The Dracula Chronicles: Bound By Blood - Volume 2

by Shane KP O'Neill

  She stormed out of the Court. It stirred much debate from the gallery. Henry looked up at them. He was furious. Wolsey knew it too even though the king had not spoken. The look on his face said it all. He had to act fast. His ongoing status might well depend on it.

  He thought of a way to diffuse the situation. “If the Queen does not wish to participate in these proceedings,” he shouted over the melee. “Then they shall continue without her.”

  Two weeks before this Catherine sent a letter to Rome. Varkal seized it from the messenger. He took it with him to Castile. Charles was elated to see him, but eager for some news.

  “How is my aunt?” he asked.

  “You can see for yourself, Majesty.”

  Varkal handed him her letter.

  “It is a letter from my aunt to the Pope?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then it is wrong for me to open it.”

  “I am sure the situation warrants it. She will never know.”

  “Very well,” he mused. “I need to know how she is.”

  He read it. Varkal saw the expression on his face turn to one of anger.

  “Henry and Wolsey are curs,” he said finally.

  “Yes they are.”

  “I cannot tolerate their treatment of my aunt for much longer.”

  “It is a terrible thing they are doing.”

  “Perhaps I will send an assassin to kill Wolsey. That would see an end to him.”

  “Perhaps, but I would not worry about him. The noose will soon tighten around his neck.”

  “Your father has plans for him?”

  “Yes,” Varkal grinned. “In a manner of speaking.”

  “Then it cannot come a day too soon for my liking. I should invade England.”

  “You need to worry more about the Pope, Majesty.”

  Charles nodded, as he handed the letter back to Varkal. “Perhaps you are right.”

  “His response to this letter is the key. Keep applying pressure on him. He will not go against you.”

  “Yes,” Charles agreed. “I will write him another letter.”

  “Good. And I will deliver it.”

  Charles wrote the letter. In it he took a harder line than at any time before. He warned of dire consequences for Europe if this charade went on. Those, he swore, would include an invasion of England and the removal of Clement from the Vatican.

  This pressure he applied on the Pope had the desired effect. There was little Clement could do. He wrote a letter for Campeggio. Varkal took the letter from the messenger who had delivered his letters to the Pope. He headed straight back to London with it.

  In his absence the trial had progressed. By the end of the second week in July it drew to a close. Campeggio’s decision was due any day. Varkal arrived back on English soil. He did so on the date the papal legate had given to the people. That day was the sixteenth of the month. But with London only thirty miles away he had to seek shelter from the daylight. He found a messenger and paid him with gold to deliver the Pope’s letter.

  Great crowds gathered outside Blackfriars. It seemed that every man and woman in London wanted to hear the verdict. The scene inside the Court was a tense one. The gallery waited with bated breath. But Henry sat on his throne with a smug grin. Catherine had not come. He knew he would finally get what he wanted.

  Wolsey stood there with a nervous look on his face. He had assured the king that the decision would go their way. But he did not know that for sure. There was one thing he had not taken into account. Campeggio knew his decision would cause either England or Spain to split with Rome. He would not allow either to happen.

  The papal legate stood before the Court with a stern face. He knew the message he was about to deliver would not be a welcome one. The tension built further all around him. He tried to delay it as long as he could. But sensing this, he began his address. “This has been a very difficult time,” he began.

  He felt hot under his cassock. It did not help that all eyes in the room focused on him. “For all concerned. I have to confess…” He paused and looked at Wolsey.

  “Come on,” someone heckled from the gallery.

  Wolsey glanced in the direction of the voice. The heckler fell silent again.

  “I have to confess,” he said again. “I have too many documents to examine. It means I am not able to reach a decision at this time. I wish to adjourn this Court for the summer, as is the practise in Rome. I will give my decision in the October.”

  His words outraged many of those in the room. Even before he had closed he could hear the jeers aimed his way. Wolsey was at a loss. Henry glared at him. His face looked red with rage. He stood up to leave, but stopped when he heard shouts from outside. A papal messenger had arrived.

  The king’s guards ushered him inside. He ran the length of the Court until he reached the papal legate. Campeggio took a tightly bound scroll from him, which bore the Pope’s seal. He opened it and read the contents with great care. When he was finished he rolled it up again and placed it under his cassock.

  The Court fell silent. Once again all eyes fell on him. He did not waste any time in delivering this message. “His Holiness, the Pope, has revoked my authority to preside over this Court. I must declare these proceedings void and return to Rome.”

  He made a hasty exit from the Court. For a moment he feared for his safety and did not want to wait around. He left the debate to rage on in his absence. Henry was livid. He stormed off to the corridor where Anne Boleyn waited. It was the only way he could avoid venting his anger on Wolsey. When Wolsey pursued him he could hold back no longer.

  “You told me Campeggio was not a problem! You said the verdict was ours!”

  “My Lord, I am as shocked as you are,” he said in his defence, trying to keep pace with the king.

  “Did you not offer him enough money?”

  “My Lord, the Cardinal was not open to bribery.”

  “Then you should have threatened him! Damn it!”

  Wolsey fell silent. “I will find a way, my Lord.”

  “You had better, Thomas,” Henry warned. “I want a divorce! If you cannot get it for me I will find another who will!”

  Neither man saw Anne steal up behind them. She took a position just behind Henry’s right shoulder. Henry still looked to the deflated Wolsey on his left. “You should have done more!”

  “How could I or anyone else foresee that the Queen would appeal to the Pope?”

  “It is your job to foresee such things,” Anne piped up. She too had to run almost to keep up with Henry.

  Henry looked at her for a moment. He knew she would not be pleased with the verdict either. It meant his wait to have her would go on.

  “You have failed your King,” she hissed across at Wolsey. “You have humiliated him. Indeed you embarrass us all with your incompetence.”

  This backed Wolsey into a corner. Henry was furious with him. Anne had seized on her opportunity to exercise her revenge. It was something she had waited years for. He had to think on his feet. It erupted into a full-scale argument between the two of them.

  “It would appear, my Lord,” he said. “I have made an enemy of Lady Boleyn. The reasons for this continue to elude me.”

  “You have made an enemy of me,” she agreed. “It is because I have the best interests of the King at heart. I cannot bear how you betray them.”

  “I could never betray my King. I love him over all others.”

  “You would betray your own mother if you could find profit in it.”

  “My Lord, I beg you. You know I am most loyal to you. No one has ever served you with the same devotion as I have.”

  “You always thought to serve Thomas Wolsey first,” she sniped.

  “My Lord, you know I have always loved and protected you. I will with my dying breath. It is as though you were my own son.”

  “Oh, my God, the arrogance of it,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air. “He makes himself to be the equal of your father, the King.”


  “Your Majesty, please. I beseech you. Do not listen to this. These are words driven by hatred and spite, not from reason.”

  “He lives in palaces larger than yours!” she shouted over him. “He enjoys luxuries even you could only dream of.”

  “That is not true, my Lord. I do not.”

  She refused to let up now. “The fortune he has amassed frowns upon your own. This he got through deceit. But what is worse is that he has done it all behind your back. You know nothing of his dealings.”

  “This is not true, my Lord. All that I own is yours.”

  “Open your eyes, my Lord. He is lying to you! He always has.”

  “I am afraid Miss Boleyn is still naive about the workings of the court. And of many other things.”

  “I am naïve?”

  “Yes,” he beamed, looking directly at her for the first time. He turned to the king again. “She is given to idle rumour and gossip from those who would see me gone.”

  “I think not, Cardinal. The net is closing around you because of your huge list of misdemeanours. And they are many.”

  “I hasten to add Miss Boleyn may wish to believe in this gossip and it is clouding her reason.”

  “I can tell you, Cardinal. I have in my possession a long list of your many indiscretions. Would you care for me to name them in front of the King?”

  “You have been ill advised then, Miss Boleyn.”

  She glared at him. “On the contrary I am very well advised.”

  “I have only ever striven to serve my King.”

  “You have exploited the status he has afforded you. To serve your own ends!”

  “I refute that.”

  “I have the proof! And now the King has endured more humiliation. All as a result of your incompetence.”

  “Shut up!” Henry screamed at them both. “I have had enough! I do not want to hear another word! Let this be an end of this nonsense!”

  “You are willing to overlook his shortcomings still?” she asked. It amazed her that he could still have any faith in Wolsey. “Your love for this man is blinding you, my Lord.”

  “Thomas has been my most loyal and devoted servant.”

  Wolsey broke into a cold sweat. He prayed this witch could not poison the king further against him. At the same time he was powerless to defend himself. Nothing he might say could stop her.

  “Well I too am loyal and devoted to you,” she reminded him. “I love you without condition. And I will be your queen. But if you have such little regard for my word, then perhaps I should not be here.”

  “What?” Henry said, stopping in his tracks and giving her a confused look. “What are you trying to say?”

  “I am saying I will not be treated in this way. Not any more. You are going to have to choose.”

  “Choose? Choose between what?”

  “Between me and the Cardinal.”

  Wolsey froze. He realised at once the implications of what she had said. She had played her trump card. It meant he was doomed. He knew it.

  “Are you mad?” Henry said.

  Anne did not care for his look of disbelief nor for the obvious pain he felt. She had the bit between her teeth. For years she had wanted Wolsey gone. This was her chance to realise that dream. She was not in the mood to ease up now. “Far from it, my Lord,” she said, her voice really cold.

  “I cannot choose between you.”

  Wolsey’s heart thumped hard in his chest. His future, maybe even his life, hinged on this. All he could do was listen. He dared not speak.

  “Well, do you love me or not?”

  “You know I do.”

  “But you still place such little value on my feelings. It makes me wonder at your motives in wanting me as your queen. That is if I am still to be your queen?”

  “What has come over you, Anne?”

  She ignored his question. “So I tell you, my Lord. If you trust and prefer the Cardinal over me then I will go from here and never return.”

  Her words mortified the king. They terrified Wolsey. He lowered his head in despair. Henry walked right up to her. “You want me to choose between the two people I love the most?”

  “Yes, my Lord. It is he or I.”

  “Do not make me choose, Anne.”

  “He goes or I go!”

  “Anne, I beg you. Do not put me in this position.”

  “It has gone beyond that.”

  “If you loved me you would not do this.”

  “That is my final word,” she said, as she walked away. “The decision is yours.”

  Wolsey looked desperately to Henry. The king turned his head away. He could not bear to face his beloved friend. Without as much as a word to each other they knew what the decision would be. Wolsey struggled back to his rooms at the palace. The episode had totally crushed him. He knew his career, and perhaps even his life, was over.

  In August the Pope summoned Henry to Rome. He wanted him to appear before the Roman Curia. This enraged him. He began to realise he was not going to get his divorce. For this reason he looked for a new solution to his problem. He delegated this task to Cromwell and Cranmer. Wolsey fell further out of favour. In the end Henry sent him away from court.

  Wolsey remained in a state of limbo at Esher. Dracula set to work with his two replacements. He advised them of how best to find a solution for the king. At the same time it would enhance their careers.

  Every now and again he spied on the secret meetings of the Reformists. It excited him to listen to them. They spoke of Luther’s doctrines as a means to rid England of the evils of Rome. He noted that Cromwell and Cranmer were always there. In these two men he saw a way to implement a scheme to bring an end to Catholicism in England.

  Dracula met with both men in late September. He suggested they look to Magna Carta for the answers they needed. Not only could they solve Henry’s dilemma, but also find a way to see the back of Wolsey for good. He did not spell it out for them, but pointed them in the right direction. Simon de Montfort had drawn up Magna Carta in 1215. It had laid the foundation for the laws of the land.

  For weeks the two men laboured over the document. They were smart enough to find that which Dracula had hinted at. But Cranmer lacked the confidence to speak with the King. He feared him.

  Despite his rift with the Pope, Henry remained true to the doctrines of Rome. He would always live as a devout Catholic. On days he did not hunt he attended Mass as many as five times. When he did hunt he still went to three. The spread of Luther’s doctrines angered him too. He would not tolerate such heresy in his realm, though he left Thomas More to deal with any heretics.

  Cranmer knew this. He believed in Luther. For that reason he feared Henry even more. Cromwell did not let up. He finally talked him into speaking to the king.

  They found Henry at court. A jester entertained the group gathered there. The king looked up to see Cromwell to his left. “What is it?”

  “Thomas has come across some vital new information, my Lord.”

  “Who? Cranmer?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “Can it not wait? I am being entertained.”

  “It might be the answer you have been looking for, my Lord,” he said, waiting for a response. He wondered if the king had heard him. “For your divorce.”

  This time Henry did look at him. “Where is he?”

  “He is waiting to share it with you, my Lord.”

  Henry stood up. He waved at the jester to carry on and followed Cromwell out of the hall. They walked to a room where Cromwell knew they could enjoy total privacy. Cranmer ran there ahead of them when he saw Henry rise from his seat.

  He stood up when Henry entered the room. Cromwell closed the door and nodded to him. The king sat down and placed his hands on the table. He looked straight at Cranmer. “You have some information for me?”

  He still felt nervous. A lump built in his throat. Uncertainty had always plagued him. This was one such a time. He looked to his friend for support. Cromwell gritted h
is teeth and urged him with a hand to speak.

  “Well?” Henry asked, growing impatient.

  Cranmer looked down at his feet. He tried to speak, but the words stuck in his throat. The king sighed with frustration. It only made him tenser.

  Henry looked at Cromwell. “You brought me here for this?”

  “Please, my Lord. It is worth waiting for. Thomas is a trifle nervous.”

  Henry stood up anyway. He wanted to return to court. This was proving a waste of his time. Cranmer looked up again. He cleared his throat. “May I have permission to speak freely, my Lord?”

  “Yes, man,” Henry said. “We are all men here. Say what you have to say. Say anything at all.”

  “Well, my Lord. It would seem you have suffered a grave injustice.”

  “Oh?” Henry said, barely above a whisper.

  “Yes, my Lord. It would seem the Chancellor is guilty of the crime of praemunire.”

  “Praemunire? What is that? You are talking in riddles, man!”

  “It is the offence of introducing a foreign authority into England. In this case it is the Pope. Throughout your divorce petition he has recognised the authority of the Pope over yours. This is treason.”

  “You are saying Wolsey is guilty of treason?”

  “Yes, my Lord. I am.”

  “Go on,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “This had better be good. I do not look on such slander too kindly, if that is what this is. Tell me more.”

  Cromwell stepped behind the king. He nodded to Cranmer to carry on. In truth he wished he himself had broken the news to Henry. But to secure and strengthen his own status he needed Cranmer to climb the ladder of power also.

  Cranmer opened a scroll. He pointed to the relevant text to support his claims. “According to Magna Carta,” he began. “The King is the supreme authority in England above all others. This document precedes the authority of the Pope.”

  Henry sat up in his seat to view the scroll. “You are sure of this?”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Cromwell affirmed. “It is true.”

  It made him eager to learn more. “Then pray continue,” he urged.

  Cranmer felt better now and relaxed a touch. “In the trial headed by Wolsey and Campeggio,” he began. “Wolsey recognised the authority of the Pope above yours. With his actions he has failed to regard you as the supreme sovereign in this country.”