The news descended upon them as the new year passed and January seeped steadily into February. They currently decided in Vannes, Brittany with four hundred of Henry's supporters. It had taken some time for the news to reach them, but when it did no one was particularly surprised. It was now official. Parliament had passed the act Titulus Regius, which declared Richard the third to be a lawful King. Subsequently, the children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodsville were deemed illegitimate.
Adelaide couldn't help pitying the young princes who were still missing. No one had seen them in months and Jasper didn't have any informants in the Tower of London, so there was no way of discovering if they were still alive or not. It had her wondering whether or not Richard did have them murdered. Was it even necessary if he was going to pass this act to deem them illegitimate?
But they all knew the real reason why Richard had passed Titulus Regius. It stripped Elizabeth of York of her claim to the throne. He might have hoped it would deter people from supporting her and Henry's marriage, but if anything it added fuel to the fire. Richard's actions only further inflamed the hatred target at him. The people of England may not know Henry, may not even like him, but in comparison to Richard? It no longer mattered who was a York or a Lancaster. They wanted him dead.
The unhappiness of the wealthy and poor alike was growing.
Furthermore, the circle that surrounded and supported Richard was crumbling. Adelaide was with Jasper when he learned about the fate of Henry Stafford, the second Duke of Buckingham. Despite having assisted Richard in taking the throne, the Duke had led a revolt in his name back in October alongside supporters of Edward the Fourth. The uprisings in England and parts of Wales were numerous but ultimately led to defeat. The Duke was executed on November 2nd and Henry had cursed at the loss of an important ally.
The bad news only continued.
Around the time they learned about the declaration of Titulus Regius and the Duke's execution, Richard proceeded to take all of Henry's mother's property and transfer it to her husband, Lord Stanley. It effectively stripped her of whatever control and influence she had been building. Through his anger, Adelaide had only calmed Henry by reminding him that things could have been a lot worse. Margaret Beaufort was lucky. She could have been attainted or executed, and probably should have been considering she was publically supporting her son as the rightful King of England despite being married to a Yorkist. There were also the added charges of her rumored involvement in the Buckingham rebellion as well as her negotiation for Henry's marriage to Elizabeth.
"It's going to be more difficult to communicate with her," Jasper sighed, running a hand over his face. "If I had to guess, I'm assuming Lord Stanley's been instructed by King Richard to keep her from contacting you. It'll probably be harder to reach her in the future, but knowing your mother, she'll keep up her efforts in garnering you support in England."
"We can't worry about your mother at the moment," Hugh Livingston interjected. As always, Henry's advisor was looking sullen and agitated. "She's an important piece to helping you take the throne, but we need more than just her. If we stand a chance at defeating Richard, the number one thing that we need right now is money. We'll need to buy more soldiers. Not to mention weapons and ships."
Henry nodded, his anger cooling into hard concentration and steely resolve.
"Henry, at the moment you have the support of the Duke of Brittany, the Lancastrians, some of the Yorkists who have turned from Richard, and several others," Kayden said with a stern expression. "We should focus on strengthening those alliances before branching out too far."
"That would just delay our efforts," Walter Livingstone said with the same irritation as his father.
"It would ensure that our efforts aren't wasted," snapped Adelaide, annoyed per usual with the Livingstones. "Things are still tenuous between the Lancasters and Yorks who reside with us. The marriage pledge to Elizabeth has helped some matters, but the two families have been at war with one another for a long time. That's not going to go away overnight."
"Arthur makes a good point," Jasper nodded in exhaustion. "And even though we have the support of Duke Francis, I don't entirely trust his chancellor. So for the moment, I believe it's best to proceed with caution."
The room nodded in agreement, some more hesitantly than others, though. But Adelaide knew doing nothing for the moment was the wiser choice. It didn't help matters, either, that once the people had learned about the failed Buckingham revolt morale was at an all-time low.
As the room gradually separated, Adelaide gave Henry and concerned look. He was sighing almost as heavily as Jasper. The last few months had been a lot for him and she could see the weariness and fear creeping upon him.
"Let's go get some air," Adelaide whispered to him. Henry glanced up at her and she felt her chest constrict as she took in the paler of his skin and the purple bruises under his eyes. When had he last slept? Was he eating properly?
Thankfully, Henry didn't argue and nodded tiredly. With Kayden trailing behind him, the trio made their way out of the stuffy meeting room and into the streets. Vannes was a beautiful city. Tall white buildings with blue-black roofs, expertly crafted streets, and even a number of well-manicured lawns. The air was still chilly, but they tugged their cloaks around them tightly and took in the barren trees and cloudy sky as they walked.
"And again we're playing the waiting game," Henry sighed. Kayden and Adelaide exchanged looks as they slowed their pace to match his.
At some point, snow began to drift down around them adding to the layer that already coated the earth. It danced in Adelaide's pale hair and on her eyelashes and turned her cheeks pink at their coolness. She looked up at the sky and extended a hand to catch a few of the drops. She itched to paint the different blues and whites and greys.
When she looked back at Henry and Kayden, she startled at both of their stares. Henry's brown eyes were soft while Kayden's grey ones were glazed over in wonderment. They were looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Adelaide blushed furiously in response and turned sharply away, which was a mistake.
With a yelp, she slipped.
She was consumed by a cloud of white and felt the snow's wetness soak into her pants and shirt. She shrieked at the sharp bite of chill that raced up her spine. She tried to get to her feet quickly but slipped again, the space around her gradually becoming a mess of slick, wet grass.
Her face burned even redder when she heard Henry and Kayden's laughter. It was unabashed, loud, and ricocheted off the walls around them. When Adelaide finally managed to get to her feet, they were both doubled-over, clutching one another on the shoulders for support as their laughter threatened to strangle them.
With a determined grind of her teeth, Adelaide grabbed a heap of snow and balled it together before chucking it at both of them. With their heads bent so close together, the snowball covered them both but had primarily hit Henry. They stopped abruptly in surprise, taking in the frost starting to tingle their cheeks. With quick precision, Adelaide landed another blow on each of them, smiling wickedly as they both lost their footing and tumbled over from the impact.
Their laughter swiftly resumed as they all, for a moment, disregarded their current predicament and began chucking snow at one another relentlessly. After several rounds, numerous battle cries, a couple of double-crosses, and a shaky truce, they lay next to one another panting.
Adelaide partially wondered what they looked like to anyone passing by. Three grown adults, one of which was to be the future King of England, splayed out in the snow, wet, red, and laughing. Her hands were freezing as were Henry's, but she smiled when he reached over and intertwined their fingers, making sure he was discreet in case anyone did happen to see them.
When the sky grew dark and the snow grew thicker, they hauled themselves to their feet and began to make their way back inside. Their closes were dripping and their faces were burnt red, but they only laughed whenever anyone stopped with large eyes to ask them what had happened.
Kayden and Adelaide stopped outside Henry's temporary quarters. The hallway was deserted and no candles had been lit. They stood in the darkness for a moment before Kayden clasped Henry on the back of the neck and brought their foreheads together. They stared at one another intensely, exchanging a number of emotions through their eyes. Adelaide partially felt she was intruding and looked away quietly.
"You're not alone in this. Remember that," Kayden said firmly. Henry's eyes looked glassy for a moment before Kayden released him and stocked down the hall to his own room. His door clicked behind him and echoed down the hallway before the quiet resumed.
Adelaide's room was the next one over, and with the addition of Jasper, the four of them were the only ones who occupied this wing of the manor.
Still staring down the path Kayden had taken, Adelaide stilled as she felt Henry grab her hand again. She shivered from the contact. Or maybe it was the cold. At this point, she couldn't tell. Regardless, he succeeded in directing her attention to him, and brown eyes met blue and held.
"Stay with me?" He whispered, his gaze pleading and his voice broken. Her eyes roamed over him, taking in the stress weighing down his shoulders and the worry creasing his brow.
Adelaide only had to nod once before Henry was pulling her into his room and locking the door behind them.