"Here, lad, drink." It will ease your discomfort." Physician Ingle handed Neville a concoction of water, lemon grass, and honey to help the boy's excruciating hangover. After he'd gulped it down, Neville moaned, "I'm in over my head." He held his pounding forehead between his hands.

"Listen boy." Sir Parry's angry face appeared in Neville's line of vision. "You behaved like a gluttonous swine at dinner." His furious voice reverberated through Neville's head like a thunderous Norse hammer splitting stone.

"That's enough, Thomas! He fulfilled his purpose. The King was deceived." Lady Ashley gave Sir Parry a sharp look, warning him to gain control of himself.

"Barely by the skin of his vulgar teeth!" Sir Parry straightened, moving away from Neville. He was glad of Kat's presence. If she hadn't been there, he might have throttled the boy's neck, inadvertently ending the charade.

"Though clumsy and somewhat uncouth, his performance sufficed. After he rides to town with his Majesty today, we'll have room to breathe again." She knelt down by Neville. "Will you be able to do this last thing for us, Neville. Accompany the King's party this morning?"

"After bragging all night about his hunting skills, surely the King will expect you to demonstrate your form by jumping a few fences!" Sir Parry, sneered. "With our luck, you'll break your neck before the king's entourage has left Bisley."

"Hold your tongue, unless you have something useful to say!" Lady Ashley's glare momentarily silenced Sir Parry.

Bristling under the man's abusive language, Neville tried to ignore Parry. "Aye, I'll be fine, Lady Ashley. I already feel better with Master Ingle's potion in me." He knew he really had no choice in the matter.

"Good. Then Simone will assist you with dressing your person."

She walked to the door. "Come, Sir Parry. Master Ingle, stay with Neville in case he needs more assistance with his head. You and the boy can meet us at the stable in a half an hour." After the two guardians had left, Neville made a mental note about the blonde girl laying out a green riding habit for him. She was the same one who had assisted him by distracting the King the night before.

He turned to the physician. "How is my mother?"

She's resting comfortably. "I've been administering her the same draught you'd already been giving her." The physician hesitated before adding, "With one difference. I've increased the dosage for her pain."

Neville, frowned. "Why are you giving her more than what the Apothecary prescribed? She doesn't need that much to sleep."

Ingle motioned to the serving girl. "Please leave us for a moment, Simone." Ingle gently sat down beside Neville. His studied the boy's face carefully. "There's something you should know about your father, Neville. He was a good man. I knew him for many years. In fact, I considered him a friend. Did you ever wonder why you don't have any of his features?"

Neville frowned. "No, not really."

"Before she brought you into this world, your mother confided in me for help. She needed a potion to induce her labor early, timing her marriage with her delivery."

"What are you saying? The man who raised me wasn't my real father?"

"I'm sorry, Neville. The father you knew didn't sire you."

"Do you know who my true father was?"

"Yes." Ingle looked as if the past he spoke of pained him. "Your Father was Edmund de La Pole." Seeing Neville did not know who that was, he elaborated. "He was the leading member of the 'White Rose Party'. A great threat to the Tudors because he was the only royal who could rightfully claim the throne of England from Henry VIII."

In the blink of an eye, Neville's whole world changed. Upended by shock, he failed to immediately identify the alien emotion filling him with desire. Then the strange feeling crystallized. It was pure ambition.

Ingle saw his words were having a strong effect on the young boy. "Understand one thing Neville, you could do a lot of good in a position of power. Or a lot of damage. England needs a positive change from the current Tudor reign."

"I'm a royal? And a threat to the crown?" Neville looked at the physician incredulously. "What should I do, become a cuckoo's egg within a nest of vipers?"

The physician smiled. The boy had La Pole's spirited sense of humor. "Ah, that's an apt analogy. Just like the cuckoo bird leaves her egg in another bird's nest to be raised like a parasite, your family's enemy would be succoring you without their knowledge." Ingle smiled, but his face was serious. "Lady Ashley and Sir Parry are short sighted fools. They're unable to see beyond their own necks, but you're different. You could grow into this role, Neville."

Neville admitted to himself he had felt a wild thrill go through him when he had interacted with the King." Could this really be my destiny?

"Understand, Lady Ashley and Sir Parry cannot expose you." The physician continued. "They would be incriminating themselves. There's only one foil they can use against you."

"My mother," Neville whispered, reading the physician's mind.

"Exactly. She's dying, and in terrible pain. Imagine if you angered Sir Parry. He might have her locked up in a cold room. Deprive her of care to punish you." Neville looked stricken at the thought.

"Would you agree, freeing your mother's earthly spirit from her pain riddled body would be a blessing? I can give her enough opiate so she falls asleep, peacefully."

"She'll never wake again?" A terrifying awareness of how alone he would be without his mother dawned on Neville.

Ingle nodded, sympathetically. "I will allow you to decide what is best for her."