In which King Edward IV finds himself captivated by a woman he cannot have and no matter how many years pass or how hard he tries, he is unable to give up on their love. For she had a place in his heart no one else could have, a place not even his o...
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They had slept in the same bed that night but made no attempt to bed each other, which surprised Nora. It had been Richard's call, after all. In all honesty, it had been many years since she had laid in the same bed as a man who hadn't intended to sleep with her.
Every night that Nora had shared a bed with Edward, they had found themselves naked and in each other's arms.
Not with Richard. But if it wasn't obvious already, Richard was in no way Edward. They were polar opposites, despite being brothers.
First light came around and while Nora was awake, Richard was not. She was lying on her side, facing Richard. She eyed him intently as he slept, a small smile on her face.
He looked so peaceful, unlike her.
Letting out a small sigh, she sat up from the bed, preparing to put her dress back on over her corset.
"Have you always had those scars on your back?" Nora suddenly heard Richard ask as he ran his fingers over the scars on her back.
Nora sighed as nodded her head. She turned to face him, a solemn look on her face. "I've had them for about twenty years now."
"How did it happen?" Richard questioned, not knowing the story of what truly happened to Arthur Neville.
Only Edward did.
"Arthur Neville. As you most likely recall, Edward made me marry him, despite the fact that I was already married to him. I endured being married to Arthur for more than two years. During that time, he laid his hands on me countless times. He flogged me once. That's how I got the scars on my back. It was soon after he returned from one of the battles. I spoke against him on a matter that didn't concern me and he punished me," She explained and while Richard felt concerned, Nora didn't even seem bothered.
It had been more than twenty years since it happened. She rarely thought about the experience anymore. It was in the past and she didn't want to dwell on the past.
"Poisoned by Lancastrian men who sought to take you for themselves," Richard recited what he had heard years before, his eyes widening in realization, "You're the one who killed Arthur Neville, weren't you?"
Nora sighed in defeat and nodded her head. Only a select few knew the truth, but she trusted Richard. She trusted him more than anyone else at that point in her life.
"If I didn't kill him, I would have ended up like the others. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't leave Arthur alone with him. And I couldn't let him kill Lizbeth, whom I was carrying at the time," She confessed, tears beginning to fill her eyes.
Richard grabbed Nora's hand, squeezing it in comfort. "It's alright. I don't blame you," He assured her and Nora smiled at him sadly.
There was a moment of comfortable silence between them and as Richard went to pull his hand away from Nora's, the latter had grabbed his hand once more. After she did, Richard lifted his head to look at her.
