War Of The Roses

Chapter One: Wrong Time, Wrong Place

During the reign of Richard II, England knew peace and prosperity. However, when he was averted by his cousin, Henry IV, the immersion in war was inevitable...

Life for the Plantagenets, whose latest descendant Richard the II sat on the throne of England, went by normally before the incident. As normal as possible for royals, at least. Richard, by common admittance, was a good ruler, albeit an unpopular one. Son of Edward "The Black Prince" and Joan of Kent, he took over the throne by succession at the age of ten. He had grown wiser since then. Nevertheless, remnants of the scared ten-year-old boy who had just inherited the throne of an entire country still lingered in his actions, how unorchestrated and blunt they were. He really had thought he could absolve his people of the sins that burdened them and lost himself along the way.

When he was only a child, just ten years old, his father, Edward of Wales, passed away, leaving behind memories of a better time, an orphan and a throne to be taken over. He left Richard as an heir apparent, which meant that he was the first in the line of succession and couldn't be displaced. He remembered the day he was coronated. It was July, the 16th if he remembered correctly. His memory seemed to be failing him lately, but this day was engraved into his memory, so much so that he would never forget it. With trembling feet, he walked up to the abbot, the entire catholic clergy and aristocracy watching him in Westminster Abbey. He kneeled, vowed, and the priest in white, embroidered robes placed a crown on his head, and with it, the burden of a nation with no ruler on his shoulders.

During his first years, he was not alone. Power was mostly in the hands of regency councils, influenced by his uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock.

John of Gaunt had plenty of mystery surrounding his unrefined and unpopular persona. Rumour had it that he was the son of a butcher rather than an aristocrat, something that caused great annoyance to him. He was born in Ghent, which was corrupted in English as Gaunt, hence the name that haunted England. He was one of the lucky few children of King Edward to make it to adulthood, and having married rich, he had been able to make a considerable fortune for himself. He was deemed Earl Of Lancaster by marrying Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of the most powerful peer in England, Henry of Grosmont. From her, Richard had three cousins, one of whom had gotten him to where he was now; Henry IV. According to John, his aunt was kind, albeit short-lived. She died nine years after she married his uncle, who never got over her death, despite not admitting it.

He was overseas when she died, and the burial took place shortly after. The ceremony was grand; fit for a woman like her. The royal family attended, as well as the entire of the catholic clergy and the upper nobility. She was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, and his uncle had been commemorating her every year since.

John assumed power once his brother's health deteriorated. When he went into terminal decline and minor prince Richard inherited the throne, his ruling reached its apogee.

Thomas of Woodstock, unlike his older brother, was not polygamous, and wedded once to Eleanor de Bohun in 1376 when his nephew was just nine. From her, he had five cousins. He always thought that if someone was to turn against him, it would be one of them. And yet, it wasn't. Thomas himself, however, had stabbed him in the back, with short term success.

He closed his eyes as he rubbed his back to rest it from the constant pain. He was used to a comfortable bed, not a damp, lightless cellar with planks to sleep on.

Thomas was the leader of the Lords Appellant, a group of ambitious aristocrats who always sought to seize power from him. When he was twenty-one, they revolted and severely curbed his power. It took him eleven whole years to rid himself and the throne from them. He exiled them all. All but his beloved uncle, whom he locked up in Calais as he awaited trial for treason. He had grown popular with the people, and vengeance had started creeping in the young monarch's head. Fear got the best of him, fear of assassination, fear that the attempt against him would be successful.