~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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~Vexation and Grief~
August 1483, Westminster Abbey Sanctuary....
Once the excitement of eating had died down, the thoughts of trickery came. Constance certainly didn't think Elizabeth above using poison and so she tried a little of the food and waited an hour (an hour which had her girls sitting at the table staring longingly at a loaf of bread) before she allowed them to eat.
And all swore it was better than any royal feast they'd ever tasted.
In the wicker basket was a loaf of bread, a few slices of meat, a little fish and three apples they all thoroughly enjoyed! It was only after that the two women wondered if they should've left some for later but they needn't have worried for the very next day, another citizen came with food for them to take!
And so it began, an operation that went somehow undetected by the Woodvilles for two months and kept the residents of the sanctuary alive for every day, a person came (usually at first light) and gave them sustenance.
Each morn, Constance or Katherine would try to repay the people's kindness but they all refused any coin or jewels, only wishing for their good health and the true King's return. They also complained of the Woodville rule, how taxes had been raised to pay for their mercenaries and extravagance, to bribe minor nobles to their side and merchants to be their spies.
They were growing more discontented by the day but did not have the power to mount a rebellion, there were too many eyes watching, too many ears listening.
All of the wrongs put upon them would be righted once Edward had the throne Constance told herself each day.
"Have we news of our brothers arrival in Burgundy?" Isabella asked one morning before she popped an apple slice into her mouth. Her Mother sighed, shaking her head.
"Not yet, my love, but we will soon enough, I am sure of it, just as it was with your brother Edward" "Neddy" Cecily murmured, munching on a piece of bread and Aliénor nodded to herself "I should've liked to know him better....he was away for so long and so far away!"
"You will come to know him better, my love" Constance told her "Once we are restored to our rightful position" "You should've seen the celebrations when he was born!" Katherine told the girls who were instantly enthralled by her excited smile "The entirety of London came out to see him on the day of his christening! There was a grand procession from the palace to the Abbey!"
"How grand, Aunt Kate?" Aliénor squeaked, eyes wide and legs swinging back and forth under the table.
"Grander than you can ever imagine!" Katherine replied and a small smile curved Constance's lips. It had been a grand day indeed "The Archbishops of Canterbury and York lead the way on a carpet of red velvet that ran along the road in so many jewels they nearly blinded us all! Your Mother and Father walked beneath the royal canopy, carried by your Uncle James and my dear husband!"
