~Tell the Tale of Long Ago~

It was fully night when Eleanor came to him at last. She entered their bedchamber dressed just in her nightgown and a small smile on her face. Without hesitation or any change from her usual intimacy she walked over and settled herself sweetly on his lap, laying her head against her chest.

"Tell me" she said softly, tracing delicate patterns with her finger on Richard's shirt "tell me of you and Kate, from the beginning" he lifted his head a little from where he was leaning it on the back of his chair and looked down at the redhead in his lap.

"Are you sure?" He asked, taking to playing with her hair, combing his fingers through it "you never wanted to know before now....do not let her upset you, my love"
"I want to know, Richard" she said stoutly and he nodded.

Where to start? At the beginning, he supposed. Eleanor wanted to hear nothing but the truth from his lips from start to finish and wouldn't let him go until she was satisfied. Taking a deep breath he looked up at the ceiling and finally unlocked the memories he had shut away for over a decade.

"We met in the summer of fourteen sixty seven. I was fourteen, so was she and we were staying at Jack Howard's manor, Tendring, in Norfolk. We may have been young but we became so enamoured with each other, so caught up by each other that we were lovers by the end of August. I could not believe the first time she let me have her, she had been debating on weather to give herself to me for weeks and when she took me aside one night after supper and told me she wanted me I could not believe it. And after that night, well, we were making love every chance we got. I was away from her often but our feelings for one another did not dwindle. They were intoxicating, we consumed one another's hearts and minds fully...."

He trailed away, forcing himself to stop as he realised his words, not wanting to hurt Eleanor but she merely looked up at him and tilted her head.
"Continue" she urged "please, Dickon" and he obliged her.

"I would go to her home on Jack's lands as often as I could and, well, our love proved fruitful and in September of the next year Katheryn was born. She was so tiny when I first saw her and Kate was so proud! As was I really! I remember taking of them both into my arms and holding them close. Kate and I were only fifteen then but we had a child. Our child. She was my mistress for many months after that. We both knew we could never marry but we would not deny ourselves the love that had grown between us. She became pregnant with John in June of fourteen sixty nine and I was overjoyed. Then in August I was told I was to marry you"

Again he stopped. Surely that was enough for Eleanor? Surely she would not want to hear how he and Kate had carried on bedding one another after their marriage. It would only serve to hurt her and he was sure Kate had wounded her more than enough that day though she did not say it or show it.

But once again he was to be proved wrong as Eleanor gave him a sharp poke to the ribs, a clear sign for him to carry on.

"Unfortunately our union did not stop Kate and I. I didn't like you, you didn't like me and I saw no reason why I should be made to forfeit my happiness for your sake. And then I saw a chance....a chance for us. It was when you first met John Neville and I was watching you walk around the hall together. There was something about you that struck me that day, suddenly you were different, not just a Woodville anymore. I know that was before the day I raised a hand against you but that was the day I sent Kate away. She was in tears but I tried to send her away gently and I never saw her after that night. Not until today"

At last he came to an end. The true end and waited for Eleanor to respond. She peered up at him through her lashes again, her face open with no anger or resentment in it at all. All that was there was a certain curiosity, a question that needed to be answered.

"Did you ever think about going back to her?" She asked and he nodded.
"Once, after you threatened to drown Kat and John in a river"

"I suppose that's understandable" she murmured to herself before sitting up on his lap, placing her hands lightly on his shoulders "thank you for telling me" standing up, she took his hand and pulled him to his feet before leading him to the bed. The mattress dipping under their weight she let him lay his head on her chest and wrap his arms around her waist "I'm pregnant" she said.

Richard shot up from the pillows and looked at her in surprise, glancing towards her belly, gently placing a hand on it.
"Pregnant?" He repeated and she nodded, smiling slightly "since when?!"
"November" Eleanor replied "I haven't said because we have been in mourning and well....I was scared at one point that I was going to lose the baby, during the first days after Katheryn's death but now....I hope it may bring you some joy?"

"Some?" Richard cried and gathered her into her arms "my darling you have brought me the greatest news of all!" Laughing for the first time since his daughter's passing he kissed Eleanor and felt her smile into it. wrapping her slender arms around his neck.

"Lord I'm so glad" she breathed, sounding rather relieved as she lay down against the pillows and he joined her, kissing down her neck, his hands beginning to roam beneath her nightgown.
"You've made me so happy" he murmured in between kisses "I love you, Leena. I love you so so much"

꧁꧂

Francis carried a weary look on his face as he entered the Queen's chambers the next morning where Eleanor and Richard were eating, hand in hand and smiling lovingly at one another with their food hardly touched.

"Francis!" Richard greeted brightly as he saw his friend approaching them and waved away his bow "come and sit down! What brings you to us so early?" Rather reluctantly, Francis sat down at the spare seat at their table, watching as Eleanor took a small bite of toast before she looked to him, red curls bobbing around her face.

"Well?" She asked "what is it, Francis?"
"Johnny has gone"

In a moment their sunny expressions were gone, returned to the sombre and grief filled looks that had not left them since Christmas. Eleanor groaned and put her head in her hands while Richard simply stood wordlessly from the table and walked to the window; dismissing the servants.

"When?" He asked, staring out onto the frozen Thames.
"Last night we think" Francis replied slowly, watching as Eleanor too got up but went to the bed instead, sitting on the edge of the patterned coverlet with one hand to her flat belly "he left a note, he says he's gone to the North but doesn't say where. He says staying here without Kat is too much for him to bear"

"He wants to grieve alone" she murmured "and who can blame him? Especially after what happened yesterday"
"What happened yesterday?"

"It doesn't matter" Richard answered with a heavy sigh and turned back towards the table, a weary look in his eyes "send soldiers out to look for him, he doesn't have to come back here but I need to know he is safe" walking to the door his footsteps were laboured and heavy and opening the door to face the court and the day seemed like the greatest task on earth to him "I cannot lose another of my children"

꧁꧂

March 1485, Palace of Placentia, London....

"Shall I fetch a black gown, Aunt?" Lizzie asked, already moving to where a black gown had been placed for the Queen to be dressed in that morning. It had become part of her routine by now, after three months of black gown after black gown, it was second nature to the other ladies to order one to be put out for the morning and to Lizzie to dress the Queen in it.

"No" Eleanor said quietly as she stared out of her window and down onto the thawed river below the palace. The grass was a healthy green without its coat of frost and buds of blossom were beginning to grow on the trees in the palace gardens, their curving branches no longer bare.

Spring was here. And spring meant new life, new beginnings.
"No?" Lizzie repeated, almost stunned by that single word but Eleanor simply shook her head.

"No" she said again, a soft tone to her voice as the gentle morning breeze floated through the window "fetch me a purple one, Lizzie....purple was always Katheryn's favourite colour"

"Are you sure? Truly, Aunt Lyanna?"
"I am....Katheryn was as bright and vibrant as the colours of spring, she would not want me to spend my days trapped in an endless cycle of black. Fetch me a purple gown, Lizzie, that way I may move forward and keep her close to my heart still"

She turned away from the window and smiled at her niece, nodding her reassurance one last time before Lizzie hurried away to fetch a purple gown, a new spring in her step. It was strange, Eleanor thought once she had gone, Lizzie was so unlike Elizabeth it was almost comical! There was not an unkind bone in her body, she was always gentle, eager to please and the children adored her!

When she finally returned, Eleanor was already in a new shift, a necklace of pearls around her neck and her rings already on her fingers. With a swift precision and an ever chatty conversation, Lizzie dressed the Queen in the purple gown she had brought, a fashionable Burgundian style dress of soft lilac (a shade Katheryn herself often wore) with hanging sleeves trimmed with white fur.

As her niece braided her hair, weaving shining pearls into the intricate plait, Eleanor stared at herself in the mirror. Katheryn had always liked to braid her hair and they would usually talk of hunting together (a shared passion) or the latest babe in the York nursery.

She sighed slightly, picking up a sapphire encrusted hairpin and passed it back to Lizzie who used it to secure the remaining copper curls in her delicate hands. John was gone too now! Two months with no word from him. The guards sent to find him could find no trace so they all assumed he had retreated to one of his woodland manors where he would spend his days mourning his sister.

As the King and Queen entered the council chamber later that day, their ladies and men behind them, Eleanor saw Georgie pass Lizzie a note, both blushing at the small exchange as their fingers brushed slightly. 'Those two should be betrothed again' she thought as they went their separate ways and the Lords of the council assembled 'but after other matters have been settled'.

"Other matters" meant war, a word Eleanor dared not to utter anymore for its ominous ferocity loomed over England and the court more darkly each day in the form of none other than Henry Tudor. The man Lizzie was supposedly already betrothed too!

She wouldn't be if Eleanor had anything to do with it!

"You look very pretty today" Richard complimented, still in black himself, taking and kissing her hand as they settled themselves on their thrones.
"Thank you, my love" she whispered in reply, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek before looking forward as he addressed the council.

"What news is there from Brittany?" He asked and the Lords looked at one another before Lord Stanley rose and the attention of the room became fixed on him.

"Tudor has once again been denied entry to France, your grace" he said clearly and the others made murmurs of approval "it seems he means to raise an army there but once more the King and Duchess Anne have denied him. We think this is because of Queen Elizabeth, it is said she is very close to the King in confidence"

Eleanor could not help but smile at that last part. So clever little Bess was already proving herself useful in the realm of politics? Oh how she longed to see her!
"Anything else?" She enquired as Stanley made to sit "Tudor is your stepson after all, do you know no more?"

Stanley stood up straight once more and bowed towards the throne, a hand on his heart.
"My loyalty is to you, your graces" he said firmly, the same charming smile on his face as always "I have no contact with my traitorous stepson and neither does my wife, Lady Margaret, as per your orders"

Eleanor gave him a curt nod and he sat down properly this time.
"But he is still a threat" Robert Brackenbury voiced and this time there were a mix of nods and shaken heads.
"How?" One Lord enquired "he has no army, he has no power, he has nothing"

"Exactly" Rob said firmly "this man has nothing to lose and that makes him more dangerous to us than any landed and rich Prince who may threaten our shores!"