𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙....
In a world of bloody war and misgivings that lead to treason, there is only one thing Catherine Percy can be sure of and that is danger.
Her life had not always been thus, f...
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~The Yew Garden~
October 1471....
"Jane Shore, her name is all around the court" The name of Edward's latest whore was spat from the lips of the Queen like poison, her eyes flashing with hatred. Together with Catherine and her brother, she sat in the gardens of Westminster, they clad in cloaks but she in only her gown, using the anger in her veins to warm her.
If anything, she relished the bitter chill that nipped at her skin for it reflected what lay in her heart, a seething resentment conjured by what she'd seen the night in late August when she'd gone to Edward to tell him of her pregnancy. Instead of finding him ready to listen, she'd found him in bed with his latest whore, who rocked her lithe hips back and forth atop him while he moaned his pleasure.
She'd always known her husband would not be one to lie faithfully at her feet but it was one thing to know and another to see. That night, she had seen in full what was whispered on the lips of others about the King's favourites and her heart almost broke from it. Why wasn't she enough for him? In the same way Catherine was for Richard?
"And what does that afford her?" The young Duchess asked, exchanging a worried look with Anthony. They'd had rarely seen their Queen so distraught. "I don't know" Elizabeth replied, drumming her fingers on the bench beneath her, nails scraping against the cold stone "that's what I'm trying to find out" "Have you tried asking Edward?"
"And what should she say?" Anthony sighed "What on earth is their to say? Your husband is a King with a King's appetites" His sister took in a sharp breath at that, sitting up stiffly "This is his nature as you have always known. Whoring is merely a sport to Edward, the same as hunting or riding!" "Oh he was certainly riding that night" She seethed "And so was that little red-haired whore. She is different!"
Catherine shook her head, taking Elizabeth's freezing hands in her own before she could grind her nails to dust.
"She is no different" She told her firmly "You are the Queen. You flatter her to even dwell on her name!" "He cares for her!" The Queen replied sharply, gathering her skirts and rising from the bench "I saw it" And with that, she swept away into the bushes, cradling the small curve beneath her gown.
"She will do naught but ill to her and the babe if she carries on so" Anthony murmured and the Duchess sighed beside him, watching Elizabeth's golden crown disappear into the distance.
"Who is this Jane Shore? She is not a noble or I would know her but I don't believe Edward now brings brothel whores to the palace" "She's the wife of a London mercer" He answered "Her Father supplies cloth to the royal household and it seems she has caught our King's eye...enough for him to procure a divorce for her anyway...."
꧁꧂
December 1471, Westminster Palace....
"Have you seen aught of the Lady Anne?" Catherine asked as she watched Margery weave pearls and sprigs of Christmas berries into her hair, fashioning them into a crown of gold, white and crimson on her head as every noblewoman did.
