~𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌~
Born the youngest daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, Constance of Bourbon grows up amidst comfort and splendour on her powerful family's estates in France. A shy child, she prefers her...
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~The Battlefield of Women~
May 1475, Eltham Palace....
With the death of the Duchess of Gloucester, the King and Queen saw fit to take their son back into their care for a time. The poor boy was utterly distraught at his Aunt's death and sobbed for hours on end, demanding God bring her back, that he had to bring her back.
"But she was good!" He cried, not yet able to understand that death took whether souls were good or bad, that it was simply God's will. "Some say the Lord takes the best of us so they may enjoy paradise at his side and not have to suffer the earth" Constance said one day as her sweet boy cried on his bed, trying to comfort him, but he only wept harder.
"But I need her!" He sobbed "I need her, Mama! She is warm and kind like you! If she is gone, there will be no one like you at Middleham! No one will kiss me goodnight!" That made Constance's face crumple and, gathering him into her arms, she cradled him, kissing his hair while she cried too "Please don't die when baby comes" He whispered "Please don't die"
"I will never leave you" She told him fiercely "Never. Not even when you're a man grown"
On their sombre return south, the court settled at Eltham, allowing the royal family to all be together again while they mourned. Even if things between the King and Queen were still worse than a stormy night, Constance was overjoyed to have her three precious daughters and son all within reach again.
"I miss my son and daughter" Isabel confessed when they took a walk in the gardens together one morn - as had become a habit "They are still at Richmond and I do wish they were here"
"You are more than welcome to house them in the royal nursery" Constance invited, thinking of the plump little girl the Duchess had borne two years ago and the baby boy born just three months prior. Isabel smiled her thanks but shook her head. "Georgie wouldn't allow it, he thinks the court too dangerous for our precious Margaret and Edward"
The Queen hummed, smoothing a hand over her swelled belly that, while seven months gone, was still rather small.
George was part of the reason she considered the court unsuitable for her children and he had wasted no time after their return to London trying to stir the nobles into agreeing with his plan to invade France. Constance hadn't been present for the discussions, nor had Edward told her of them, but people talked.
"We will love Annie's boy" She sighed, linking her arm with Isabel's "We will see him raised into a fine man and give him the very best any of us could offer" Isabel nodded, wiping away a tear that slid down her cheek with the back of a ringed hand.
