The story of Macbeth is by no means a heroic tale. The story of Macbeth is in fact a rather distressing one of a greedy man murdering to gain power and status; he kills friends, family and the nobility, all to rise to the top. Ultimately, this all leads to his downfall in the end.
From being promised certain positions of hierarchy by three witches on a cold evening mid battle, Macbeth takes this as a chance to kill his way to the top —to win it all by his own greedy hands before the time is right.
'Fair is foul and foul is fair' —nothing is as it seems at face value.
Before William took his life that day on the bridge, the whole city thought the Lord of Crime was merely someone who wanted to murder to rise to fame and gain power for his own selfish scheme. But this wasn't the case. No, William murdered to prove a point; that no one's life is less meaningful than another's simply because they have less money in their pocket or they don't have a title to their name. And people slowly started to realise this later.
Unfortunately, it was only once he'd made a spectacle of his death for all to see that it really struck a chord with the people of London. The people who knew his intentions from the start, they were simply glad to see his death wasn't in vain.
The clean up after that night had been a long one. Almost half the city was in development to be rebuilt, but luckily a lot of the city's nobility took it upon themselves to fund the whole thing —Albert handed over a large sum of money to aid but did so anonymously. It has to be made this way, as since he'd assumed public blame for being the puppet master behind William's plans, he was serving time in prison.
His sentence had lasted ten months, with strict orders of staying under house arrest and away from the public eye. Still, he and Eleanor decided it was best for a change and moved to Oxford to start a fresh life with their baby boy.
Life had been hard while he was serving his sentence, including the birth of their son. But Eleanor went to Paris and starred in the play as the lead role for a few months, until she couldn't hide her growing pregnancy anymore. This made her a small fortune, enough for them to be comfortable.
Along with their small little family, Eleanor's parents decided to move to Oxford with them. After some convincing, Phillip gave in and accepted that the pair were going to be spending the rest of their lives together and he knew that his daughter's happiness was the most important thing. Surprisingly, Eleanor and her mother Katherine seem to see eye to eye since the events that took place almost a year ago. She helps take care of their little boy and supports them as much as she can. However, Eleanor fears that the only reason they reconciled was because a child was involved and she had become a grandmother —something Katherine had always wanted.
"Where's my little boy?"
Eleanor peers around the doorframe to see Albert sat on a blanket on the floor with his hands covering his face. He reveals his wide eyes and playful grin.
"There's my little boy!"
A loud giggle escapes their little boy's mouth and he looks up in wonderment at his father.
Albert squeezes at his son's sides and laughs as he attempts to fit his own fist in his mouth. Instead he slobbers all over his hand.
Chuckling, Eleanor walks over with a tissue in her hand. "Is someone being messy?"
She carefully wipes his mouth clean and tosses the dirty tissue into the bin. Wrapping an arm around their son, Eleanor coo's at him and lifts him up into the air.
Albert strokes his side as she positions him on her hip.
"Our handsome little boy,"
They look down at him adoringly.
Eleanor lets out a content sigh. "Our beautiful George."
"Our soon to be one year old," Albert remarks as Eleanor peppers his cheeks in kisses and he lets out an excited squeal.
"Is that my grandson I can hear?"
Strolling into the room with her arms wide, Katherine beams at George, scooping him up from Eleanor. He babbles as she cuddles him into her side.
"Did you have a nice nap, George?" Katherine squishes his cheek gently.
"He didn't sleep this morning," Albert scratches the back of his neck. "He had stomach ache and was up a lot of last night griping so still isn't right."
Eleanor crosses her arms. "We've simply been keeping him happy today and trying to not go crazy ourselves."
Katherine raises her eyebrows. "You should've called the house, I would have helped last night."
"We can't call you in the early hours of the morning," Eleanor shakes her head. "And besides, he's been sleeping through the night for a few months now, this was just a blip."
"Is there a little baby in here?"
They hear footsteps from the corridor and in walk Eleanor's friends, Florence and Victoria.
"You made it!" Eleanor rushes over to them and they hug each other. "How was the journey?"
Florence tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Not bad at all, we were just excited to make the trip."
"And to see this handsome boy!" Victoria boops George's nose, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder as he attempts to grab at it.
"Hi, little George." Florence smiles as he grabs his hand around the top of her finger.
Hugging Eleanor into his side, Albert smiles at the pair. "We're glad you could make it, it's been a while."
Both Victoria and Florence share a look, avoiding Albert's gaze.
"Yes, well..." Florence chuckles awkwardly.
Victoria's expression stiffens, turning her attention to George. "We're here to spend time with Eleanor and George and for the shopping. We need to make the most of our few days here."
Clearing his throat, Albert places a kiss on Eleanor's forehead before removing his arm from around her. "I'll let you ladies get on. I'll see you after you're back from town."
Kissing George goodbye, Albert heads out of the room and towards the staircase leading up to his study.
The ladies glance between each other, Florence twiddling her thumbs.
"Does he really stay at home all day?" She asks.
Eleanor nods, looking past them at the hallway. "He really does... it'll be at least another year under house arrest."
Sensing the mood shifting, Katherine hands George back to Eleanor, clapping her hands together. "Come along, let's spend some time out in the town shopping. I'm sure we could all do with some fresh air."
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The streets of Oxford are busy, people weaving in and out of shops, walking past each other or being taken inside horse drawn carriages. With Oxford being a University city, lots of students walk around during their break times from studying.
The biggest reason they chose Oxford was because of William. He'd lived there as a professor for the University of Oxford for a year or so before he then moved to York for work. This meant that Albert had frequently visited him in Oxford as well as seeing Louis too who often stayed with William.
"It's a charming town, isn't it?" Victoria remarks, glancing down at George as he sleeps in the pram.
"It's beautiful," Florence agrees. "It's no wonder you moved here."
"Ooh," Victoria points out a boutique a few shops down. "We have to go there, there's a lovely red hat in the window."
Katherine nods. "I picked up a lovely necklace there the other week."
They walk further down the road, stopping in front of the shop and the three turn to Eleanor.
"Will you be okay outside?" Florence asks. "The shop looks quite narrow."
Eleanor waves a hand. "It's fine, George and I will stay outside."
The three women disappear inside the shop and Eleanor peers down inside the pram to see him fidgeting as he sleeps. His warm-brown coloured waves laying softly on the cushion, he suckles at the dummy in his mouth, tucked up in a pale cream blanket.
Adjusting the brim of her hat, Eleanor pushes her ponytail over her shoulder, glancing around the street as she waits.
Doing a double take, a lump forms in her throat and her pulse quickens. Her eyes widening, she drops a hand from the pram's handle. She stands frozen, staring off.
"Are you...are you really here?"
Looking up from the magazine stand, he blinks, eyes quickly widening as she surveys him. His gloved hand places the magazine back in the rack and he turns to fully face her.
"Eleanor..."
"You're alive, William?" She questions, her voice coming out as a squeak.
He nods slowly, eyes darting across her face and down at the pram.
"Oh, uh," Eleanor points at George. "This is your nephew."
Crouching his head down, William's red eyes peer inside the pram. Staring down at the brown, wavy haired little baby boy, his heart glows and swells at the sight —a feeling he never thought he'd experience.
"My nephew?"
Eleanor tentatively reaches a hand out and touches his shoulder. William eyes her hand.
"Sorry, I just can't quite believe it."
William straightens. "I may be here physically, but I feel as though I died that day."
"I see..." She clears her throat. "It's been tremendously hard without you though. With the search parties, we could at least know that your body wasn't found. But, it seems you didn't die."
He smiles awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm glad you and my brother managed to create a life for yourselves. Both that you're together and starting a family."
"We did." She nods. "But as I said, it wasn't easy. Somehow we've made it work."
"I'm happy for you."
"I don't understand why you're here..." She frowns. "That doesn't seem fair on anyone."
"Eleanor, it's complicat—"
"—I don't even want to hear it." She shakes her head.
They stand in uncomfortable silence.
"If only it could be different, Will." She purses her lips, glancing down at George briefly.
He agrees. "If only. But I wish you three all the best and nothing less."
"There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't talk about you." Eleanor rocks the pram. "You and Louis mean the world to him, I hope you know."
"That was the way it was always supposed to end. No matter how much they mean to me in return, I can no longer live the life of a free man," William looks down at the floor. "So please, take care of my brothers for me, and your son."
As he spins to walk away, Eleanor raises a hand and speaks up.
"Your nephew," She corrects him. "We named him, William, by the way."
He turns back around, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Well," She scratches her head. "It's his middle name. George William Moriarty."
William raises a hand to his chest. "To remind you of me?"
Huffing a laugh, she shakes her head. "We don't need reminding, you're very much with us everyday. He's your legacy. I want to raise him to become as caring as his uncle."
"I'm not that caring, but that's kind of you to say." William glances around.
Everything that has occurred since the night she met Albert outside the theatre has been nothing short of a surprise. She'd been in a self-destructive slump over her career and her self-worth, but he pulled her out of that. She'd never expected to fall madly and hopelessly in love with anyone, much less Albert James Moriarty. But falling in love with him made her feel a lot more alive than she had ever felt and she's been given the greatest gift in the world —the chance to be a mother. There's nothing she'd change from the last year and a half.
"He's going to change the world, just like you." Her eyes well up, smiling brightly at him. "Thank you, William."
"Thank you, Eleanor." William lets out a content breath. "Everything went according to plan in the end."
Crossing her arms, Eleanor shrugs with a lopsided grin on her face. "The world's a stage. We're merely players with exits and entrances. I think you played many roles throughout this play; the villain, the brother, the teacher, and the best friend. A Jack of all trades."
The same drooped ruby red eyes stare back at her, the same as when they first met on the Noahtic voyage. His expression that is usually so unreadable is now very much telling her how much he has left to say but that there aren't any words to describe it. So for now, she allows him to turn on his heel once more and leave her with his final words.
"And you played your part beautifully."
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The End.