The Tale of the King and his Women

After King Henry VIII divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and broke with the Catholic Church in order to marry Anne Boleyn, all hell broke loose in England. It was a time where the Reformation spread, where images in favour of the Catholics were banned and where the Tudor dynasty really expanded. Henry put himself not only over the Pope, but also next to God, thinking that he, as King, was selected by God himself to rule over the county. It was a time where making mistakes was a risky business, especially in front of the King, the most powerful man on earth.

Leo arrived in the middle of a small forest, without Willow. “Fuck!” Luckily he had managed to take all their stuff and his newest toy. He grabbed all their things and ran, in a little distance he saw buildings in the rising sun. Even when he would not find her at the houses he hoped he would at least get help there. But what he then saw a scene that made his blood boil over. Willow didn’t scream but she didn’t have to for Leo to recognize her.

“What in three devils name do you think you are doing?” Leo bellowed. The four men looked up but didn’t stop pushing her down and touching her in ways she should never be touched.

“Go and mind your own business stranger!”

Leo dropped all their things except his newest toy. “Get the fuck away from her!” He ran as fast as possible to those men and Willow. Leo wanted to chop them into tiny pieces but for the beginning he rammed his fist hard into the first one’s face. He felt his nose break and Leo didn’t care. Next he rammed the arm of his axed into the second’s groin. That’s when the third guy jumped at Leo trying to fight him but he had no chance, Leo grabbed him and through him several feet away. The leader now got up, his trousers still dangling around his ankles exposing his piece. “You think you can keep her all to yourself?”

“No she doesn’t belong to me, but I respect her to accept her no.” Leo had picked up a stone and threw it with all his strength at the fourth, he hit him right into his package. Leo didn’t care of any one those guys would die. The first one had clearly trouble breathing and the other didn’t feel better. Leo shoved the leader of the gang away and scooped up Willow into his arms. Her lip was bleeding and the bruises were already darkening. Not to mention that she was shivering. Leo shouldered his axed and carried Willow to their pack just to pick it up as well. He would not let her down from his arms not until they were somewhere safe. So he kept walking into the forest. Willow was just breathing and it worried him that she didn’t say much, she had mumbled a few words but nothing more, she just held on to him tightly. They suddenly stumbled into another horrid scene. A coach accident one of the horses was dead while the other one was badly injured. It was an expansive coach and Leo saw their way into a more comfortable staying. He put down Willow and their stiff and went closer to the coach. Two women were sitting in it, well had been sitting in it. One of them –the one that was clearly dead- seemed to be from a lower rank as the other one. Leo saw she was alive but wouldn’t make it.

“Who are you and where were you going?” Leo asked gently.

“We were on the way to the new queen, queen Anne I’m one of her Lady’s in Waiting. The other one is my Lady’s Maid…” The woman died in front of Leo, a piece of the coach was rammed through her body. He saw the driver of the coach dead crushed into a tree. Being here seeing this gave him an idea.

“Willow, listen to me I have a plan. Those coaches always had a man riding ahead to make sure the way was safe, he will soon notice that he lost the coach so he will come back. You will take the place of the Lady’s maid. We will say that we were from the borders to Scotland, obviously from the English side but that might explain our accents. Can you walk?”

Willow nodded, in shock of the happenings of the morning. Leo took their pack including his axed and stuffed it into one of the chests.

“Good over there is a chest with dresses, put one on but rubbed first over the floor and rip it a little, after all you have to look as if you have been in an accident. You will tell that your Lady has thrown you out of the coach just before it crashed into the trees. I will say I’m your husband. The driver had another set of clothes I can take it and rip it as well. And then we wait for the rider to come back.”

“What about the real maid?” Willow asked while she was rubbing the dress through the dirt. Leo sighed. “God forgive me.” Leo pulled the maid out of the wreck of the coach and through her into down the hill she rolled down and landed in a ditch. Leo went down after the woman to cover her with leaves and stones that no one would find her.

“Willow are you ready? I think I hear hooves.” Leo was back up at the coach, the trip down hill had caused him several scratches which was a good cover to look like he had been in an accident. Just before the rider could see them Leo pulled Willow into a tight hug. “Don’t worry no one will ever hurt you like this again.”

Willow didn’t reply immediately, but then she quietly said “I’m okay.” That wasn’t really an answer to what he just said, but she didn’t want to talk about it and she certainly didn’t want to show how much in fact she still was in shock. She was shivering under the new dress that she had put on and she had a really hard time keeping a tough face on. She didn’t look at Leo because she worried that he might see what was going on, and he had already done enough for her and worried about her.
The same moment the rider arrived and looked concerned at the broken-down coach.
“What happened here?”

“There was an accident”, Leo said. He looked over to Willow who was still quiet. The rider waited for her to say something.

“I…ehm…” She cleared her throat. “I’m the Queen’s maid.”

“You’re the Queen’s maid?”

“Yes.” Willow took a deep breath, she actually tried to imitate an English accent, which probably sounded very fake, but it wouldn’t have made sense if she spoke in her Nashville accent and at the same time claimed to be the maid of the Queen. “My…eh…lady, the Queen’s lady in waiting…um…she threw me out of the coach just before it crashed and eh…this is my husband.”

The rider looked from Willow to Leo, scrutinized him for a moment, and then looked back at her. “And what is the name?”

“What?”

“Your name.”

“Faylinn.”

Leo seemed a bit confused, but he thought she made that name up. She hadn’t told him yet that Faylinn was her actual first name.

“And you are both on the way to Hampton Court palace?”

“Eh…” Willow glanced into Leo’s direction for help. He nodded slightly. “Yes. If that’s where Queen Jane is…”

Leo cleared his throat and Willow first didn’t get it, but then he hissed ‘Anne!’ and she quickly turned back to the rider who looked confused at her. “Queen Anne, I’m sorry. That’s what I meant. Anne, Jane…all the same, isn’t it?” She grinned awkwardly but the rider seemed unimpressed.

“Then let’s go”, the rider said. “We don’t want to let the Queen wait too long for your service.”

They had to wait for another carriage to pick up them and their newly got luggage to bring them to Hampton Court palace. Willow was unusual quiet and nearly clingy towards Leo but he didn’t say anything. He kept thinking about the woman they more or less just dumped into a hole in the middle of the forest. He would go back as soon he got the chance and found out who she was to set up a gravestone for her.

Leo and Willow got a small living area together a bedroom and a small living room, even when everyone was surprised and shocked about the accident that cause the actual lady in waiting had a deathly accident. But no one seemed to worry too much that Willow was now the lowest ranked lady in waiting for Queen Anne. They would eat in the kitchen as long Willow would not eat with Queen Anne. Leo would work wherever he is needed which was at the moment in the stables. It was late because of the accident so Willow would be shown to the queen the next day right now they got brought into their quarters and the bath. Leo would not leave Willow alone but he let her have her privacy. There was a screen between their two bathtubs so that they were together but not saw each other. Leo had said something about newlyweds and during the travelling not yet had been intimate.

“Willow? Are you okay? Um… any… did the men… you don’t have to show me but if you are injured and are bleeding in your private area I can go into the woods and find you some herbs to make sure that you don’t get infections.” Leo said calmly waiting patiently for Willow to reply but she anything. He looked up and saw her naked silhouette through the screen and for the first time in a very long time he felt the urge to have a woman. Not in this romantic way but in the pure lust driven way. But he would never touch Willow, ever! She was his friend, the first in ages maybe ever. “Willow? Say something please.”

This was, once again, a super awkward situation. Not only was she taking a bath pretty much in front of him – well, yeah, this screen thingy was between them, but still- but him asking her again those weird questions made it only more awkward. She knew he only wanted to help, but right now she wished she was alone, not with a guy basically next to her, asking her about her private parts.

“They…ehm…” She paused for a moment. “Didn’t get that far.”

Silence. Awkward silence.

She could hear him clearing his throat. “Okay. Good.”

Silence. Again.

“Um…tomorrow…what do I have to say to the Queen? I never talked to a Queen, I have no idea what to say.”

“Don’t say anything unless she talks to you or asks you a question. Don’t worry, since you’re the one with the lowest rank around her she probably won’t talk to you at all.”

“Am I going to see Henry?”

“Most likely.” Leo was quiet for a moment. “Try not to make eye contact with him, though. He’s a very unpredictable man.”

Willow didn’t know much about English kings and queens. The little she knew about Henry was from a few episodes of The Tudors she had watched, and if Henry was really that hot she would definitely check him out. Not that she would try anything. Of course not, even though he was –according to the TV show- hot, he was still a psychopath.
After Willow go dry and dressed herself, she scrutinized her hair sceptically. She walked out to Leo who sat in a chair and was studying an old map.
“You know what’s weird?”

“Hm?”

“I almost have my old hair color back”, she said. “It’s almost completely red again.”

Leo looked up. Her hair was still a bit wet but he could see what she meant.

“It’s just…I think the time travelling fastens time or something, because permanent hair color takes a while until it grows out, and we haven’t been away that long…at least I think. There’s no way it could have gotten back to red that quickly, and I can’t say that I shampooed my hair excessively these days…”

“I guess the time’s a little off while we travel”, Leo said. “Anyway, since your hair is almost completely red again, you especially have to watch out, okay?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

"By the way, did you just come up with the name Faylinn or is that your second name?"

"It's actually my first", Willow said. "Willow is my surname, but I guess I've just never been a Faylinn."

Leo was quiet for a moment. "It...ehm...sounds nice. It's medieval and means fairy kingdom."

She looked at him surprised. "You seriously know everything, don't you?"

He just shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be busy looking at the map again. She had to admit, that guy definitely had more sides to him than she had expected.

Leo nearly grinned when he put on his fresh shirt and trousers. “I had nothing better to do as study during school.”

“Wait you weren’t in the football team?” Willow joked. “I always thought you were the quarterback and star of high school.”

Leo looked up at her. “You are a weird girl. I would never be a quarterback.” Willow could see that he was pulling away from her again and that he was hiding behind his grumpy shell again but she did not know why.

“I know you are not… Anyway do you know where we stay?”

“Yes and we need to get moving we are using the bath of the high ranking ladies and lords because we had an accident but when we use it too long we will not have many friends here. Do you want me to fasten your dress?” Leo asked as he watched her put it on and he was glad that he was standing behind the table on which his clothes have been lying, because Willow’s body really turned him on.

“Yes please, those dresses are so stupid why can they not have a zipper?” Willow turned around and let Leo fasten the simple white dress she would just be wearing to walk into their quarters. They walked through the dark hallways to their quarters. Leo had the key for them. It was nothing special just a small living room and an even smaller bedroom. On the small table was some bread and beer waiting for them.

“This looks okay. I can sleep on a mat here in the living room and you can sleep in the bedroom.” Leo said sounded grumpy and slightly cold again. He put their things over one of the chairs and started making a fire in the fire place after all it was a cold October night. This reminded him of his home, well his house it never was a home. His only home was he farm he grew up on. But now making this fire, it was… it sort of meant something because he didn’t make the fire just because that’s what he did every night in October.

Damn it why now? She just nearly got raped and my bloody dick has this urge.

Leo was angrily making fire and cussed a lot.

“Don’t be silly”, Willow said. “You’ve done enough sacrifices, you don’t need to sleep in this cold room on the floor.”

“The room is getting warmers, so-“

Willow sighed. “The bed is big enough for both of us.” The truth was, they would really need to squeeze a bit to fit both in since it wasn’t that big for two people to sleep in, especially not for enormous people like Leo, but she didn’t want him to sleep in an uncomfortable room somewhere on the floor.

“We won’t fit in-“

“Yes, we will”, she interrupted him, then she turned to the fire. It was incredibly cold outside and inside as well, she missed real heating and the warm weather in Tennessee. She just generally missed her home and was tired of being stuck in not-so-jolly old England.
She took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m really nervous.”

“Of what?”

“Tomorrow.” Willow sat closer to the fire to warm up. Man, she was cold. “It’s just…I’ve never met a Queen before, so I don’t have a clue how to talk to her.”

“For starters, you might try to drop your Southern accent. Right now, in this time, America doesn’t even exist, so there is no such thing as an American, and you automatically draw attention to yourself when they notice your different accent.”

“I already tried faking the British accent, but it sounds lousy, I just can’t do it.”

“Try harder. You don’t have to speak British, but at least try not to sound like a girl from Tennessee.”

“But that’s what I am.”

“Not here.”

They were both quiet for a moment.
“I’ll mess up”, Willow mumbled. “I’ll either say something inappropriate to Anna-“

“Anne.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll either say something weird or they notice that I’m not from here and I-“

“Just stop worrying and try your best, okay?”

To her surprise, he actually sounded quite unusually gentle.

“And whatever you do”, he continued, not looking at her. “Don’t give Henry the impression you’re interested in him.”

“You already mentioned that.”

“I know, but I just want to make sure you get the message. He’s really…he’s just unpredictable, so don’t underestimate him in case you run into him, which you’ll probably will.”

Willow sighed. “Okay, okay, got it.”

Leo went to the table to get some bread, cheese and beer. “Here you need to eat something.” Leo let her sit close to the fire to get warm while he sat on the chair behind her.
He starred into the fire. “Maybe that is the point of us being here you seeing that you are more than a girl from Tennessee and me…”

“You are more than this grumpy unemotional Grinch.” Willow teased him.

Leo nearly smiled and sat down on a chair next to her. “We need to keep upright that we are married, or we are not allowed to share a chamber anymore and I would prefer you staying close. The men in this time… are ruthless. And a pretty girl like you…”

“Hear, hear you think I am pretty.” Willow leaned against him to sit more comfortable. “I know they are ruthless I saw it and I will stay close I promise I do everything to not put us in danger. I’ll even try a horrible fake British accent.”

Now Leo laughed. “Okay you are right your British accent sounds anything like British.”

A sudden knock made Willow jump, Leo put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Come in the door is not locked.” Leo said in a deep voice, his face was very grim like he expected trouble.

One of the other lady in waiting walked into their dark chamber. Well not just any but the first lady in waiting. “Good evening Sir-“ as usual Willow was ignored even by other woman “- the queen expects your woman to look her best. I have here a dress for her to wear and her hair has to be tight together. I will take your woman’s wardrobe and look through it and will let you know what she can wear and what not. And this weird Scottish country accent your woman speaks she better learns to speak the tongue of the court. Any questions Sir?”

Leo saw that Willow was about to complain that she was ignored but a squeeze of her shoulder by Leo made her be quiet not that she liked it but even Willow understood that living in court was a lot more comfortable than anywhere else, even when they had to work.

“No Ma’am.” Leo pushed Willow into their bedchamber to get her wardrobe.

“Seriously? They just tell me what I’m allowed to wear?”Willow hissed while Leo checked the chest if really just Willow’s dresses were in it and nothing 21st century.

“Yes and the queen giving you a dress means a lot. She trusts you even when you are just a replacement but she remembers from where she came so this is a good thing.” Leo took the chest and went back into the living chamber where the lady was still waiting. “These are all the dresses of my wife. Is there anything else you need?”

“No but let me warn you, the queen can satisfy the king very well on her own. So make sure that you handle your wife properly.” The Lady in waiting said coldly and let in two servants to carry the chest full of her clothes. This time Leo locked the door behind her.

“This is not good, she doesn’t trust you, and thinks the queen is wrong to take you in. Be very careful.” Leo said as he sat back down on the chair. He was thinking and wondering how he would manage to get a good position that they would be safer. “Maybe I can get papers that say that I am in the military. That way we are safer here at court.”

“Sounds good…”, Willow mumbled, very absent with her thoughts. She looked at the dress that she was supposed to wear tomorrow and sighed.

“What is it? The dress?”

“Well, that’s part of it. I just…I don’t feel comfortable with that woman watching me like a hawk.”

“What woman?”

“The lady in waiting. She looked at me like I just took away the last pair of her favourite shoes.”
Leo obviously didn’t know what to make of that comment, so Willow added: “It’s a girl thing.”

“I figured.”

“Anyway, I’m going to bed now, I’m tired and I’m sure tomorrow is going to be one hell of a fun day.” Willow sat down on the bed, and even though it was big, it was still very uncomfortable. Well, better than sleeping outside or in a barn. “I miss my iPod. And my phone. I miss any sort of technology!”

Leo didn’t say it, but he didn’t really need any of that, he was okay without it.

“You can sleep here too, Grumpy, you don’t have to sleep on that chair. The bed is big enough for both of us”, Willow said. By now she had gotten used to sharing small space with Leo, it wasn’t weird for her anymore, not really.

The next day Leo woke her up, otherwise she would have slept for another two hours.

“What?”, Willow grumbled annoyed from under the blanket.

“You have to get up, the Queen expects you soon.”

“Geez, why do they all have to get up so early in this damn place?” She sat up, her hair all over the place. “Technically she’s just a housewife, right? So why does she have to get up so early when she doesn’t have anything to do anyway, and-“

“Just get up”, Leo interrupted her calmly but determined. He was already on his feet, completely dressed.

Willow muttered something while she got up slowly and walked over to the dress that was lying over one of the chairs. “I’ll look so stupid in that.”
Leo gave her some space so that she could get dressed, but as soon as she was in the dress she needed his help again, since the dress didn’t have a zipper but a thousand other ways to close it, and she couldn’t do it by herself.
Leo took a step back. “You look…”

“Ridiculous.”

“No, you look like the ladies of the time, so that’s a good thing.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing”, Willow replied sarcastically. That same moment someone knocked on the door again, it was the lady in waiting. She scrutinized Willow with highly raised eyebrows.

“Come with me, the queen is waiting for us”, she said without any emotion in her face.

Willow threw Leo a last glance over her shoulder. She looked helpless, like she didn’t want to be separated from the only person she trusted here, but he had to let her go.

“See you later”, he said, trying to sound encouraging.

While Willow went with the Lady in waiting Leo went to a more dark area. He had taken some valuable goods from court.

“This is yours if you give me papers that say that I am a captain on the army of the king.” Leo said sternly to the man. Who nodded took the candle holder and grinned when he saw that they were pure silver. “Everything you want. Name?”

“Leo Grailstone, let me be from the far north so that no one down here has heard about me.” Leo was running a few errands to have the equipment of a captain. It was late afternoon when he went back to court. As soon he saw Willow’s things he had this itch again. He shook his head and went out he found what he was looking for, he pushed the maid into the armchair to finally scratch this itch. He was still doing the maid when Willow came in with a tray which was their dinner. And what she saw was something she hadn’t seen yet or thought it would be real. Leo was having sex in such a mechanic way that it looked like no feelings at all were involved. Leo didn’t really seem to worry that Willow saw him do the maid.

“Oh my God!” For a moment Willow just stood there in shock, still holding on to her tray, but then she could finally get herself to turn away. “Holy shit, I so didn’t want to see that!”

The maid was startled because as far as she knew, Willow was Leo’s wife, so she quickly jumped up and put her clothes on, at least part of them, she didn’t get fully dressed because she just stormed out of the room. Willow still had her back turned towards Leo, she felt super awkward for having walked right into this scene.
“What’s wrong with you? Couldn’t you at least put up a sign so that I know not to walk in while you’re busy?”

Leo shrugged his shoulders, which Willow didn’t see because she looked the other direction. He was still not dressed, and seemed in no hurry to get his clothes back on.

“I didn’t know you would be back that early”, he said, not sounding embarrassed at all, which only confused her even more.

“You sound like you give a damn that I saw…that…um…”

“Yes.”

“What, yes?”

“Yes, I don’t care.”

“Seriously?!” Willow shook her head. “You’re such a weirdo!”

“Just because I don’t care what other people think of me?”

“No, because every normal person cares if people see them doing…that.” She was about to turn around to face him, but in the corner of her eye she could see that he was still not dressed, and before she saw too much she quickly turned away again. “Can you put your goddamn clothes on already?”

“I didn’t take you as a prude…” He sounded almost sarcastic.

“I’m not a prude, I’m just normal.”

Leo huffed, then he finally put on his pants and walked over to the fire. Willow slowly turned her head towards him and for a moment caught herself checking out his abs. Man, he had nice arms, and he totally was distracting while he walked around shirtless, but then she reminded herself who she was dealing with, so she quickly cleared her throat and put the tray on the table.
“Dinner!”, she almost said a bit harsh, mainly to stop herself from thinking about him without clothes on. “And I hate this freaking dress, I feel like it’s cutting off my circulation.”

Leo grabbed his shirt and put it on. “I’ve got good news. I got papers that say that I am a captain of a small battalion just under the Scottish border, quite a brutal one but I was there captain nevertheless until they betrayed me and I had to eliminate them. Anyway I will star working in the kings army from the day after tomorrow, I would say we safe my salary. You get mainly paid through room, board and dresses so we are good.” Leo sat down at the table and didn’t say anything more about the bed scene. Willow sat down slowly, her dress was bothering her a lot. Leo pulled his bowl closer and took a spoonful of stew, this wasn’t bad. Between spoons he said: “I can let out your dress so that it is less tight.”

Willow starred at him. “Seriously? What are you? You don’t care that I saw you have sex and the more I think about it the more I think you do not at all look like you just got laid. Did you even enjoy it or was she that bad? And why do you know how to let out a dress?”

Leo sighed: “Sex is nothing but a physical act that satisfies the animalistic needs of men’s brains. And I can sew because I had to learn it there was no mommy or nanny tat fixed my ripped clothes.” Leo said sounding harsh.

While he was eating Leo was doing some calculations on a piece of cloth. “We should have quite a good sum together when we safe all my salary. Oh and no worries my paper says I have a lung disease from a too cold winter. So I will not get send away.”

Willow was more eating her bread then her stew.

“It’s good meat, it will be good for you.”

“It looks like dog food.”

“Fine but when you get ill you will be in real trouble. Anyway I will tomorrow build a second floor in the small chest to hide our 21st century things.”

Willow was quiet and Leo was not going to push her to do or say anything. When he was finished he threw some more wood on the fire and then gave Willow another smallish wooden box, he got for her from the market.
Willow looked confused at him but opened it slowly. Inside were a simple beige wool dress and a piece of soap. “You can wear the dress in our chambers it is loose, comfortable and has no corset. The soap is nothing fancy though but it will clean your hair. As soon I get I chance I will get some herbs that smell nice.”

Leo was sitting next to the fire place poking the blaze to heat up the fire. “I didn’t mean to hurt you when you walked in on me and the maid.”

Willow looked still surprised at the box. She just didn’t get it, or rather; him. On one hand he was this huge, strong guy who didn’t show any emotions and used sex plainly as physical act, without any feelings whatsoever, but on the other hand he gave her a dress that wouldn’t suffocate her and found some soap for her so that she could clean her hair. He actually took care of her, there was no denying anymore. It was probably because she was the only person from his century and thus the only person who he could remotely ‘connect’ to. But maybe- a very, very big maybe- he actually liked her – in a completely platonic and friendly way, of course. She had to admit, despite the fact that he was probably the weirdest guy she ever met, she kind of grew fond of him too- in a very platonic and friendly and super, super innocent way, of course. She was just very glad she wasn’t alone in this mess, and she actually had someone reliable on her side, which gave her some confidence and a little bit of hope.
Still, that guy was weird.
No denying.

Willow looked up from the wooden box. “I guess they didn’t have any Pantene Pro-V at the market, did they?”

Leo didn’t seem to get that reference. No surprise there.

“It’s a shampoo brand”, Willow explained. “And that was meant to be a joke.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Anyway…” A smile crossed her lips. “Thanks for this, my hair has never looked so horrible and I’m thankful for every piece of soap. And it’s nice to have a dress that doesn’t cut off the air from my lungs.”

“You’re welcome”, he replied very non-emotional, but it was nice to hear it from him.

Willow stared at the fire. “And you didn’t hurt me. I walked in on you, so that was my mistake, but it had nothing to do with you hurting or offending me.” She paused for a moment, then slowly looked at Leo. “I just can’t imagine being so close to someone and then don’t feel anything at all.”

“That maid didn’t mean anything to me”, Leo mumbled.

“I’m aware of that, but I mean, sleeping with someone is something very intimate, and it’s weird that no feelings are involved.”

Leo shrugged his shoulders, and Willow started to feel awkward talking with a guy she didn’t know that well about a subject like this. They were quiet for a while, until Leo cleared his throat.

“Your hair doesn’t look horrible.”

Willow chuckled. “Oh yes, my friend, it does! Ever since I ended up in this stupid past, I have only had bad hair days, every single day.”

“I like it. Red, I mean…”

Willow was aware that ever since they started ‘time travelling’, her original hair colour grew back more and more every day, and it probably had something to do with all those weird rapid time changes, because normally her dyed hair wouldn’t grow out that fast, but here she was, almost back to her natural red hair.

“Although it’s not necessarily a safe colour to have in this century”, Leo said.

“Yeah, because I could totally be an evil maniac witch who curses the entire country, right?” She took a sip of her broth and noticed that she had managed to put a tiny smile on Leo’s face.

Just like the night before the two slept in the bed together, after Leo had helped Willow to wash her in the wash basin they had. Willow was so much more relaxed now that she had clean hair. They were sitting a while at the fire and just warming up and being glad they had such a good place to stay right now. Leo wrapped his arms around Willow when they were in bed. He didn’t do it on purpose but when they were asleep Leo protectively wrapped Willow into his arms.
Leo woke up groggy and cold the fire was off.
“Sir. The King requests to have dinner with you and your wife tonight, for this your wife does not need to attend the queen today.” This old servant didn’t even seem to notice that neither Leo nor Willow were really awake. He left the formal invitation on the table and went out again. Leo moaned, this was insane it was way too early.

“Willow come on get up we need to get breakfast and then I need to get my uniform… I could use your help with that.” Leo got up and put on his trousers and the simple shirt. The fire was off so he kneeled down to get it back going. “I hope you like watery porridge. Well it is not made of oats as you might know them but anyway. Get up sleepy head.”

Leo turned around and saw Willow’s head, this beautiful red hair coming from under the blankets. What the hell? Leo shook his head this was insane. He should not think things like this. It was dangerous if he did. Leo sighed he really wished they would return to their time, for her sake.

“Are you telling me what I can do? I’m the King!” Henry yelled at Anne, a pregnant Anne that had complained again that he had mistresses while she was with child.
 
“No, my King I am not. All I do ask is not with this woman. I don’t know what it is but I think something is wrong with her. She does not deserve to lie with the King.” Anne looked desperately and slightly hysterical at Henry.
 
“You just make sure that you are carrying my son and I make sure I get the satisfaction I need, I’m the King and I have urges. Now leave me.”
 

Anne had nothing she could say to change the King’s mind about her new lady-in-waiting, at least nothing that would not annoy the king and drive him from her.