Anne Boleyn
In her past life, Anne Boleyn was known as the temptress. She was also known for her temper and sharp wit. Not to mention her beheading. Much less known was her humorous side. The side that pranked and joked with members of the castle staff when Henry and his trusted circle wasn’t looking.
In her new life, Anne was the jokester of the household. Jokes and pranks were common from the second queen, even more so now that she had gotten Kat in on it. This life, she was free to make as much fun, or chaos, as she wanted too without having to look over her shoulder every second.
But Anne was far from actually happy. Almost every night she woke up from a nightmare, and lately, it had kept her from falling asleep at all. But lately, she wasn’t waking up screaming, she would jolt awake and lay there, unable to sleep any longer.
She refused to go to the other queens. They all had their own problems to deal with. The fact that she wasn’t waking them all up with a scream was even better.
But the other queens were noticing that something was wrong. They hadn’t been woken up by a scream from Anne for a while, and they had to admit they were both hopeful and concerned. The hope was thrown out the window and the concern only grew upon catching the dark circles under Anne’s eyes.
But it wasn’t just the nightmares and not sleeping they were noticing.
~~||~~||~~
It all started on one cloudy morning. Four of the six queens were out of the house on a shopping trip, leaving behind Catherine and Anne.
The first queen was upstairs, she had a new book she wanted to read and now was the perfect time to do it.
Meanwhile, Anne was in the kitchen, baking. It was something she never really did in her past life, or this life.
But the queens had been so nice in this new life, and Anne had pondered what she could do in return for a while. So she decided to bake a cake for them, and since almost everyone was out, it was the perfect time.
So Anne placed the finished cake in the oven and set the timer.
As she waited, she sat in the living room, completely focused on a new game. But she was so focused that she didn’t hear the timer. The smell of smoke was what caught her attention.
Anne yelped and tossed the console on the couch as she rushed into the kitchen.
There wasn’t much smoke, but it was still there. Anne quickly grabbed the oven mitts and opened the oven door, letting out even more smoke.
Anne began a chant of curses in French as she coughed between each word.
Catherine had heard the commotion and quickly made her way downstairs. She froze upon seeing the smoke before quickly rushing forward to help Anne. She opened the windows to let the smoke out as Anne pulled the black cake out and slammed it down on the counter.
After doing everything she could about the smoke, Catherine turned to face Anne. The other queen was simply staring at the cake, scowling at it.
“You forgot about it?” Catherine asked slowly. A small shrug was the response.
“That’s alright, Querida.” Catherine continues, moving to Anne’s side. “You could have waited for Jane if you wanted a cake.”
Anne grimaced and shook her head. “It was supposed to be a surprise for you guys.”
Catherine seemed confused by that. “A surprise?”
Anne looked sheepish as she shifted slightly. “Just… For everything.”
Catherine understood immediately and her face softened. She reached over and picked up the burnt cake, striding over to dump it in the trash can before placing the pan into the sink.
“Let the oven air out a little longer and then I can help with a new one.”
Anne blinked owlishly. “What?”
Catherine chuckled. “I said, I can help with a new cake.”
“You would do that?” Anne asked slowly, clearly confused.
“I’m in on the surprise now, and we have a while longer before the others are due home.” Catherine said simply.
Anne beamed at Catherine and set about pulling out the ingredients again while Catherine found the bowls and washed down the needed tools.
The next cake was absolutely delicious.
~~||~~||~~
The queen's household is full of different systems. Chores were one of them.
Once a week, everyone would have a different room to clean alongside cleaning their rooms.
This week, Anne was to clean the bathroom.
But when Jane went in, the bathroom wasn't cleaned at all. So she went downstairs and found Anne perched in an armchair, a book in hand.
The green queen was completely absorbed with her book, paying no attention to Jane. So the silver queen made her way over and gently tapped Anne on the shoulder.
Anne jolted but looked up at Jane with a smile. “Hi, Mère!”
“Hello, Anne.” Jane greeted in return. “You never cleaned the bathroom.”
Anne rubbed at her neck. She only scratched when extremely nervous or scared, but rubbing was still a sign of nervousness.
“Shit. Sorry, Mère.” Anne said, a sheepish grin on her face. “Got distracted.”
“Language.” Jane admonished, but her smile betrayed her anger. “Why don’t you go do it now before you forget again?”
“Yeah, sure!” Anne agreed as she slid out of the armchair.
It didn’t get done until later that evening when Anne suddenly remembered it out of nowhere.
~~||~~||~~
Anna had enough of Anne’s new sleeping habit. It had been going on for a day or two and Anna was going to do something about it.
She found the green queen in the attic, controller in hand as she played through a level.
“We need to talk.” Anna said immediately. Anne frowned and paused the game, looking over at Anna.
“About what?”
“Your sleeping habits.”
Anne tensed slightly, feigning confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We’ve all noticed, Verrücktes Mädchen.” Anna said simply.
“I’m fine, Anna.” Anne muttered, hand rubbing at her neck.
“Anne—!”
“I’m fine!” Anne snapped standing up. “Can’t any of you leave me alone for five fucking seconds?! I don’t get on your case for looking up your portrait all the time!”
Both women froze.
“Merde— Anna, I didn’t mean— je suis navrée.” Anne muttered, refusing to look at Anna.
“So… You know about that?” Anna asked quietly as she walked over to Anne.
“Yeah… I’m sorry.”
“That’s— it’s okay.” Anna said as she placed a hand on Anne’s shoulder. “Just… try to get some sleep, okay? We’re all worried about you.”
“Okay... I'm sorry…”
“I know.”
Anne didn’t get any sleep that night. Neither did Anna.
~~||~~||~~
Once a week, the queens went out for breakfast. It was something different than making their own breakfast, and it was something they all enjoyed. Most of the queens were ready and waiting to leave. But one queen was absent.
“Has anyone seen Anne?” Jane asked as she took a seat on the couch.
“No, she’s usually down here by now.” Catherine said, frowning as she glanced towards the stairs.
“I’ll go check on her!” Kat spoke up, making her way to the stairs before anyone could argue otherwise. She made her way to Anne’s bedroom and paused upon hearing a slam.
“Annie?” Kat asked as she edged the door open. She froze in surprise.
Anne was fully dressed and ready to leave, but was digging frantically through a drawer.
Kat frowned and made her way to Anne’s side. She placed her hand on her cousin’s shoulder and Anne immediately jumped. But this allowed Kat to see the problem.
Anne wasn’t wearing her choker.
“Chaton, I can't find it.” Anne muttered as she turned back to the drawer again.
Kat frowned, imagining if she had lost her own choker. She gently took Anne’s hands and guided her over to the bed, making the green queen sit down.
“That’s alright, Annie.” Kat comforted, still standing as she let go of Anne’s hands. “Do you remember where you left it last night?”
“That’s the problem. I can’t remember!” Anne practically growled. Her foot tapped rapidly against the floor and her hands drifted towards her neck. Kat quickly retook Anne’s hands upon seeing this.
“I need you to calm down, Anne.” Kat spoke. “I’ll help you look, and if we can’t find it before we leave, you can wear a scarf to breakfast.”
Anne considered Kat’s words. “Okay.” She agreed after a moment of thinking.
Kat smiled at this and helped Anne stand back up. Together, they made their way through each drawer in the room.
No choker could be found.
“We’ll look when we get home, promise.” Kat said as she pulled down a green scarf from the top of the closet.
Anne let Kat gently wrap the scarf around her neck. She made to exit the room but stopped when Kat didn’t follow her. “Chaton?”
Kat unclasped her own choker and quietly moved past Anne. Concerned, her cousin followed her down the hall and into Kat’s room. Kat placed the choker on her dresser and made her way over to her closet. Anne watched curiously as seconds later, Kat pulled down her own pink scarf.
“Chaton, you don’t have to—!”
“I want to.” Kat explained as she fumbled with her scarf. It had been awhile since she wore it. “I know you’re more comfortable with your choker, so maybe it will make you more comfortable if I wear my own scarf!”
Anne stared blankly for several seconds before a small smile stretched across her face. She made her way across the room and helped Kat put on the scarf.
“Thank you, Chaton.” Anne said happily, smiling up at her cousin.
“Of course, Annie. Now, how about some pancakes?” Kat asked as she looped her arm with Anne’s, leading her out of the room.
Later that day, Kat would find the lost choker sitting on the bathroom sink. She would bring it triumphantly to Anne, who would let out a cheer of relief as she placed it around her neck.
~~||~~||~~
It was a nice day outside. Occasionally, on days like these, Cathy likes to go out. She would go to the library and read there before simply walking around the town.
So she grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs, where she was met with Anne. The other queen was draped across the couch, eyes glued to the tv.
“Can you tell the other queens I went to the library?” Cathy asked as she moved over to the door.
“I’ll go with you!” Anne said instead, standing from her seat.
“Really?” Cathy asked, surprised.
“Yeah, I read!” Anne said with a snicker. “Let me write a note and then we can go.”
So they made their way to the library, where Cathy immediately claimed the table in the corner for them.
Both soon had a pile of books, although Anne’s was considerably smaller.
As Cathy read, she heard a noise.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She glanced across the table and saw Anne’s fingers tapping rapidly against the table as she read. Cathy winced but didn’t say anything.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
But the tapping was so loud.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
This went on for several minutes with Cathy struggling to keep her attention on her book and to not shout at Anne.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cathy finally snapped.
Cathy’s fist slammed down onto the table. Anne jumped, eyes widening as her head jolted to face Cathy. Both of Cathy’s hands went up and covered her ears.
“STOP THAT!” Cathy cried out, squeezing her eyes shut.
Anne flinched, staring wide eyed at Cathy.
“Excuse me, but if you’re going to yell like that, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” The librarian offered, making her way over to them.
Cathy didn’t offer her a response, instead grabbing her bag and placing the books back on the shelves. Anne was still quiet through all of it, even as they finally made their way out the door.
“I’m sorry.” Anne mumbled as they turned the corner to their house. “For the tapping.”
Cathy’s steps faltered as she glanced at Anne. “No… I’m— I’m sorry about freaking out. It was just so loud…”
Anne furrowed her brows and watched Cathy for a moment. Then as they reached the front door, she finally asked one last question. “What book were you looking at getting? I can’t remember what it’s called.”
Cathy frowned as she turned to fully face Anne. “It was ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.’ Apparently, it’s a classic in modern literature. I know what you’re planning and you don’t have to do it.”
“I’m going to the stores later anyways.” Anne said, clearly not going to take no for an answer. “I’ll get it then.”
Cathy watched Anne enter the front door before quietly following behind.
The next morning after breakfast, Cathy found not just the first book, but also ‘Chambers of Secrets,’ laying on her bed.
~~||~~||~~
Over the next few days, the queens began to notice the sleeping problem getting worse.
They knew for sure now that Anne wasn’t sleeping. She was nodding off at random times only to snap herself awake. The dark circles under her eyes were noticeable as well.
This was correct. Anne wasn’t sleeping. For the past few days, every time she tried a nightmare or memory would wake her up almost immediately, leaving her awake for the rest of the night. As she laid awake, she also began thinking about how annoying everything must have been for the other queens, which was no help.
For some reason, these nightmares haven’t left her screaming like they used to. This meant none of the other queens were coming to her side. Anne would never admit it, but she missed it. Still, she refused to bother them.
But that all changed during one nightmare.
~~||~~||~~
It was as if watching a movie on repeat. She had seen these events millions of times before, always playing out the exact same way.
It was strange. It was hard for Anne to remember details sometimes, yet her execution was so, so clear in her mind.
Her ladies came in and guided her down the hallways. The sunlight pierced her eyes, followed by the wild cheering and laughter of the many who had come to attend the execution.
Henry’s face. Jane’s face. Her own family’s faces. Elizabeth’s face.
Her speech passed as a blur.
A blindfold was wrapped around her eyes and she dropped to her knees.
The cheering. The damn cheering.
She heard the sliding of metal against metal and felt a harsh sob force its way out of her throat. But still, she forced the smile onto her face. She refused to let Henry take that from her.
Then there was a burning agony.
A strangled scream escaped her lips. She wasn’t dead. Why was she not dead? Did the execution go wrong?
She was still blindfolded, unable to see. But the crowd was still cheering.
It was confusing. Was she dead? Had the sword even been swung yet? If not, then why did her neck feel as if it was on fire?
Her body felt numb, but suddenly, she felt a touch. It was as if her body had been reactivated and Anne could feel the hands grasping at her wrists, pulling them away from her neck.
Upon feeling the hands, a frantic feeling welled up in Anne’s chest. She began struggling, kicking and screaming.
She didn’t want to die. She never wanted to.
“LAISSE-MOI! LAISSE-MOI!” Anne screamed. “HENRY S’IL TE PLAIT! JE NE VEUX PAS MOURIR!”
She slowly stopped struggling and choked out. “Je ne veux pas mourir…”
But through the cheering crowd came a very familiar voice. “It’s just me, querida. I need you to listen to my voice. No one will hurt you.” The voice repeated itself several times as the cheering crowd slowly faded and Anne registered who the voice belonged to.
“Lina?” Anne whimpered, eyes still shut and body tense.
“That’s right, querida.” The familiar voice soothed. “I need you to open your eyes for me.”
“Lina— je ne peux pas— ils vont me tuer!” Anne wheezed as her breathing picked back up again.
“Anne! Querida! Breathe… I need you to breathe…” Catherine continued slowly. “You are not about to die. You are in your bedroom, in the 21st century. I am here and so are the other queens. We are all worried about you, so I need you to open your eyes. Come back to us, Querida.”
“Bandeau.” Anne muttered, shaking her head.
“There is no blindfold, Querida. You are home. Open your eyes.”
Slowly, Anne cracked open her eyes. She was met with light, making her wince. She was also met with five anxious queens standing around her.
Kat and Cathy stood by the door, Kat with a first aid kit and pack of wipes. Jane and Anna stood by the bed, eyes wide with concern. Catherine sat on the bed in front of her, thumbs rubbing soothing circles into the back of her hands. The golden queen smiled upon seeing Anne finally open her eyes.
“There you are.” Catherine hummed.
“Accueil?” Anne asked slowly, still not completely out of her nightmare.
Catherine’s french was rusty, she hasn’t had the need to use it for a while. But she was using it now and she also recognized that word. “That’s right, Querida. Home.”
Then, it was as if all of the fight left Anne along with any remaining energy. She shuddered and let herself slump forward into Catherine. She placed her face against the other queen’s shoulder, hiding from all of the queens.
One of Catherine’s hands came loose from Anne’s wrist and wrapped around Anne’s body. The other hand trailed from Anne’s other wrist to her hand, entwining their fingers together.
This was one of Anne’s worst nightmares, it always felt real, but this time, it was like she felt her neck being cut. Her neck burned and she could feel the blood oozing down her neck and fingertips. But the worst part was, she wanted nothing more than to drift back to sleep. She didn’t care about the pain or possible nightmares.
“Fuck. I’m tired…” Anne mumbled absently, her eyes drifting shut again but her mind refusing to sleep.
“How long has it been since you slept, querida?” Catherine asked gently.
Anne thought about it for a moment. “A few days? Dunno.”
“You need to let Jane bandage your neck, and then you can go back to sleep, alright?” Catherine told Anne, earning a hum in response.
“Come here, Querida.” Catherine murmured. Anne was light enough that Catherine easily pulled the woman fully onto her lap.
Faintly, Anne felt confusion. Catherine was never this open with her affection, even with the other queens and especially not with Anne. When they held hands, Catherine was always making sure the others couldn’t see and it was almost strictly for comfort. How loudly had she been screaming? And just how bad was her neck? Considering the blood caking her nails, Anne figured the answer would be terrible.
Anne simply sat there, maintaining her death grip on one of Catherine’s hands. Jane and Kat made their way over to the bed as well.
After handing Jane the first aid kit, Kat made her way around the bed to sit next to her cousin. One of Anne’s hands unlatched from her grip on Catherine and reached towards Kat.
Kat gently took the hand and opened the pack of wipes. She began cleaning the blood from Anne’s hand, trying to ignore her own creeping memories.
“Can you tell us why you haven’t slept?” It was Anna who asked the question this time. Her and Cathy had also made their way over and sat on the edge of the bed, out of everyone’s way, but still present.
“Memories.” Anne answered. She wasn’t going to mention the annoyance she held at herself.
No one pressed further. They knew exactly what memories kept her from sleeping. It was the same ones that left her screaming.
After a few minutes, Jane put the first aid kit away and Kat had cleaned up Anne’s hands.
Anne let her head fall back against Catherine. Her eyes began to drift close but she immediately forced them back open. She didn’t want to remember anymore. She didn’t want to die again.
“Annie, you can sleep now.” Kat said as she reached over and gently took hold of Anne’s shoulder.
“We’ll all be right here.” Cathy agreed immediately, turning the light off. Sure enough, through the dark, Anne noticed that everyone had moved to get more comfortable. At some point, Catherine managed to move herself and Anne so they were leaning against the headboard. Kat was right next to the two, curled up with a pink blanket and also with Cathy, who had made her way over and laid right next to the pink queen with her own blue blanket. Anna and Jane were right next to them as well, making it work despite the size of the bed.
Anne was still uncertain and fought to keep her eyes open. But soon, someone began humming. Anne blinked and glanced around her. The person humming was Jane, and upon noticing the other queen staring through the darkness, the silver queen gave Anne a serene smile.
Anne felt her eyes drifting close and couldn’t fight it anymore. She let herself drift off, surrounded by warmth and the humming of a peaceful melody.
When she began crying in her sleep again, arms wrapped around her a little tighter, followed by gentle words that calmed her yet again.
No more nightmares followed that night.
~~||~~||~~
Over the next few days, everyone kept a close eye on the green queen. Making sure she slept properly and took care of herself.
While the other queens looked after Anne, Cathy began researching. It began with nightmares and calming techniques, but soon Cathy found herself looking up hyperactivity.
That’s when she found an article. ADHD.
There were several symptoms Cathy was sure Anne had shown.
Easily distracted. That could explain what happened with Catherine and the baking incident.
Struggling to complete tasks and hyperfocusing. The times Jane has to remind Anne of the chores.
Temper and blurting out thoughts. When Anna tried to confront Anne about not sleeping, although the others were never told what Anne said.
Constantly losing or misplacing things. Kat had to help Anna find her choker, and it wasn’t uncommon for Anne to lose other items as well.
Constantly fidgeting. Cathy thought back to when Anne kept tapping at the table, along with how hard it was for the second queen to keep still.
It was as if everything clicked. But Cathy wasn’t a doctor. She simply noticed correlations.
She needed to go to Anne about this.
~~||~~||~~
Cathy found Anne up in the attic. She was playing a game with Anna and Kat. Upon seeing her, all three girls paused the game.
“Can I speak to Anne?” Cathy asked. The mentioned queen seemed surprised but quickly followed Cathy down the stairs.
After they left, Anna glanced at Kat. “Kill her character?”
“Of course!”
Down in Cathy’s room, Cathy took a seat in her desk chair, pulling her laptop onto her lap as she swiveled to face Anne, who sat on the edge of the bed.
“So, what’s up?” Anne asked.
“Have you ever heard of something called ADHD?” Cathy asked, jumping straight to the point.
Anne furrowed her brows, leaning forward slightly. “Nope, can’t say I have.”
“Well, ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Cathy explained. “And… I think you may have it.”
Anne paused, staring wide eyed at Cathy. “Uh… Care to repeat that?”
“I think you may have ADHD.”
“Okay… I still don’t know what it is?”
Cathy immediately launched into an explanation. She explained how ADHD occurred, symptoms, and everything else.
Anne paid close attention through it all. She recognized what Cathy was getting at.
“Huh… It sounds possible.” Anne agreed.
“Do you think you had symptoms in your past life as well?”
Anne pondered this. She remembered fidgeting during court, earning glares from Henry. Her parents lectured her for not being ladylike as a child. Unruly, she was called. She showed other symptoms too, such as zoning out and losing items.
“Yeah. Everyone called me an unruly child.” Anne said with a smirk.
Cathy chuckled as the two fell into a silence. Then, Anne looked at Cathy questioningly.
“What do we do now?” Anne asked almost eagerly.
Cathy smiled. “Well, we need to see an actual doctor about this. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah!” Anne said before pausing and giving Cathy a worried look. “Can we wait until after the appointment to tell the queens? Just in case we’re wrong?”
“Of course.” Cathy answered with understanding. “I’ll call the doctor later today then.”
So, the two left the room, Cathy grabbing her notebook along the way. They separated as Cathy headed for the living room and Anne went back upstairs to the attic. But before Cathy could settle, she heard a shout accompanied by a small string of French curses.
“WHAT?! COME ON, I WAS GOING TO WIN THIS ONE!”
~~||~~||~~
The doctor’s appointment confirmed it. Anne had ADHD. The next morning she would be started on medication that would hopefully help. On the walk home, Cathy called the other queens so they would be ready to talk when Anne and herself returned home.
But Anne was filled with anxiety.
What if the medication didn’t help? What if the other queens hated her for this?
“The doctor said to call if he needs to change the prescription or dosage and the others could never hate you.” Cathy suddenly spoke up.
“What?” Anne asked, head swiveling to look at Cathy, who gave her a smirk.
“You were speaking out loud.”
Anne winced. “Right… Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” But before either could say anything else, they reached the door. “Are you ready to go in?”
“I have to at some point, might as well just do it.” Anne said, hiding her nervousness with a smile.
Cathy nodded and led Anne through the front door. They found the other queens sitting in the living room, waiting for them. They all gave the two smiles as they made their way over to sit down with them.
There was a stretch of silence as four queens wondered why the meeting was called and the other two tried to think of what to say.
“So, Cathy and I just went to the doctor.” Anne finally got out. Immediately, everyone else looked concerned.
“The doctor? Do either of you feel sick at all?” Jane asked quickly.
“No, no.” Cathy answered quickly. “It was about… something else.”
“Do you guys know what ADHD is?” Anne was the one who asked.
Several confused and negative responses was the answer.
“Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Cathy said. She was the one who launched into the explanation, Anne chipping in with her own information every now and then.
The queens were all very attentive, asking questions and responding with kindness.
“So, I start my medication tomorrow, too…” Anne finished.
“That’s wonderful, Anne!” Jane said kindly.
“Is there anything else we need to know?” Anna asked.
“I dunno, just… be there I guess? And understand?” Anne said with a shrug. Honestly, she didn’t know what they could do differently.
All the other queens nodded.
“Why don’t we order pizza and bring the switch downstairs?” Kat spoke up, climbing to her feet. “We can have a tournament.”
“I’ll order the pizza.” Jane replied. Then she turned to Cathy. “Cathy, would you like to help me get out some chips as well?”
She received a smile and nod in response as the author followed her to the kitchen.
“I’ll get the switch if you get the games.” Anna offered to the pink queen, following her up the stairs.
As the other queens made their way to gather what they needed, Catherine slowly took hold of Anne’s hand. This earned her a beaming smile.
“I’m proud of you.” Catherine said gently.
It took Anne a moment to respond, but when she did she gave Catherine a grin. “I think I’m proud of myself too.”
~~||~~||~~
The next morning, Anne would begin her medication. None of the other queens would make a big deal other than small questions of how she felt later in the day. But they all did their own research, finding ways to help their fellow queen as well as to make sure they didn’t do anything they shouldn’t.
Whenever Anne had a nightmare, that she didn’t wake up screaming from, or simply couldn’t sleep, she made an effort to begin going to any of the other queens. They all welcomed her with open arms. When she did wake up screaming, everyone was always there in seconds.
Anne became just as happy as before, resuming her normal pranks and jokes that lightened up the household. Everyone found it a relief when Anna woke up with erasable marker all over her face, although they wouldn’t admit it.
Everything was still hard for her, but she was getting better.
As far as Anne was concerned, Henry could lose his head.