"Get out," Theodora said. She turned her head sharply. "All of you. Get out!"

In the blink of an eye, the room was empty. Stephen also followed the others out. Henry remained seated at the dinner table.

He looked terrible, worn thin. His eyes were shadowed, his mouth hard, his hair disordered. The food before him had been cut more than eaten.

"Your Highness," Theodora began. "Pardon me."

Henry looked up slowly. "That’s new, Mother," he drawled. "Not the chasing everyone out. The apology part."

Theodora ignored him. If she answered that, they would fight. If they fought, he would retreat once more.

So she moved closer. Then, before Henry could guess her intention, she lowered herself to her knees.

"Your Highness..." Theodora said, "Henry..."

"Mother, what are you doing?"

"The only thing I can do." Theodora on her knees was wrong. "I admit that I can be hard on you. But I do not have a choice." Her fingers twisted together in her lap. "You wouldn’t believe me, no matter what I say, but every hard word, every decision, every ugly thing I have done was to keep you alive. To keep you crowned. To keep wolves from tearing into you."

"Mother..."

"No. Listen to me." Her eyes lifted to his. "You are falling apart before my eyes, and you will not tell me why. You look at me like I am your enemy."

Henry looked away.

"Please, Henry," she whispered. "Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help you."

"That’s the thing," Henry said, his voice flat with exhaustion. "You cannot. You will only make things worse."

"My son, my baby..."

It reminded him of a time before crowns, before blood, before his mother’s love became a sword. He remembered her hands in his hair when he was a boy. Her voice telling him stories.

"I promise," Theodora said, still kneeling before him. "I can only make things better."

"Like you made my life better?"

Theodora’s eyes closed briefly. She had made him king. She had cleared the path. She had done things no mother should have to do and no son should have to live with. "I know that you hate me for the things I did in the past," she said.

"I don’t hate you."

Theodora swallowed hard, then lifted her chin. Even on her knees, she managed to look proud. "I will always do everything and anything to keep you safe," she said. "To make you a great king. You should know that. And this..." Her gaze moved to the wine cup, the shadows under his eyes. "This is not you being a great king.

"So tell me how to fix this," she said.

"I have tried. I have been looking for something. I found it, and then I lost it."

"Two heads are better than one," she said softly.

"I found love, Mother."

"Oh..." Theodora breathed. "Oh, Henry...Why would you keep that from me?"

He gave her a look. She understood it and ignored it.

"That is not something you keep from me," she continued. "Not that. Not love. How could you keep that from me?"

"Because..." Henry looked down at the cup before him, though he no longer reached for it. "Because I cannot have her."

Theodora frowned. "Why not?"

"No one would approve of her. The scandal would be great. Too great."

"Your Highness," Theodora said carefully, "if you want a woman, you can have a woman."

Henry gave a tired laugh.

"I am serious," she continued. "She may not be a princess. She may not be of royal blood. She may not even be of noble birth. But she can be your mistress. Even your favourite. Lady Bella was once your favourite. She can be brought to court," Theodora pressed on. "If you care for her so deeply, then keep her close. Let her be in the palace, right beside you."

He looked at her then, and the sadness in his eyes unsettled her.

"Your Highness," she said, "please don’t tell me you are making a great tragedy out of nothing."

"You won’t understand, Mother."

Theodora inhaled, then slowly shifted off her knees and sat at his feet instead. "I am not surprised that you fell in love. You have always been like that. Sensitive. Easily wounded. Always seeing people too closely." Her mouth curved. "You got that from your father. Definitely not from me."

Henry chuckled softly. "Obviously."

There he was. Her boy.

Theodora reached up and covered his hand with hers. "Tell me who she is, and I will bring her here."

Henry’s fingers tensed beneath hers.

"I mean it," she said. "I will protect her with everything I have. If she is lowborn, I will polish her. If she is poor, I will dress her. If she is foolish, I will teach her silence. If the court laughs, I will make them choke on it. I will do whatever you want, baby. Whatever keeps you from destroying yourself like this."

His face crumpled. "I can’t find her," he whispered. "She is gone." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Oh my," Theodora said softly. "Hence the drinking?"

Henry gave a tired, humourless smile. "Hence the drinking."

She sighed. "Tell me what you know about her." Theodora lifted a hand before he could object. "Do not look at me like that. I am not asking so I can have her dragged through Whitehall by her hair. Women gossip all the time, Henry. If this woman is in hiding, trust me, I will find her."

Henry looked away. "I cannot tell you about her. I have my reasons, Mother."

The stubbornness was not new. That, unfortunately, came from her. But this was more than stubbornness. It was protection. He was not merely hiding the girl from court. He was hiding her from Theodora.

"You may be excited to do whatever I want right now," Henry said, "but the moment you know who she is, you won’t be so keen."

Theodora gave a faint smile. "You underestimate what I can tolerate."

(100 power stones and just in time)