Chapter 9
“This way, young one.”
A larger hand guided a small tiefling down the path. The purple skinned tiefling with horns and a tucked tail let himself be guided, pressing further into the warmth.
They were a young tiefling, perhaps in their preteens, but even then they were small for their age. They looked warily at the people they passed. But only one or two gave them glares, the rest either ignored or gave smiles and passing nods. The more this happened, the more their tail untucked and the more their ears perked back up.
The tiefling, Laughter, looked back up to who was guiding them. “Joy, where are we going?”
“To a safe place, young one.” The half-orc told them. Scars traveled up her arms and over her jaw. A claymor rested on her back and a fur cape traveled over her silver armor. She was large and intimidating, but everyone who knows her knows that she is a gentle giant.
“Oh… okay…” Laughter replied slowly.
“Don’t worry, Laughter! You’ll love it! It will help you get back on your feet and can even be a home for you for many years if it needs to be!” Another, older, tiefling spoke, by the name of Hope. She had red skin and curved horns. She didn’t hold a weapon but her hands were calloused and wrapped in bandages.
“It was a home for us. Now it will be yours as well.” A shadow elf, Ace, spoke. A bow and quiver of arrows was over his shoulder and he was dressed as elegantly as an adventurer could.
“Do you think I’ll see Queen Anne?! We’re close to the castle!” Laughter brightened and he looked up at the three adventurers in excitement.
Hope and Joy laughed, even Ace let out a chuckle.
“There’s a chance.” Joy had a knowing smile on her face.
“I still can’t believe you idolize that queen more than me, a true hero!” Ace places a hand over his chest, turning his head away. (All of them knew he looked up to Anne just as much as they did. He just had too much of an ego to admit it.)
“Queen Anne is a true hero too!” Laughter protested with a pout. The trio loved when he would rant like this, he always seemed so much happier. And nothing made him rant more than his idol.
Laughter began to babble. He told of how Anne tricked the demon. How she had been cursed but freed. He told of her adventures.
Hope was smiling happily. Ace had an eyebrow raised but an amused smile on his lips. Joy was chuckling happily, asking questions for Laughter to answer.
“Ah, we’re here!” Hope paces in front of the group a bit to face a building, turning back to give Laughter a smile as he froze mid-story. “Welcome home, Laughter!”
“Woah…” Was all Laughter could say at the sight.
The building was giant and simply beautiful. A garden out front being tended to by several nymphs. Races Laughter had never seen out of hiding or happy and away from prejudice were walking the grounds happily and free. They didn’t look worried. A few looked anxious, but someone was usually next to them giving them encouraging words.
“What is this place…”
“A sanctuary…” Joy answered, a hand resting on Laughter’s shoulder and a peaceful smile on her face.
They walked up to the building, intent on going inside and getting Laughter new clothes and food. But as they reached the door, they noticed someone leaning against it.
“Well look who it is.” Ace crossed his arms with a smirk upon spotting who was standing by the door. “Speak of the shadow and she appears.”
Anne Boleyn perked upon seeing them and began to make her way over.
Laughter froze with a squeak. “Is… is that—?!”
Joy gave him a chuckle. “You wanted to meet the queen, didn’t you?”
“That’s really her?!” Laughter gaped, looking from Joy, to Anne, and back.
“In the flesh, kid!”
Laughter turned back to see Anne giving him a grin. He opened his mouth to speak but kept stumbling over words. Anne didn’t seem disturbed or bothered by it, that smile remaining on her face.
“My queen! I didn’t know you would be here!” Hope had her own grin.
“You can call me Anne, Hope, you know that!” But Anne laughed easily, it didn’t seem condescending at all. “They told me you three were coming back today, so I wanted to wait!”
“Well it’s wonderful to see you.” Joy replied.
“I couldn’t stay away too long.” Anne looked back at the building with a fond smile. “I’m happy it’s going so well…”
“All thanks to you!” Hope beamed. “We’ve had the occasional protests, but those never lead to anything.”
Anne smiles sadly. “I hope it stays that way…”
After becoming queens, all six began to do what they wanted to do with their rulership to help their people.
Catalina had worked on re-establishing foreign trade. Henry had demolished all of it upon taking rulership. She also worked on the finances, making sure towns and people were given what they needed to get back on their feet and find jobs.
Jane had worked on medical care. She established hospitals to heal those hurt by the war and Henry’s reign. Jane also worked on law, with input from her fellow queens of course. (The four ladies had become their council, helping make major decisions.)
The first thing Anna did was bring Holbein back. The town began to flourish again. It became a sanctuary for races and everyone hurt by Henry’s reign. Then, Anna worked on the military. Finding trusted persons to be leaders and also helping Jane establish laws for the mentioned army.
Kat had made a shelter for abused victims, making sure they were well prepared and even had therapy available. She also made sure to help the other queens with whatever they needed along with any citizens that needed the aid.
Cathy’s been writing a book. Not just any book. It was the one of their quest. Telling everything that had taken place from Henry betraying them to the recent end. It was far from finished, but Cathy was writing at a steady pace, the others helping and keeping her from writing day and night.
And Anne… the building they were standing in front of was Anne’s pride. A shelter for prejudiced races across the kingdoms. This was the first one built and Anne already had plans for more to be built outside the city.
Anne shook her head before looking back to Laughter. “Sorry for ignoring you, kid! Got a little caught up in the conversation. I’m Anne Boleyn!”
“I know who you are!” Laughter blurted before he could stop himself. The tiefling blushed.
“He’s a big fan of yours.” Ace gave her a smirk. “I wouldn’t know why… I’m obviously superior.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ace.” Anne tittered before focusing back on the first line. “Big fan, huh?”
“He always loves telling the stories he’s heard of you… you’re his idol.” Hope outed with a fond grin.
“Hope!” Laughter yelped.
Anne only laughed, placing a hand on Laughter’s shoulder, carefully making sure the young tiefling could see it. “Don’t worry, that means a lot to me…”
Laughter absolutely beamed at that. “Really?! Because you’re amazing, you’ve done so much even with everything that happened to you! I love hearing about your quest with the other queens and I just—!”
“It’s okay, kid, calm down! I’m happy you look up to me like that.” Anne gave him a happy grin.
Laughter still looked awestruck. His idol was talking to him! And she was just as nice as he dreamed of!
(What Laughter didn’t tell her was how the stories of her guided him through rough times. The tales of a shadow elf, a so-called demonic race, becoming a hero spread like wildfire through the kingdom and while Laughter was in an abusive situation, stories of her gave him life.)
Anne looked to a nearby clock and gave a disappointed but also excited hum before turning back to Laughter. “I never got your name.”
“It’s Laughter!” Laughter answered happily.
Anne beamed at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Laughter! And it was nice to see you three again as well! Keep up the good work, yeah?”
“You have to leave?” Hope frowned.
“Yeah, Sorry…” Anne looked to Laughter again. “I always make a point to visit. Maybe we can get to know each other next time?” Anne asked gently, giving Laughter a grin. “You seem like a nice kid.”
“Y… yeah! I would love to!” Laughter still looked amazed, tail swishing happily.
Anne giggled and stood, going to step into the shadows.
“Where would you be going so quickly?” Ace asked, finally uncrossing his arms. But then realization dawned in his gaze. “Ah, the wedding is today?”
“Yep.” Anne gave him a smirk. “My cousin’s about to get married to my best friend. And I’m not missing it for the world.”
~~||~~||~~
Katherine Howard was in a dressing room, pacing the floor.
She was dressed beautifully. A pink dress trailed down to her ankles, highlighted with white to honor the color tradition. Flowers adorned her hair and dress. Her hair was done up in a braid rather than her usual ponytail.
She continued pacing back and forth in front of the mirror, a worried look on her face.
Jane was with her, the motherly elf dressed just as elegantly. “Come sit down, love.” She gently pat the open spot next to her on the couch.
Kat paused in her pacing. She stared for a long moment before coming over to sit down.
Jane wrapped an arm around Kat’s shoulder, holding her close. “Do you remember what you told me before I married Anna? When you were still gaining your confidence and I was unsure if I could marry the love of my life?”
Kat remained silent.
“You told me that she was nothing like Henry. That the reason I was so scared was because of how much I loved her.” Jane continued, not worried by Kat’s silence. “Back then, it resonated with me because of just how confident this anxious young woman seemed in that moment. But also… it hit me because of just how right you were.”
“... it’s true.” Kat hummed, making Jane laugh.
“That’s right. And it’s the same for you. You love her and you don’t want to lose her. I promise you, you and Cathy will forever love each other.” Jane told Kat with a fond smile, tucking a strand of hair behind Kat’s ear.
Kat hummed at the touch, meeting Jane’s eyes. “You’re right… I just…”
Before Kat could finish her thought, they were interrupted.
The door opening and closing caught both of their attention and they looked up to find Anne standing in front of the now closed door.
She had changed into a suit, a dark green one with the same colored tie she was currently adjusting. She wore black pants and a white undershirt. Her hair was up in its usual space buns and a flower was perched behind a pointed ear.
She stared at Kat for a long moment, a soft smile stuck on her lips and the softest of gazes in her eyes.
“Chaton… you look beautiful.”
Kat was quickly standing and reaching Anne’s side in seconds. She took Anne’s hands and smiled rather shyly at her. She opened her mouth to say something, only to stop in her tracks.
Because Anne was crying now. Tears falling down her cheeks and small sobs escaping her lips. Kat quickly moved her hands up to cup Anne’s cheeks.
“Annie! Are you okay?!”
“Gods…” Anne let out a laugh mixed with a sob as Kat wipes away the tears on cheeks. “Sorry for crying on your special day. It's just… I wasn’t quite sure I would be freed for this back when I was… you know.”
Realization hit both Kat and Jane, the latter having reached their side. Kat wrapped her arms around Anne, pulling her into a deep hug, Jane pulled the both of them close to her.
“I’m so happy you’re with us and you would still be a part of this, shadow or not… you’ll still walk me down the aisle, right?” Kat asked, careful to not ruin Anne’s suit.
Anne laughed, crying fading away. “I wouldn’t give that opportunity up for the world.”
“... should I do this, Annie?”
“Hm? Do what? You mean… the wedding?” Anne blinked in surprise.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Jane asked, steering them both back over to the couch. Kat sat between them now.
“Wedding nerves?” Anne asked with a small chuckle.
“I guess so… Jane’s already helped a bit… but still…”
Jane remained quiet, rubbing Kat’s back and letting Anne say her piece now.
“You know… during this quest, I think the one thing that always stayed the same was love.” Anne was nodding to herself. “And gods, trapped with Cathy, watching you two together… I’ve always known for a fact that you two belong together.”
Kat watched for a long moment. “I… I do love her… that’s why I don’t understand why I’m this scared.”
“You’re doing this in front of a crowd for one thing.” Anne gave her a laugh. “And you love Cathy, that’s reason enough to be worried… and well… your past…”
Kat nodded slowly. Those reasons made sense.
“I promise it’ll be okay, Chaton.” Anne soothed. “You love Cathy and Cathy loves you.”
“And we’ll be with you every step of the way.” Jane agreed as Kat sat back up straight again.
“Once you get married you’ll get to give Cathy many more one on one performances.” Anne said suggestively. She couldn’t resist teasing.
Kat slapped her shoulder, flushing. “Annie! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Anne snorted. “Oh no, I definitely know that you two use sound proof spells.”
Kat squawked and Jane sighed, shaking her head in both fondness and exasperation.
“And really? Don’t know?” Anne was teasing her now with a grin. “You guys forgot the spell one night and I definitely recall some hickeys!”
“ANNE!”
Anne burst out into laughter as Kat blushed. The trio quickly entered into small bickering from there.
Eventually, the group’s chatter died down after a moment and Jane looked to the clock before giving Kat’s hand a squeeze. “It’s almost time. Are you ready?”
Kat beamed. “As I’ll ever be.”
“Then I’ll see you out there.” Jane gave her one last hug before heading out the door to stand where she needed to with Anna.
Anne gave Kat a kiss on her forehead. “You’re strong. You’re amazing. And you can do this. You love her. And I am so, so proud of you Chaton.”
“You are?”
“I always have been and I always will be.”
~~||~~||~~
In another room, a very similar set of events was taking place.
“Madrina, I don’t know if I can do this…”
Cathy looked just as beautiful as Kat. She was in more of a dress and suit. A blue skirt stretched to her ankles but was opened wide in the front to show black pants. The blue trailed up to form sleeves and a black belt was around her waist along with a white undershirt. She had her hair done normally only with pink flowers laced through it.
The wizard looked anxious, hands on the dresser and her head bowed over it as she took deep breathes.
“You and Gatita love each other, Mija… I know you can.”
Catalina was dressed in a golden dress with black highlights and a black belt. The back of her dress was closed, hiding most of her scars with only a bit peeking from the exposed sliver between her hair and the dress.
She was next to Cathy, rubbing the woman’s shoulders.
“But what if something goes wrong? What if one of us dies… what if… what if I leave her again?” Cathy asked worriedly.
“You’re overthinking again, Bücherwurm…” Anna soothed, placing a hand on Cathy’s shoulder.
The barbarian was with them too, in a suit like Anne’s only with red instead of green and her silver gloves still there.
Cathy swallowed, taking a shuddering breath. “Is it overthinking when I almost died?”
Catalina and Anna both paused, not quite knowing what to say to that. They shared a glance over Cathy’s head.
“I almost… I almost left her when I promised I would always be there.” Cathy’s fists were clenched white. “What if next time… it’s more than almost.”
“Mija…”
Cathy turned to face them now, tears falling down her cheeks. “When he was taking my magic core... I thought I was dying. I apologized to all of you. But Kat… I just hoped all of you could keep her safe for me.”
There was a moment of silence and then…
“That’s exactly why you should marry her.”
Cathy stared at Catalina in surprise. “What?”
“Caring that much about her… worrying that you’ll leave her… to the point of being reluctant to promise yourself to her? That’s the reason you should marry her.” Catalina explained, looking Cathy in the eye with a knowing smile. “You love her enough to stress this much.”
Anna jumped in. “And don’t think about leaving her like that. You need to treasure your moments together. I know that even in death the two of you will always treasure each other and those moments… besides… we aren’t losing either of you two that easily until we’re all old and wrinkly.” Anna teased gently.
Cathy bit her lip. “Promise? I can’t… I can’t do that again…”
Catalina cupped Cathy’s cheeks. “I swear to you, Mija. None of us will let it happen. Your wife least of all.”
Cathy had a small smile at that.
“We’ll always have your back, Bücherwurm.” Anna gave her a grin.
“Thank you… both of you.” Cathy breathed out, looking lighter than she had before.
“Of course! Are you ready?” Anna asked gently.
Cathy took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and nodded. “I’m ready to marry the love of my life.”
“I’ll go tell them that you’ll be there in just a minute. You’ve got this Cathy.” Anna said, giving Cathy a confident nod and smile before heading out the door.
For a moment after Anna left, Cathy and Catalina stood there, holding each other close and looking at Cathy in the mirror.
“Can I really do this, Madrina?”
Catalina hummed. “I believe you can. You and Gatita belong to each other, Mija. You are brave… you can do this. And I know for a fact you will never regret it.”
Cathy let out a small laugh. “Do you think I’ll have to do this for you when you get married to Anne?”
Catalina flushed but managed to keep her composure. “Who knows, Mija. We’ll just have to see.”
That only made Cathy laugh louder. Catalina soon joined her. Eventually, their laughter died down and Catalina gave a glance to the clock.
It was time.
“Your mother would have loved to be here.” Catalina whispered, pulling back. “And I’m sure wherever she is, she’s proud of you.”
“Do you think so?”
“I know so, Mija.”
“... what about you, Madrina?”
“Mija, you know I will always be proud of you. Now come along, you’re supposed to be waiting for a beautiful elf right now!”
~~||~~||~~
Everyone in the pews quieted.
Anna and Jane stood up at the front and off to the side, going to be by their friends’ sides. Bessie was actually going to be officiating the wedding and the other three ladies in waiting were sitting in the front row. The children were next to them, two beaming and one smiling softly.
The music began playing and Catalina and Cathy walked in first. They made their way down the aisle. Once at the stand, Catalina gave Cathy one more hug before stepping to Anna and Jane.
Cathy inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. And when she opened them, Kat stood at the end of the hall.
Their eyes locked and neither could look away. Neither of them hardly noticed the tears already gathering in their eyes.
This was really happening?
Anne and Kat soon reached Cathy and Anne gave Kat a kiss on the cheek and Cathy a wink before joining the others.
“Hi…” Cathy whispered.
“Hey…” Kat greeted in turn. Both had dopey smiles on their faces.
All they could really focus on was each other, replying to the prompts and faintly listening to Bessie as they simply took each other in.
Throughout all of it, neither could regret their decision to walk out and stand here. The others had been right.
Soon came the vows.
“Kat… you’re the love of my life.” Cathy took a deep breath. “When I look at you I see a beautiful woman. One who has been through hell and back at the hands of evil. And you’ve come out so much stronger… I remember when we first got together. You calmed me down when I was overthinking and told me it was all going to be okay. And it is. We freed Anne, we stopped Henry. We won. We’re still together. And I promise to never leave. I won’t ever hurt you like those cowards did. And my almost death will not repeat… I love you, Kat.” By the end of it, Cathy was crying.
Kat blinked tearfully for a few moments before managing to speak, the tears finally sliding down her cheeks.
“Cathy, I truly think you’re my soulmate…” Kat gently reached forward and took Cathy’s hand in her own. “Cathy… before I met you and the other queens… I had given up. I had been used as a toy and abused all my life… until I met all of you. You… you specifically, helped me get my life back. With you I learned what real love is… and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You’re sweet, and kind, and so, so wise. You’re simply beautiful, that’s the best way I can describe it. I promise to always be by your side. To help you as you’ve helped me. And I promise to protect you as I know you’ll protect me…”
Neither could stop themselves from leaning forward until their foreheads pressed together.
Off to the side, Anne wiped at her eyes and glanced to the other three. They were all crying too… Anne couldn't blame them for that. She simply took Catalina’s hand and rested her head on the paladin’s shoulder, continuing to watch.
“Katherine Howard, do you take Catherine Parr to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Kat grinned. “I do.”
“And do you—?”
“I do.” Cathy rushed out.
Bessie only laughed. “I’m sure Kat appreciates the rush, but you need to let me finish, Cathy.”
Cathy blushed and there was a moment of laughter before Bessie repeated the phrase.
Cathy smiled back at Kat. “I do.”
Bessie beamed at both of them, closing the book. “Then I now pronounce you two wife and wife! You may kiss the bride.”
The now married couple kissed eagerly and the people erupted into cheers. The other queens were the loudest.
Anne couldn’t stop grinning as she clapped and cheered. She looked up and met Catalina’s eyes. Human and shadow elf smiled happily at each other and connected in a kiss of their own.
That day was one of the happiest ones Anne could remember, even if it wasn’t her special day. Because that day told her it would all be okay now. It was finally over.
They were all going to be okay.