-𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙-
It's the year 1466 and King Edward IV is on the throne of England. His wife and Queen ,Elizabeth Woodville, has just given birth to her first daughter ,Lizzie, but not all is w...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Late April 1471, one week later...
Marian, Jaquetta and Elizabeth stood side by side as they watched the three sons of York descend the steps of Westminster Abbey towards the slab of stone upon which the Earl of Warwick lay, still dressed in his armour, his hands clutching his sword.
At first, all was peaceful and still while the brothers remembered the man who had raised them up and then sought to bring them down but soon enough the they began to bicker among themselves. Marian could only hear snippets of what was being said from where she stood but heard enough to catch on to what the brothers were arguing about. George (forever the instigator) had commented that Warwick's head should be stuck off and put on the tower gates to which Richard had responded, heatedly.
"Bit rich, George. Even for you" he'd muttered before Edward had made a remark which made all three brothers turn to Isabel who (despite what she had told Marian a week prior) was shaking, tears streaming down her reddened face as she stood with her ladies. The tensions between the brothers continued to rise until Edward stepped in, proclaiming harshly that they had yet to win the war he would not have them divided. It was enough for both George and Richard to fall silent.
"George is loyal to your husband it seems" Jaquetta whispered to her daughter, now watching her with worried eyes. "Today" the Queen replied, clutching the silver locket that she once again always wore. "We may have to forgive him, leave our vengeance to god." "Never" Marian and Elizabeth fiercely hissed in unison.
༒༒༒
That night the royal household returned to the Tower of London as the York army was to ride out again, this time in the hopes of capturing Margaret of Anjou and putting an end to the Lancastrian efforts to restore old King Henry to the throne.
Marian waited in the Queens rooms, looking after the little Princesses (who she had at last been reunited with) and little Edward; waiting for Elizabeth to return.
"It is certain!" The Queen announced as she entered, her the silk of her skirts rustling behind her. "What is?" Marian asked, continuing to cradle the Prince while watching Lizzie play a game of tug of war with Percy. "Edward is to leave tomorrow. He hopes to stop the Lancastrian army from joining forces with Jasper Tudor's in Wales. God, I hope he succeeds"
"He will, Elizabeth! I am sure of it!" Marian assure her, smiling encouragingly as her gaze broke away from the children. "I'm glad you have faith in him" the Queen replied "As should you" the countess returned. "I do! I do! But what if he is forced to flee like last time?" "He won't! York will win! And if I, a girl born to Lancaster, believe that in my heart then it must be so!" "Yes" Elizabeth nodded "yes you are right"
She removed her cloak and sat down next to Marian, gently taking Edward from her arms and rocking him slowly from side to side, clutching Ik tightly as if he could slip away at any moment. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the Prince sleep and the little Princesses play before Marian finally asked the question she had been wanting to voice since Elizabeth had told her Edward was to leave the next day.
