ROYAL BLOOD
— 1. Powerless
It had been two days since Arthur Plantagenet, King of England, had been killed at the Battle of Bosworth alongside his brother, Prince Thomas, and their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. It left Nora, Lizbeth, Katherine, and George on their own to determine their fate.
Give in and pledge their loyalty to the House of Tudor or continue to fight. As expected, they chose the latter. They were Yorks, after all. They did not quake in fear. Nor would they ever.
Outside of Bedford Castle, Lizbeth stood in the gardens made in her sister's memory, tears welled in her eyes. She closed her eyes, finding herself thinking of the brothers she had lost at the Battle of Bosworth. Arthur and Thomas.
Out of all her siblings, they had always been her favorites. They were the three oldest of their parents' children. No matter what, they always had each other's back and now, she was the only one left standing.
Now, she was expected to marry the man responsible for their deaths. It was official now, after all. She would have to marry Henry Tudor, despite the fact that he was the reason her brothers were dead.
It didn't settle well with her nor her mother, that was for sure. They wanted their vengeance and both of them would do anything to do get it.
Her eyes closed, flashes of the happy moments she had with her brothers running through her mind. However, it didn't take long for her mind to instead be consumed by the images of Grace dying in her arms and the sight of Bosworth Field as she was forced to run through it after punching Henry Tudor and killing six of his men.
The sight of Bosworth Field and the carnage left upon it was what pained her most of all. She had never seen so many dead bodies before. She was just glad she hadn't come across the bodies of anyone she knew.
Feeling someone place a hand on her shoulder, Lizbeth opened her eyes and turned her head. It was Lizzie standing before her, wearing a sympathetic look on her face.
"How are we supposed to live through this, Lizzie?" She asked in a whisper, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "We've lost everything."
"Not everything," Lizzie assured her, a soft smile on her face, "We still each other. And your mother. And our brother George. He is, after all, the rightful king of England. The people of England love your mother. They always have. If she rises up with George, people from both sides will switch to our side. He should be the one on the throne, not Henry Tudor. They will agree with us on that."
"The mother isn't the same after losing so much," Lizbeth sighed, shaking her head in disagreement. She didn't think her mother was capable of plotting like she used to without being caught. Not after everything she had been through.
"She has changed. And yes, she has lost a lot, which makes her even more dangerous now since she has almost nothing to lose. Unlike them," Lizzie explained with a small, comforting smile on her face, "Lady Margaret Beaufort is afraid of your mother. We all know it. She is the one we have to defeat and your mother is the only one truly capable of doing such a thing."
"Perhaps you're right," Lizbeth admitted in a soft tone and Lizzie rolled her eyes.
"I know I am right," Lizzie smirked, wrapping her arm around Lizbeth, "We should go inside. I have a feeling it might rain."
"Feeling, huh?" Lizbeth asked, but before Lizzie could respond, the sister duo heard the hooves of horses pounding on the ground, which immediately gained their attention.
The two young women turned their heads, their eyes widening in alarm when they saw just how many men were riding down the dirt road toward Bedford Castle.
They were outnumbered.
Lizzie and Lizbeth exchanged a look, wasting no time running back toward the castle.
"Mother, the soldiers are coming!" Lizbeth shouted worriedly, running upstairs alongside Lizzie in hopes of finding Nora.
"They're cutting down our men as if it were nothing. We're outnumbered, even with the men who arrived this morning to defend this castle," Lizzie explained as Cecily walked closer to them, holding the hand of Katherine with George standing alongside them.
George and Cecily exchanged a look, both of them feeling concerned about the whole ordeal.
"We were supposed to have more time!" Nora complained, feeling uneasy as she looked outside to see just how many men there were.
The girls were right. They were, in fact, outnumbered. They would only have mere minutes before the men in Henry's army came busting through the door, searching for them.
She took one last look out the window, witnessing as her men fought the Tudor men but were brutally cut down.
"It is the Tudors, then," Lizzie realized, feeling uneasy about the whole ordeal, "They've come for Lizbeth since she is to be Queen."
"They aren't just coming for her. They are coming for us all and we cannot let them see that George is still alive. It will ruin everything," Nora explained as she turned to face the three girls and her son.
He was nearly fifteen now, but Nora knew he was still too young to face Henry Tudor. He needed time to be trained, to learn what his brothers hadn't. She refused to lose anymore children, especially George. Not when she just got him back after spending two years believing he was dead.
She was grateful for Elizabeth doing such a thing for her and in return, she promised to take care of Lizzie and Cecily as her own and not tell a soul where Elizabeth was hiding at with her three youngest daughters.
After all, most of England wanted the Woodville woman dead. They had for years and now, she was left powerless. She had no lands nor riches to use to defend herself against those who came against her.
"The rider was supposed to be here already," Lizbeth complained, referring to the man who was supposed to come to take George to safety.
"But he is not, which means I must hide him before it's too late," Nora sighed in defeat and turned to George, who looked uneasy about the whole ordeal as she stood in between Cecily and Katherine.
"Come now, George, just as we planned," Nora insisted as she rushed over to her son and grabbed him by the arm, "You must hide before it is too late."
"And what of us, Mother?" Lizbeth frowned, turning to her mother with a concerned look on her face.
"Distract them. They will not harm you. You are to be the Queen of England and your sisters are just as important to them. They are the key to gaining the support of House York. Henry Tudor needs them alive. I cannot say the same of your brother," Nora explained, a hesitant look on her face as she ran out of the room with George.
She didn't want to leave her daughters nor Elizabeth's girls, but she knew they'd be safe and left unharmed.
If the men found George, the same couldn't be said about him. He would surely be killed. He was, after all, the person who had the strongest claim to the throne. Everyone thought he was dead. She intended to have it remain that way until the time came where could publicly stand against Henry Tudor without having to risk being executed for High Treason.
It seemed now, she was in the same position that her mother had been in.
A widow who lost almost everything that meant something to her now dedicating her entire life to putting her child, the rightful heir, on the throne of England. And all the while, going half-mad in the process.
She was, indeed, just like her mother now, but Nora refused to end up like her. She refused to leave this world while her daughters and her son were left at risk. She needed to protect them. She failed to protect her other children, but she refused to let the children she still had meet the same fate as their dead siblings.
Once her mother and brother were out of sight, Lizbeth sighed in defeat and turned to face her three younger sisters.
She felt responsible for them now. She was the oldest and they had no older brothers to protect them as Arthur and Thomas used to. It was her job now and she refused to fail at it like Arthur did when he became King.
She didn't care if she did end up becoming queen. She knew she would never let the power get to her head as it did to Arthur. She would always put her family first, no matter what.
"Come with me," She insisted as she grabbed the hand of Katherine.
Cecily frowned, turning to Lizbeth with a confused look on her face. "To where though, Lizbeth--"
"Just come with me. Do not ask questions. We don't have time," Lizbeth cut her off in a stern tone before rushing out of the room while the hand of Katherine.
Cecily and Lizzie exchanged a look with each other before following after Lizbeth and Katherine.
In another hallway, Nora led George into her office with a worried look on her face. "Quickly now, my son," She insisted in a stern tone, "I must protect you."
Hearing her words, George found himself stopping. A determined look on his face, he tugged his arm out of her grip. "No, I should be protecting you. I refuse to let them kill you all as they killed my brothers and poor Grace."
"If you don't hide, you will be killed and I cannot let that happen. You are the future of House York and the rightful king of England. They think you are dead. We must keep it that way for now," She explained in a stern tone.
Nora entered her office at the castle. She knelt down on the ground and lifted up the carpet. She pulled a latch, revealing a secret compartment underneath the floor that was big enough for him to hide in.
She walked over to her desk, picking up a pouch of gold. She turned to George, cupping his face in her hands after placing the pouch of gold in his pocket. "George, my darling boy. You must flee to Flanders. Use the gold to buy safe passage. You must travel to Burgundy. Your aunt Margaret will keep you safe until I am able to travel there myself. I promise you, my precious George, I will bring you back to England and put on the throne as is your right."
She pressed a kiss to his forehead before leading him into the place under the floorboards. "I cannot lose you as I did your brothers and your sister. You must do this. Do it for me."
George hugged his mother tightly, just before entering the secret compartment.
Once she heard knocking and loud shouts coming from downstairs, she closed the latch. She placed the carpet back over it before placing a chair on top of that.
Hearing the door bust open downstairs, Nora took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her eyes before heading in the direction of the commotion.
Downstairs, the French men who were fighting for Henry Tudor busted through the front door, led by Sir Thomas and Sir William Stanley.
They walked into the main room, where Lizzie and Lizbeth stood behind a curtain, Cecily and Katherine hiding behind them.
"I can smell the women," One of the Frenchmen spoke to the others in a vicious tone, causing Lizbeth and Lizzie to exchange a disgusted look with each other.
Soon enough, one of the men locked eyes on Lizbeth, who bravely revealed herself to be standing behind the curtain, not showing the slightest bit of fear toward them.
"Get back from us," Lizzie warned the men in French as she bravely stood alongside Lizbeth, the men walking toward them.
"Listen to her and get back, you insolent pigs," Lizbeth growled, speaking in French as well. She pointed a dagger in their direction, warning them not to come any closer to her or her sisters.
Despite that, the men pushed past Lizbeth, two of them grabbing ahold of Lizzie while the others grabbed Katherine and Cecily.
Katherine screamed as one of the men grabbed her and without thinking, the young girl bit the man on the arm. The Frenchman yelled out and without hesitation, he had slapped her across the face.
"How dare you!" Lizbeth screamed in English, letting out a growl as she lunged for the man who had struck her little sister.
The man who hit her sister grabbed onto Lizbeth's wrists and in retaliation, she roughly shoved him backward before she slashed him across the arm with her dagger.
"I am Princess Lizbeth of York! I am betrothed to King Henry Tudor and he will gladly kill you if he knows you've laid a hand on his beloved queen," Lizbeth growled at the man, hoping that mentioning Henry would result in the men not grabbing her and her sisters in such a way again.
"King Henry sent us here to fetch you back to London," Sir William Stanley spoke up, causing Lizbeth to turn to glare at him hatefully.
Sir Thomas Stanley, the man who was the reason for her brother's loss and Margaret Beaufort's husband, entered. He picked up a grape off the table and took a bite out of it, making his way over to his brother to stand in front of Lizbeth.
"By the hair, if need be," He taunted her, smirking slightly when he saw the way she seemed be boiling with anger.
He had to admit, before she became nothing more than a sister of an overthrown king, Stanley did have reason to fear her. He even told his wife that. However, now, he felt no need to be so.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Lizbeth glared at the man she knew to be the reason for her brothers being dead. It took everything within her not to lunge forward to attack him.
"You traitor!" She screamed at him loudly, on the verge of lunging forward when her mother suddenly appeared in the doorway, a calm expression on her face.
Just as the men always did when her mother entered a room, their heads turned and Lizbeth glanced around to see the men watching Nora closely, waiting for her to speak up.
Lord Stanley didn't. Instead, he began to smile, a part of him feeling satisfied by the sight of the woman who was now deemed nothing.
When he served King Edward, she had been his mistress and most trusted advisor.
When he served Arthur, she was his Queen Regent and then Queen Mother.
For the last twenty years of her life, Nora had been the most wealthy and powerful woman in England, bearing as much titles as the king himself, no matter who that king was.
Now, Lord Stanley viewed her to be nothing. Nothing but the mother of one dead king and the mistress of another.
"Nora FitzRoy. What a surprise," Lord Stanley greeted Nora as he walked toward her.
Unlike Lizbeth, however, Nora maintained composure, despite knowing he was the reason her children are dead.
She smiled at him kindly, which infuriated Lizbeth. She understood her mother was skilled with her ways of manipulation but Lizbeth could not understand how her mother could smile at Stanley, even if it was fake, when he was the reason Edmund, Grace, Arthur, and Thomas were dead. Not to mention, Richard, the man Nora refused to mention because it pained her too much.
Lizbeth knew her mother blamed herself for Richard's death. She believed she had been the reason for her lover's death.
After all, it seemed as though anyone who chose to get close to Nora died not too long after.
She also didn't mention Richard because she felt guilty, consumed with guilt of dishonoring her love for Edward in such a way.
"There is no need for violence, especially 'hair-pulling' as you put it, Lord Stanley," She explained in a calm tone as she glanced between the Stanley brothers, "My girls and I shall coming willingly."
"Your girls," Lord Stanley scoffed as he turned to look directly at Cecily and Lizzie, "I don't recall Elizabeth and Cecily Plantagenet, King Edward's bastards, being your girls."
Nora studied the men closely. They wanted to get their hands on Elizabeth Woodville and she knew they believed that they could get answers from her if she had the woman's eldest daughters in her clutches.
She might not have gotten along with that woman most of the time, but there was no way she would give up Elizabeth's location, especially not when she was the reason her boy was still alive. She felt like she owed her for that.
Without Elizabeth, George would have been dead. Nora was beyond grateful for that.
"I promised their mother that I would take care of them. I am their guardians from this day until the end of my days, after all. Until I take my last breath, they are my girls," Nora explained in a genuine tone, much to Lord Stanley and his brother's amusement.
"And where is their mother, the Lady Elizabeth Woodville?" He questioned, raising a brow at Nora, "We've been meaning to find her."
Stanley walked closer to Nora until his face was just inches away from hers. He hoped it would intimidate her, but it was foolish of him to think he, of all people, could scare Nora.
Lizzie and Cecily watched Nora closely, wondering if she would fess up about their mother.
"She fled the country soon after her eldest daughters became ladies-in-waiting to my daughter Lizbeth. I gave her the money to do so, but she never specified where she would do. I never asked, either. I was just glad she was finally out of my hair," Nora explained calmly, despite all of it being a lie, "I haven't heard from her since and you can ask Lizzie and Cecily. They haven't, either."
Stanley turned to glance over at Cecily and Lizzie. They stared at him closely, Cecily holding Katherine close to her chest.
He rolled his eyes, turning to look back at Nora. "Well, that's unfortunate. She is a traitor to the House of Tudor and we are in the midst of bringing all the traitors in as we speak. Two of which were supposed to be under your care. It's alright. My son and Jasper Tudor are most likely getting their hands on them right at this moment," He explained and just as he expected, Nora's entire expression changed once he mentioned Maggie and Teddy.
He knew it. He knew Maggie and Teddy were her weakness. Unlike her own children and Lizzie and Cecily, Maggie and Teddy were incapable of protecting themselves.
Due to that, Nora felt like it was her responsibility to keep them safe no matter what. She was, after all, their godmother and their legal guardian after the deaths of their parents and their aunt Anne.
She began to glare at him threateningly and Stanley felt satisfied that the threat he made was able to make her kind facade disappear.
"You will not touch them, Lord Stanley. I swear to you--" She began to threaten him and before she could react, Stanley had unsheathed his dagger and pressed it against her neck.
While Katherine whimpered in fear as Cecily held her close, Lizzie, Cecily, and Lizbeth felt uneasy about the scene unfolding before them.
Nora, however, glanced down at the blade pressing against her neck without an ounce of fear inside her. She slowly looked back up, into his eyes with a look of boredom.
Was it supposed to scare her?
"What will you do, Nora? Your lands have been taken away. As have your titles and your wealth. Everything has been taken from you. You are nothing now," Stanley explained, only to frown as Nora's lips slowly curled upwards.
"You are a fool if you think wealth and titles are what give me my power, Lord Stanley," She commented before gesturing down to the blade pressed against her throat, "Go on. Do it. Kill me. I give it a week before Henry Tudor experiences his first rebellion in London, one he will no doubt find himself unable to stop," She paused, letting out a small sigh before a smile appeared on her lips, "Do you know why, Lord Stanley? It is because my acts of kindness toward the people of England in the past twenty-five years, especially toward those in London add up to more than the fear your soldiers and Henry Tudor inspire in them do. But go on. Do it. Kill me. I dare you."
Realizing she had a point, Stanley sighed in frustration and removed the dagger from her throat. She maintained composure, not showing her satisfaction.
Despite that, however, as she went to turn her back to him, Stanley had lifted his hand and backhanded her across the face at full force.
The York girls flinched, watching as Nora's body hit the ground with a thud. Nora didn't even cry out though as she was slapped. She had expected him to do that. She knew at least one man would lay a hand on her once she was captured. She was no longer Queen Mother nor Queen Regent. It wasn't punishable by death for them to lay a hand on her and they were all just dying to do it for years now.
"Perhaps that will remind you to watch your tongue from now on," He glared down at her, watching as she wiped the blood spilling from the corner of her lip.
While Stanley walked out with his brother and some of the Tudor men, Lizzie and Lizbeth rushed over to Nora.
"Mother, are you alright?" Lizbeth asked worriedly, she and Lizzie grabbing onto Nora's arms before assisting her in standing up.
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Nora smiled at them as if she hadn't been slapped, which caused the girls to exchange a worried look, "It's not the first time a man has laid a hand on me. That slap was nothing compared to the monstrosities I endured in this castle at the hands of Arthur Neville."
Lizbeth nodded in understanding as she anxiously glanced around. Her mother had still been pregnant with her when Arthur Neville died. Her brother Arthur had been alive, though. He had been two years old when the man died and during that time, the majority of England believed him to be his kid.
The people in London didn't. They knew. They knew Arthur to be the son of their King Edward. What with his golden blonde hair and green eyes. He looked so much like their father.
London loved their family and Lizbeth prayed to God it would remain that way. Keeping London loyal to their family was the key to taking the rest of England. Her mother taught her that. And surely, if that type of power remained with the , her and her mother could take back their family's right to the throne and Lizbeth wouldn't have to marry the monster that was Henry Tudor.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
First chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it!!