❝ 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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Bishop Morton escorted Bella over to Margaret alongside some Tudor guards.
"Lady Isabella," Margaret greeted the young woman. "I am my Lady, the King's Mother. Welcome to court."
"I know who you are," Bella snapped at Margaret in a cold tone. "Where is my brother?"
From the corner of her eye, Bella could see someone approaching. She turned her head, only to have her eyes widen at the sight of a woman she knew must have her sister, Lily. Despite it being more than ten years since they had seen one another, she knew it was Lily. Like always, she looked like their mother, a perfect carbon copy.
Lily stopped at the other end of the hallway, her eyes widening at the sight of her youngest sister.
"Please curtsey to the Queen," Margaret insisted in a stern tone.
Bella sighed, turning her attention back toward Lily as she curtsied the least she could. She was still a Princess, even if Margaret had refused to acknowledge her as such.
"This way," Margaret finally spoke up and walk in the opposite direction of where Lily was standing, Bella following after her.
Outside, Lord Stanley led William into the courtyard. Doing so, he came to a stop and pointed down toward a large pile of horse excrement. "Clear the dung and scrub the steps," he instructed William as he held out a shovel for him to take.
"I've already told you. I will do nothing to debase myself," William argued as he turned to glare at the man.
Inside, Margaret had purposely come to a stop next the nearest window gave Bella a clear view of her brother wearing peasant clothes.
Worried, Bella rushed over to the window and looked down at her brother.
"And when you've finished, you will bring this noble lady's belongings inside," Lord Stanley continued on as he ignored what William had said.
"I will not—" William began to argue, only to be cut off as he was shoved forward by two guards.
He grunted, his face nearly colliding with the horse dung.
Inside, Bella turned to Margaret with a look of disbelief on her face. "What is he doing?" She asked, a deeply concerned look on her face.
"His claims are false," Lily suddenly spoke up after appearing. She walked toward Bella, a cold look on her face. "He is a servant."
"He is your brother!" Bella exclaimed, a betrayed look on her face as she looked at Lily. "Our last brother."
"His marriage has been annulled," Margaret suddenly butted in, knowing the look on Lily's face all too well. She was starting to believe Bella. After all, it was one thing to know the boy was being supported by her family in exile. But seeing it, seeing how vehement Bella was about it, how sure she was this boy was their brother...
