❝ 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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Later on that day, the door opened to Lily's chambers and Cecily entered, holding out a letter. "It's from the king," she informed Lily as she handed it to her half-sister.
My darling wife,
I had imagined that when I wrote to you, I would write to you of victory and triumph. I thought I'd write to you of the good impression I was leaving on my country and countrymen. Yet somehow, one week out of London, I find myself with a knife embedded in my flesh.
I suppose I have you, my wife, to thank for that? After all, it was done by a York named Francis Lovell, a man guarded by men who are known for their undying loyalty to your family. They bore the Neville crest, so the only one who might have summoned them is your mother.
I assume you're unhappy to hear that your loving husband, the father of your unborn child is alive and well.
Your mother is surely the cause of this, along with you, I assume. I thought I'd tell you that if she were to have been with me on this progress like you expected her to be, she would have not returned to you alive.
I imagine you wonder that if she isn't with me, where is she?
Luckily for us all, my mother had the good sense to leave her locked away in London. And she shall remain there until I return.
Your Husband, Henry
Lily immediately stood up, turning to her sisters and cousins. "Mama is not with Henry. She is here."
"What?" Caitlin asked in disbelief while Cecily and Maggie didn't look as shocked.
The two sisters noticed their sister and cousin's reaction and frowned in concern. "You both knew?" Lizzie questioned, glancing between Cecily and Maggie.
"There's sickness," Maggie informed her cousins, an uneasy look on her face. "It's the reason why we didn't tell you. We didn't want you or the baby getting ill."
─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────
Dear husband,
Thank you for your letter but you judge me far too harshly. Whatever you may think, I had no knowledge of this threat against your person and no hand in it. In fact, I had no knowledge of what had occurred until your letter arrived.
I believe that, by now, you know me well enough and you can draw your own conclusions. Do you believe me to be the type to send an assassin to murder you?
We must move on in the mess that is England at the moment and I wish for you to know I am on your side until the end of my days. You need not worry about that. The child growing strong in my womb makes sure I shall always be on your side.
