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Post by Henry VIII on Nov 1, 2009 0:52:44 GMT -5
"Oh, don't worry on that--I would never insist. To be honest, I'm here on holiday. Trying to be a bit inconspicuous."
Which he had been, and had been doing a good job of it, too, since he'd been here for so long without anyone realizing it was him.
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Post by Kat de Winter on Nov 1, 2009 11:07:40 GMT -5
"Kings are allowed to take holidays?"
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Post by Henry VIII on Nov 3, 2009 14:27:24 GMT -5
"Not entirely. Matters of state will follow in your wake, whatever you may do."
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Post by Kat de Winter on Jan 4, 2010 23:46:30 GMT -5
((omg I forgot this ;_; also I found Kat her very own model!))
The 'matters of state' to which he referred were probably the reformation. She pondered the most tactful way to inquire as to which wife he was on, and therefore what was going on.
"And what of your Queen? Have you left her behind in England?"
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 5, 2010 1:40:20 GMT -5
((She's cute!))
"At the moment there is no Queen. There was...a break, with Catherine." He said, his expression rather stony.
He'd rather not talk about those matters, not to anyone. Not only because there was still a bone of contention about it back home, but also because of the ripples the situation had caused.
Hence why he hadn't returned to England, even though in the letters he was getting from advisors were imploring him to be physically present for some of the proceedings.
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Post by Kat de Winter on Jan 5, 2010 12:50:13 GMT -5
((omg in Academic team yesterday in lightning round (you have to buzz-in and answer to get points for your team) they asked which queen Henry VIII divorced in 1533 and I had just been watching The Tudors. Needless to say, I won the point for my team.))
Which meant that Anne Boleyn hadn't happened? Well that was odd. Still, she'd always felt that Catherine of Aragon had gotten the short end of the stick. Decapitation was over and done with (as long as the axe came down right), but wasting away, alone and rejected... she couldn't even imagine.
She changed the subject to something a little more pleasant. "Do you find France much changed since your last visit?" The lack of monarchy might be jarring to someone who, if she recalled her history lessons, had been the rival, in both statecraft and sport, of the equally young, attractive, and intelligent Francis I.
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 5, 2010 22:32:50 GMT -5
((Ha, awesome. Score!))
He relaxed at the change of subject, glad that she'd gone on to something else. It would have been unfortunate if they'd gotten stuck on something so unpleasant as past relationships.
"It is much changed. Last I was here, there was set a monarch. But now, it seems that things have fragmented. If there is a head of state, they must not have much power, with the power being spread out."
He found the thought both bizarre and intriguing, and it showed in his voice.
((Of course, the 'verse France's rule has always been up in the air, so whatever Henry thinks is going on can be taken with a grain of salt [/author disclaimer]))
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Post by Evie on Jan 5, 2010 23:10:09 GMT -5
**THIS IS KAT; MY INTERNET IS BEING SLOW AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT CAN HANDLE A LOGIN**
((It's cool; real France's system of government basically was up in the air for about 100 years.))
"France had a bit of an ... incident. And then it had a few more, and now nobody's really sure what's going on. There is no monarch, though. People take bets on how long the installed governments will last but France, as always, continues to mount plays and operas and throw parties and balls." She figured it was the best way to put it without saying it was three hundred years later than he likely thought it was. "It's actually fairly stable, since Paris mostly refuses to do what anyone says."
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 6, 2010 12:43:35 GMT -5
He was nodding as she finished speaking.
"I find it interesting. Strange, but interesting. Even more so in the case of Paris--it's as though she's become her own little city-state, completely autonomous from France itself. From what I've heard, Paris has a rather colorful history."
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Post by Kat de Winter on Jan 6, 2010 14:00:14 GMT -5
"My friend Evelyn's grandfather led the most recent insurrection; an Englishman tried to take power with the deposed queen from the first revolution and Paris wouldn't have it. Given, said Englishman later tried to stage a coup, but that was squashed in a few hours." She figured she probably shouldn't mention the fact that the sun had been turned out for a day or so when he tried to seize power again, and that they'd used blasters from a galaxy far, far away to win the original insurrection. "What's interesting is that they don't seem to plan for victory. If they do succeed, they've overthrown the government with no plan to replace it, so the city just sort of coasts along, guided by whoever takes some sort of vague responsibility until someone tries to seize power a few decades later. A bit like Italy, in some ways. Florence and the Medici and all that." Florence had functioned somewhat similarly in his time, only without the revolutions.
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 6, 2010 21:52:02 GMT -5
"You're right--much like Florence. But I wonder what caused all the instability to begin with--last I was here, Francis was the King of France."
Sure, he couldn't stand said King, but he needn't mention that.
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Post by Kat de Winter on Jan 6, 2010 22:00:32 GMT -5
"If I told you, I promise you wouldn't believe me..." they had arrived at her studio. She smiled her usual smile, which Evie had informed her was 'mysterious', and said, "And here I must take my leave. Perhaps we'll see each other again."
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 6, 2010 22:12:11 GMT -5
One eyebrow went up at her statement.
"Perhaps I might not believe it, but I get the feeling it's interesting to say that least.
Ah, yes--I won't keep you. And, perhaps, we will meet again."
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Post by Kat de Winter on Jan 6, 2010 22:17:22 GMT -5
As a parting gesture, she executed an absolutely flawless curtsey, sinking with elegance borne of years of dance training and gracefully flashing just the tiniest bit of pale neck. It was really very convenient that one was taught obsolete niceties as a dancer. She rose with the bearing of a queen, and turned to enter the studio.
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Post by Henry VIII on Jan 6, 2010 22:37:28 GMT -5
He bowed in response, the movement so practice by now that he really didn't have to think about it all that much.
"Fare thee well."
With that, he turned and headed away into Paris.
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