𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙
eight. — when you are young!
THE CHATTER FILLED the air as soon as they were out of the duchesses' earshot. Melissa closed her eyes as her sisters began talking over one another, gasping and gossiping over the words that had just been spoken. The only ones who were silent were her mother, Elizabeth, and Melissa, herself.
"Why was she so mean?" Little Catherine was wondering, yanking on Melissa's sleeve inquisitively.
"They say she's a dragon in disguise." Martha whispered, eliciting a squeak from Cat, who shook her head in denial.
"Well, whatever she is, her words were awfully nasty." Mary declared, looking to the still silent Elizabeth, who seemed to be lost in thought.
"We will not ponder upon her poison." Their mother seemed to gather herself from her stupor. "Go to your father, girls. Melissa, Elizabeth, and I have much to discuss."
"But--!" Catherine began to protest, only to stop when Anne shepherded her away, along with the rest of their sisters.
After the younger girls had left, Jacquetta turned to Melissa expectantly.
"Where can we talk?"
"Follow me." She murmured, still rather baffled by the turn of events.
The three silently made the trek to Melissa's chambers, the red-head leading in front of them. Courtiers flattened themselves against the walls as the Woodvilles passed, staring inquisitively at their new queen, torn between admiration and disgust. Feelings for Elizabeth were, quite apparently, mixed.
Once they had reached the doors to her chambers, Melissa pushed them open and walked in. Everything was as she had left them that morning; her bed tidily made, small velvet pillows scattered on top of the soft emerald sheets. Her little vanity, covered with ribbons and small hair adornments stood to the corner, a series of three chaises at the opposite end of the room, accompanied by a small table which had a vase placed on it, containing the rose Richard had given her at the festivities. It was all but wilted now, but the girl could not bring herself to part from it.
"Handsome rooms," Jacquetta remarked, brushing her hand against the bed covers.
"I thought so too," Melissa offered, hoping beyond hope that neither of them had taken Duchess Cecily's words to heart. "Though I am sure Elizabeth's will be grander."
"Not if Edward's mother has anything to say about it." Her queenly sister let out an unflattering snort, clearly bitter over the morning's proceedings.
"I will admit..." Jacquetta began carefully. "I did not expect Cecily Neville to favor you so, Melissa."
"Yes, what did you do?" Elizabeth agreed, her tone almost accusing.
"I did nothing!" Melissa exclaimed. "Today was the first time she had spoken directly to me. I did not even think she knew who I was until this morning!"
"Clearly, she likes you." Her golden-haired sister pointed out.
"Well, I do not know why!"
"But you suspect something." Their mother was, infuriatingly, as calm as ever.
Melissa sighed exasperatedly. "Other than wanting to lord her position over you, or bring Elizabeth down a peg or two, I genuinely have no idea, mother. You must believe me."
Given by the look the two elder Woodvilles exchanged, they clearly did not.
"You cannot believe I would turn the king's mother against you, Elizabeth!" The queen's younger sister protested, her eyes wide. "If she does not like you, it is by her own will. I have done nothing to encourage her animosity."
Elizabeth sighed and nodded. "I believe you, Lissa. But I cannot have discord with the most powerful woman at court. You must help me get into her good graces, or God knows my path here shall be harder than I had expected."
"I will," the red-head promised.
"Good," Jacquetta nodded, pleased that the chaos the Neville woman had attempted to sow between the two sisters had not had its desired effect. "Elizabeth and I shall retire to her quarters, now."
"You may come, if you want." The blonde offered. "I can ask Edward to take you off his sister's service, and into mine."
"No," Melissa replied quickly. "I am grateful, but doing such a thing would only make their mother hate you more. And besides, the Duchess Elizabeth is kind to me, and she is not averse to you, unlike Duchess Cecily. You do not want her anger, as well her mother's."
Elizabeth sighed in defeat. "Very well, Lissa. Come see me when you can, then."
Melissa nodded, her mother and sister leaving at her non-verbal assent. After the doors to her chambers had shut, the redheaded Woodville slumped on her bed, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Just what had she gotten herself into?
LATER THAT DAY, Melissa was in the stables, brushing her horse's mane. The white palfrey had been a gift her father had given to her before their arrival at court; her sweet nature had prompted the Woodville girl to name her Alys.
"I have not been paying as much attention to you as I likely should have, have I, sweets?" Melissa whispered, running her hand through the horse's soft white strands.
Alys whinnied gently in response, butting her head against the girl's hand. She earned a smile in return, and a gentle caress.
"Do not worry. I long to go riding today. I am sure you would like a foray in the fields?"
Almost as though she could understand what Melissa was saying, Alys huffed restlessly, seeming like she wanted to gallop out of the stables and then have no more of it.
"I will take that as a yes." The red-head laughed merrily, turning around to a waiting stableboy and motioning him forward.
She stepped back as he began to saddle the mare, watching the process with keen eyes.
"Would you accommodate a companion, my lady?" A voice came from behind her.
A smile grew on Melissa's face, but she did not turn around.
"I thought I told you to call me by my name, ... my lord."
"So you did," Richard, the Duke of Gloucester laughed, coming to stand next to her.
"I would not mind a ride with Richard, my friend. The Duke of Gloucester, on the other hand..." She trailed off.
He put an hand to his chest, mocking offense. "Does my low, low status truly offend you that much, Melissa?"
"I am afraid it is the only obstacle between us." The girl mocked, going along with his joke.
"A pity, then." He shook his head with feigned sadness. "We cannot go riding in the Kingswood."
"Blasphemy, for I shall take no lower!" Melissa gasped, taking Alys' reins from the stableboy, who was staring between them like they were creatures from a different world.
"Then you shall simply have to accept both Richard, your friend, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester!"
The red-head huffed playfully. "Oh, if I must."
He laughed and walked over to his own horse; a black destrier he called Midnight. He mounted the saddle, as did she, and spurred his horse to the entrance of the stable.
"Wait for me!" Melissa called out, quickly moving Alys into a trot behind him.
"First one to the big oak tree in the middle of the wood gets the last of the lemon cakes from the kitchens!" Richard announced, and — without waiting for Melissa — galloped off.
"Hey!" The girl cried out, digging her heels into Alys' side. "No fair!"
And off they went.
DINNER THAT NIGHT in the great hall was a tense affair, to Elizabeth's mind. Her mother seemed perfectly at ease, back in the courtly environment that suited her so well, but the rest of the family were quiet, barely speaking a word, as those around them — Edward's courtiers — held no desire to exchange words with whom they considered as Lancastrian peasants.
Duchess Cecily, her new mother-in-law who seemed to hate her with the passion of a thousand suns, sat next to her nephew, Lord Warwick, who was equally as disdainful of the Woodville family as his aunt, if not more. The two conversed quietly and in low tones, occasionally sending glances at the empty seat between Edward and his brother, George. From what Elizabeth had gathered, that was usually where the youngest Plantagenet, Richard sat. Mysteriously — that evening — he was not present for the banquet Edward had held, for her introduction to court.
And speaking of absent siblings, Elizabeth's own sister, Melissa was also unaccounted for. After they had left her chambers in the morning, she knew the red-head had gone back to her duties for the Duchess Elizabeth, but had been dismissed in the early afternoon. They had gone to search for her, but she was gone, and so was her horse, Alys.
Also not present was Edward's brother's destrier, so the only logical conclusion there was, was that they had gone riding together. A stiffer court may have been more appalled that they were unchaperoned, but in the face of their king's merriness, they did little but laugh and giggle over the young duke's fledgling friendship with the queen's sister.
Elizabeth had thought they would be more restrained toward it, seeing as they disliked her marriage to Edward so, but the royal duchesses' public approval (for their smirks whenever Richard and Melissa were mentioned could not signify anything other) tamped any feelings of resentment down.
The blonde did not know what to think of it. On one hand, she was happy for her sister, who had never had many friends, even back at Grafton. On the other, she could not help but feel nigglings of jealousy, for she and Melissa were both of the same station. Her sister may not have been previously married or widowed, but Elizabeth genuinely could not see what made her so much more likable to not just Edward's mother and sisters, but to everyone as a whole. Why did they favor Melissa so? And why did they hate Elizabeth equally?
The question plagued her even as her sister and the Duke of Gloucester entered the great hall, seemingly blind to how everyone turned around to stare at them. Melissa was laughing, her arm placed over Richard's, and he too was grinning as he escorted her to her seat next to Richie, who looked between them as though he did not know whether to be smug or displeased.
The Duke then walked over to his own place, pouring himself a goblet of wine and taking a generous swig of it. His brother, George said something, and both Richard and Edward leaned over and thumped him on the back of his head for it. All the tension seemed to settle then, and the level of conversation became a little higher than it had been when the third son of York had been absent.
Elizabeth sent one last glance between Richard Plantagenet and her sister, before looking down at her own meal. She might not necessarily be pleased that everyone preferred Melissa over her, but concluded that this could only be a good thing in general.
Through her own popularity, her younger sister could help Elizabeth smooth over her own reputation. Soon, all would come to see that Elizabeth could be a good queen, despite her humble beginnings, and they would respect her relationship with Edward as much as they did with Richard and her nymphette of sister. Soon, indeed, all would be well.
FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION of the night's feast, Melissa left for her rooms, accompanied by a slightly tipsy Richard, who insisted upon escorting her to keep her honor intact.
"Are you sure my honor shall not be damaged more by your state of inebriation, my lord?" She giggled, putting her hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"I would never take advantage of a gentle lady!" He exclaimed indignantly, letting her lead him down the hallways.
"Not so gentle," she told him warningly. "This particular lady can spar with the best of them."
The Duke of Gloucester beamed, inspired. "You should spar me! We should spar at once!"
"Unless you would like to wake up missing a few limbs, I would not recommend it." Melissa snickered.
He pouted. "Then tomorrow. We spar tomorrow."
"Very well, my lord."
"Rich-chard," he hiccuped. "My name is Richard."
"Yes, Richard." She sighed, struggling to understand how they had gotten to this point in the first place.
Behind them, her twin brother snorted, having accompanied them at a distance on their father's orders. Melissa sent him a playful glare, and gently pushed the royal duke toward him upon reaching her chamber doors.
"I had a marvelous time, Richard. I thank you for your companionship."
He blinked at her uncomprehendingly for a second, before reaching and unclasping a jeweled cross necklace from under his doublet. Unsteadily, he grabbed her hand and gave it to her.
"For you, sweet lady." He told her, bowing as straight as he could in his state of inebriation.
Melissa laughed softly and took a firm hold of the cross.
"I shall treasure it always. Now, goodnight, my lord."
"Goodnight," he mumbled, stumbling away, letting a clearly amused Richie take hold of him.
The Woodville girl shook her head, giggling, and looked down at the jeweled cross once more. She sighed deeply and clasped it around her neck as best as she could, entering her room to examine it. Walking over to her vanity mirror, she observed the jewel for a couple of seconds, before looking up to the glass.
All of a sudden, with a harsh gasp, she was swept away.
In her vision, a young man with curly dark hair, the color a variant of mahogany, stood in the middle of a battlefield, blood speckled on his face. His armor was bashed as though he had been beat up, but he looked strong and determined as he examined what appeared to be a prone body on the muddied ground. His sword was thrust through the prone form's chest, and he was panting heavily, looking grimly satisfied. The image seemed to stay still for a brief second, despite soldiers rushing to the man, opening their mouths in what looked like exclamations. But then he looked up, this conqueror, and his ice blue eyes seemed to pierce through her very figure. He opened his mouth, said something, and vision ended, Melissa gasping as she stumbled to her bed in daze.
For a long time, the red-head was not able to think. None of her seeings had been as severe as this, and she hadn't one since coming to court besides. Her mind blanked as she clutched the cross tightly, flopping against the soft, downy pillows of her bed. After a few good minutes had passed, she sat up, staring at the mirror from a distance.
The only thing that came out of her mouth was, "What in the hell?"
a.n. aaaaand that's the end of act one! guys, i can't believe we're here! we've come so far!
i truly think this is my favorite chapter that i've written so far, with the culmination of everything that happened in it.
melissa had some bonding time with richard, we got to see elizabeth's perspective of their relationship, and above all, that vision at the end! i mean, talk about unsettling! who do you think the man she saw was? what was the significance there?
other than that, i have to say that my favorite part out of this entire thing has got to be drunk!richard 😂😂😂 that was just gold. you can't really expect anything of the poor dude, tho. he's a twelve year old who overindulged at his brother's feast. let's just be grateful that he and lissa aren't older.
anyway, leave me your thoughts in the comments down below. reading each and every one of them gives me fuel to write the next chapters.
bisous 😙 and see you in act two~~~