-𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙-
It's the year 1466 and King Edward IV is on the throne of England. His wife and Queen ,Elizabeth Woodville, has just given birth to her first daughter ,Lizzie, but not all is w...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
June 1483, Westminster...
"Where are we going, mama?" Edmund asked as Marian fastened a burgundy cloak around his shoulders "We are going to visit you cousins, chéri, at the Tower" she replied. "The Tower?" Her son echoed, his gaze wandering over to his father who was standing by the window with Lisbet "are father and Lisbet coming too?" Marian shook her head and stood, taking Edmund's hand.
"No. This is a special trip! Just for you and me!" Edmund grinned, happy that his mother was singling him out for the day. Happy that he would get to see his friend and cousin, young Richard, and pleased beyond all measure that he was to meet the King!
Little did he know, this was not a spontaneous visit to renew friendships, it was a plan devised by his mother, father and their friends, to make sure they truly did have both of the late King's sons, safely within their care. As Richard had said he would do, he had sent Buckingham, along with some fresh food as Marian had requested, to Westminster Abbey to collect the Prince but Elizabeth had firmly refused, saying that her son had been too ill to travel, was ailing with a cold.
Buckingham had not believed her tale for a second but had yielded that day, promising to return as soon as young Richard was better. This he did and at last the Prince had been collected and as the Gloucester family stood in their palace chambers, he was being escorted by Harry and Francis to be with his brother at the Tower.
Worried that Elizabeth may be so desperate that she would attempt to swap the boy with a lookalike, Anne had suggested to Marian that she take Edmund to see the boy, to confirm that it was him; Marian had readily agreed to the plan and was now kissing her husband goodbye, patting her eldest daughter's head affectionately before making her way to the courtyard with her son.
She knew for a fact that she would know if it was the Prince or a pretender just by glancing at him but didn't want to begrudge her son a small reunion with his friend, no matter the circumstances, and also would be grateful for Edmund's confirmation. It would end any doubts that she had now or would hold in the future on weather truly it was the King's brother or not. So, with Edmund clinging onto her waist, Marian nudged her horse into a trot and, with a few armed guards, set off through the streets of London to the Tower.
Marian listened to her son talk non stop on various topics during the journey. Smiled to herself when she heard him proclaim excitedly to the soldiers accompanying them that he was going to meet the king, smiled even more when she heard the men reply with amused, good natures murmurs of "good luck my little Lord" and "say hello to his grace for me"
By the time they reached the Tower, Eddie was practically leaping out of the saddle with uncontrollable excitement, his hold on his mother becoming tighter and tighter as he thought about meeting the King, his own cousin, and his friend again until she warned him that if he did cling on any tighter then he might crush her!
