Crown of Blood | The White Princess

Blood of the Streets

"It does matter" Arthur replied with a sympathetic smile "but don't worry, my lady! I have something for you!" The boy clapped his hands and a servant stepped forward, carrying in his arms a royal blue velvet cloak trimmed with white fur, a golden clasp adorning the front. Her mouth forming a small 'o', Lisbet shook her head.

"I can't accept this...I..."
"Take it" Arthur interrupted and the servant draped the heavy garment around Lisbet's shoulders "if not from my mother then from me, as a symbol of our new friendship"

At last the Duchess smiled and nodded, fastening the clasp of the cloak with shaking fingers before she took Harry's hand and the trio made their way out into the frosty November air.

"Do you remember the gardens?" Harry asked as he played with a twig he had found along one of the paths "my mother told me that you use to live here, long ago before even she was Queen!"
Lisbet giggled and put her arm around the young Prince's shoulder.
"Aye...at one point I did live here, and constantly so, but it was never my home"

"Then where was your home?" Arthur prompted, just as curious about this his friend's past as his brother was "you must have had a home?"
"I did...Middleham castle, in the North"

"The north?" Harry exclaimed "that's near where my sisters are! Though they are at a place called Ludlow..."
"Where my cousin grew up" Lisbet finished with a smile "Tis where the Prince of Wales is taught to be a knight and soon...soon you shall be there Arthur" grimacing a little at what she just said, she quickened their pace a little and decided to speak of her home instead "Middleham was a beautiful place...always filled to the brim with flowers in summer and soft blankets of snow in winter. I loved my home with all my heart, and I still do, one day I hope to return there"

"But my father will not allow it?" Henry suggested and Lisbet nodded, surprised by the boys's knowledge.
"There is that, I suppose. One thing is for sure, he will not let me out of his sight..."

"What are you saying to my sons?"
Henry appeared at the end of the pathway and both of the boys bowed with Lisbet simply narrowing her eyes at him.
"I'm telling them of my home, sir" she stated and he arched an eyebrow.
"Go inside, you two" he ordered and Arthur and Harry were quick to scamper away, leaving the adults alone.

"You wish to speak with me?" Lisbet asked, seating herself on a stone bench with Henry beside her, who nodded.
"The cloak is well suited to you...the Queen knows you well"
"Your wife does not know me...she never has, not truly"

"Ah but that is where you are wrong" Henry said "she knows you like the back of her hand, she always has...now, look at me, Elizabeth, as your King I command it"
"Then I shall not do it" Lisbet replied sharply "for as I so fondly recall my grandmother once telling you, you are not the King, in law nor in God's eyes"

She heard Henry give a huff of frustration then yelped as his fingers roughly gripped her chin, forcing her to face him.
"Do not defy me, Elizabeth" he warned, though his eyes softened a little at the sight of her startled expression "I hold your life in the palm of my hand. The lives of both of your sister in laws, your brother, your husband, your niece and your little sister Cecily are all at my mercy. I can kill you or keep you alive, the choice is yours. All you have to do is yield"

"Never" she shot back, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her mixed emotions of fear and anger pulsed through her veins "I am a York, I shall never surrender" Henry's hand dropped to her shoulder and he squeezed the soft material beneath his fingers.
"Be wise, Elizabeth" he murmured "you have always been the one to protect your family, by being obstinate now you are putting them in danger. Remember that"

Slowly, he rose from the bench and gave her a  short nod before strolling back down the path he had come from; disappearing from sight.

Once he was gone, Lisbet's shoulders slumped and she gasped for air, finding that she had been holding her breath. Was he right? She asked herself. But no! He could not be! Both Ned and Francis were refusing his orders too! She was not to blame!