❝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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Charlotte was in her solar with Anthony and Richard when Anne entered with Edmund and Megan.
Anne and Edmund immediately knew something was wrong solely by the look on their faces. Richard looked nervous, while Anthony looked angered. Charlotte looked as she did these days — tired and small, with red eyes both from crying and from not sleeping properly.
"What's wrong, Uncle Richard?" Edmund asked in concern as he walked closer to Richard and his mother.
"Your mother and I thought that with Elizabeth's children being known as your father's bastards, we would be safe, but Henry Tudor is now betrothed to your half-sister Elizabeth," Richard explained.
"How do you know?" Anne asked, a concerned look on her face.
"My sister sent me a letter," Anthony confessed. "I believe she must think I will go back on my vows and support this senseless quest of hers. And, Lord Stanley approached Richard with the news."
"I fear I must reprimand my wife," Stanley told the group when they turned to look at him, "I thought she'd respond to my authority but —"
"The Tudors and Elizabeth are allied?" Megan frowned, concerned by the news.
"They're planning a rebellion," Charlotte spoke up, causing Edmund to turn to her with a shocked look. "So much for Elizabeth's promises to your father of her acceptance of Rome's decision."
"We must insist the Duke of Brittany hands Henry Tudor over before he can attack," Richard decided in a calm tone, turning to glance over at Lord Stanley. "Thank you for your loyalty, Lord Stanley."
"Your Graces," Stanley bowed to Richard and Charlotte before turning to look at Edmund, bowing again. "Your Grace."
Once Lord Stanley was gone, Edmund sighed in frustration, turning his attention toward his mother and his uncle. "Am I the only one who finds it odd that Lord Stanley is so willing to let us lock up his wife?" He complained, only to notice by the look on his mother's face she felt the same way. "How do you know you can trust him?"
"He says he's loyal to us," Richard said calmly.
"He isn't," Charlotte scoffed. "Stanley is only loyal to himself and his pocket."
"Arrest Lady Margaret, Mother. She has betrayed us!" Edmund shouted in a stern tone, only to notice the way his mother turned to him with an annoyed look.
"You may be king, Edmund, but I am your mother and I deserve more respect than that. Let this be the one and only time you raise your voice at me," Charlotte sniffed. "I am still your regent. We have enough enemies without arresting a woman notorious for her piety. If we do so, we would only make her a martyr. The House of York has never been stronger. You have three brothers still living and a living uncle, not to mention two male cousins in the male line. You may yet have a son and even so, you already have a daughter. Your father's sister, Anne died giving birth to a girl and your Aunt Eliza has five sons and four daughters. We will not be intimidated by a barren woman who only managed one child, with what's at best a tenuous claim to the throne."
"I will intercept her letters. I will set my spies on her. We will learn more that way," Richard decided.
"I'll send a letter to our ambassador in Brittany," Charlotte decided. "With Edward's death, we neglected Arthur's betrothal. Securing a Prince of England for their heiress will surely make them more compliant to our demands."
It hurt to think of her children that way, to think of them as pawns — but it was the way things were. The moment Rome recognized her marriage, her children became pawns in the chess board of European politics.
"And if Brittany won't hand Tudor over?" Megan questioned, an uneasy look on her face.
"He will invade and Edmund and I must prepare for war," Richard answered, exchanging a look with Edmund.
Edmund looked directly at Charlotte, who was visibly upset at the thought of there being another war. She thought war in England had ended the moment Edward killed her uncle. She already lost her father to the war, she couldn't lose her sons to it.
─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────
For his third birthday, he is presented with a tiny sword, encrusted in gems and precious stones and Charlotte doesn't even have to look around the room to find the culprit.
Edmund beams and throws his arms around his father, beaming with pleasure and full of enthusiastic exclamations, and his little face crumples into a pout when Charlotte pulls the sword from his reach.
"My present," he insists, pulling at the hem of her gown, looking up at her with bright brown eyes swimming with indignant tears.
"A sword is not a toy," she tells him, and her eyes glare daggers at Edward. "You may have it when you know how to use it properly — which will not be for many years yet."
Edmund looks beseechingly at his father.
"Perhaps our boy is ready to start his training with a wooden sword," he suggests, and Charlotte's frown deepens.
"He is but three," she protests, but Edward narrows his eyes at her.
"A boy is never too young to learn how to defend himself," he declares. "And a boy of York, even more so."
"I am not too young!" Edmund echoes earnestly, reaching out with his chubby little hands, trying to reclaim his prize. Edward smiles, pleased at his son's eagerness, but Edmund's excitement nearly brings tears to Charlotte's eyes.
She remembers so vividly when he was a babe at her breast, when she would press kisses to those soft, tiny hands, and to see him so anxious to raise sword and shield is enough to break her heart.
Charlotte shakes the memory off and brushes away the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
She reached for her chest and drew strength from where Edward's ring lay before she walked into the room where Edmund and Dickon knelt together, their heads lowered as they tightly grasped the handle of their swords.
"Edmund. Dickon," she called out and both of them rose to their feet.
They turned to face her in their armor and she smiled, to hide her uneasiness as she walked towards them.
"You both must be careful," Charlotte smiled sadly, placing a hand on both of their cheeks. "Come back in one piece. You might be men now but you will always be boys in my eyes. Edmund, you will always be my first son and Dickon, you will always be that six-year old boy I met on the steps of Westminster. You still have your entire lives ahead of you."
"You won't lose us, Mother," Edmund assured his mother in a calm tone, grabbing her hand and holding it. "We were raised by King Edward IV. We shall prove to them in this rebellion that we are, indeed, our father's sons," he paused and looked at Dickon. "In spirit, if not in blood."
Charlotte smiled, glancing between them. "Come back to us. I don't think Lily would ever forgive the one who returned if one of you were to fall."
For simplicity's sake, I'm following the show in the events of 1483. Historically, Richard was crowned in July 6 and the boys disappeared in June 25. The show made it seem like they disappeared after Richard had gone on progress and after Buckingham's rebellion.
