LOVE AND WAR
— 19. Roses
The following afternoon, it was time for her son's Christening and Nora was more than ready.
In the church, she stood with numerous others, watching as her son was baptized.
Surprisingly, as he was dipped into the water by the archbishop, little Arthur did not cry, which was a shock to everything. The babies, always cried.
In truth, he looked puzzled as to what the hell was going on and why he was being dunked into the water. Not to mention, why was the man holding him speaking a language unknown to him, a language that happened to be Latin.
Nora watched closely, a small smile on her face. She turned her head, seeing Edward's eyes were on the scene as well. He smiled slightly, impressed by his son's good behavior.
She turned again, looking straight toward her husband Arthur, who didn't even seem to be paying attention to the ceremony.
Nora had no say in who was her son's godparents, but with her luck, it was people she was fine with.
Arthur chose his first cousins, Margaret of York and Richard, Edward's own siblings. She thought it was funny that if she had a say, she would have chosen them anyway. They were of House York, but it didn't change the fact that little Arthur's own aunt and uncle had become his Godparents.
She knew why he did it, too. He knew he wasn't in the king's good graces and what better way to do that than gift his son with godparents close to the king?
Nora didn't think it made sense, but she allowed him to think that it did.
As the ceremony finished, the archbishop turned, placing the baby in Margaret's arms.
They walked through the ceremony line, just before leaving the room with Nora and Arthur following close behind her.
Nora quietly chuckled, an evil smirk on her face, which her husband noticed. He roughly grabbed her by the arm, pulling her closer to him. "And what are you gloating about?"
"I am simply happy, my love," Nora sarcastically replied, earning a glare from Arthur since he had noticed what kind of tone she used, "Our son has been baptized and has been gifted with wonderful Godparents who would take good care of him if we were to perish," She paused, turning away with a smirk on her face, "Or one of us, for that matter."
Leaving the church, Nora exchanged a brief look with Edward before she walked away with Margaret while little Arthur had been taken by Alice to be put to sleep. As she did so, Edward was quick to turn to George, urging him to do as he was told and whisk Arthur away for the rest of the night.
"They're thinking of marrying me off," Margaret confessed, a disappointed look on her face as she walked through the gardens at Westminster with Nora, "After all, I am of age and the only one of my sisters who haven't been strategically married off."
"Perhaps you'll be happy in your marriage," Nora responded, shrugging her shoulders.
"It would mean I must lay with him," Margaret complained, earning an amused smile from Nora, "What if I don't enjoy it? What if he's rough?"
"Some people like it rough," Nora muttered under her breath, but with her luck, Margaret had heard and turned to her with a horrified look, "My apologies. A proper lady like myself should never say such a thing."
"You're right," Margaret agreed, causing them both to laugh, "But that's the thing. It seems as though no one at court expects you to be a proper lady. They do of me."
"They don't expect it of me because my reputation has already been ruined," Nora pointed out, linking arms with Margaret, "You, my lady, are of high noble birth. Not just that, but you are the sister to the king."
"I fear for my wedding night," Margaret admitted, a fearful look on her face, "My mother says it will hurt."
"It hurts, at first, but then it feels good," Nora began to informed Margaret with a smile on her face, "Sometimes. Really good. You'll be lucky if he's experienced."
"That's a good thing?" Margaret asked, a confused look on her face, "It means he's been married before."
"Not quite," Nora reminded Margaret, her mind wandering to Edward as a smile formed on her lips, "The body of a woman can be quite complicated, you know. Pleasing us takes practice."
Margaret avoided eye contact, beginning to blush at where their conversation had headed. "And is your husband experienced?"
Nora began to laugh, shaking her head. "Not in the slightest," She admitted, her lips curling into a smirk.
"It seems he's hard to compare to my brother, the whore of England as George likes to call him," Margaret remarked, earning a playful eye roll from Nora.
"Let me let you in on a little secret, Margaret. Some women like tall men, some like short men. Some like hairy men, others like bald men. Some like men who are gentle and others enjoy the rough ones. Some like pretty men and others like their men ugly so that they might shine brighter than ever as they stand before them," Nora explained without a care in the world as she grinned widely, "You won't know what you like until you try it. Sadly, some of us are married off before we can attempt to figure out what we truly like. You might be surprised by the man you are married off to. He could have the chance to be ugly but he might be a wonderful lover and husband, a man who will treat you right."
"What if he's not?" Margaret asked uneasily and Nora smirked.
"Get ahold of me and I'll make sure he's dealt with," Nora responded and Margaret began to laugh, clearly not taking her seriously.
"It seems not all of us are as lucky as you to figure out what we like on the first try," Margaret commented in a sarcastic, giving Nora a pointed look, "From what I've learned since I met you, you like tall, good-looking men who are a mixture of being gentle and rough, ones who are notorious for bedding half of the women in London."
Nora quietly laughed, playfully rolling her eyes at Margaret once more. She just loved to mention Edward to her, didn't she?
Margaret sighed, giving Nora a sympathetic look. "Doesn't it bother you?" She found herself asking Nora in a whisper, "I know you yourself are supposedly married to Arthur Neville, but you and I both know your heart belongs to my brother. Doesn't it bother you when you learn he has bedded all these women, despite claiming to only want you?"
"Your brother is a confusing man, Margaret," Nora confessed, looking content by the conversation they were having, "Even as young and in love as I am with him, I know it would be foolish and naive of me to think Edward would strictly be with me and me alone. He is a king with a king's appetite as they call it. He views whoring as a sport. I don't let myself be bothered by it. Many kings before him have done the same. I refuse to get myself worked up by something I cannot change about him. He may sleep with whores and the wives of other men, but I do know he does not love them as he loves me, that of which pleases me. When I was able to live at court permanently, I had Edward in my bed nearly every night. During that time, he rarely bedded others. But now that I am away from court, I was never surprised when his reputation for whoring worsened. I had expected it. You could say I'm fine with it."
"That sounds awful," Margaret complained, not understanding Nora's point of view in the slightest.
"Well, why should I be bothered? One of these days, Edward will marry and I'll have to share Edward with that woman permanently," Nora explained, causing Margaret to her with a look of disbelief.
"Edward can't marry another, he is--" Margaret began to complain, only to have Nora cut her off by placing a hand over her mouth.
"Don't ever speak of that out loud," Nora demanded in a stern tone, "Ever. Do you understand?"
A hesitant look on her face, Margaret nodded, allowing Nora to remove her hand from the girl's mouth.
Margaret gulped nervously, looking ahead to see her brother walking toward them. "Brother," She spoke up and nearly laughed when Nora's head whipped around to face the York king, her lover.
"Margaret," He replied, bowing his head politely to his sister before turning his attention to Nora, "May I steal the Duchess of Bedford from you for a short moment?"
"No need, brother. You may have her," Margaret teased her brother, removing her arm from being locked with Nora's.
She turned to Nora, giving her a playful look before walking away.
Nora quietly laughed, shaking her head at the York girl. She slowly turned to Edward, who gave her a curious look.
"Shall we walk?" Nora asked, gesturing her hand forward.
Edward smiled, nodding his head. With that, they began to walk toward, looking as though everything was normal between them, not as though they were secret lovers.
"I should thank you," She spoke up, earning a puzzled look from Edward as they walk through the gardens together, "Last night, when we were so desperate to be with each other fully, you understood that I couldn't go any further, even if I myself did not."
Edward didn't say what he was truly thinking at that moment. What he was truly thinking was that it broke his heart that she was thanking him for understanding and obeying when she said no.
"I must confess something to you as well," Edward admitted, earning a curious look from Nora, "My heart right now is telling me to disregard politics and tell the world that we are married, so that I may be with you out in the open once and for all. But I know that it threatens everything I've built for myself. It threatens my reign, my chances of winning this war, and making alliances that could benefit this country in general."
"I understand," Nora admitted in a calm tone, which took Edward by surprise, "I'm starting to wonder if us marrying was a bad idea. It has done nothing to change anything. If people knew about our marriage and the joining of the houses, it would start an even bigger war. Those of House York who despise all Lancasters would rally against you. They do not want a Lancastrian queen. They want a York queen or a foreign queen that would benefit England in ways I cannot."
Edward sighed in defeat. That wasn't what he had meant.
"Is that what you want?" He asked in concern, "For what we have to end?"
"God, no!" Nora exclaimed loudly, only to anxiously glance around when she realized just how loud she had been, "No, I definitely do not want this to end. I love you, Edward."
"Not the way I love you," Edward confessed and in a way, Nora knew he had a point, but she would never admit that.
Nora stared up at Edward, a part of her wanting nothing more than to drag him to a secret part of the garden, to kiss him right then and there. However, she knew better. She was married and the man she was married to was already looking for one good reason to punish her during their stay at court.
Nora was snapped out of her thoughts as Edward walked away from her, moving to a part of the gardens filled with roses. They mostly consisted of white roses, but in a certain section, there was a group of about a half dozen red roses that had been allowed to grow beside the white ones.
Edward casually picked one of the red roses before he walked over to Nora, holding the rose out to her. "I never apologized for not attending your wedding," He spoke up, a guilty look on his face, "I couldn't bear the thought of you walking down that aisle with another man and that was foolish of me since I was the one who was at fault for the entire wedding occurring in the first place."
"Who are you and what have you done with the old Edward?" Nora jokingly asked, causing them both to chuckle as she took ahold of the red rose.
"I could ask the same of you," Edward replied before continuing on with their previous conversation, "Warwick told me it caused a spectacle, what with you wearing red and all, but when I imagined you wearing the red dress he spoke of, all I could see was you looking like a true queen. A queen any man would kill for," He explained, causing Nora to blush a bit, "I expected something like that out of you, you know. You have a fondness for being bold, even on the wrong occasions."
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Nora remarked, causing Edward to quietly chuckle, "I see it as a good thing to be. It helps me outshine all the others."
Edward began to laugh, shaking his head at her words. "I thought you enjoyed remaining in the shadows."
"I've changed," Nora responded confidently, earning a smile from Edward.
"I can see that," Edward remarked, eying Nora up and down.
"You're a dog," Nora complained, rolling her eyes as she turned away from Edward.
"As I recall, you're in love with this dog," Edward retorted in a playful tone.
Nora slowly turned to face Edward, beginning to smile as well. She opened her mouth to speak, walking toward him. "Well..."
"Edward!" A familiar voice spoke up, causing the duo to turn to see George approaching them.
Edward sighed, exchanging an annoyed look with Nora before he was dragged off to the side by his brother.
Nora watched George whisper something into Edward's ear, something that visibly made him unhappy.
She watched as her lover clench his jaw in anger, reluctantly nodding his head to whatever his brother told him.
Once George was finished, Edward turned to look at his brother, whispering something to him before he watched George walk away.
After a moment, Edward turned to face Nora. He walked toward her, a disappointed look on his face.
"What is it?" Nora asked, a curious look on her face when she saw the defeated look on his face.
"Warwick insists that I join them at the brothel tonight," Edward confessed, clearly disappointed that his plan to get Nora all to himself by sending Arthur to a brothel had backfired.
"Then, defy Warwick. It's simple," Nora suggested, but Edward shook his head in disapproval.
"When have I ever been one to decline the offer of going to brothel, Nora?" Edward asked and Nora sighed, knowing he had a valid point, "If I refuse, Warwick will suspect something, especially when I'm the one who suggested Arthur go in the first place."
"He'll know that you did it to have time with me behind my husband's back," Nora realized, a disappointed look on her face, "Warwick is surely testing you with this."
"And I cannot fail. If I do, he'll surely take it out on you," Edward told Nora, staring down at her sympathetically, "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Edward," Nora assured Edward, a smile forming on her lips, "Do not let this ruin your night. Have fun at the brothel."
As she spoke those words, Edward expected a saddened or a disappointed look on her face. Instead, she smiled mischievously, which caused Edward to give her a concerned look.
"What are you up to?" Edward asked, a deeply curiously look on his face.
Nora took a step toward Edward. She leaned forward, her lips nearly touching his as she spoke in a whisper. "You'll just have to wait and see," She told him, a smirk forming on her lips as she walked away.
Edward watched Nora walk away. A part of him felt the need to chase after her, to see what she was planning. In truth, there was no need. He'd find out on that same night during a time he least expected to.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
When me, as the author, is planning what will happen in the White Princess for my character and begins to lowkey ship Nora with Jasper Tudor cuz they both can relate to the fact they've fallen for someone in TWQ who could never TRULY be theirs 🤡😭 (it ain't actually happening tho, I just LOWKEY ship it)