Grace FitzRoy and Cecily Neville were two sides of one deal. On Loveday in the year 1458, when York and Lancaster came together ceremonially to reconcile their two warring factions, the Duke of York and King of England struck a deal. A daughter for...
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THE CONTRACT
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May, 1458
The room was utterly silence save for the near nonexistent sound of nails scraping against cloth. With a needle in her hand, Grace ran her fingers over the embroidery that rested on her lap. She had never been quite as good as other ladies, but she was rather proud of this one. A dove with wide spread wings and red rose held in its beak. She did not know how the idea came to her, but she liked it.
Next to her Margaret – or Marge, as most of her family called her – appeared bored out of her mind. Marge had taken it upon herself to be Grace's guide to everyone and everything in Ludlow, constantly being around her. Kindness wasn't the only reason for this, of course, as the girl had four brothers and no sisters to live with – all of them older than her and already married – and so she had jumped at the chance of a friend who was a girl.
It had been a month since Grace had arrived at Ludlow, two since she had been torn from her home on account of some deal the Duke made with her father. She missed London immensely, wishing she could see her mother again. But that would not be possible, not for a while at least. The Duke wasn't even require to take her with him if he ever did end up traveling to the court, and so Grace's fate in this matter remained a mystery.
Nevertheless, the Duchess was kind and surprisingly welcoming, and all of her present children – save for George, who had barely looked at her these past few weeks – were kind and friendly and included her in almost everything. On the second week of her stay at Ludlow, Marge convinced Edward and Edmund to sneak into the kitchens for some sweets. They had been successful, and when they had escaped unseen they had come to Grace's room. With the fire in the heart roaring in front of them, they all sat on the floor and stuffed their faces full.
In one night she had managed to learn plenty about the three of them. How Edward could fall asleep anywhere and anytime, that he preferred roughhousing in the courtyard than reading and studying, which was Edmund's preference. How Marge disliked dancing, but liked to watch as other people danced, because they were much more graceful than she was and managed to make the action beautiful. How Edmund had the most gentle hand out of all of his siblings, and so whenever they could not stop crying as babes, they would be placed in his arms and somehow they would stop.
Grace thought that the last one was rather adorable, but she had not said it out loud when she noticed how red the tips of Edmund's ears already were.
Marge shifted in her seat, leaning her elbow on the arm rest of her settee and placing her chin in her palm. Her fate was evident from the pricking of Grace's skin – something that happened surprisingly often whenever she was aware of someone watching her. Eventually, Grace looked up from her embroidery, placing the needle down and look up at Marge.
