King Henry

Chapter 24 - Asking the Most Important Question

***** Eleanor's Point of View *****

After the ball was over, Eleanor spent some time with her sisters in their room before going back to her own. She had attendants help her get out of the dress before slipping on a nightgown and climbing into bed.

Just when she was starting to fall asleep she heard a knock at her door. She wondered who that could be as she climbed out of bed and rubbed her eyes with a yawn.

She grabbed a candle holder and walked across the room, opening the door just a crack. She was surprised to see Henry standing there. He was soaking wet and out of breath.

"Henry? What happened? Why are you all wet?" she asked, opening the door wider.

He walked past her coming into the room and she closed the door behind them before lighting a few of the candles around the room and then turning to face him.

"I went out into the garden to find Thomas and it started to downpour before I made it back inside," he said panting and running his hands up through his wet hair.

"Did you find him?" she asked, feeling worried.

Henry held up his hands and said, "Look at my knuckles and you'll have your answer."

She shook her head, taking his hands in hers and examining them. His knuckles were all red and bloody. "Henry, you didn't have to do that for me."

"Yes I did. I don't think you'll have to worry about him threatening you anymore." Then he sneezed.

"You need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death of cold," she told him.

He pulled off his wet suit jacket and kicked off his shoes before stripping off the white tunic and suit trousers, leaving him in his long johns. She walked over and took the wet clothes from him, hanging them over a rod by the fireplace to dry.

When she turned around, Henry was standing there behind her, very close. His white long johns were wet and they were plastered to his skin, showing the outline of his strong chest muscles and arms. His wet hair was falling over his forehead into his eyes and he had never looked more attractive than he did in that moment. She swallowed hard, feeling her heart beating faster.

He lifted his hand and grazed a finger slowly across the side of her face, gazing down into her eyes. She held her breath and slowly closed her eyes, feeling his soft touch against her skin as his fingers trailed down the side of her neck.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I am so in love with you it hurts," tickling her neck with his breath. Then he kissed her neck softly, working his way over to her mouth and cupping the sides of her face as he kissed her deeply, massaging his tongue against hers and making the spot between her legs flutter as her legs felt weak.

When he pulled back and she finally opened her eyes again, he was looking down at her, studying her face.

"Marry me," he whispered, running a thumb across her cheek as he looked into her eyes.

She scrunched her eyebrows and asked, "What?", sure that she must have misheard him.

"Eleanor," he said softly. "I have never met anyone else like you in my entire life. I didn't know there could be someone with such a good, kind heart that was also so smart and so beautiful. You matched everything I was looking for so perfectly that for a while I thought I must have dreamed you up," he laughed, giving her a warm smile.

"Talking to you woke up something inside me and made me feel alive again and I craved more. Every day this week I've woken up with a smile on my face because I knew I would get to see you again and spend more time with you. On our walks through the garden I caught myself starting to imagine what a life with you would feel like and it was so perfect I had to stop because I knew it could never be. I was only torturing myself."

Her eyes started to burn with tears because she had imagined the same thing.

"The thought of you leaving the castle at the end of the week and not getting to see you every day doesn't seem right, because it feels like you're meant to be here with me."

She searched his eyes. "What are you saying? You want me to stay?"

He gave her a soft smile and said, "I was supposed to find a wife today at the ball, but the only one there I could see myself with for the rest of my life ........ was you."

Her heart started beating faster and she could hardly breathe, feeling paralyzed as she listened in disbelief.

He rubbed his thumb across her cheek again and looked into her eyes as he said, "I used to think that spending my entire life with one woman would be so tedious and tiresome and I dreaded getting married, but with you, a lifetime together still wouldn't be enough. Wherever we go after this life is over, my soul is going with yours, because I am yours forever, in this life and the next."

He slowly stepped back and knelt down on one knee in front of her, reaching out and taking her hand in his, looking up into her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat and her mouth fell open in shock.

He hung his head and let out an exhale before looking back up at her. "What I'm trying to say is that I want to spend my life with you, more than I've ever wanted anything else before. Will you marry me?"

She stood there, looking down at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe this was really happening. King Henry was proposing to her, a commoner.

She shook her head. "I don't understand. How could we be married? I can't be Queen or give you heirs," she said, searching his eyes.

He slowly stood back up, taking both of her hands in his.

"There's a chance you might be able to. I went to the archives and researched the law. It says that we can go before the King's Privy Council and petition them for our right to marry. They'll ask you questions and then take a vote. If the vote is unanimously in our favor, you could be crowned Queen and our children could legally rule."

She felt overwhelmed by this new information, trying to process it. "Are you sure Henry?"

"Yes," he smiled. "But I don't want to give you false hope. Convincing the entire King's Privy Council to make a commoner the Queen of England is not going to be an easy task."

She stood there, thinking it over and she was confused. "What exactly is the King's Privy Council?"

"They're a group of advisors to the King made up of judges, heads of powerful houses, leading members of the clergy, diplomats & the highest ranking army officials. They're the twenty most powerful and influential men in all of England apart from the royal family. The Council is full of very rich, old men that are VERY traditional and afraid of change."

She took a deep breath in and let it out.

"So I have to get up in front of twenty of the most powerful men in all of England and convince them that I'm worthy to be the Queen? I don't know if I can do that Henry," she said, shaking her head. "I don't even know if I'M convinced that I'm worthy to be the Queen, so how could I possibly convince all twenty of these men?"

Henry looked down into her eyes, still holding her hands.

"Eleanor, I have no doubt that you would make an excellent Queen, quite possibly the best one England has ever had, and this is our only hope of having a life together. You can do this. I know you can," he said, rubbing the tops of her hands with his thumbs.

"I wish I believed in myself half as much as you believe in me," she sighed.

"I wish you did too," he smiled. "Being a good Queen isn't about knowing all the rules and having all the proper manners and wearing the right dresses. It's about making wise decisions and caring about the people of England and doing what is best for them. That's why I think you'll be an exceptional Queen. Now we just have to convince the Council of that," he said with a sigh, reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ear.

He looked into her eyes and said, "But I have to let you know that even if they do approve our union, we aren't in the clear. There are going to be a lot of powerful, wealthy people that would stop at nothing to keep us apart, people that don't approve of the King of England marrying a commoner. Your life and my life could be in danger if we go through with this."

He rubbed his thumbs across the tops of her hands as he looked down into her eyes. "I wanted you to be aware of all of that before you make your final decision, whether or not to marry me."