❝ Tell me losing everything is what saved you,
Tell me you finally tasted freedom.
Can you even imagine yourself in paradise?
Even the daughter of gods must know loneliness, must sometimes want nothing more than to be trapped in a hell of forevers...
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Outside of Warwick Castle, Caitlin stood in the gardens, trying not to cry as she finally processed the losses of the recent days. Aunt Anne, Uncle Richard, Edmund, Dickon, Anthony...they were all dead now and Lily was going to have to marry the man responsible for it all.
Lily was going to have to marry the man who caused the deaths of her uncle, the man she loved and her brother.
Her eyes closed, flashes of the happy moments she had with her family before it all crashed down. Edward playing with them in the yards of Westminster, Richard teaching them archery, Anthony helping her with poetry. It would not happen again. None of it would.
Feeling someone place a hand on her shoulder, Caitlin opened her eyes and turned her head. It was Lizzie standing next to her her, a sympathetic look on her face.
"How are we supposed to live through this, Lizzie?" She asked in a whisper, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "We've lost everything."
"Not everything," Lizzie assured her, a soft smile on her face. "We still have each other. And your mother. And there's the chance we might find Liam — who is now the rightful king. The people of England love your mother. If she rises up with William, people from both sides will switch to our side. He should be the one on the throne, not Henry Tudor. They will agree with us on that."
"But Mama isn't the same after losing so much," Caitlin sighed, shaking her head in disagreement. She didn't think her mother was capable of plotting like she used to without being caught. Not after everything she had been through. Perhaps in a few years, after she could correctly process all the grief she was going through. But at the moment, there was no way Charlotte would be able to plot.
"I don't agree with you," Lizzie said softly. "Yes, she has lost much, but she still has a lot to fight for. Charlotte is a force of nature and I think now she will simply be more dangerous, since she has less to lose."
"Perhaps you're right," Caitlin admitted and Lizzie rolled her eyes.
"I know I am right," Lizzie smirked, wrapping her arm around Caitlin. "We should go inside. I think your mother wished to speak to us all"
Before Caitlin could respond, the two girls heard the hooves of horses pounding on the ground, which immediately gained their attention.
The two young women turned their heads, eyes widening in alarm when they saw just how many men were riding down the dirt road toward Warwick Castle.
They were outnumbered. Vastly.
Lizzie and Caitlin exchanged a look, wasting no time before running back toward the castle.
"Mama, the soldiers are coming!" Caitlin shouted worriedly, running upstairs alongside Lizzie in hopes of finding Charlotte.
"They're cutting down our men as if it were nothing. We're outnumbered," Lizzie explained as Lily walked towards them, holding the hand of Bella with Cecily next to them.
