~Which Witch~

June 1483....

"And..." Edward's brows furrowed as he looked at the chess board between he and Eleanor, calculating his next move.

While she watched him she could see he became less and less Woodville and more and more like his father as he frowned and pondered over the remaining pieces before him. A sudden grin lit his face and he reached out to his last knight, moving it across the board.

"Checkmate, Aunt" he sat up slightly, proudly even as Eleanor stared on stunned before she began to applaud him. He adored her adulation and basked in it every chance he got!

This was not the first time he had won, no, both had had their fair share of wins and losses but Eleanor had to admit, Edward was no newcomer to the game! Anthony had taught him well, more than well, and she wagered that he would be even to beat Richard who won their games at Middleham with such ease and grace he appeared effortless.

"Well done!" She praised and Edward beamed at her, combing a hand through his golden curls. "you shall prove a tactile King, I can already tell!"
"My coronation is in two days!" He said, puffing out his chest a little "I shall be dressed in cloth of gold and wear my Father's crown! Will my brother and sisters come?"

"I don't know" Eleanor answered truthfully and he nodded, a little subdued "we are trying to fetch them from sanctuary but so far we have failed my dear, I am sorry"

"It is not your fault, Aunt" Edward replied quietly as he began to set up the chess board once more. "It's only....well I would like to see them! I've hardly known my brother and sisters growing up and I would like to know them better. Do you think Uncle Richard would allow it?"

His Aunt smiled and reached across the board to take his hand. He was trusting Richard a little more, she had noticed and was coming to rely on him a little as he had done Anthony.

"Your Uncle Richard would encourage it" she told him "in fact, with any luck your brother should be here today! And he will stay with you to help prepare you for your coronation!" As if to confirm her words, royal trumpets (obviously ordered by Harry) blared at the Tower gates and the sound of hooves on cobble echoed in the morning air.

Edward's breath suddenly caught in his throat as he rushed to the window and gazed down to see little Prince Richard be lifted down from a horse by the Duke of Buckingham.
"Do I greet him as a brother or as a subject?" He breathed and Eleanor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"A brother" she answered, the confidence in her voice steadying him slightly "your father always used to embrace his brothers when they met, perhaps you could do the same? Or clasp his arm in greeting?" Nodding, Edward turned around and adjusted the embroidered leather belt Richard had given to him as a gift just a week before. Clicking filled the air as he played with the dagger attached to it, sliding it in and out of his sheath as he heard Harry's merry voice approaching.

'The boy is my little brother' he reassured himself 'I needn't be nervous!' The door opened and a nine year old, with golden hair just like his wash ushered into the room, his blue eyes wide and almost afraid as they looked around.

Eleanor was relieved to see it was truly her nephew and Elizabeth had not sought to swap him but then again, how could she? Eleanor and Richard had worked on their plan for weeks and they had told no others of it (apart from Harry that morning).

"This is" Harry began but Edward held up a hand, his Father's regality suddenly making an appearance.
"I know who this is" he said with a firm nod and strode forward, clasping his brother's arm with his hand in greeting "my brother the Duke of York!" he said and little Richard attempted to bow but the King shook his head "please, no formalities! You are my brother and I welcome you to the Tower!"

"Thank you, Edward" Richard murmured, steadily beginning to smile as he followed him to their Aunt and they both bowed. Eleanor grinned, returning their gesture with a small curtsy.
"Your graces" she said "I shall leave you to get acquainted!"

"But you must come back!" Edward cried, suddenly the twelve year old boy again as Eleanor walked to the door, linking her arm with Harry's. "I want Richard to know you as well as I! And love you as I do too!"

"You are a sweet a boy as I ever knew!" She replied warmly "and I promise I shall come two days hence for your coronation!"
"Will you dance with me? At the feast after?"
"If your grace wishes it then I shall of course, accept!"

"I do! I do!" Edward chorused and Richard grinned as he sat in the window.
"Then it shall be done" Eleanor returned and left with a grinning Harry.

"Perhaps you shall be the next Queen?" He teased "for our little Lord and King seems quite keen on you, oh mighty Duchess"
"Shut up Harry!" she laughed, punching him lightly on the arm.

꧁꧂

"Come here" Richard murmured against her lips as he pulled her to the bed. He sat down, the mattress dipping under his weight, and drew Eleanor onto his lap, her legs spread around his hips.

"You're going to make me a mess, sweetheart" she teased as he pulled up her gown with eager hands, intent on stripping it from her as soon as possible.

"Good" he groaned and she smirked as she unlaced his breeches, kneeling up slightly and supporting herself on his shoulders before she sunk down onto him and they both moaned their pleasure "you" he breathed against her neck as she rolled her hips, tossing her head back "are going to be the death of me"

She laughed, combing a hand through her hair as she pushed Richard back onto the bed, pinning him beneath her while she rode him.
"Do you think I will kill you with pleasure, love?" She asked, her hips finding a rhythm, and felt his hands slide up the bodice of her gown and around to the back, pulling at the laces until they came undone. She pulled the silk down, gasping slightly as the cool air of the chamber hit her bare skin and Richard's fingers began to tease the tips of her breasts.

"Perhaps" he said, taking her by the waist and rolling them over so that he was on top; thrusting hard into her so that her back arched in pleasure against the mattress "but...."

"Richard!" Francis hammered on the door as hard as he could, thinking of kicking it open in his panic "Richard! Eleanor! I swear to God!"
"This had better be good" Richard groaned as he withdrew from Eleanor and she whimpered at the loss, sitting up to right her clothes as he was doing "well, at least it means I won't get you with child again yet!" She looked up at him with a grin.

"I'm already pregnant"
"You're already what?!"

"Richard Plantagenet I will kick this door down!" That was Rob yelling and they could hear Francis shouting his agreement. Eleanor grinned.

"Well" she said, pushing her hair back over her shoulders and standing to give Richard a kiss on the cheek while he simply watched her with his mouth half agape "what can I say, Dickon?" She teased as she walked past "I'm as fertile as a rabbit and so are you it seems! I'm only a few weeks along at the moment but I've come to know the signs well!"

Giggling to herself while Richard began to smile, resisting the urge to pick her up and kiss her there and then, she walked to the door to unlock it. Jesus Christ, she was right, they were fertile!

But even if he had wanted too, Richard could not find pure happiness in her announcement. Ever since her bout of childbed fever that had almost killed her he spent the whole nine months of her pregnancies after worrying day and night for her health and their child's health too!

He sometimes wished that they would have no more children (for they certainly had plenty) to secure Eleanor's safety but he also knew that whoever their next babe was to be he would love them with all his heart!

"Richard I swear to all the Saints....oh hello Eleanor!" Rob visibly relaxed as she opened the door and smiled at him, Francis too, taking a deep breath. As Richard joined her he looked them up and down and grinned "have you been wrestling one another?" He asked and Eleanor shrugged.

"No" she said "but it's always nice to save something for another time, don't you think, Richard?" Richard grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I agree, mon coeur!" He murmured before turning to their friends "now, tell me what on earth you are doing here? It's gone ten!"
"It's Harry!" Francis replied hurriedly, grabbing Richard by the arm and starting to drag him along the palace corridors with Eleanor and Rob in tow.

"Why? What's happened to Harry?" She asked, almost skipping to try and keep up with the others "don't tell me he's gotten drunk again and somehow ended up in the Thames!" Rob raised his eyebrows.

"From what he's saying he may as well be drunk!" He replied "but I swear he has not had a drop!" Richard began to demand for an explanation but had no time as his friends pushed himself and Eleanor into his study and at once they found Harry kneeling at their feet.

He looked up at them through strands of his blonde hair, his eyes a picture of nerves.
"Richard" he breathed, he sounded as if he had just run a mile "you are the rightful King of England"

Eleanor's mouth fell open as she heard Harry's words and the chamber door closed behind her. Richard? The rightful King? That couldn't be right....it wasn't right!

Edward was the King.

"You're drunk" Richard said bluntly though he said it without his usual humour; his expression almost resentful as he fiddled with his rings "go to bed Harry"

"No!" Harry yelled as he jumped to his feet "on this night I went to the death bed of Bishop Stillington, Dickon! He was a man of God, he would not lie with his last breaths would he?"
"You speak nonsense!"
"I speak the truth you halfwit! You are the rightful King!"

Eleanor grabbed Richard's arm as he lunged for Harry, his face red with rage and hands curled into fists.
"No!" She cried, shoving him backwards "there will be no violence here!" She turned to Harry "what you say cannot be true! How can my Richard be the rightful King? There is Edward and then his brother!"

Harry seemed to cower as she faced him, stepping backwards as if he knew his next words would bring forth the violence she had just condemned "How?" She demanded "answer me damn you!" Harry took a deep breath; crossed himself.

"Elizabeth was never truly the Queen" he murmured "the marriage between King Edward and your sister was inva...." before he could even finish speaking he grimaced as he felt the sting that Eleanor's hand brought as she slapped him.

"You liar" she hissed through her teeth "I was there! I saw them married!"
"I know! I know!" He conceded, holding his hands up in surrender as he backed away "but Edward was married before. To a Lady Eleanor Talbot....in 1462. Little King Edward is no King! Richard is the true King!

"No! Besides you have no evidence but the ramblings of a dying old man!"

Harry shook his head and produced a piece of parchment but did not let Eleanor take it for fear she would rip it up once she had read it.
"This is the marriage certificate" he explained "it was Stillington who married them. This proves what I say is true" the colour drained from Eleanor's face, and from Richard's too as he stepped forward to read it.

There was his brother's signature plain as day.
And there was Stillington's too.

He knew at once this was no forgery and Eleanor looked up at him in question.
"Is it...?"
"It is" he said quietly and she shook her head, wringing her hands together.

A broken crown....
A broken crown....

She stumbled as the images from her seeing flashed through her mind and closed her eyes with a groan, the room spinning as she felt Richard's arm around her waist.

"Leave us" he commanded, his voice harsher than she had ever heard it. The sound of footsteps and the sound of the door told her their friends obeyed and she soon found herself gently settled into a chair "Jesus, you're cold as ice" Richard murmured as he put a hand to her cheek. She shook her head.

"You must not take the throne" she said firmly as her sickness left her and she opened her eyes "even if what Harry says is true you must not.... you must not...."
"If what Harry says is true then I have little choice" he replied "we already have a boy King. We cannot have a boy King that is a bastard"

"He is not" Eleanor groaned, placing a hand to her forehead "he can't be....it's not possible....but if it were you must not take the throne, Richard"
"But why?" He asked quietly as he knelt by her chair "what is going on, Leena? What are you not telling me?"

She had no choice.
She had to tell him.
Had to make him see.

"That night I had a nightmare" she began and he nodded "it was no nightmare, it was a seeing. A foretelling of the future....it is a gift that I possess because...."

"Because you're a witch" he finished and her gaze darted to meet his, filled with sudden fear and apprehension. His expression was unreadable, eyes blue and bland as they watched her. Was she about to lose him? Was her admission about to cost her all she held dear? "I always wondered when you would tell me"

He then chuckled at her shock, her mouth opening and closing as she sought an answer. He had known?! How?! How long?!
"You know?!" She cried in disbelief and he shrugged.

"I guessed" he said, so nonchalantly it was if he considered this situation normal "your family was rumoured to have magic far before Elizabeth became Queen and that mist at Barnet did not appear from nowhere now did it?"

"That was me" she admitted, hardly daring to believe her ears. He smiled a little, a glimmer of pride shining in his eyes. He was proud of her.
"What did you expect from me?" He asked as he placed a hand to her, now warming, cheek "the stake?" She shook her head wordlessly "I do not care if you are a witch or not! You could be a sea monster and I would still love you! I just hope you won't use your powers against me!"

"Never!" She cried, taking his hand and kissing it. "But you can trust my seeings Richard. The things that are seen can be avoided but only if we take action to do so" he nodded for her to continue "I saw a broken crown, Richard. One crown split in two with its jewels scattered! If you take the throne then our country will be torn! We will have war again!"

He nodded again, his brows furrowing as he thought.
"Did you see who won?" He asked and she was suddenly gripped with another bout of fear as the man on the throne flashed before her eyes, his menacing grin and piercing eyes striking fear into her heart. But was he a consequence of Richard becoming King? She did not know. She shook her head.

"What will you do?" She asked "with the new information I have brought? Have you not had enough of war?"
"Of course I've had enough of war, sweetheart" Richard murmured with a frown "but I must see what is right for England! There are no threats to us on these shores and I am a seasoned battle commander! I can weather storms from the enemy!"

"So you will simply throw away what I have said?" Eleanor cried, rising from her seat to pace "our seeings are never wrong Richard, does that not worry you? And what of our family? Do you not want to keep them safe? Keep them away from the horrors of war that you yourself were exposed to at a tender age?"

"Of course I do" he sighed, also rising and catching her by the waist as she passed him, pulling her up against his chest "but think, Leena. If I were to be King then our son, our George would one day rule this land! Our children would be Princes and Princesses! And you....you would be Queen, just as Elizabeth was. You would have her crown and you could show her how much she had underestimated your strength all your life!"

"I do not want to prove anything to Elizabeth!" She protested "and our nephew is the King! As shall his son be after him! We swore that we would protect him!"
"And as King and Queen we could do just that!" He reasoned "only I would wear the crown, not he"

"You would proclaim our own nephew and nieces bastards?" Eleanor whispered, peering up into his face "for if you took the throne that is what they would have to be....you would do that to them?"

"You say that as if I would view the task as light" he returned "it would be one of the hardest things I would ever have to do but for England I would do it"
"For England....or for yourself?" 

Richard shook his head, stroking her cheek with his thumb, his expression a mess of torn worry.
"Do you not know me better than that, my darling?" He asked, his voice slightly pained, and she nodded quickly, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Yes!" She said firmly "yes I do....I'm sorry....but if you take the throne only misery will follow, my love....surely you can see that? For I have" she took a shaky breath "I think we should send for the children....all of them"