~My King, My Queen~

August 1483, Westminster....

Her hair created a silky curtain of copper around them as she rode him, slowly, sensually; shuddering breaths escaping them both as he begged her to go faster.
"Hush, love" she crooned as he pleaded with her again, trailing a finger down the middle of his chest "let me enjoy you then you may have me any way you wish"

"Fuck, Eleanor" he breathed as her hand wandered across the muscles on his abdomen and she smiled as she felt them tense beneath her touch, coaxing a moan from him. 
"You look so nice beneath me" she murmured, bending her head to brush a kiss to his neck and smirking as he moaned again "but am I pleasing my King?"

A smile flitted across Richard's lips as his eyes closed and he nodded.
"You know you are" he said, wrapping a rope of red hair around his hand and revelling in its softness as Eleanor rolled her hips again.

꧁꧂

"Do you ever still wish that we could go back? To when we were first married? Erase the year we spent at odds with one another?" Eleanor asked as she lay cuddled against Richard, his arm around her waist, fingers stroking the soft skin of her hip. He nodded.
"I do not think I have wished for anything more, though circumstances were not exactly in our favour were they?"

Eleanor sighed a little. He was right, circumstances hadn't been in their favour. They had been forced together in a time of war when they already resented one another and each of their families were in shreds.

"We were sixteen" she murmured thoughtfully "and while we thought ourselves so grown up, so worldly, so high above the children that played at our feet....we were still children ourselves" Richard slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard and letting Eleanor lay her head on his chest. They had been children. Just sixteen. But sixteen in a world where at that age they were considered adults even if they weren't.

"What do you think went wrong?" He asked and she raised her eyebrows, listing the things in her head that had gone wrong at the beginning of their union.

"Well...." she sighed at last, looking up into his face "you had Kate and I remember thinking that all the gold in Christendom would not convince me to like you!" Richard nodded "We never gave each other a chance" she murmured and be gently kissed her forehead as he shook his head in agreement.

"No, we never did. I don't think we wanted to at first!" Eleanor nodded at that "We acted like children would for children we were and had responsibilities placed on our shoulders that should not have been there yet they were"

"We were immature" she said slowly "immature and stubborn and that led to us doing things that we both regret"
"What do you regret?"

"My stubbornness" she admitted, smiling slightly as she cuddled a little closer to Richard, taking comfort in the warmth of his body beside hers.
They had always preferred to avoid conversations that discussed their early marriage, especially in the more recent years but now, still in the afterglow of their lovemaking and free of their duties as King and Queen for a while, they found the words came easily to their lips.

They knew there would be no anger, no reproaches from either of them and were safe with their admissions without the fear of argument "I did not want to like you, my mind was determined not to at first. I have never liked being forced into things and our marriage was so life changing that I could do nothing but rebel against it....I regret my pettiness too, I remember I could twist your words into my own creation just to start an argument.... and you? What do you regret?"

Richard looked up at the canopy of their bed for the moment, thinking before he spoke. He still found it strange that they now resided in the Queens rooms and not the ones they had kept at court for over a decade. They did not feel like their own as if they were intruding in some way.

The King's rooms still lay untouched and had done since Edward had died. Richard felt no need to use them for he wanted to stay with Eleanor and couldn't bear the thought of sleeping in separate chambers from her and she didn't want to away from him either. He knew some of the courtiers thought it odd or a sign of weakness on his part but he didn't care.

He had never allowed for the other nobles to dictate his actions and just because he was now King wouldn't mean that would change.

"My coldness" he said at last "I practically ignored your existence for the first months of our marriage simply because I didn't want to think about it! And when Jaquetta died I was so distant, so unfeeling towards you when what you needed was love and comfort!" A deep frown came across his face as he hesitated slightly and held Eleanor a little tighter to him "And then.... then that I ever even thought to raise and hand against you, let alone go through with it! That has always been something I have regretted and I always will, I would give anything to take it back" Eleanor shuffled up the bed a little, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"You know I forgave you for that many many years ago, my love, and the fault wasn't entirely yours, I provoked you. Jesus, I threaten to drown Kit and Johnny in a river!" Her eyes widened as she remembered the words of poison she had uttered in her anger and shook her head "If anyone threatened our children I wouldn't just hit them! I'd burn them alive!"

"That doesn't make my actions right...and I'm sorry for them"
"I'm sorry too....there's something that's always made me curious"

Richard arched an eyebrow, the corners of his lips quirking upwards into a curious smile that Eleanor returned.
"Oh?" He asked "And what might that be my darling?"
"What did you think of me before our marriage? You knew I existed that's certain but did you ever think of me after we first met?"

Richard laughed a little, looking up at the canopy again while Eleanor played with his hair, weaving her fingers through his black curls while she waited for her answer.

"Not much I suppose" he murmured "but I remember thinking of you as 'the red headed one' and for a time. The red headed one that stole my brothers title" Eleanor sat up, amused.
"Stole?" She echoed with a grin "I think you'll find Edward gave it to me!"
"I know I know!" He conceded "And I don't dislike you for it now but I remember for a time after you had it I did. I thought that we should have left Edmunds title alone..."

Eleanor nodded, understanding what he meant. His elder brother had been murdered at the hands of the Lancastrians just a few years before and then his title had been simply extended to a relation of the new Queen, one of the many many Woodvilles. To him, she thought, it must have seemed as if Edward cared little for their dead brother's honour.

"And then I came along with the rest of my family brood and snatched it away from you?" "Well" he sighed "yes I suppose, that was how I saw it. Your family swept in and turned everything topsy turvy" she nodded again. His words were true.
"I suppose I can't deny that and you thought of me as the red headed one?"

"Aye!" Richard chuckled "For you were the only one of your sisters to have red hair! I couldn't be bothered to learn all of your names because I didn't like your family, so that was how I remembered you! The thieving ginger!" Eleanor snorted a little at that "And George had a nickname for you....little scarlet or firework or something similar....little fox! That was it!" Her eyes widened a little, her heart lighting up with happiness and twisting a little with pain simultaneously as she thought of George.

"George used to call me little fox?" She exclaimed, finding she wasn't even surprised at the revelation. Nicknames had been second nature to George, he could come up with them in a trice and once he had assigned one they stuck!

"He did!" Richard laughed "Although I take it, never to your face? Now what did you think of me before our marriage?"

"Oh Lord, brace yourself" Eleanor said, raising her eyebrows as he did the same "I'm not about to flatter you! I remember thinking you serious and dull and rather resentful of me. You used to sit at the side of feasts preferring to slice up fruit with your dagger, brooding, instead of dancing like a miserable little boy! If anything I found you rather irritating!"

"Ah I cannot escape dancing now!" He teased and she shook her head, kissing him again.
"Not as long as I am your wife!" She declared before she tilted her head at the pensive look that came to settle on Richard's face "what is it?"

"Do you....do you think that if we were not flung at each other's heads as we were then we would be as we are now? Married and in love?" He asked and Eleanor felt her heart pang with pain again as she shook her head.

"No" she admitted "it wrenches my heart to say it but I don't think so. You would have most likely married Anne and I....well my Mother would have found a match for me. I think we may have grown to be friends after a while but I don't think love would have blossomed between us at all" Richard nodded, gently tracing her jaw with a finger, eyes lovingly studying her face before he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well" he said, his smile returning "perhaps thats one reason to be grateful for our siblings lunatic plan then!" Eleanor laughed, nodding as she settled her head on his shoulder.

"Exactly! And now adults we are, no longer those immature children full of stubbornness, we love one another, do we not?" She felt his hands on her waist, gently moving her to straddle him.

"I will admit it" he murmured, hands gently exploring her body "I did not mean to love you....but I do. I never thought that it would be possible to love as much as I love you, Eleanor" He felt his heart swell as she smiled and a slight blush coloured her cheeks.

"Nor did I" she admitted.
"What, to love yourself?" He teased and she laughed, tossing back her head while Richard grinned at her.
"No, you silly goose" she giggled "to love you!"

꧁꧂

Eleanor nodded to Richard as he rose from his throne, hands clasped behind his back as he strode forward to address the three men that were knelt before the dais. Looking to the side she was glad to see their eldest son (nine year old George who had been deemed ready to attend the ceremony) was watching with the greatest attention.

While he could usually be distracted from his studies with minimal effort, George always strove to impress his parents and glean whatever knowledge he could from what they did. Even at such a young age he understood his parents new position and his own too and was determined to make them proud!

That day his Father was giving out yet more positions to his trusted men to make his rule and the realm more secure. George couldn't think of a time where title giving wasn't a part of his parent's day since they had been crowned. There was so much to do! So many to replace, so many to elevate to higher positions, so many to please! Jack had already been created Duke of Norfolk!

He knew two of the men knelt before their King. He grinned at Harry, who winked at him before bowing his head once more and nodded to Robert Brackenbury, who returned the gesture, but the third man he hardly knew at all.

Eleanor eyed Stanley with as little outward suspicion as she could, though her mind was flooded with it. Why Richard had chosen for him to be honoured as he was to be today, she could not say.

Well, she could, he had told her that by showering Stanley with titles and land he would have a motive to stay loyal to them but Eleanor did not agree. Sighing a little, she toyed with the deep blue silk of her gown and the band of cloth of gold around the cuff of her sleeve; ran a finger along the pearls and sapphires that created her necklace.

Ever since she had become Queen her garments had become grander than ever before (that was one of the things she did like about her new position)! She had always had a taste for fine things, she admitted, it was a trait that seemed to run in her family, but now she was truly free to be as extravagant as she liked and took joy in indulging herself and the people she loved in this.

Even that day, George was donning the new burgundy, velvet and silk doublet he had requested but two weeks earlier. He wore it proudly and was careful not to mar any of the silver wolves that were embroidered upon it. The wolf shall be my emblem he had told Richard proudly when he had appeared that morning and had near blushed when his Father had declared his approval and patted him on the back as he did his friends.

He was much like Richard, Eleanor noted as she gazed lovingly at her eldest son. Over the years his dark brown hair (which he was toying with a lock of) had darkened further to black and with his deep blue eyes he was practically a miniature of his the King! He even mirrored his expressions, the sudden attention and concentration in his face a mirror image of Richard's as he now spoke.

"My affinity, my kin, my loyal men at arms" he began, his voice deep and clear as it rang throughout the great hall, the walls of which were lined with his banners possessing the white boar, one that now held a crown on its head "I am the rightful King, you are the guardians of my Kingdom, the men whom I rely on!"

He stepped forward and one by one they offered their hands to him as if in prayer and he clasped them in his own form grip before placing the glimmering chains of office on their shoulders.

"Sir Robert Brackenbury now Constable of the Tower"

Eleanor nodded her approval from her throne. Sir Robert was a man she trusted and with three of her nephews within the Tower walls and a brother executed there upon the orders of an unknown, she knew he could keep them all safe.

"Henry, though Harry to me and to us all, Stafford, Duke of Buckingham and brother in law to my beloved Queen, in place of William Hastings I make you Lord Chamberlain of England"

As Harry looked up, catching her eye, she smiled at him. 'He shall do well' she thought for he had always been rather shunned by Edward in terms of duties. Now he would have a chance to prove himself to the people of England. And it would be good for his family of course!

"Lord Thomas Stanley, Lord High Constable of England"

George looked at her and she glanced to him, nodding her reassurance for the confusion was written clear on her young son's face. She knew he was wondering why this man deserved such a high office but she could not explain to him now.

"And in place of Anthony Rivers, the Order of the Garter"

Eleanor felt her gut cringe and closed her eyes for a moment, her jaw slightly clenching as she fought back her anger. She and Richard had fought over the claimant of this position many days ago and it had ended with her almost throwing a candlestick at him! To think that her dead brother's position was to be given to Stanley was almost too much for her to bear. But at that moment, she stayed silent.

'Is this how Richard's felt when I was made Countess of Rutland?' She wondered in an effort to distract herself.

"I swear my fealty to God and to King Richard!" The three knelt men cried, crossing themselves before they placed their hands to their hearts and then looked up, expecting a dismissal. But Richard lingered.

"Now" he said "before you go I would have you swear your loyalty to the Queen too for as I am she is also your sovereign and you should be as true to her as she is true to me" Eleanor's gaze shot to him and she felt her eyes widen in surprise along with the rest that filled the room, soldiers, her ladies and other courtiers who were gathered at the far end of the hall.

This was certainly a first! For nobles to swear fealty to their King was expected but for them to swear fealty to their Queen too! Why, it had never been done! Richard turned to her, extending a hand and Eleanor dutifully rose from her throne, the proud smile of her son following her as she took the King's hand.

"I would have you all swear it! And I shall have all else in the land swear it too!" He declared and a few hushed murmurs flew through the hall before the rustle of silk and velvet filled it as all present knelt and covered their hearts with their hands.

"I hear by swear fealty to Queen Eleanor!" They cried at the tops of their voices and Richard nodded in approval while Eleanor watched in mere astonishment before a sense of power flooded through her and she smiled, holding her head high.

꧁꧂

"You did not need to do that, my love" she said as they walked from the hall, their entourage in tow.

"I think I did and I think it was long overdue!" Richard returned, taking her hand and tucking it affectionately into the crook of his elbow as they walked "it has been something troubling me since my first days on the throne! And after hearing nobles swear fealty to only me day after day I decided something must be done! Now, come to think of it, I will have the banners replaced with ones that hold both our sigils as they always have"

"But why?"
"Because we ruled the North as equals, Leena, I do not see why that has to change simply because we now rule the country"

Eleanor smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"The nobles will not like it" she mused for it was true. There may be objections, after all, the men of the country were not used to swearing their loyalty to a woman! Richard was determined to make them be or face his wrath.

"The nobles do not matter in this" he replied steadily before a playful grin lit his face and he looked down at her "I am their Lord and King, I shall tell them what they do and don't like!"