Richard was full of paranoia. He was alone, unsure who was his friend and who was his enemy any longer. The only exceptions were Francis and Thomas, who had remained his loyal followers and friends. Richard literally slept with one eye open at Bosworth, always listening to the men surrounding him.
"He has not been the same since she passed," Francis whispered quietly. "He misses her so; I don't think he has ever recovered."
"Anne was good to him. How could they say he would poison her?" Thomas added. "She raised my niece and nephew as her own. He loved her and she loved him." Francis was silent, letting the air clear before speaking.
"I speak not of Anne. Though, you are correct, she was good to him. Part of him died with your sister." Thomas's throat dried with the mention of Katy. "Part of all us of died with her."
"You saw her that night. I fear I have not had the courage to ask. How was she?"
"Confused, but as herself as she could've been." Francis laughed to himself, "In any other situation, I do not know what he would've done. She did not want him to have Catherine. Had she the strength, she would've fought anyone trying take her baby." Thomas smiled, looking at the ground. John moved in his armor quietly, Thomas watching him.
"They remind me of her. Catherine is quick witted and always willing to take the fall. While John is ready to fight for what he believes in." The conversation drowned out and Richard's eyes shot open, looking around the dark tent. He grasped the knife from his pillow and moved slowly, towards the sounds that had awoken him. A figure stood in the darkness, looking over his plans and humming something familiar.
"Who goes there?" He questioned, listening to the silence. The hum stopped and Richard sighed, believing himself to be mistaken as the figure seemed to vanish. He moved out to Thomas and Francis. "Ensure no one enters without my direct approval."
"Yes, your Grace."
"Father!" John cried, rushing towards him. Richard put his hands on his boy. John's eyes darted to the tree line and back to Richard. "I must speak to you in private." Richard moved towards the tent, John following behind him.
"What is it, my boy?"
"Do you feel it?" Richard paused; something was not right, but he did not know how to describe it. "There was a woman, she told me to go to Ireland with Aunt Ann. She want me to take Catherine and leave you!" Richard's stomach churned, hoping what he believed to come next would not. "I think it is my mother."
"You mother passed years ago, John. Perhaps it was a peasant woman who wandered into the camp." There was silence, and Richard noticed John looking past him. John slid by him to the small portrait of Katy he commissioned after her death.
"Father." John was mesmerized by her dark but kind eyes, shinning auburn hair, and her bright smile, something uncommon but Richard always wished to see again.
"Send out a search party. I want the woman found." John bowed and rushed from the tent, leaving Richard alone again. He listened closely to the hum; one he had danced to on his first visit to Ireland. "Why must you hide from me?" He whispered. Just the small humming floated around him, "I am King now. I command you to show yourself to me." The humming stopped and Richard lit candles slowly.
"And I am dead. You have no dominion over me," her voice danced through the night air. He turned quickly, looking at Katy examining the table. She looked at him, smiling bright in the same red dress he laid her to rest in.
"Not that I did even when you were alive," he teased, moving towards her. He was scared to touch her, fearing it wouldn't seem as real as it did now. Katy reached up and cupped his face, and he kissed her hand as he had done so many times in the past.
"How I wish I could've seen you grow older," she whispered, and tears formed in his eyes. "You seem to have had a good life." Richard said nothing, just stared at her. "I wish I could've been more a part of it."
"Why have you come?" She felt him tense at that sentence. "I have wanted to see you again since the moment you left me."
"You could not think I would let you do this alone." Katy looked into his light eyes, smiling softly.
"You were not there for France, when England began to turn on me, and when our nephews vanished."
"I never left you, Richard. You never told me goodbye. I saw the negotiations in France, I personally reunited those boys with their father, and England is a fickle mistress."
"Why have you come?" He repeated, sitting in the chair and looking up towards her.
"Do not name John your heir," Katy asserted, looking at the table.
"He is my heir. He is my only surviving son."
"I was never Queen. The people may not accept him."
"They will do as I think best!" Katy swallowed drying, giving away her true reason for visiting. Richard's face softened, "Am I to join you?"
"You will either survive or not."
"Why have you come, Katy?"
"Should you die, one of my children needs to survive!" Richard's eyes doubled.
"What of Catherine? What becomes of her?"
"Her fate is sealed. Catherine will suffer the same fate as me." Richard rocked back in the chair, "Send him to Ireland, please. He will be killed by Henry Tudor if you do not."
"Henry Tudor is to marry Lizzie," Richard laughed to himself. "Elizabeth turned on me rather quickly after your passing. What do you know of that?"
"I cannot say," she lied. "I have said much to you." Richard stood and approached her slowly. She had not aged a day, forever stuck at twenty years old. She had been restored to her former self in death. Her color, humor, and brightness restored.
"You would've made a great queen. One history would remember fondly."
"I was never meant to be queen. Anne drove you to take the crown, not me. I would've been happy to be Duchess of Gloucester until the end." She sighed, sitting in the chair and looking up to him. "I wish I had been able to be a part of our children's lives."
"They know you well. John recognized you rather quickly." Katy faked a smile quickly. "Thomas is here, supporting me as he always has. Supporting our children." Katy remained silent, looking over the table again. Richard sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I don't survive, do I?" Katy's head dropped, unable to keep her lie from him.
"I wish I could find a way to save you. Our children will be orphans."
"You have come to try to fix it. Catherine joins us soon then, but what of our son? What becomes of him?"
"He is declared a bastard."
"That is impossible. We were married." Katy looked to the ground, silently waiting for him to piece together the plan. "Tudor uses Somerset," he reasoned rather quickly.
"And Talbot," she added in. "That we had no authority to marry, as I was already betrothed. They will say you married a married woman, that I was no more than your whore. I am to be erased from history."
"Your Grace! A letter from Jasper Tudor!" Katy dared not moved as Richard quickly stormed out, grabbing the parchment. She faced away from him, listening to him whispering the short message. Richard sat at his desk, scribbling quickly and sealing it. He handed it to the page and sent him on his way.
"And what does Tudor have to say?"
"He, too, was taken with you." Richard advised. "We had an agreement at Tewksbury. We would not rise against each other for the betterment of you. Should I have died, he would ensure you were taken care of." Katy had always suspected something of that sort had happened after he urged to claim sanctuary. "He writes it will not happen a second time."
"How did you respond?"
"Our agreement died when you did."
"You never told me that." Richard's eyes hardly left his young love.
"I never had the chance," he whispered. "You were gone before I even had a chance to pray. I stood there, watching the life drain from you. No one should have that forced upon them. I had no say in anything that transpired from that point on. You should have stayed in Gloucester. Instead, he turned you into a political statement. Parading you around London."
"Richard," Katy whispered, reaching out to touch his arm. "It's time for you to come back to me."
"Don't leave me," he begged.
"You will see me, I promise." Richard's eyes shot open and sweat covered his body. He sat up in his bed, looking over the light flooding his tent.
"Your Grace," Thomas entered quietly. "It is time." Richard put his hands in his head.
"I dreamt of her Thomas. Should I die, ensure I rest with her nearby."
"Do not speak that way. We will be victorious." Richard nodded uncertainly. He looked at Thomas quickly.
"Is Ann still nearby?" Thomas nodded slowly. "Send John into her care immediately and have her go back to Wexford. I will name John de la Pole my heir." Thomas looked puzzled, unsure what to say. His nephew was losing his birth right and he was unhappy with that. "You must trust me Thomas. I promised Katy I would listen to her, but I never had the chance. I have been given that opportunity."