ROYAL BLOOD | THE WHITE PRINCESS

15

However, before she could get there, Maggie stopped her. She wasn't angry, though. If she had to choose between Maggie and Cecily, she'd choose Maggie. At least Maggie had reason to bother her. She was trying to get her poor brother back.

"Please ask him to let Teddy out," Maggie pleaded and Lizbeth smiled at her, nodding her head before leaving.

Outside in the courtyard, Bishop Morton continued to stand in front of Henry as he explained all the misdeeds Lizbeth had done while they were gone.

"She threatened the royal heir's life and I knew she wasn't bluffing when I saw the way she cut half of her neck and smiled as she did so," He explained, but Henry was only half-listening, so desperate to see Lizbeth for himself after being parted from her for nearly three weeks.

"Where is she?" Henry desperately asked, looking up to see Lizbeth no longer standing in the window.

"Punish her, Henry," Margaret demanded as she watched her son walk away, "Severely. She must not get away with this."

Henry ignored his mother and walked into the castle. He entered the throne room walked up to his throne, a disappointed look on his face.

Just a few moments later, Lizbeth had entered, leading to him turning to her instead. Henry eyed her closely, especially the cut on her neck.

She stood before him proudly, not fearing for whatever punishment she was about to get. "Punish me if you must, I do not care. It will be worth it. I couldn't remain in this castle and do nothing as people were dying in the streets, not when we had a means to help them here."

"You make it look so easy," Henry complained as he stared at Lizbeth in shock, "You know exactly what to do to make them love you."

"Well, I am my mother's daughter, aren't?" Lizbeth smiled playfully, only to notice the look he gave her, which made her sigh, "I already told you, Henry. You want England to love you? You start with the small folk. You rule with fear and you'll only get hatred in return. As my mother likes to say, you take before a man will give and you will never win him, no matter what he may pretend as he stands before you."

Henry looked at Lizbeth, beginning to chuckle. "My mother says the opposite." He admitted.

"Well, she is wrong," Lizbeth replied, causing them both to smile, "I hope you see that."

"I do," Henry confirmed, only to frown as he watched her smile fade as quickly as it came.

"What about locking my cousin in the Tower? Was that her order as well?" She asked, a curious look on her face, which caused Henry to avoid eye contact with her, "Or was it yours?"

"He is a York boy," Henry spoke up after a long moment, finally bringing himself to look her in the eye, "They were calling for him, shouting that they would support him over me. What else could I do?"

"You know the answer. We both do," Lizbeth argued in a stern tone, no longer speaking kindly to Henry, "If you want their love, then you should release him. And my mother from the room you've confined her to."

"I must assume I cannot trust her," Henry confessed in a frustrated tone.

"So I am to be separated from her?" Lizbeth complained, letting out a large scoff, "Because you're scared an old woman will overthrow you?"

"Do you really think she has your best interests at heart, Lizbeth?" he found himself asking, "Perhaps she did once, but not anymore. She is nothing like the woman I once knew as a boy. She has changed and not for the better. She's lost too much, nearly everything she ever cared about. All she thinks about now is vengeance. She's so consumed with it she cares for nothing else."