda explains. She sees Jim’s worried look next to her and gently squeezes his hand, letting him know she’s okay. “We’ll have an answer tomorrow.” She looks at the group. “He’s a professor of the occult. Used to work in Grandview, now he’s researching off in the Himalayas.”

“And you think he’ll be able to help us?” Anne asks.

“I think so,” Mel confirmed.

“That’s all we can do for now, right?” Jane asks, looking around. “Just wait until Professor Payne gives us some more information?”

“I think so,” Catherine replies with a nod. She looks at the couple with a soft smile. “You two should get some rest. Call time is fairly early.”

Melinda blinks. “Call time?”

“Well,” Anne says, smiling. “You want this solved as much as we do, right? Might as well give you the best access we can.”

“So you’ll be our VIP guests for as long as you need to be,” Jane continues. “Behind the scenes access before, during, and after the show.”

“We figured it would help with the investigation,” Anna replies. “Maybe help you catch whoever’s behind it, since we’re all in agreement it’s supernaturally aligned.”

“And besides,” Jane says with a teasing grin. “If someone gets injured again, Jim won’t have an excuse for being slow to help.”

Jim chuckles at that and looks over at Melinda. “Well, I guess we’ll reschedule the ghost tour of the Tower of London.”

“Why would you pay for that?” Anne jokes, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ve already met them.”

[my-major-is-k-howard]

Lover

There’s no better way to celebrate my birthday than to share the first chapter of this story that I finally finished editing. This is inspired by “Lover” by Taylor Swift. Hope you guys enjoy!

Word Count: 1469

————————————————————

Ch. 1 - Christmas Lights

Anne smiled to herself as she quietly pushed open the door of the bedroom that she and Cathy shared. She squinted her eyes as the light of the setting sun threatened to blind her. She averted her eyes away from the window to the wall opposite of the bed and focused on the string of fairy lights adorned with Polaroid pictures. Several of them glinted in the light as Anne approached them. Each of them held a special memory of her and Cathy, each one a special moment they had shared in their relationship. 

Anne felt herself getting emotional as she scanned each of the photos briefly, remembering each one vividly as she passed them. It seemed like only yesterday they were falling in love for the first time, sharing their first kisses and “I love you”s. Cathy and Anne had been falling in love every day since then. They had built a home together, filling their lives with laughter and the occasional displays of chaos from the gremlin herself. It never failed to make Anne smile when she remembered she had a home to return to at the end of each day, with her favorite person. Her lover. Catherine Parr.

Anne found her gaze fixed on the first Polaroid they had put up. It was from Christmas a couple years ago. The queens had gotten together at Anne and Cathy’s house to celebrate the occasion. The Polaroid showed all six queens in their best Christmas apparel. Cleves had thrown up her hands in rock n’ roll gestures, while Kat was laughing at her antics. Catherine was posed like a nun with her eyes closed, with Jane doing her best to dab appropriately. In the middle of the photo, Anne was kissing Cathy’s cheek as the latter queen smiled outrageously big at the gesture. 

~~~~~

“Please don’t fall!” Cathy exhaled as she watched Anne precariously perched on a chair, putting the star on top of the Christmas tree.

“I won’t, babe. I’m very careful,” Anne replied, placing the star slightly lopsided on the top of the tree before hopping down from the chair.

“No, you’re not and you know that.” Cathy shook her head slightly. “Help me hang these Christmas lights up?” She gestured to the final string of Christmas lights in her hands.

Anne crossed the room to where Cathy was and wrapped her arms around her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “Of course.” 

The two worked in perfect unison as they wrapped the final lights around the handrail of the stairs, the last place they had chosen to fill with Christmas cheer. They took a step back to admire their work and smiled at each other.

“We make a pretty good team, don’t we,” Anne joked as Cathy giggled. 

“I would hope so. We are in a relationship, love,” Cathy joked back and gave Anne a peck on the cheek. Her gaze shifted back to the lights. “You know, for all the effort we put into decorating, it’s a shame they’ll only be up for a few weeks.”

“Well, we could just keep them up,” Anne commented quietly. “You know, until we decorate for the next holiday.”

Cathy looked to Anne curiously. “Until Valentine’s Day?”

“Yeah! Why not?” Anne beamed at Cathy and flashed her a quick smile. Cathy smiled back and leaned in for a kiss but was rudely interrupted by the doorbell ringing repeatedly. Anne groaned as Cathy left to answer the door.  

“Merry Christmas!” Kat loudly exclaimed to practically everybody in the neighborhood. Anne grinned to herself before following Cathy to greet her overly excited cousin. 

Anne was quickly embraced by Kat as soon as she saw her. “Merry Christmas, Anne!” Anne pulled her cousin a little closer and replied, “Merry Christmas, Kat!”

Anne looked up to see that the other four queens were smiling fondly at them. The two cousins parted and they all exchanged Christmas greetings before Kat ushered them all to the tree.

“You’ve decorated quite nicely,” Jane commented as she placed her and Catherine’s gifts under the tree. 

“Thanks! We added a few finishing touches right before you all arrived,” Cathy mentioned as she watched the pile of presents under the tree grow. “I’m going to make some hot cocoa before we open gifts.”

Kat protested at the delay of opening presents but was quickly appeased by Anna whispering to her that they could cuddle until Cathy returned. Anne was sitting on the couch, watching the exchange with a smile on her face. She was happy that Cleves treated her cousin so well, especially when taking into consideration how terrible her past relationships had been. Anna truly loved Kat and it warmed Anne’s heart to know that. 

Before she knew it, Cathy was returning from the kitchen with a tray of steaming mugs. They each grabbed one before Cathy settled down next to Anne and snuggled into her side. Anne felt butterflies in her stomach as she wrapped an arm around her girlfriend.

“Can we open presents now?” Kat asked impatiently. All the other queens laughed and they began handing out the gifts from under the tree. Of course, Kat ended up with a large pile of presents, much to her delight. Each of the queens began unwrapping their gifts and making excited comments on each as they saw what was underneath the wrapping paper. 

Anne was excited to see what the other queens had gotten her for Christmas. She eagerly ripped the paper of each of her gifts to shreds to reveal what was inside. Jane had gotten her a lovely green sweater that looked like it was knit by hand. Aragon’s gift was a red choker with bells on it that Anne would make sure to annoy the other queens with before the day was over. Kat had gotten her a Nerf gun that Anne was already excited to use against Catherine, which had earned a loud groan from said queen when she saw what the gift was. 

Next, Anne blushed when she saw that Anna’s gift was a framed picture of Cathy. How she even got that picture, Anne had no idea. A quick glance to the girl next to her revealed that Cathy was having a similar reaction to a framed photo of her. 

“You guys are so whipped,” Cleves exclaimed from her spot next to Kat. This caused both girls to turn even deeper shades of red before locking eyes and giggling to themselves.

“You haven’t opened mine yet,” Cathy whispered, gesturing to Anne’s last unwrapped gift.

“I’m saving the best for last,” Anne responded and unwrapped the paper hurriedly. Anne discarded the paper to the side and admired the beautiful leather bound journal that she recognized immediately. “Is this…”

“Yeah. It’s my journal. I finally filled out all the pages in it. I figured since most of the pages are about you anyway I might as well let you read them,” Cathy blushed as she admitted the sentiment behind the gift. 

Anne was so touched by this and slowly leaned in to give Cathy a loving kiss. “I guess it’s fitting that I got you a new journal for Christmas then,” Anne smirked after pulling away and gestured to the blue journal lying next to Cathy. 

“I guess it is,” Cathy smiled and leaned in for another kiss, only to be interrupted by a loud squeal of excitement. 

“NO WAY!” Kat shrieked as she held up the pink Polaroid camera that Anne and Cathy had gotten her. The couple knew that Kat had recently taken interest in photography and were hoping she would enjoy the classic style of the Polaroid. Her reaction definitely didn’t disappoint. Kat quickly skimmed the instruction manual before inserting the film into the camera. “We have to take a picture together!”

All the queens immediately shuffled into position as Kat set up the timer for the picture and put the camera on a ledge. They all smiled at the camera and waited for the flash to go off and the picture to eject. Kat grabbed the photo and set it aside, claiming they needed to take a silly photo too. The other queens all showed their silly sides, while Anne pulled Cathy closer into her side and kissed her cheek. It took fifteen minutes before Anne saw the blush on Cathy’s face from her action.

“Those are so cute,” Aragon commented as Kat showed the other queens the final products.

Kat shyly approached Anne and Cathy before handing them the queen’s silly Polaroid. “Thank you both for the camera. I want you to keep this picture as my ‘thank you,’” Kat whispered to them.

“Aw, babes, that’s so sweet,” Anne cooed to her cousin and gave her a hug. “I hope you enjoy the camera forever, Kitty Kat.”

[ladyfenring]

CH ships Catherine of Aragon x Edward Stafford!!! ❤️❤️❤️ I take back every negative thing I’ve said about her!

She certainly posted a picture of him carrying her!

[raisab332012]

Answer to Did Catherine of Aragon ever regret marrying Henry VIII? by Jade Welch https://www.quora.com/Did-Catherine-of-Aragon-ever-regret-marrying-Henry-VIII/answer/Jade-Welch-1?ch=18&oid=1477743666420249&share=3e3e9ad5&srid=7KVRc&target_type=answer

[secondbutthole]

Reiterate | Ch 1

The sequel y’all have been wanting for Reprise (make sure you read that one first).This fic takes place almost immediately after Reprise, so please keep in mind that there will be themes of recovering from rape involved. Do read with care. Feel free to reblog and leave a comment and stuff! Thank you.

--

The month was long for the queens, but it was longest for Katherine. If it wasn’t for the nightmares that seemed to increase tenfold after the events, it was the guilt of being kept off the show. If it wasn’t the invasive hospital visits (and she gets it, they need to ensure she isn’t pregnant and doesn’t have STDs and that she wasn’t too damaged), it was the therapy she could hardly make herself speak at.

Once the month had passed and the police statements were given, it was just a case of living. Each of the queens noticed that she distanced herself from them all and it hurt them all in different ways. She hardly joined Anne in her schemes anymore; didn’t read with Parr or spend as much time with Jane. She didn’t help Aragon cook and cuddle up to watch TV and she hardly wanted to ever go out with Cleves. They understood it, of course, understood that their Katherine was lost in the haze and the fog of trauma, but it still hurt them.

It was hard. For everyone. And it was especially hardest for Katherine who hardly felt like herself anymore.

“Hey, kid,” Parr approached her with a small smile, a cup of tea held in a steady hand and a small book tucked under her arm. Katherine looked up at her and could only really offer a small, tired smile. Poor woman could barely sleep for very long. She gave the brunette the cup and sat next to her on the sofa, lifting her arm up as an offering and she sighed when Katherine curled up. She noted that she still shook, but a cuddle was progress. “I was wondering if you wanted to read for a little while? Like we used to?”

Katherine gave a small hum before nodding, a small smile playing on her lips as she sipped at the warm liquid in the cup; Chamomile, one of her favourite teas. “What have you got?” She asked softly, missing this sense of normalcy. She straightened a bit, still leaning against the older woman, to look at the book she began to open.

“It’s been a… rough time recently,” Parr began with a hum, “So I thought Winnie the Pooh would be nice to read?” She flushed a little, thumbing through the introduction and into the first chapter. “It’s one of my comfort books. Nothing wrong with something light and easy to digest when you don’t feel amazing, right?”

The youngest nodded, taking another little drink and getting herself comfortable. They’d sat there for an hour, just reading, before Parr suddenly closed the book. Glancing at the time, she smiled softly and played with Katherine’s hair. “You feel like performing tonight?” She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. “It’s been a while and the fans miss you. Get your mind off it-“ Somewhat- “and you don’t have to come out with us after for drinks. I think Aragon mentioned coming home after the show so maybe you and her can relax?”

She thought about it for a moment, considering it for a moment before nodding. She missed singing and dancing, she missed being able to vent through her solo, but she missed being with the Spanish queen too. Katherine managed to have a good relationship with all of them, and they were so behind on RuPaul’s Drag Race, so maybe it would be good for her. “Yeah,” She said slowly, “I think I’d like that.”

As it turns out, Katherine didn’t like it at all. The performance drained her way more than usual, and while she was fine during the first couple of songs, it was only until midway through Get Down that her anxiety grew and grew. The last thing she wanted to do was sing about those men, be touched in the choreography, sing about the realisation that had hit her once again just so recently. She’d given her best performance that night, sobbing out the lyrics and crumping up at the end, on her knees and shaking on the stage floor. The other queens felt awkward, unsure of if they should step in, guilty that they might have pushed her too far, but Katherine just had to grit her teeth.

“And then I was beheaded!” And the show continued.

Through the rest of it, her energy was a lot lower than the other queens. She seemed more dazed, more sluggish in delivering her lines, but the audience probably didn’t notice.

The curtain call couldn’t end fast enough and once stage door was done (she was kept between Anne and Anna for safety), she had her bag ready and on her shoulder and she was just eager to get in the taxi with Aragon like agreed. After saying their goodbyes and their “be safe”s, they got inside the taxi and off they went.

“You did amazing tonight,” Aragon praised with a small grin, glancing out the window every now and then with the fiver already in her hand. “You hit those high notes gorgeously and that was even without being at the rehearsals! Fantastic job, Kitty.”

Katherine could only smile, rubbing at her eye with a small hum. “You did fantastic too, your comedic timing was everything and the crowds ate you up!” She was always so proud of the queens and despite her little breakdown mid-show, she really was glad she could perform today.

“So, who do you think should leave the werk-room today?”

“… Definitely Aja.”

They’d gotten up to Nina’s elimination before the door knocked. Catherine swore as she paused the tv, pressing a kiss to Katherine’s forehead before getting up to answer the door. “Two seconds, Kat! Hello—”

“Miss Howard?” A woman, no older than fifty, asked as she flashed a police badge into the older woman’s face. She was donned in black, a small frown on her face.

“No, I’m… Catherine Aragon,” She spoke slowly, brows knitting together before glancing behind her.  “Hey Kat? You need to come here, babe.”

Katherine came up to the door, wrapped in one of the throws that rested on one of the sofas with a curious hum before she locked eyes with the policewoman. “H… Hello?”

“We caught Mr Dereham, Mr Mannox and Mr Culpepper.” The policewoman spoke softly, and she could only watch in pity as Katherine tensed and took a step back at their names. “They’ve been arrested but, right now, they’re fighting for their innocence despite the evidence.” She took a pause, glancing over at the shocked Catherine. “This… may have to go to court, and it may require your presence but, rest assured, we are trying to not let it get to that point.”

She tipped her hat, glancing away. “We’ll keep in touch, miss Howard. Thank you.”

Katherine felt like a zombie as she walked back to the sofa and sat in it. She barely registered the seat next to her dipping as Aragon joined her. She barely registered the fact she was crying until the other woman thumbed tears away from her cheeks with soft sighs. “I don’t want to see them again, Cath…”

“I know, Kat.”

“I don’t want them to see how they’ve ruined me again.”

“I know, Kat.”

“Please don’t leave me, Catherine,” She sobbed. “Don’t leave me alone with them!”

“Ah, darling,” Catherine crooned, pressing a few kisses to the top of her head and gently rocking them back and forth. It was approaching eleven and the queens wouldn’t be back until two- she knew this for a fact- and it was up to her to make sure Katherine was kept safe and sane. “I will never let them put their hands on you again.”

Aragon hated the powerlessness she felt, hated that Katheirne was hurting again. Hated she’d possibly have to face them so soon. She hated, hated, hated it. But if there was one thing she knew for certain; it was that those three men would definitely be out of Katherine’s life for as long as possible.

She’d ensure it.