October 12th, 1537

Hampton Court Palace, England

It had happened! Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour had given birth to a healthy baby boy. The labor had been long and hard, but after two long days, a Prince of Wales had been given to England. Henry chuckled as he held the boy, red gold hair thinly covered his head.

"My dear Jane, my one true wife." He murmured in his exhausted wife's ear.

She smiled, although her eyes remained closed. "There shall be more, Your Majesty."

"Of course there shall be, however, we must think of a name for our Prince of Wales. Perhaps Henry?" He kissed the little infant.

Jane yawned. "I much like the name Edward, Your Majesty."

Henry smiled. "Then Edward it shall be. I take my leave of you, so that you may rest, my love."

Henry exited his wife's chambers with a large grin on his face. His closest friend, Charles Brandon had been waiting outside.

"Your Majesty, it must be true." His friend gave him a bow.

Henry could barely contain himself. "Ah, yes! A healthy boy and many more to come."

Henry limped to his Privy chamber where Cranmer and Cromwell were awaiting the news.

"You appear to be in quite high spirits, Your Majesty." Cromwell observed.

"I have all right to be, Cromwell. Queen Jane hath provided me with a true son and heir, Prince Edward."

July 10th, 1537

Guelders, Germany

Sophia was prepared. Her ladies plaited her hair and dressed her an hour ago, she was waiting to be summoned by her father. She was going to marry William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, mainly to prevent her lands from being absorbed by the Holy Roman Empire. Her father, Duke Charles, was an elderly man, not expected to live too many years longer. She loved her father dearly, but the thought of her own reign was tantalizing. She had an idea to reform the tax system and she wanted to enter into negotiations with the more powerful nations and expand Guelders' influence. She had come a long way from the days she wanted to marry the Holy Roman Emperor because it sounded nice. She had thrown all of her dedication into her marriage to William, including befriending his sisters Anna and Amalia. Anna was her favorite by far, although she seemed a bit naïve. Anna was also the prettier sister and Sophia wished she had a brother for Anna to marry so they could be sisters twice over. However, she was secretly grateful for her parents' failure to produce more children, with a brother Sophia would never be Duchess in her own right.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. "You may enter."

Her father's page bowed lowly to her. "His Grace, your father, has summoned you to the chapel."

Sophia rose, delighted to be relieved of her waiting. She gave the page a coin and nodded to her two favorite ladies, Sarah and Maria to carry her train. The page led them to the chapel and tension descended over the group. She wondered if William would remain polite after their marriage or if it had been a show to retain Guelders as he had a distant claim to the Duchy. Once they reached the chapel, Sophia felt herself shaking. She walked slowly, knowing that once she married him, she would have to serve him. She prayed he would allow her to govern Guelders on her own. He smiled at her, but she did not return it, suddenly distrustful of his intentions for marrying her. Instead, he took a deep breath as she turned over her entire life to her new husband.

April 16th, 1538

Cleves, Germany

A loud wail filled the room as Sophia gave her last push, her first child had entered the world. Her three favorite ladies, Sarah, Maria, and Ethel had attended her during the birth. Sarah swaddled the wailing infant and Sophia waited patiently. She wanted to know if she had given birth to a son or a daughter.

Sarah brought her the crying child and smiled. "A daughter, Your Grace."

Sophia nodded. "I will name her Isabella because that is the Spanish way. She will marry the Holy Roman Emperor's son, Philip. This girl will be a queen."

She looked down at her daughter and smiled, fine red hair covered her head. Sophia was grateful she hadn't inherited her father's dark looks.

"Maria, please bring my husband to me." Sophia ordered.

Maria nodded and disappeared, leaving Sophia with Sarah and Ethel. Ethel was Sarah's mother and Sophia's wet nurse, so Sophia trusted her more than any other woman in her retinue. Sarah on the other hand, had been Sophia's whipping girl so she tried to be on her best behavior to spare Sarah the lash. The question of Sarah's marriage was first in Sophia's mind, and she had a particular man in mind.

"Sarah, I would like-"

Sophia was cut off by her husband entering the room. He approached slowly. "Isabella you say?"

Sophia nodded. "Yes, husband "

He frowned. "I had been thinking maybe Maria or Anna. Perhaps even Sybille, Isabella is...odd."

Sophia rocked her daughter a bit. "The next shall be Anna. She will be Isabella, that is what they will call her in Spain."

"A Spanish marriage? That will put her in the hands of the Hapsburgs." William sighed.

Sophia flicked her hand to dismiss her ladies before replying. "My father has a debt to pay. He promised my first daughter to the Emperor's eldest son, so she will be queen of Spain and the Holy Roman Empress. So I chose Isabella, Spanish for Elisabeth."

William nodded. "Of course, your father's debt must be paid. We must have a son so that we retain Guelders."

Sophia chuckled. "Of course we shall have a son. Many sons and daughters."

William timidly took Isabella into his arms. Sophia watched as he kissed their daughter's forehead. She smiled, knowing he could have raged against her for not giving him a son.

"Would you send for Anna?" Sophia inquired.

William nodded. "I assume you would want her for the godmother?"

Sophia laughed. "Of course! Anna and the Empress, her future mother-in-law."

William winced at the mention of the Empress. "What about the king of England?"

Sophia giggled. "He would try to take her for a wife, but of course. If he will accept, that is."

William kissed her cheek tenderly. "Anna will be present shortly."

Sophia nodded as she watched him leave. She was beginning to love William, especially after she had explained what she wanted to do about the depleted treasury in Guelders. He backed her ideals completely and she was eager to put them in place. She looked back down at her tiny daughter and sighed as she realized that she would not be able to give her daughter the same joy of governing in her own right. Sophia needed to have a son to keep the Empire away from her lands.

Maria opened the door. "Your Grace, the Lady Anna."

Anna curtsied before she approached her bedside. "This is my little niece?"

Sophia smiled proudly. "The future Holy Roman Empress, my little Isabella."

Anna took the babe in her arms. "I hope that one day I will be able to have a babe of my own."

Sophia laughed. "You will, Anna. I have been telling your brother to find you a suitable husband for ages!"

"You seem to be the only one to do so. My mother-" Sophia cut her off.

"I know you and your mother are close, but you cannot allow her to rule your life. You will die an old spinster if you allow her to sway you so easily."

Anna appeared a bit bewildered by her adamant statement. "Your Grac- Sophia I will be married when the time is right."

Sophia took Isabella back into her arms. "You are right. You'll make any man a good match, even the fickle king of England."