The Rose of Lancaster | The White Queen

The Righteous Usurpers

"Shall we take the throne?" Richard asked again, looking at Marian who had taken to staring intensely at a bush as if it held something great within its tangle of leaves and branches.
Tearing her eyes away from the greenery, she hesitantly peered up at him.

"I do not know...If there be no doubt in your mind of the truthfulness of what Harry says, what that contract says...then perhaps we should take action accordingly. Not for ourselves, Richard...but for our children" she took a deep, shaky breath "but you must be sure, Richard for we cannot take the throne if we are not entitled to it. We would not be the rightful rulers in the eyes of God or man. You have to be sure. The next steps that we take will determine the rest of our lives, the rest of our children's lives. There is no room for doubt or second guessing"

She gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek before stepping back, looking at Harry one last time as she walked out of the rose garden and back to where her daughters were obediently waiting for her to return to them.

Marian plastered a smile onto her face as Meg and Cecily leapt up to greet her, Lisbet staying on the ground with Mary in her arms.

"Mama, mama!" The little girls shouted
"Hello, mes chéries!" Marian replied, hugging them "I see that you did as you were told?"
"Yes, mama" Lisbet replied "Mary was very good too! She didn't cry at all!"
"Well that is very pleasing to hear! Thank you for taking care of her Lisbet. And you, Meg and Cecily. I'm very proud of you all" the little girls (including Mary) beamed at their mother and Marian reached down to take the youngest from Lisbet's arms, swinging her into the air and a tight embrace.

Cecily suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction and Marian was about to call her back but she saw that it was Richard her daughter was running towards and smiled instead, taking Meg's hand as Lisbet dashed to her father like Cecily had done.

"Come along, Meg" the Duchess said, beginning to walk back to the palace "your brother's shall be waiting for us and you know how rowdy they can be if they do not get their dinner on time"
Meg giggled and nodded in agreement, letting go of her mother's hand and skipping ahead of her, for a brief, pain-filled moment reminding Marian of Meg's courageous namesake, the woman, the best friend Marian still missed...and always would.

༒༒༒

"Ahaha! We have you now, Dickon!" Ned cried as he and Edmund made their way towards their little brother, wooden play swords in hand, large grins on their faces.

"Truly, this isn't fair, Ned!" Dickon complained, pointing his own sword ahead of him, not looking forward to the defeat that he was about to suffer at his older brother's hands "you two are both stronger than me! Older as well!"

"Oh don't whine, so, Dickon" Edmund chided "if you think our game be unfair then you shall have to toughen up and if you don't you will carry on losing! Tis the way of life, little brother!"
"Well I don't like it, Eddie!" Dickon retorted, throwing down his sword and proceeding to sit on the floor, crossing his arms. Ned gave an irritated sigh, stared up at the ceiling, while Edmund walked over to his younger brother and sat opposite him.