June, 1476, Westminster...
Sweeping through the halls of the palace, heavy blue velvet hanging sleeves, skimming the floor slightly, Marian walked in the direction of the council chamber with her husband. They had been summoned by the King and Queen.
"Ah little brother" the Edward greeted as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester entered the room, the doors closing firmly behind them
"You wanted to see us, Edward?" Marian asked, looking from the King to Elizabeth who was standing beside him, eyes cold, lips in a thin line
"Yes, yes we did" she said cooly "it seems dear George has landed himself in rather hot water"
"What do you mean?" Richard asked, a slight frown settling on his face "what has George done this time?"
"He has committed treason no less" Edward answered slowly. Sitting down at the table and gesturing for the others to follow suit, which they all immediately did. He looked to Richard "it seems our brother has been using enchantments...spells...witchcraft...to 'arm himself'"
"Arm himself against who?" Marian cried
"The Queen" Edward said calmly "and also, it appears, you" Marian felt Richard stiffen beside her
"Me?" She repeated, the colour slightly draining from her face "W-why would George need to arm himself against me? Or the Queen for that matter"
Edward laughed slightly, though the noise held no emotion
"For a long time now, as you will be aware of, my brother has been suspicious of my wife and has accused her many times of witchcraft...and murder" he sighed "while Isabel was pregnant, he hired a sorcerer to help protect her thinking he was fighting fire with fire and when Isabel sadly passed, God rest her soul, I have just been informed that his enchanting has taken a darker turn."
"Meaning?" Richard asked
"Meaning" his brother said "he has made accusations that Isabel was poisoned" Marian scoffed loudly
"But that is ridiculous! Isabel died of childbed fever!" She stood up, as did the Queen, and together they made their way to the window
"So it would seem" the King continued "but George is saying she was poisoned...that she was poisoned by my wife...and by you, Marian"
Richard slammed his fists onto the table, shaking all that was on it
"I will not have this!" He shouted "where is our brother?! For I will not let him create lies about Marian! About my wife!"
"How could we have poisoned her?" Marian demanded, also shouting "I was at Middleham, heavily pregnant when she passed and Elizabeth was here! How could he even think that! He knows Isabel was one of my dearest friends; I was grief stricken when she died..."
"Your lady, Meg, was with Isabel during the days before and after her birth, yes?" The King enquired, "she was with her when she died as well, was she not?"
Marian's eyes widened and she grabbed onto Elizabeth's hand, beginning to tremble slightly
"My god..." she whispered as the Queen turned to her, squeezing her hand
"Edward and I think you should send for Meg at once. Her family too if that is possible for we think George intends to go after her"
Marian nodded, looked at Richard who rose from the table, also shaking slightly but not with shock, with rage.
"I will send a messenger to her home at once and tell her family to take refuge at Middleham and for her to come to Westminster" he said before walking from the chamber, the door banging shut behind him.
"Do not let George harm Meg!" Marian pleaded, looking at Edward in a sudden and uncharacteristic wave of desperation
"If she gets here in time he shall not" Edward returned, still calm.
"You must pull yourself together Marian" Elizabeth ordered, firm but with a gentle edge to her voice "you must be strong for there will be trials ahead for you...for both of us"
The Duchess turned away, leaning against the cold stone as her shock began to give way to a cold anger upon hearing the Kings next words. She glared out of the window that looked down into the courtyard as Edward spoke again
"I have sent guards to Warwick castle with orders to arrest George. He will be given no warning of their arrival and then, hopefully we will have a hold of him"
"But what will you do?" Marian asked, turning back towards the King "will he be executed?"
Edward's expression suddenly darkened
"He is my brother, Marian"
"Yes he is!" She shot back "a brother that has no sense of loyalty, who had schemed and plotted behind your back for years yet you have done nothing to punish him!" Elizabeth tried to give her a look of warning, telling her that this was not the time to have this conversation, but the Duchess paid no attention to her, knowing what she had to say "now he has accused me, your sister in law and he has accused your wife, the Queen of England of murder! Of poisoning one of our own! Yet you will still do nothing I suspect. You shall give him a small fine, a little scolding like mothers do to their children of five years and that will be that"
"Marian" Edward said, his voice now deeper than usual, his eyes turning cold, warning her ,as the Queen had done, to stop. Again she paid no attention, moved over to the end of the table, opposite the King, staring straight into his eyes.
"How far are you going to allow him to go?" She asked, narrowing her eyes "How many times are you willing to forgive him before it is to late? Until he has taken your crown? Until he has taken your life and that of those you love? By God, Edward if he even comes near my family I will..."
"You have said enough!" Edward roared, standing up from the table and banging his fists down as Richard had done. Marian did not flinch, continued to stare at him defiantly. "I do not need you to tell me what to do with my brother, Marian! George will get what he deserves"
"Oh but he won't will he?!" Marian cried "he never does and unless you do something, he most likely never will!"
Seeing that Edward was close to exploding with rage, Elizabeth quickly moved to Marian's side before she could provoke the King any further
"You know that is not true, Marian" she whispered into her friend's ear "our curse will work...now I think it's best that you go...before something potentially fatal is said" Marian glared at the King for a few moments longer and Elizabeth began to fear that she would speak again but at last, the Duchess swept a quick curtesy and stormed from the room, head held high.
She was heading in the direction of the nursery at first but then, because of her anger, redirected herself to her chambers, slamming the door and throwing open the window to allow the cool breeze to brush across her flushed face.
Gathering up her skirts she clambered into the window seat and leaned against the wall, the coldness of the stone seeping through the layers of her bodice, onto her back. As she sat there she replayed the scene in the council chamber over and over in her mind and decided:
She did not regret one bit of it!
She would not take back one single word. No, she said what needed to be said, what had needed to be said for years yet no one had had the courage to speak out. No one, until the Duchess of Gloucester arrived. Yes, her anger and defiance had probably thrown her out of royal favour (at least with the king) but Marian found she didn't care one jot, believing with all her might that her actions had been justified and that she had acted as she had needed to get her point across.
Her rushing train of thought suddenly took a different turn, turned to Richard. What on earth would he say? Instead of dreading the imminent encounter (and probably reprimand) from the duke, she found herself, smiling , laughing almost as she pictured the disgruntled look on his face. Pictured how he would try to convince her to apologise, plead with her, perhaps even shout if he felt he was driven to it. But none of this fazed her. She had her opinion and she was going to stick by it no matter what anyone else told her to do.
A few minutes later the bedroom door opened and Marian looked away from the window to see Richard standing in the doorway, the same look that she had pictured in her head on his face. She smirked to herself and suppressed a surge of laughter as her husband closed the door and advanced into the room.
"What in God's name did you say to Edward?" He asked in a demanding tone, staring up at her. She slipped down from the window and stood up straight in front of him, staring back with a defiant look on her face, the same one she had used in the council chamber.
"I said what needed to be said. What has needed to be said for a long time" she replied curtly, beginning to move past Richard but he snatched her wrist, pulling her back firmly against his chest and wrapping his arms around her so she couldn't move.
"You shouted at the king, contradicted him, drove him near the brink of unleashing his full wrath upon you, the Queen told me." He whispered in her ear, sending frustrated chills down her spine "I do hope you are sorry"
"Not in the slightest" Marian asserted quickly as Richard began to trace the lines of her face with his finger, once again sending chills through her, feelings she tried so hard to resist.
"My brother says he thinks that I should punish you for your behaviour, sweet" Richard remarked, placing a small kiss on her neck.
"Oh really?" Marian replied, smirking, finally managing to turn in his arms so she could look at him, biting her lip slightly "you do know that won't work, don't you Richard? I shall not apologise for what I said or did. I stick by my actions completely"
"How did I suspect that you would say that?"
"Because you know me well...as I know you"
Without warning, Richard suddenly crashed his lips onto hers, taking Marian completely by surprise when he began to move them backwards until they hit something. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted Marian and placed her on the end of what she could only think to be the table as he reached for the bottom of her skirts and began to tug at them.
She let out a small gasp of pleasure as Richard slowly ran his hand up her leg and she began to fumble with his belt, tossing it aside and beginning with the lacings of his trousers. With his other hand, he reached round and pulled at the chords in the back of Marian's gown, loosening them so he could gently slip his hand in, making the Duchess moan a little and quickly part her legs which he moved between, positioning himself; continuing to lift the seemingly never ending layers of skirt.
As he thrust into her, Marian felt herself slip under his spell, immediately rolling her hips and moaning rather loudly. As her pleasure began to mount she began to lose herself even more, her mind taking all sense of reason away from her.
But, just as she was just about to reach the peak of her pleasure, Richard pulled away from her and her eyes (which she had closed) snapped open, staring into her husbands amused ones as she was left unsatisfied. Marian was used to getting what she wanted in their bedchamber so this was a brand new experience and it took her a moment to figure out what on earth had just occurred.
"So this is how you intend to reprimand me then is it, Richard?" She asked, gasping slightly before beginning to recover a little as she set her skirts straight and tightened the back of her dress. Richard was looking on, a small smile on his face "was it a suggestion of Edward's by any chance?" He raised his eyebrows
" perhaps, perhaps not" he said with pretended nonchalance "did it work?"
Marian raised her eyebrows back at him
"No. It did not. But it did remind me that two can play at a game, Richard. I have a feeling you may have just started something"
"And I think you have just started something with my brother, you have to apologise, Marian!" He replied, attempting to sound cold but failing miserably as she hopped down from the table and stood next to her husband, looking up at him and giving him a quick kiss before walking away.
"I won't!" She called behind her as she departed from the chamber "and nothing on this earth shall convince me to do so!"