The frosty January air bit at the faces of the courtiers as they gathered in the courtyard, readying for the hunt that was to come. Marian sat on a stone bench with the Queen, her blue cloak wrapped tightly around her, Percy laying at her feet, as Elizabeth seemingly glared at the people that chattered happily before her. She was throwing daggers at one couple in particular: the King and Jane Shore. He appeared to be showing her how to shoot and Marian could tell it was making the older woman's blood boil.
Among the crowd, Marian spotted Richard talking to a man who she had come to know as Lord Stanley. God she detested the man! He was a smug little Lord, always strutting around Westminster as if he were the most powerful man there and Marian openly showed her distain for him, avoiding him as much as she could. Richard had gently chided her on this but she would not budge and so glared at the man as he spoke to her lover.
"I can see you dislike Lord Stanley as much as I do" Elizabeth commented as she saw the frown on Marian's face.
"Dislike is an understatement if I may say so" this reply made the Queen laugh and the pair looked to the side of them where Anthony had appeared.
"You are leading the hunt, I believe?" He asked his sister with a grin as the two women rose
"I can barely walk!" Elizabeth replied, laughing slightly and placing her hands on her stomach
"Has the King relented over sending baby to Wales?"
"No he has not and he will not" she replied quickly, a slight frown returning to her expression.
"Well" Anthony continued "he knows how you feel about George..."
the siblings continued to talks as Marian heard a cough from behind her. Turning to see who it was she came face to face with Richard and smiled
"Hello!" She greeted brightly, curtsying a little
"Hello to you as well, my lady" he returned, bowing "it would be my honour and privilege if you would allow me to accompany you on the royal hunt"
"I should be honoured, my lord Gloucester" Marian giggled "but I do not think your brother of Clarence would approve."
Both looked over to where George was standing, he was glaring at Marian with a burning hatred but as they made eye contact his frown turned into a smug, triumphant smile as if he had won some sort of competition between them. Marian turned back to Richard who also turned back to her.
As they were about to resume their conversation the trumpets beginning the hunt called out and Richard offered Marian his arm and they walked away together, one of the pageboys following behind them, carrying the bows and arrows that they would need with Percy trotting happily beside him.
The hunt commenced and went on for the best part of the daylight hours, earning many catches from the courtiers and their weapons. Marian and Richard both kept an eye out for Anne but as she had said in her note she was near the front and since they were at the back she was impossible to reach unnoticed.
A few hours into the day's activity Richard had already shot down 3 birds, which Marian praised him greatly for, while she had not even fired a single arrow, simply watched Richard and played tug of war with Percy every time he found a strong enough stick. The pageboy they had started with had long since left them, going to attend the King as Richard had ordered him to, leaving himself and Marian alone together at the back, out of earshot of the rest of the court.
"Come, sweetheart" he said happily as he took Marian's hand and brought her next to him "you should take a few shots for I dare say you will prove very talented!" She laughed at his enthusiasm and looked up into his eyes
"I would if I could, but alas I have not fired a bow in many many years now! I do not remember how!"
Richard picked up a second bow and an arrow; after looking around, slid his arm around Marian's waist, pressing her back gently against his chest.
"Then I shall show you" he whispered
"I think you shall have to have all the patience of a saint but you may try if you wish!" Marian replied, a warm smile spreading across her face as she leant against Richard.
"I have all the patience in this world when it comes to you, my love" he said, loading the bow and placing a gloved hand on Marian's elbow, raising it "now draw back the string, keep a hold of the arrow...that's it...now look for your target"
Quickly scanning the woodland Marian spotted a rather plump little bird perching on a branch.
"Found it" she stated, biting her lip slightly as she focused on her prey.
"Don't let go, Marian" Richard told her, keeping his hand on her elbow and the other on her waist, tilting her body to the side a little so she could aim better. "Alright...now...shoot!"
Marian felt the end of the arrow fly past her ear as it headed towards the plump bird, burying its head into the creature's chest, killing it, making it fall to the floor.
"See! You are a natural!" The Duke praised as he rushed to collect the bird, returning with it in his hands. Marian felt herself blushing under his gaze.
"I do confess" she said playfully "I am a woman of many talents!" Richard laughed as he tied the bird up with the other catches
"That you are, Marian!" He said and winked at her.
"Your grace!" A grating voice called from behind them. It was a man called Sir Reginald Bray. He was a most devoted servant to a woman named Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry Tudor (who was apparently Marian's cousin). He was a strange man, always appearing rather weak and extremely eager to please. Marian raised her eyebrows at Richard as Sir Reginald approached them. "Your Grace" he said again "I have come straight from my home to put a proposition to you, a marriage proposal"
"And who might this proposal be from?" Richard asked, loading his bow and taking a shot at a flying bird. He missed.
"From Margaret Beaufort, your grace" Sir Reginald replied. Marian had to turn around to contain her laughter, looking down at her wolfhound with a gleam of amusement in her eye. as she bent down to stroke his ears.
As if Richard would ever marry her! Would he?
"She is a most devoted mother and all she seeks is a peaceful England"
'That's not likely!' Marian thought for when she had been unfortunate enough to encounter Margaret a few years prior she had seen the woman was the staunchest Lancastrian to perhaps ever walk the earth.
When Marian first came to court she would have been glad to have an ally such as this, but now, she saw her as a threat to the House of York, which she was, and so was her son.
"Tell her I shall think on it" Richard responded after a while. Marian's head jerked up, as did the grey dog's. He couldn't possibly be thinking about it seriously? Surely he must be joking?
"Thank your grace" Sir Reginald said, now beaming before he scurried away, back to his mistress no doubt.
"You cannot seriously be considering marrying that woman, Richard!" Marian remarked. Richard fired the bow again, this time the arrow found its target and he went to collect it just as he had done with Marian's.
"Perhaps. Marrying her would make me a very rich man..." he replied with a smirk
"But she's ancient!" Marian cried "and ugly and fanatical!" The more she spoke the more Richard began to shake with laughter. Marian stopped "you, my lord, are playing with me, aren't you?"
Richard nodded still laughing a little
"That I am!" He said "I would never dream of marrying her! Although, I like the concern you show for my welfare!" Now it was Marian's turn to laugh.
"Of course I am concerned! I love you!" She said
"And I you" he returned, stepping forward and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Percy made a snorting noise which made the two laugh "now I think we should continue on our way or we shall lose the rest of the court entirely and get lost ourselves!"
"I think I would rather like that!" Marian commented, picking up one of the quivers filled with arrows. Richard chuckled at her words and they continued along the path together, stopping to shoot every so often until the hunt was over and they were back at Westminster.
"Alright, we should head to the chapel. Anne said she would wait there for us!" Richard nodded and the pair began to make their way through the torchlit halls, until Marian abruptly stopped in her tracks.
"Forgive me, Richard" she said, placing a hand on his arm as her head began to spin "I feel rather ill" He immediately placed his hands on her waist to steady her
"Should I take you back to your chambers?" He asked, concerned
"No, no" she quickly replied "you must carry on to Anne, she needs you. Go, Richard" he paused for a moment but at last, nodded and walked down the corridor.
Marian rushed to her room, Percy hot on her heels, nudging her every so often with his nose, trying to ask if she was okay. When she finally reached her room she grabbed her chamber pot and threw up in it again.
Two days on the run? She thought, tiredly. Now this couldn't have been 'a bit of bad breakfast'. Suddenly a startling thought came to her mind.
Was she with child?
It was certainly a possibility. Her and Richard had been sleeping together for 9 months now and if Marian was really being honest with herself, she was rather surprised that she hadn't become pregnant earlier as most women did. How long had it been since she had last bled? She couldn't remember...
Slowly, standing and walking over to sit by the fire. Marian poured herself a drink of wine which she supposed she should not be drinking if she really was with child but the shock of the thought told her that if she didn't drink then she may faint right there and then. And so, taking a large sip, she felt a little better for a moment, standing up again, placing a hand to her stomach and casting her cloak aside, suddenly feeling rather hot.
Could she really be carrying a child inside of her? Was she really pregnant? Or just ill? A sudden sharp pain from her stomach convinced her that it was most likely to be the first option.
How was she going to tell Richard? How was she going to tell the Queen?! These thoughts momentarily troubled her but then faded from her mind as her head began to spin again, more ferociously than before and she felt herself weakening.
Her vision became blurry, her mind hurt, her belly hurt even more, sending out sharp bolts of pain. Marian's legs gave way and she fell to the floor, unable to rise again. Percy nudged her and tapped her with his heavy paws until she didn't rise and he let out a blood curdling bark. What was happening? Yes she had felt a little ill earlier but she had had a drink and...the wine! She knew something was in it, no normal drink would have an effect like this on her...poison?
'No. Not poison' she thought 'it can't be...'
another bolt of pain and the slowing of her heartbeat told her otherwise. Feeling herself slipping further and further into unconsciousness she heard the door open and the strangled cry of two women, Meg and the Queen she supposed as the wolfhound barked yet again.
The world grew darker and darker around her as she felt herself being lifted from the floor and placed on what she assumed was the bed
"Marian!" She heard a rather muffled, panicked voice say. It was definitely Meg
"Stay with us Marian!" Another said. That was Elizabeth. But her body paid the voices of her friends no heed. Finally shutting down and dragging Marian into unconsciousness.
༒༒༒
"Marian. Marian, can you hear me" the sound of Jaquetta's gently coaxing voice began to bring Marian round from her unconscious state. As her senses returned to her she could smell the scent of blood and could tell that night had fallen as she slowly opened her eyes for the shutters were closed and only candles lit the bedchamber.
"Jaquetta...I thought you were ill..." she said weakly, turning her head to the side so she could see Lady Rivers who placed a hand on her arm
"I wanted to come and look after you Marian..." Marian mustered a small smile
"Thank you..." she said.
As she remembered what she had discovered before she fell, Marian's hand fell to her stomach and she looked down only to see the sheets and coverlets soaked in blood. Sudden tears filled her eyes as she looked back to Jaquetta "I was..." she whispered.
"Yes...you were with child, Marian...about 2 months along I think..." the older woman gathered the young countess into a fierce hug as Marian was struck dumb and then began to shake with abrupt sobs for the child she had lost, the child she had barely even known had existed until a few hours prior and even then she had doubted it greatly. She was sure she could feel her heat breaking a little.
"What did I do?" She asked through tears "what did I do to cause the loss of my baby?"
Jaquetta shook her head
"It is not your fault, Marian. Do not for one second think it was your fault...the wine you drank...it had poison in it..." This made Marian cry even harder, curling herself up into a ball as Lady Rivers stroked her hair comfortingly, whispering kind words to her.
A few minutes later the door crashed open and Richard rushed in, almost in tears himself.
"I shall leave you..." Jaquetta said, gently letting go of Marian who hid her face in her pillow, and leaving the room, shutting the door behind her. Richard instantly went over to the bed, scooping Marian up and placing her on his lap as he sat down, cradling her as she cried.
"What happened to you, Marian?" He whispered to her after a while
"A child, Richard...I lost a child...our child..." Marian wept sorrowfully
"Our child...you were carrying our child?..." Richard asked, tears now beginning to come to his own eyes and slide down his cheeks.
"Yes" she replied quietly "I drank some wine but it was poisoned...it caused me to lose the child...I didn't know I was carrying it, Richard...please don't be angry with me" the Duke held the countess even tighter.
"Oh, my love" he said gently "how could I be angry with you? 'Twas not your fault and do not tell yourself that..." he kissed the top of her head and they sat together in silence, both crying, silently, mourning the loss of the child that they would never know.
"I will find out who did this to you, Marian" Richard stated as the first rays of sunlight fell through the slits in the shutters. "I don't care how long it takes, I don't care how many years I have to spend looking, I will find them and I will kill them..." Marian shook her head, pressing herself into him.
"We will never find out...I simply don't think it possible...but do not ever leave me, Richard" she mumbled quietly
"Never" Richard replied fiercely, kissing her again, vowing to himself that no one would ever hurt his Marian, his love, ever again.
As the afternoon arrived, Marian rose from the bed, despite being told by Richard that she should rest, and dressed herself; brushed her hair quickly, though a little shakily, before going to stand by the window, opening the shutters.
"How is Anne" she asked, wiping the tears from her face.
"Marian" Richard said gently as he went to stand next to her "I really don't think..."
"Tell me!" Marian commanded "how is Anne. Have you had any news from her?" Richard sighed a little.
"She did not appear at the chapel as she said she would and I began to worry but Meg handed her a note from her last night...George has threatened to send her to a nunnery...I went to confront him and he told me in no uncertain to stay away...that's when the Queen found me and told me that you were near death..."
"Well then we must get her out of Westminster now! There is no time to lose!" Marian began to make her way to the door but Richard stopped her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"You need to rest, my love" he said
"So I can think even more over the fact that I have lost our child Richard?" Marian shot back, tears returning to her eyes "I wish for a distraction from the grief for I'm not sure how I am to cope with it...it is so sudden...so unexpected...and we promised Anne we would help. Now, she needs our help so we must to go to her aid"
"Then I shall go!" Richard announced
"No! I will go, Richard. I am not as weak as you seem to think me" Marian retorted. Richard sighed again
"You know I do not think you weak!"
"Then let me do this!" She took his hand "I may have lost our child but I have not lost the will to fight for what I believe in"
Richard smiled sadly and wiped away the tear that was silently gliding down Marian's face with his thumb.
"You have always been a fighter" he said before his own tears broke free and Marian hugged him tightly.
"Now I think it is you who needs to rest" she laughed sadly, pushing back the strands of dark hair from Richard's face and wiping away his tears as he had done for her. "I shall get Meg to send a note to Anne to meet me in the gardens and from there I shall take her to a place of sanctuary"
"And then I will approach Edward and ask him to finish George's guardianship over Anne" Richard finished, still sniffing a little. Marian nodded.
"We can do this" she said, leaning against him. They both knew she was not just speaking of Anne.