The Other Elizabeth

Chapter XXXII: February 1461

"Lyz-beth," she moans, tugging on my arm. She too, as with all the Wydevilles, has adopted the pet name Anthony calls me. I confess I do not feel I look as such, and there is some small shred of adolescence in my bones that feels that I am still Lizzie. They needed a pet name for me, to avoid confusion with their 'big sister Bess', the other Elizabeth Wydeville. Whenever I do hear the prefix 'Bess' it only makes me think of my Bessie. She has not sent word to me at all. Upon enquiring, I found she was not at Middleton either. What has happened to her? I know we quarrelled, but does she mean to put me through such agony, wondering where she is? Does she never wish to see me again after revealing her shameful secret? Has she met Katherine? Indeed, has she stayed with Katherine? Did Katherine want to greet her, the mother she barely knows? What of me? Should I write to her...?

Kate pulls my arm again- is Katherine's pet name 'Kate' too?, I wonder, picking up Anthony's mantle from its usual discarded position amongst the rushes, the small part of him I can retain.

"Lyzbeth, you must see what is happening outside."

"What?" I mumble beneath my yawning.

"There are three suns in the sky!" Her eyes widen.

"Is this so?" I say in disbelief. I clamber out of the bed, wondering if the dear child has fallen to insanity. Three suns? What can she be talking of? I draw the mantle about me, for the February frost has set in. I look out the window, and blink. Kate indeed speaks truth- there are three suns in the sky. How can this be? There is not one sun, but one also either side of it. This-this-is unfathomable. What can have occurred for this to happen? Is there some trickery? Do mine own eyes deceive me? No, truly, three weak winter suns glisten with slivers of icy rays in the sky. This is a most strange phenomenon.

"Hurry," I say, reaching for my slippers, "Let us hasten outside."

We join the rest of the family in the dew-sprinkled gardens glazed with frost, craning our necks to wonder at this most unusual sight.

"What can this denote?" I say to Jacquetta.

"Mayhap the battle is to be fought today, and there shall be some definitive outcome? It could be an omen," she says rather wistfully, and I feel for my rosary. My fingers brush thin air; I have left it in my bedchamber. God keep you, Anthony, I make an empty promise, my hands clutching at nothing. I turn back to the beating suns mimicking my heartbeat. Return to me, even scarred, as long as your heart beats. Is this a good omen, or bad?

"Lady Mother, what if this is a warning from God? What if Doomsday shall be today?" Lionel says, quite pale.

Jacquetta frowns. "I am doubtful, Lionel." Doomsday? What if today were to be my last? My heart jumps a beat. Shall we actually die today? The others start exclaiming loudly and bickering.

Kate bursts noisily into tears. "I do not want to die. I do not want Doomsday." She clutches at Anne's skirts and she makes soothing noises. Oh, that cannot be. Lionel is jumping to conclusions; he is but a child...

"'Tis a sign from Our Lord himself," Lionel presses, "Representing the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, Holy Father, and Holy Son. For there are three suns in the sky to represent this. This is a reckoning.... God has revealed himself to us today, of all days..."

"Because today is Candlemas Day," Joan says quaintly, her eyes fixed on the beacons of hope- but hope for who- above us, but her timid voice is drowned out by Kate's dramatic wailing. I do feel rather sorry for her, for all the other children shine with their own sense of strong character, and Joan is rather overlooked.

"Mayhap there are three suns, because there are three contenders for the throne- King Henry, that York boy, and now another?" Johnny offers up. Sweet Jesu, surely no one else wants to claim this wretched throne?