ROYAL BLOOD
— 18. Games
In his chambers, Henry sat at his desk, placing his royal stamp on the letter he had just written. His mother stood in the door, trying to convince him to have the christening now, even with Lizbeth still forced to be in confinement.
"The christening must take place at once. Whatever doubts the people have will be forgotten when they see God smiles on you," Margaret explained as she walked toward Henry, a smile on her face.
"They cannot wait till Lizbeth's been churched?" He asked, still not looking up at his mother.
"It is not the custom," Margaret tried to convince her son, despite knowing it was a lie, "And she has no function at the service, no reason for being there."
"She is Arthur's mother and the Queen, of course, she has reason to be there," Henry reminded his mother, who was annoyed by his constant need to defend Lizbeth.
"England must know sooner rather than later that you have an heir. We simply cannot wait until the girl has been churched," Margaret explained, finally looking up at Henry.
"She is not the 'girl', Mother, she is the Queen," Henry argued in a stern tone, "And we cannot or you cannot?" He asked as he stood up from his seat, "I will consult with Lizbeth, the queen."
"You..." Margaret trailed off, frowning as she watched him walk past her, "You are taking counsel for your wife?"
"Yes. And need I remind you once more, she is not only my wife, she is crowned queen as jointed rulers with me and she knows the will of England far better than I do. She is the mother to the child as well. Unless I am mistaken," He explained, just before walking away.
Margaret felt angered, watching as Henry walked away with a smile on his face.
____
In the main throne room at the palace in Burgundy, Mary sat with Maximilian and Cecily, along with her children as Jasper and Lord Strange stood before them.
Behind a nearby curtain, Margaret and Nora stood alongside one another, eavesdropping on the conversation.
"It is good of you to take the time to see us, Your Graces," Jasper spoke up in polite tone.
"Well, you have come all this way," Mary remarked, smiling as she exchanged a look with Maximilian.
Maximilian snapped his fingers, leading to a servant walking over with wine. "Will you take some wine?" He asked kindly and Cecily began to smile widely.
"We have so much to drink," She boasted and Nora found herself smiling in amusement from behind the curtain.
As a glass of wine was handed to both himself and Lord Strange, Jasper began to glance around. He stopped, however, when he looked through an opening in the curtain to lock eyes on whom he knew for a fact was Nora.
He could recognize those eyes from anywhere. Anyone could. Her eyes were a ocean blue, ones similar to the ones the majority of her sons used to have as well and her daughter Grace.
Maximilian looked up, immediately noticing what Jasper seemed to be looking at. "You have lost something, My Lord?" He asked, a curious look on his face.
Jasper sighed, slowly turning to look back at the group of three. "The Duchess doesn't join us?" He questioned, referring to Margaret instead of Nora.
"She doesn't wish to lay eyes on the man who beat her brother and her nephew to an early death on Bosworth Field," Cecily commented, referring to Richard and Thomas.
"With respect, Duchess, without those deaths, the battle wouldn't have ended," Lord Strange commented and it took everything within Cecily not to mention little George and Edmund.
"We are sorry for her loss," Jasper quickly spoke up, trying to ease the tension before Lord Strange made it worse, "And to you too, Duchess Cecily. It must have been hard to lose your grandson King Arthur. It is well known how much you favored him compared to your other grandchildren. We commend his soul to God."
"How good of you to say so after all this time," Cecily remarked in a venomous tone.
Maximilian placed a hand on Cecily's arm, trying to calm her down as she began to hatefully glared at Jasper.
"What of Nora of Lancaster?" Jasper suddenly spoke up, causing Maximilian to turn to him with a questioning look.
"What of her?" He questioned, sounding almost protective of the woman.
"We shall like to speak to her about peace terms as well. We come to offer her peace and allow her to return back to England," Jasper explained, earning a loud scoff from Cecily.
"Allowed back to England?" Cecily questioned, raising a brow at Jasper with an amused look on her face, "I don't recall her ever being exiled."
"We would like to speak to her, Duchess," Jasper replied in a calm tone.
"Would you now? What makes you think she wants to speak to you?" Cecily snapped at Jasper, clearly protective over the woman as if she were her own daughter, "You're the reason she lost all four of her sons and a daughter."
"We have news of her other daughter. Queen Elizabeth. She has given birth to a son," Jasper explained and Cecily remained silent, beginning to feel uneasy.
"Let's move to business," Maximilian quickly spoke up, much to everyone's relief since it would mean the end of the conversation that was on the verge of becoming an argument, one that no one would have been able to turn back from.
"No," Jasper quickly responded in a calm tone, "We will respect both the Duchess and Nora and their grief. Our business may come later, when they're both ready. If you will grant us leave to stay until that time..."
As Jasper trailed off and Mary began to speak to her husband about allowing them to stay, Jasper had exchanged a brief glance with Margaret of York before she became hidden behind the curtain once more alongside Nora.
"Maximilian?" Mary called out to her husband, who turned to her and nodded.
With that, Mary stood up, ushering the children to come along with her.
Several moments later, Jasper walked out of the castle, into the yard alongside Lord Strange. "Wait here?" Lord Strange asked, a smile on his face, "I can think of worse things."
"Do you like to play, Lord Strange?" A voice called out, causing them to turn their heads to see that Mary had been the one to ask him with Katherine standing alongside her cousin with a smirk on her face.
"Play?" He asked, smiling at the suggestion, "Mmm. What kind of games?"
He chuckled, exchanging a look with Jasper before turning to face Mary once more. Katherine stood in front of Mary, grasping a sword in her hand that made Lord Strange feel uneasy, no matter how much he tried to hide it. "My children love sword fighting. As does my cousin Princess Katherine. But as a princess, she could never find opponents that she can win fairly against."
"Ah, well," Lord Strange laughed, placing his hands on his hips.
A servant walked over, handing him a sword. Lord Strange smiled, spinning the sword in his hands as he prepared to force himself to lose against the girl. Surely, she couldn't actually win fairly. Mary was just joking, right?
Oh, how wrong he was.
"I don't mind losing," Lord Strange remarked, laughing loudly as he jabbed the sword forward.
Katherine and Mary turned to each other, a knowing look on their faces.
Despite trying to hide it, Lord Strange felt uneasy as he stood before Katherine, knowing he was the one who killed her twin brother.
The first move Lord Strange made, he somehow ended up being disarmed by Katherine before she struck him on the arm with her sword.
"Ah!" He winced, knowing that it was his bad arm she had struck. He tried to play it off with a chuckle, acting as though he had forced himself to lose, despite that not being the truth.
Jasper watched on and couldn't help but find the whole ordeal funny. He smiled slightly, despite trying to hide it.
Katherine's cousins and Mary began to laugh, seeing as though they had expected that to happen.
Jasper began to clap and Lord Strange turned to him, clutching his arm. "I wasn't, uh, I wasn't ready."
"I'd ask how you are, Lord Strange, but in all honestly, I really don't care," Katherine commented, smirking evilly as she leaned her sword against her shoulder.
"Katherine," Mary scolded the girl, trying to contain her laugh as she looked at her cousin.
"What? I couldn't help myself," Katherine boasted, a large smile on her face, "I've been wanting to do that for more than a year now. It couldn't wait any longer."
Mary smiled, shaking her head as she turned to look at Lord Strange. "Forgive my cousin. She has no shame when it comes to doing what she wants," She explained, earning a genuine smile from Jasper.
"Just like her mother," He admitted in a whisper, which Lord Strange was able to hear. He turned to the elder man, an annoyed look on her face.
______
In her room, Lizbeth stood in front of her son's cradle, which was made of wicker. She smiled at her son, who stared up at her and cooed.
Henry entered, holding up a large, rolled-up piece of paper. He smiled at the sight of his wife and son, wasting no time with making her way over to the two people he cared for most of the world.
When she saw the midwives around her bow, Lizbeth looked up, knowing it meant that Henry had entered.
She slowly turned to face Henry, who smiled and bowed. Her smile, however, faded when her eyes laid upon her husband.
"Why must it be Winchester?" She asked, a saddened look on her face, "For the christening. I cannot bear to be so many days away from my son."
Henry frowned slightly, noticing the genuine fear in her eyes. She was afraid of losing her son, but why?
"I have said your sister Lizzie may come with us. I have decided to make her godmother, despite my mother's protests against it," Henry explained and Lizbeth found herself able to understand why Margaret didn't want Lizbeth to be godmother.
Lizbeth nodded anyway, tears in her eyes at the thought of being left in London while even Lizzie and Cecily were going.
"Hey," Henry spoke up as he walked closer to her. He placed the rolled-up piece of paper to the side, cupping her face with both his hands, "There's no need to be afraid. We will return soon. I promise."
Lizbeth forced a smile on her face as she looked up at Henry and nodded.
"There's something I'd like to show you now," Henry announced as he retracted his hands from the sides of her face and picked up the paper he had taken in with him, "I have commissioned his own badge for him."
Lizbeth's eyes lit up as Henry unrolled the piece of paper to reveal a sigil of the red rose of House Lancaster and the white rose of House York combined together into a single flower.
Henry smiled, happy with her reaction. "The red rose and the white combined. A sign of our new united. Just like your brother should have done when he became King, given that Nora is of house Lancaster and your father had been of House York," He explained and Lizbeth stared up at him, an unreadable look now on her face, "I hope you like it."
"I love it," Lizbeth confessed as she gradually began to smile once more, "But our mothers will not give it. I'm starting to believe it isn't just your mother having something against my mother. It's the other way around as well. I'm beginning to believe that they actually like the war between them."
"One your mother is winning, no doubt," Henry remarked, earning a small chuckle from Lizbeth.
"At least you admit it," Lizbeth responded as Henry wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him.
"But we are not them. I hope you realize that. I am not my mother. And you are not yours. We do not have to have any hostility between us. We are husband and wife now. King and Queen of England. Parents to a little prince who is the red and white rose combined," Henry explained and Lizbeth nodded in agreement.
"Indeed," She admitted softly, "But I must ask something of you now that I've given you a son," She paused and Henry gestured for her to continue on by nodding at her, "Will you release my cousin Teddy now?"
"I cannot while I am away from London," He confessed in a calm tone.
"Then we can wait for when you return," Lizbeth suggested and Henry smiled, realizing she wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Please, Henry. The poor boy is terrified. He has no idea why any of this is happening to him. He is an innocent child, just like my brothers were when they were locked there in the Tower as well. He knows the story of what happened to them very well and no doubt he fears the same will happen to him. You would not wish such a fate upon Arthur. Why do the same to another innocent who hasn't the slightest clue of the dangers that are caused solely by his existence."
"I will consider it," Henry assured her in a calm, yet stern tone, causing Lizbeth to sigh in relief, "And take a view."
Henry turned to his head and smiled down at him. "He has your mother's eyes," He confessed in a soft tone.
"The same ones my brothers Thomas, Edmund, and George used to have. And Grace," She whispered quietly while smiling and Henry turned to look at her, smiling as well.
He moved closer to Lizbeth and looked down at her, his eyes wandering down to her lips. He smiled, beginning to lean forward. He pulled her closer and kissed her, Lizbeth immediately kissing back.
Hearing a throat clear, the duo pulled away from each other. Lizbeth immediately rolled her eyes when they locked on Margaret, who wasn't happy about how close Henry and Lizbeth were getting as of late.
"Bishop Morton wishes to speak to you, Henry, about the trip to Winchester," She informed her son, who sighed in defeat.
Henry turned to glance at Lizbeth, gradually letting go of her hand before he was forced to leave the room.
Lizbeth sighed as she watched him leave, only to become consumed with anger when her eyes laid upon Margaret once more.
"Bring the child. We are leaving," Margaret ordered the midwives in a stern tone.
"If you were to christen him in London, I would not have to be apart from him," Lizbeth managed to get out, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "My brother Arthur and the rest of us were christened in London. Why can't my son do the same?"
"You and your siblings were born bastards, as I recall, and should have never found yourselves upon the throne in the first place. Arthur is the legitimate heir to the throne. He is not a bastard. He will be king one day," Margaret explained in a stern tone, "The priest will come on your fortieth day to sanctify you so you can return the court."
Lizbeth began to cry, watching as the midwives carried her son away. She never felt so fragile before, but the thought of losing her son to the Tudor curse, frightened her more than it ever had before.
"Please take care of him," She begged the midwives and it felt as though it was the first time she had ever begged for something in her life.
The midwife left without responding to Lizbeth and Margaret turned to the girl, looking almost satisfied.
She turned away from her, on the verge of leaving when Lizbeth spoke up. "Why must you punish me?" She found herself asking, genuinely beginning to cry, "I understand you hate my mother and wish to make her unhappy by tormenting me but she isn't even here! What have I done, to make me hate you so much? Haven't you taken enough from me?"
Margaret remained silent, giving her a look before walking away.
After a moment of silence, Lizbeth wiped her tears, just before walking over to her window.
Outside, the midwife walked over to where Lizzie stood smiling alongside Cecily. Baby Arthur was placed in Lizzie's hands, only to have Margaret come to ruin it all.
She grabbed ahold of the boy, practically snatching him out of Lizzie's arms.
Lizzie's smile faded, beginning to hatefully glare at the woman. "Haven't taken enough boys from their mothers already, lady Margaret?" Lizzie whispered to Margaret, referring to the fact that she was the reason Lizbeth couldn't hope to see her own son christened.
As Margaret walked away with baby Arthur, Lizzie slowly looked up, locking eyes with Lizbeth, who stood at the window of her room, watching the entire scene occur.