❝you think Achilles was of impressive descent?
touch me one more time❞
The one where King Edward IV is captivated by Charlotte Neville and their love has far-reaching consequences. For Charlotte had a place in Edward's heart no one could tear her fr...
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In the morning, Charlotte stood in the courtyard hugging Margaret. She was about to leave with Charles of Burgundy and her father for her wedding.
As the only unmarried York girl of age, her marriage was of precious importance and they all knew it, but it did not make parting any easier. The negotiations had been long, with King Louis attempting to thwart them by offering his daughters to Charles and Richard and his brother-in-law as Margaret's husband and when Edward showed an interest, relations with Burgundy had soured. This later prompted an engagement with Peter of Portugal, but he later died and after a few months, negotiations for the Burgundian marriage were back in place.
Charlotte clutched Margaret close, tears threatening to spill from both their eyes. "I will miss you, you know," Margaret confessed.
"I will miss you as well, Margaret," Charlotte replied, grabbing Margaret's hands. "But this will not be the last time we see each other. I know it. I shall not let it be. And, this does not have to be the end of our friendship, we can still write to one another and see each other in diplomatic visits."
Margaret smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "I will write to you," she promised and Charlotte began to smile as well. "Tell Lily and Edmund that I shall see them again before they're grown, alright?"
"I will," Charlotte assured her and with that, the two girls hugged again, just before Margaret was forced to leave.
Charlotte watched her friend ride away with Warwick and Charles of Burgundy, tears falling from her eyes.
Feeling an arm wrap around her, Charlotte turned her head. She smiled, however, when she saw that it was just Edward. He smiled back at her, leaning forward to kiss her.
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"The whore is pregnant," Charlotte shuddered slightly at her father's crudeness, he more than anyone should know to be careful. Even in her own chambers, Charlotte had to be constantly aware of the spies around her.
She just hoped neither of her children had heard their grandfather's outburst. It would not do her well for them to repeat his words to their father. Things might going well between them, but if Edward knew she was not reporting her father's words, they would strain and she did not wish for it to be so.
"Papa, please," Charlotte responded pointedly, her gaze falling on her children playing happily at her feet.
"Charlotte..."
"I already knew," Charlotte said quickly, interrupting any further outburst her father might be inclined to give. "These things are always so obvious with her."
The queen was pregnant, Charlotte had known for weeks now, how could she not? Elizabeth was so very predictable, it was just how it was when she was pregnant with little Lizzie. She was constantly ill, she wore her dresses tightly laced (even if there was yet no sign of any pregnancy bump), and requested her favorite foods from the palace cooks every night. Elizabeth did nothing to hide her condition, even if it had yet to be announced, it was the news on everyone's lips. She did not hide it, even if she knew that the first three months were dangerous.
It had happened quickly for her, Charlotte thought. Lizzie was barely a year old and already Elizabeth carried a sibling in her belly. No doubt Edward would see this as further proof that his union with Elizabeth was as blessed as his marriage to Charlotte. That was despite the fact that by the time Lily was six months old, Edmund had already quickened inside her. She had given him two children in less than 15 months and yet, she was not the queen.
While Charlotte was not as loved as her own mother had been during her tenure as the highest ranking royal woman, the people did love her. She was a patron to various orphanages, she made sure the children and women of London did not go cold or hungry. The people loved her, but she had worked for that love.
Elizabeth Grey was not loved, despite her beauty, she was dull next to Charlotte and so the attention had fallen on Charlotte and her children, and it was them as well that the people had grown to care for. Elizabeth did not have the charm or even the influence to inspire the common people and it did not surprise Charlotte in the slightest.
Where she had been born to a princess and raised by one of the highest ranking nobles in the land, Elizabeth had been raised by a disgraced royal duchess and a country squire. Charlotte had been raised for a life at court, to preside over a large household and Elizabeth had been raised to take care of a small house in the country. The woman was out of her depth and it surprised Charlotte daily that the woman still managed to attract Edward to her bed.
"And with you?" Warwick questioned his eyes all but glaring daggers at Charlotte's flat stomach.
"I have had no signs," Charlotte responded evenly, doing her best to keep to make her smile falter and to appear as if her empty womb was not of a worrying nature for her. She was, after all, taking the pennyroyal tea frequently. She did not want to risk another pregnancy and try her luck at the birthing bed and this time lose the battle. "And besides these things take time. Edmund is not yet two."
"The little bastard is barely one."
Charlotte flinched at her father's tone, it was one thing for him to be so crass in regards to Elizabeth (more often than not Charlotte had similar thoughts about her) but Lizzie was a different matter entirely.
Elizabeth's namesake was a sweet child and Charlotte had quickly become enamored by her. It was not as if Elizabeth was overly warm towards the girl in any regard. She tried to act the doting mother, but Charlotte saw through the façade. She made no effort to feed Lizzie from her own breast, she made no complaints when the girl was moved to her own nursery quickly and she visited her daughter's residence only infrequently, her visits never lasting longer than an hour. On that regard, Charlotte could not be understanding.
Edward had allowed her to keep her daughter at court when royal children should live in the country, away from the congestion of the city and she was not even taking full advantage of the situation. If her children were not regularly at Pontefract, she'd spent every moment possible with them. Elizabeth was too disappointed she didn't have a son and she was misplacing her feelings on the little girl.
Charlotte had remembered what it was like to feel disappointment and resentment towards her own daughter, but for Charlotte neither feeling had lasted long. Lily had been the light of her life for those weeks she had spent alone, and the love Charlotte had felt for her had quickly overcome any negative feelings she had towards her daughter due to her sex.
"I will give the king another son, Papa," Charlotte spat in a whisper. "These things take time. And besides there is no guarantee that the child in her belly is a male."
" And if it is?" Her father remarked his eyebrows slightly raised.
"Then he is a second son, nothing more. Elizabeth's children will never take precedence over my own, I will make sure of that. Edmund is older and he has both Lancastrian and Yorkist blood in his veins. Edmund had slready been created the Earl of March, that was Edward's title if you have forgotten. What better way to acknowledge and favor his son? Edward is healthy, and I will endeavor to make sure my son takes the throne many years from now and not a half-Rivers brat."
"Mama," the voice startled her from her discussion with her father and she looked down at her son, his hand pulling at the skirts of her light blue gown to be lifted.
"My boy," Charlotte murmured lifting Edmund into her arms, even her father, miserable though he was at the Queen's recent success could not help but smile at their interaction.
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Now, I know I haven't talked about it much, but there will be more OCs in the story. Lily and Edmund will have younger siblings and cousins that weren't a part of history, so I was wondering...would you prefer me to add them to the cast list? Or, should I continue with my current plan and add them to the cover page of Act Three?
