LOVE AND WAR
— 50. Paranoia
1485
In one of the many hallways of Westminster Palace, Katherine, Maggie, Teddy, and Edward, the youngest children belonging to the three sons of York giggled as they ran together.
Katherine ran ahead with Maggie as Teddy, Maggie's younger brother, and Edward, their cousin and the only son of Richard, tried to catch them.
Edward was trailing behind his three cousins, his wooden sword raised when his mother spotted them.
"Katherine, Katherine! Margaret! Teddy!" Anne scolded each of them, but the children ran off anyway, ignoring her.
Before her own son could get away, Anne grabbed Edward by the arm he used to hold his wooden sword, the same sword that had been given to him by Thomas just a few hours before.
"Edward!" She exclaimed, frowning when she noticed that her son was only wearing his underclothes, "Where are your clothes?!"
"I'm hot," He shrugged, not seeing it as a big deal.
Worried, Anne placed her hands on both sides of her son's neck, immediately feeling how hot he was. "You're burning up," She realized and grabbed her son by the hand, on the verge of leading him back to his room, "You must be put to bed at once."
"No! Lady Mother, please! I'd like to continue playing with Katherine, Maggie, and Teddy," Edward whined, hating the way his mother babied him.
"Anne?" A voice called out and Anne turned her head, watching as Richard and Nora walked toward her together.
"Edward has another fever," Anne informed her husband and her sister-in-law in a calm tone.
"He's just been running around," Richard assured Anne, not seeing it as a big deal as his wife did.
Glad that his father had taken his side, Edward ran off, off to find his cousins.
Anne hesitantly watched her only son run away from her. She sighed in defeat and turned to face the two co-regents of England, making her way toward them.
She was clearly unhappy, which Nora was quick to notice. However, she didn't point it out at that moment.
"My spies tell me that Henry Tudor's declared that he is King of England and announced his betrothal to Princess Lizbeth," Richard informed Anne, who turned to Nora with a shocked look.
"What?" She asked, letting out a small gasp.
"He claims that in my daughter, he will unite York and Lancaster and end these wars.
The disappearance of my boys has only made him bolder and now he will invade the very first moment he can," She explained in a calm tone while Anne looked uneasy, "We shall pray to God that He is on our side during this war."
With that, Nora walked away. Anne opened her mouth to speak to Richard, only to sigh in defeat as she watched instantly follow Nora as she walked as if he were some lost puppy.
____
"The York girls are arriving!" One of the guards announced loudly from the courtyard. Thomas and Arthur had heard the man from where they stood in the castle, causing them both to exchange a look before they headed outside.
Their mother and their uncle were busy with royal affairs, leaving them to greet their half-sisters alone.
They walked out onto the courtyard, joined by Katherine, who grabbed Thomas' hand.
While Thomas remained in place with his youngest sister, Arthur walked forward, wearing his crown.
Lizzie and Cecily watched him closely as they stepped out of their horse-drawn carriage. Lizbeth had suggested her brother make them ride horses, but Arthur had decided against it.
They were still highborn ladies. He wanted to treat them as such.
Unlike his younger sister, he wasn't angry with Lizzie and the rest of them. He didn't blame them for whatever spells their mother had been cooking up.
He knew the real truth behind why Lizbeth was upset. She was angry about the fact that Lizzie had been betrothed to Henry for a brief time.
Lizbeth knew she was supposed to hate Henry for what he was planning to do and she did. However, she didn't forget all the years they spent exchanging love letters with each other either.
"Remain calm and don't do anything stupid," Cecily warned Lizzie through her tight-lipped smile as Arthur made his way over to them.
Lizzie scoffed, turning to give her younger sister an annoyed look. She decided not to respond, turning her attention back toward Arthur.
He stopped when he was standing in front of them. He smiled politely, bowing his head to them. "My ladies," He greeted them and both girls curtsied to their new king, "Shall I escort you to your new rooms?" He asked and both girls nodded, just before being led into the castle by the King.
Moments later, Cecily and Lizzie uneasily entered Lizbeth's chambers. They exchanged a look with each other before looking back at the young woman, who sat before them with a cold expression on her face.
Hesitantly, they both curtsied to the princess, the same one they'd be serving as ladies-in-waiting starting that same day.
While Cecily bowed as she did so, Lizzie did not, knowing how Lizbeth felt about her.
Lizzie slowly walked toward Lizbeth, grabbing the elder girl's hand before she kissed it.
"Mistress Elizabeth," Lizbeth greeted her half-sister, which felt odd since the girl had been a princess the last time they saw each other.
Lizbeth and Lizzie briefly locked eyes before the younger girl took a step back, allowing Cecily to walk forward and kiss her eldest sister's hand. "Cecily."
"Princess," Cecily replied, taking a step back to stand beside Lizzie as their elder sister addressed both of them at once.
"You will find me an easy Princess to serve. Unlike others before me. After all, just two years ago, I was a bastard and you both were princesses. It seems times have changed," Lizbeth explained, saying the last part solely to piss off Lizzie.
She didn't have anything against Cecily and before she learned about Lizzie's temporary betrothal to Henry, she liked Lizzie as well. Lizzie, after all, used to be her favorite out of her half-siblings. Not anymore, though.
Cecily smiled at Lizbeth while Lizzie's expression remained unreadable, not knowing what to feel at that moment.
_____
In the music room at Westminster, Arthur sat in a large chair while all his other subjects stood near him, including Thomas, Brackenbury, Lord Strange, Cecily, and Lizbeth.
Lizzie stood across from him, near the others who were playing instruments. She herself played the vielle and quite beautifully, anyone there could admit that.
Lizzie's eyes were closed as she played the instrument, her head swaying to the lullaby.
In another hallway, Nora was putting Katherine to sleep when she heard the vielle playing. She frowned, placing the covers over her daughter's sleeping body. She stood up, placing the book she had been reading to Katherine down on the girl's nightstand.
With that, she exited the room, beginning to walk in the direction of the music.
She suddenly stopped as Richard exited his own chambers, a confused look on his face. "It's nearly midnight, who is playing the vielle?" She asked him in a hushed tone, but Richard seemed just as confused as she was.
In the music room, Arthur stood up from his seat, making his way toward Lizzie. She immediately stopped playing when he was standing right in front of her. She looked up at him curiously, wondering what he was going to do.
Nora and Richard had entered at that moment, watching as Lizzie grabbed Arthur's hand before the duo before they began to dance to the music being played by the musicians.
Numerous people gasped, exchanging shocked expressions with each other. It wasn't a dance meant for siblings.
Lizbeth turned to Thomas, an angry look on her face. "What does he think he's doing?" She asked her younger brother in a low growl, "Pulling something like this will cause a scandal."
The sibling duo glanced around, watching as numerous ladies and ladies were whispering amongst themselves about the whole ordeal.
For the first time in months, they were speaking of their king and what he was doing, instead of the rumor of Richard and Nora being involved with each other, one that had been on the verge of ruining their family.
And that was why he was doing it. To finally end the scandal of his mother and uncle and create a new one.
_____
A few nights later, in her chambers, Lizbeth stood in place as Cecily stood behind her, loosening the ties of her elder sister's dress to remove it.
Seeing that Cecily seemed to be having trouble doing it on her own, Lizzie walk over to stand in front of Lizbeth. She began to help Cecily remove their elder sister's dress, only to have Lizbeth grow impatient.
"Enough!" She blurted out, causing the two girls to jump at her tone, "You are the world's worst ladies-in-waiting. That is clear. I shall do it myself."
Lizzie sighed in defeat, walking away from her older sister. Lizbeth watched her closely, narrowing her eyes at her.
She didn't like it. She didn't like how their roles switched. It made Lizzie and Cecily unwilling to snap back at Lizbeth when she was lashing out on them as they used to.
She didn't think of herself as of higher rank than the girls, despite being expected to.
Only two years prior, she had been the bastard daughter of their father and them the legitimate princesses.
She despised her new title. She hated that she was unable to hang out with her brothers as much. She hated that she couldn't get dirty and spar with them anymore. She was, after all, expected to be a proper princess now.
She didn't want to be one, though.
She wanted her old life back. She couldn't believe the old her ever wanted to be a princess. That was only because she wanted to marry Henry Tudor, though. Now, times have changed and Henry was her sworn enemy.
No matter how many times he wrote to her, begging her to understand why he was doing what he was and hoped that she could forgive him, she never wrote back.
She'd read it once, sometimes cry, and then throw them in the fireplace, allowing his declarations of love to become ashes.
During the time her half-sisters had been back at court, Lizzie ended up receiving one of the letters, the page boy telling her to give it to Lizbeth.
Lizzie couldn't help herself and read it. She was shocked to know Henry was still writing to Lizbeth, but she didn't speak of it to anyone.
She handed it to Lizbeth that day when she walked back into the room, not telling her half-sister that she had read its contents.
Lizzie hadn't told anyone that Henry Tudor was still writing to Lizbeth, even though she should have. She kept the secret for Lizbeth, not that her sister knew it. She had hoped Lizbeth would soon forgive her for the past.
They were, after all, still sisters and Lizzie grew up looking up to her big sister. They were all raised under the same room their entire lives, after all.
But Lizzie doubted it would happen. Lizbeth wasn't the same girl she once knew. She was closer to Edward than Lizzie had ever been. Lizbeth lost a part of herself when father, her best friend, died. And the pain only became worse when she lost her little sister and two of her brothers.
Lizzie didn't have the same bond with her brothers as Lizbeth had with hers. Lizzie's little brothers from her mother had been sent away from court at a young age.
Lizzie rarely saw them.
Lizbeth, after all, spent her entire life around all of her siblings. She had a strong bond with each of them. She clearly felt more pain losing her siblings than Lizzie felt when she lost her brothers.
Hearing the door to her chambers open, Lizbeth turned her head, feeling angered when she was that it was Arthur.
She turned to Cecily and Lizzie, practically glaring at them. "Go," She demanded in a stern tone, but they didn't move, "I said, Go!"
Lizzie nodded, she and Cecily curtsying to their princess before they both headed for the door together.
Lizzie and Arthur exchanged a brief look with each other before the door closed and Arthur was left alone with his sister.
"I want the Rivers girls to leave, Arthur," Lizbeth complained, an angry look on her face, "We cannot have them here."
"They are your sisters, Lizbeth," Arthur reminded her, a look of disbelief on his face, "Why are you against them?"
"Because our cousin Edward is ill, that's why!" Lizbeth snapped at him, an angry look on her face, "Mother even said it. Lizzie and her mother laid a curse on whoever killed the princes."
"We are not guilty of whatever fate befell the boys!" Arthur retorted, realizing what his younger sister was getting at.
"But what if it was mother and Uncle Richard? By accident, just by putting them in the Tower at all! What if someone thought we wanted it?" Lizbeth questioned, a terrified look on her face.
"We did not want it!" Arthur shouted at Lizbeth without thinking, only to sigh in defeat when he saw her flinch, "They were our brothers. All four of them."
"They think it already. And now you've dishonored the York name even more by what you choose to do with Lizzie. It is the talk of court, after all," Lizbeth continued to complain as she walked toward her elder brother, an accusing look on her face.
"You think I desire her," Arthur admitted softly, but couldn't believe his own sister would think such a thing of him.
"I know it and it's disgusting," Lizbeth remarked, cringing at the thought.
"I do not desire our own sister, Lizbeth! What kind of man do you think I am?" Arthur snapped at his sister, taking a step toward her as they began to glare at each other, "I did it to create a rumor that would overshadow the ones being spoken about you and Henry Tudor and the one spoken about Richard and Mother, the one that questions my legitimacy."
Lizbeth stared up at Arthur, a shocked look on her face. "What?" She asked softly.
"If people think I am involved with her, they will begin to speak about that than of all the time Mother and Uncle Richard spend together. They can't work together as regents if anytime they're seen together, people assume they're together in that way. I'm doing them a favor," Arthur paused, taking a step toward Lizabeth as he pulled out a folded message from his pocket, "It's not like you're doing anything but complain and write to Henry Tudor when I specifically told you not to."
Arthur tossed the paper at Lizabeth before storming out of the room.
Lizabeth quickly picked the message off the ground before reading it.
My Dearest Lizabeth,
I am glad you finally decided to write back to me and I hope I can make you a happy wife and a queen one day.
My mother says we will, indeed, marry. She says I will have to have a coronation on my own to prove my power but I refuse. I shall have you, my queen, at my side as we are crowned together, so that we may rule as one. Until then. I send you my love in this letter.
Sincerely
Henry Tudor
Lizbeth frowned in utter confusion, knowing for a fact she hadn't written to Henry.
Was someone framing her?
____
That night, at dinner, before entering the dining hall with the rest of the royal court, Nora stood with Richard, Arthur, and Brackenbury, speaking of the upcoming war and their needed preparations.
"And how are our numbers in the North, Brackenbury?" Arthur questioned, raising a brow at the man.
"We are many, Your Grace," He answered and Arthur nodded his head in understanding.
"Enough are loyal to make us strong?" Richard added in, a concerned look on his face.
"With ease, my lord," Brackenbury replied as Lizbeth walked over to join them, which didn't settle well with Arthur when he saw Cecily and Elizabeth trailing behind her as her ladies-in-waiting.
She stopped when she was standing in front of Arthur, waiting for her brother to escort her into dinner as they always used to.
Arthur stared at his sister for a long moment, his lips parting slightly as he hesitated.
Nora narrowed her eyes at her son, wondering what he was up to.
"Mistress Elizabeth," He suddenly called out, holding his hand out toward Lizzie instead, "May I walk you in to dine?"
Lizbeth's eyes widened slightly and she tried not to tear up, fearing the outcome of her brother's stupid plan that wasn't even going to work.
People began to whisper amongst themselves as Lizzie nodded and made her way over to Arthur. They locked hands before entering the dining hall, the rest of the royal court following close behind them.
Thomas walked forward instead, grabbing the hand of his elder sister before they walked in together, behind their mother and Uncle.
He sighed in defeat, noticing how tears were on the verge of falling from Lizbeth's eyes. "He will cause us to lose this war," She admitted in a whisper, but Thomas was quick to argue.
"From what I've heard, you will," Thomas retorted, causing Lizbeth to turn to him with an angry look, "Arthur told me that you still write to Henry Tudor. How could you?"
"I haven't," Lizbeth cried out before becoming quieter, "He writes to me constantly, but I never back. The last letter he sent seems like I did, but I didn't. I swear it. I believe someone is framing me."
"And who would do that?" Thomas questioned in a tone that told Lizbeth he didn't believe her.
Lizbeth remained silent, pointing toward Lord Stanley and his son, Lord Strange. "Lord Stanley is Henry Tudor's step-father. He is the husband of Margaret Beaufort. That woman has wanted us dead our entire lives. I'm almost positive she was the one who tried to poison me. I dare say she and her husband thought planting treason on me would lead to my execution and that is why she did it."
"Margaret Stanley is confined to her husband's country home. She couldn't plant treason all the way in London," Thomas complained, gesturing toward Lord Stanley, "And Lord Stanley is on our side. He locked his wife up for us. He wouldn't help her."
"You must be the biggest fool of all if you think Lord Stanley is truly on our side, Thomas," Lizbeth snapped at her brother in a cold tone, "He is not loyal to us. I know it. He is playing us and neither you nor Arthur believe me but I know Mother does."
"Because you and Mother are the most paranoid people we've ever met!" Thomas complained a little too loudly, but he was quick to lower his tone, "You worry over nothing. We will be fine. Lord Stanley is on our side."
"When we are all dead in the ground by Stanley and Lady Margaret's hand, none will be at fault but you and Arthur, dear brother. Mark my words," Lizbeth growled at Thomas in a low tone, "And perhaps Mother and I are paranoid, but do you see how many years that paranoia and wariness kept Mother alive? It made her five steps ahead of everyone. Her wits outmatched everyone and I admire her greatly for it. I intend to be the same. It will surely keep me alive in the near future."
Growing tired of arguing with her younger brother, Lizbeth let go of his hand. She walked away, not in the mood to eat after her conversation with him.
Thomas was on the verge of continuing to walk when he saw his aunt Anne Neville walking alone since she didn't have an escort. He sighed in defeat, making his way over to her.
"Shall we, Aunt Anne?" Thomas politely asked and Anne turned to him, smiling.
She locked hands with him and they began to walk, Anne smiling gratefully. "And this is why you're my favorite."
"That's splendid to hear since I'm no one else's favorite," Thomas remarked, quietly chuckling while Anne gave him a sympathetic look, "Mother's not happy with me, Lizbeth is angry with me, Arthur thinks I'm unreliable."
"Don't listen to them. You're simply misunderstood," Anne assured her nephew, "They only see the arrogance and your large ego, not what lies beneath it. You have a good soul, nephew. You're kind and protective of those you love."
"My Lady! My Lady Anne!" Maggie suddenly called out as she ran toward her aunt and cousin alongside Katherine.
"Margaret? What is it?" Anne asked, letting go of Thomas' hand as they both turned to the two young girls in concern.
"He said he was hot. But we were playing and then I fell asleep," Maggie informed them and Anne gasped in horror.
"Oh, no. No! Richard?!" She screamed out before running in the direction of her son's room, her husband following close behind her as Katherine and Maggie led the way.
"Oh, my baby Edward," Anne cried out as she and Richard leaned over both sides of the bed to reach their son, "Edward?" She called out as she grabbed his hand, only to find it to be as cold as ice.
"Edward?" Richard called out to his son fearfully, "Is there pain? Tell me!"
"Help him, Richard! Help him!" Anne pleaded, on the verge of breaking down.
"I don't know how to help him," Richard shouted, beginning to overwhelm at the thought of losing his son, his only son.
Maggie and Katherine stood in the doorway, trying not to cry at the sight of their cousin's dying body.
Nora suddenly appeared in the doorway, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She grabbed ahold of her niece and her daughter's, clutching them both to her chest as they cried.
"Richard, save him! Please help him," Anne continued to beg, beginning to sob at the sight of her son.
They both froze briefly, realizing that their son was, indeed, gone.
"My son," Richard whispered softly as he picked Edward up slightly, clutching him to his son, "I command you to breathe!" He pleaded, beginning to tear up when he got no response, "I am the King Regent and you will breathe for me..."
"Edward!" Richard sobbed, pressing his forehead against his dead son's, "My boy."
Nora began to silently cry, continuing to hold Maggie and Katherine as she watched Anne and Richard grieve over their only son.
Three of her children had died. Wasn't that enough? Now, their son was gone as well.
Who was next?