The year is 1464.
The War of the Roses rages on; a great showdown between Lancaster and York.
Yet, asleep in her bed, fiery-haired Melissa Woodville dreams of splintered shields, broken swords, and the resounding screams of wounded men in the Battle...
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THE MORNING OF mid-December dawned bright, as surely as the ones before it had. The sun was out in full force, casting brilliant rays of light upon glimmering, reflecting snow, and the greeting party was all aflutter, swaying forward and backward, as though their movement might drag the ship closer to port than it already was.
Melissa Woodville, Duchess of Gloucester, stood a way's off on the dock, heavy cloak and furs bunched tightly around her. Though it was not snowing (as she had thankfully noted to her husband just minutes earlier), the cold had still set deeply into her bones, and she could not help but wonder just how much longer it would take for Meg to emerge.
Margaret "Meg" Plantagenet, Duchess of Burgundy, was her sister-by-law. Though she was the youngest surviving daughter born to the late Duke of York and his wife, Cecily Neville, that still made her older than Melissa's husband by six years, and thus more than eligible for marriage by the time their brother, Edward's rule had been solidified on the English throne. It was then no surprise that she had been married to Charles the Bold to cement the Anglo-Burgundian alliance that Melissa's sister had been promoting at the time, and she had left the country three years ago — none too happy about it, either — to follow through on the betrothal that had been made for her.
She had returned now (though she was still abroad the ship), just in time for Christmastide, though that was not the only reason why her husband had allowed her to come. A very unhappy Edward had demanded his sister's presence in England after the disaster that had been the Lancastrian takeover some months ago, and as a result of Charles' lack of initiative in helping the Yorks regain the throne. Meg's return to her homeland had only been a part of the following Burgundian concession, a lofty agreement made to keep the alliance safe and in place. It was a peace that the Duke of Burgundy was desperate to keep, as he could not afford England pulling its support and leaving his duchy to the mercy (or rather, lack thereof) of the French.
