~Countess of Rutland~

July 1465, Westminster....

Whistles filled the air as nobles attempted to call their birds back to them. The whole court had arranged a hawking party and a grand feast lay inside the tent made of cloth of gold where all the King and Queen, along with the others, sat and ate while they watched the entertainment.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester and John Woodville stood a few feet apart, the eyes trained on the clear blue skies as they tried to call their birds back to them.

With a knowing grin on his face John blew the Ivory whistle he held and watched as his hawk began to fly towards him while Richard's bird circled around the royal standards, causing him to sigh in frustration while he called his white falcon to him.

"Hup!" John yelled, turning to the side and tapping his arm, laughing as the hawk landed on his leather gauntlet, turning towards the grand table in the tent and bowing.

"Well done, John!" Eleanor cried as she stood with the rest to applaud "well done!"

At last Richard's falcon returned to him and he raised his eyebrows at his elder brother, shrugging a little before he handed his bird to a squire and walked into the tent.

Smoothing out the skirts of her emerald gown, Eleanor sat back down next to her mother, brushing a finger across one of the golden roses and smiling. She would have to have her favourite gown altered soon, she decided, glancing at the sleeves that had moved somewhat up her wrist as she had grown.

"John may have won this time!" Edward said as George walked out of the tent to collect the giant Eagle he kept "but he will have a fight on his hands against brother George for he has none of Richard's chivalry and doesn't like to lose!"

"That I don't!" George remarked as he walked back over, his usual smirk on his face "and neither does Eleanor I'll bet!"
Eleanor turned around in her chair to face him, taking a sip of wine from her goblet as she did so.
"And what do you mean by that?" She asked "I don't think anyone likes to lose!"

"Well, come one then!" Grabbing her arm, he brought her to her feet and marched her to the field, letting his Eagle fly onto his gauntlet while Eleanor gave a small shriek at how big the creature staring down at her with beady yellow eyes was "this is Hades" he explained, taking her hand and gently placing it against the eagle's soft feathers "he won't hurt you unless I let him!"
"Unless you let him?" She exclaimed before John came to stand beside her and grinned.

"Best of luck, Eleanor" he murmured before walking over to his hawk and taking position.
"I don't even know what I'm doing here, John!" She called, following George "what am I actually doing here?"

"You're here to win!" He replied with a grin, taking her wrist and slipping a leather gauntlet onto her hand. Before she had chance to react he had put Hades onto her arm, and laughed when she looked at him as if he were going insane.

"What am I supposed to do?" She hissed before looking back to the table where her elder sister was looking at her with an amused smirk on her face "really you should have asked Bella!"
"Bella?" George repeated, following his friend's gaze and winking at the older girl who blushed.

"Need I say more?" Eleanor asked as she watched the interaction "you two have been staring at each other like two lovesick puppies ever since the coronation!" Hades let out a squawk and she shrieked a little bit as he took flight, frowning at George as he chuckled to himself and took an Ivory whistle from the pouch attached to his belt.

John and George's birds circled each other, gliding along the air as the two men tried to win.
"Take this" George murmured, pushing a piece of raw meat into Eleanor's hand. She wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell but tucked the meat inside her gauntlet all the same, holding it out as she suddenly saw Hades hurtling towards her.

With a loud squawk the Eagle landed, ripping the meat from her fist before George gently took the bird onto his arm and it spread its Wings, tossing its head back while King Edward rose to his feet clapping enthusiastically.

"Well done, George!" He cried while Elizabeth beamed and stood beside him.
"Well done, Eleanor!" She called and the twelve year old blushed, pulling off the leather glove and handing it to page before sidling to the tent with George as Edward beckoned to them.

"Good hunting brother, sister" he said jovially as he grinned at the two "as your prizes I shall confer upon you, dear George, the title....Earl of Richmond!"

"And I was hoping for your crown!" George replied, rolling his eyes though he smiled all the same.
"Lady Margaret Beaufort won't be happy!" Jacquetta said as she leant forward "Earl of Richmond is her son's title!"
"Yes" Edward conceded, his face growing grim "but he is nephew to the old King Henry....so I must strip it from him!"

"And for Eleanor?" Elizabeth prompted and Edward's smile returned to his face.
"For you, boule de feu, I will confer upon you.... the Earldom of Rutland, making you the Countess"

"Our dead brother's title?" Twelve year old Richard said quietly from where he had appeared behind the King, staring at Eleanor while she stared straight back, pulling herself up to her full height "are you sure, Edward?"

"Why?" George asked as he linked Eleanor's arm with his "do not tell me you covet the title for yourself, babykins?"
Richard scoffed and shook his head.
"Of course not!" He replied, appearing rather affronted at the suggestion "I just think we should honour Edmunds memory!"

"And what better honour could we give his life than giving his title to one who is loyal to us, Dickon?" Edward said as he patted his youngest brother's arm, clearly not noticing the suffocating tension that had settled in the air around him "Eleanor has show me and hour house nothing but faith and loyalty since the day that I met her but she also shows loyalty to her closest kin such as her sister, the Queen, just as Edmund was loyal to us, his brothers!" He paused for breath before turning back to Eleanor and George who was grinning at the girl beside him "so, you, Eleanor Woodville, are now the Countess of Rutland! And along with the estates that come with that title I shall give you....Leeds Castle as a sign of my good faith and friendship!"

"There!" Elizabeth said brightly as Richard walked away, his expression unreadable "does that suit you, Leena?"
"Very much!" Eleanor exclaimed, beaming as her father and mother gave her nods full of pride.

"Congratulations, countess" George said as he bowed walking away to return his bird to its cage. Eleanor could see Bella's eyes wander after him and she suddenly stood, curtsying to the King and Queen.
"Forgive me" she said "but I must go and check on the horses" and with that she followed the royal duke out of sight.

"The horses" Eleanor repeated to herself "what a likely story!"

꧁꧂

November 1464, Kent....

Eleanor's smile widened as she saw the walls of Leeds castle some into view. Excitement had been brewing in her belly ever since she had left London just a day before for not only was she to see her new estate, this was the first expedition that she had been able to venture on without one of her parents or brothers!

At thirteen, Jacquetta now deemed her responsible enough to travel on her own and Eleanor had practically bounced around her room when she had been told. True she had ended up taking Bella with her (but that was, she repeatedly told herself, simply for some good company, not for protection) and of course there was George too!

The sixteen year old duke had all but begged her to let him come along to Leeds, not wanting to go back to Middleham Castle in the North, and it was with a grin and a nudge from Bella that she had agreed. If anything Eleanor was actually glad George was there, he was always able to make her laugh and it amused her to see how he and Bella tried to speak to other and fail miserably.

Now, Eleanor urged Apollo into a canter and watched as George and Bella followed suit, racing each other to the castle gates and scoffing when the youngest managed to beat them both and even overtook the guards Edward had made them take with them.

"Who goes there?" Loud voice shouted from the top of the gatehouse and George nodded at Eleanor to speak. Sitting up in her saddle and throwing back the hood of her heavy crimson cloak, she looked up to the walls.
"Eleanor Woodville!" She called with as much confidence as she could muster "The Countess of Rutland"

At once the gates opened and Eleanor trotted through, beaming as excitement rose in her again while the York guards walked alongside her.

The countess stared around in wonder as she rode through the small hamlet that lay before the castle, nodding at the people who halted their work to bow and curtsy before her. The people that were now under her rule.

"These are my people now" she whispered watching as smoke rose from the chimneys of the clay huts that lay on the edge of the walls, near the large castle moat that encircled the entire castle and the hamlet.

"I wonder when I will get my own castle!" Bella said with a grin "perhaps I shall lay siege to this one!"

Her sister laughed as she pulled her horse to a stop and slipped from the saddle, passing her reins to one of the guards (who had also dismounted). Her eyes widened a little as the Castle doors opened and servants began to flood out, maids, gardeners, cooks, pages, all filing out of the doors and standing calmly before Eleanor, bowing and curtsying with welcome smiles on their faces.

"George?" She whispered as the older boy dismounted beside her "w-who are all of these people"
"This" George announced loudly "is your household! They are here to tend to your every need and to obey your every command, Eleanor!"

A grin spread across the girl's face as she realised what he had said and at last walked forward, marvelling at the way the crowd of servants parted to let her through into the great hall which made the Countess stop I her tracks, causing her to forget how to breathe for a moment as she gazed at the grand space which now belonged to her.

"Oh God!" Bella exclaimed behind her, speaking aloud her exact thoughts "The King has been most generous"
"I bet I could beat him" George murmured to her and Eleanor grinned as Bella blushed a deep shade of red, walking to the opposite side of the hall to where a pair of oaken doors were to conceal her burning cheeks.

"Come on!" She laughed as she pulled one of the doors open and slipped through, quickly followed by the other two.

Ahead of them lay a sturdy drawbridge that lay across the moat, could be raised incase of attack.
The walls of the keep towered over her as she glanced up, staring at the beautiful windows that held pieces of diamond glass.

She could not believe it was all hers.