At first it was easy to love him back. He was so full of life, so eager to please me. The English came to love and respect me, too. For the first time I was able to realize a future in this strange country. For the first time I could see myself becoming a good queen to my new people, the English.

It was not to last. His passion quickly cooled when I was unable to give him the son and heir he so desired. Now he is besotted with another, a common girl who belongs to our court. He even wants to annul our marriage so he can marry her. Of course, his adviser is not pleased with this. But there is nothing he can do. There is nothing anyone can do, he says, if the king wants to break the sacred law of the church.

My husband doesn’t know that I too am a warrior, like my mother before me. I shall not bend to his will without a fight. The blood in my veins runs true. I am no common slut that can be seduced by the promise of a crown. I am a queen and I will always be one. I do not need a crown on my head to know this.