The King's Artist

Ch 80: The Battle of Bosworth Field

"He's going to be king, Adelaide," he whispered to her, his voice barely heard over the soldiers.

"He's going to be a great king," she whispered back, a single proud tear escaping before she wiped it away, stood straighter, and moved into position with the others. 

~~~

Soldiers pushed in on all sides and a roaring so violent pressed in on Adelaide that she wanted to cry and shrink in on herself. But she steeled herself and swung her sword at the man trying to drag her from her horse. She managed to strike him down, but another immediately moved into his place. Then another. And another. 

Her horse was overcome quickly and a rough hand gripped her from behind, hauling her backwards. Adelaide screamed as she hit the ground, the air knocking from her lungs. She breathed harshly, trying to right herself and get back to her feet before the bodies around her swamped her even more. Someone stepped on her hand as she reached for her sword and she bit back another shout as she felt a finger crunch under the impact. The body was shoved aside, though, and Adelaide rushed to a standing position as quickly as she could. She switched the hand that held her sword, incredibly grateful for all those years she'd spent jumping back and forth between practicing right handed and left handed. 

So much death consumed the battle field. 

Adelaide swiftly dispatched another enemy as she scanned the area for Henry. She saw him further away, surrounded by Marcus and Theodore. She couldn't spot Anthony and hadn't seen Kayden or Jasper since the beginning of the conflict. She tried to push her way towards their fighting circle, but Yorkists continue pressing in, filling the distance that she needed to cross. 

Fear seized her as she spotted Richard from across Bosworth Field, riding down a hill with his men around him. There was such an ugliness on the King's face that Adelaide felt a shiver run up her spine. Her eyes darted from him towards his destination, where his eyes were trained on Henry. Her desperation heightened and she swung furiously through several more men, bodies falling around her in a cascade. She chose to ignore the blood, her attention solely on getting across the field. 

"Henry!" Her shouts were useless, though, barely carrying over the clash of steel and the screams of pain. 

Despite the improbability, though, Henry's stare turned towards her. Their eyes locked for a small, fleeting moment before he was consumed, Richard and his men finally making impact.

Adelaide couldn't see clearly what was happening. Every second, death threatened her, biting at her heals, pressing in on her back. Something must have happened with Richard and Henry, though, because Adelaide could see Stanley's men riding down from their perch at last. They had been on the outskirts of the battle, carefully waiting to see which side gave first, but Adelaide had no idea if they were riding to Henry's aid or to help finish him off. 

~~~

Adelaide didn't know how long the fighting lasted. 

It quickly became clear, though, that Thomas Stanley had road against Richard, the Yorkist King falling on the battle field only moments later. Everyone who survived was covered in blood and dirt with fewer people having fallen on their side than Adelaide had initially suspected. 

Her breathing was labored, her arms and legs heavy from excretion. She swiped a hand across her face, smearing sweat and whatever else was on her skin. Her finger seemed to be the only thing broken, though, at least. 

In the midst of the chaos, something clicked in Adelaide's head as she watched powerful men surrounding Henry, expressing their congratulations and declaring their loyalty. She never had managed to cover the distance between them during the battle. She had fought and killed and screamed in order to get to him, to protect him, but it hadn't been enough. 

But, despite that, he was alive. Henry was alive and he was to be king now. 

Whatever force that had acted on him earlier, making Henry suddenly turn towards her in the midst of conflict, seemed to pull on him again, and for the second time their eyes locked. Words passed between their stares with too many emotions to comfortably hold. 

Adelaide smiled and so did Henry. 

But his smile hesitated as Adelaide proceeded to drop into a deep bow, tears brimming her eyes. As she straightened, acceptance and grief snuck onto Henry's face, but he pushed it aside firmly as men continue pressing into the space around him. He gave Adelaide a small nod, though, a sincere but imperceptible gesture to anyone but her. 

Henry did not call out to her, did not try to run after her, as she turned away from him. 

A pained cry caught in her throat, her eyes burned and her vision blurred, but she kept moving. She had already said her goodbyes, already accomplished what she had set out to do. So with a strong shake of her head and a steadying inhale, Adelaide dug her sword into the ground, dropped her helmet, and kept walking. 

XXX

Hi everyone! I just want to say a quick thank you to anyone who has kept with this story until this point. As bittersweet as it is for me to write, the next chapter will be the last one. 

I've worked on this story for a couple years now, maybe three, I honestly forget. It's changed shape a lot throughout that time. I've wanted to stop on multiple occasions, but whenever I got stuck or found I disliked what I was writing, someone would comment something about how much they loved the story and I would find it in me to continue. 

So, again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving this story a chance and so diligently reading each week. I've put a lot of work and heart into this story and I hope that it conveys.