~Cat~

December 1483, Westminster....

"Richard!" Eleanor squealed as a snowball hit her shoulder, cold flecks of snow landing and melting on her face.

"Got you!" Richard called from where he had retreated to the other side of the courtyard at Middleham Castle. It was Eleanor's first Christmas at Middleham, the year of 1472 and Richard had done everything to ensure her comfort and happiness. He had every fire in the castle lit, cloaks lined with fur brought from the finest tailors in the country for her.

She giggled to herself as she remembered the night he had stumbled into their chambers, his arms full of furs.
"For you, my lady" he had announced, throwing them onto the bed and covering her from head to toe.

Grinning at the memory, Eleanor ducked as another snowball was hurled her way and she looked up in triumph as she dodged it, winking at Richard and sending him into peals of laughter. Gathering up her own snowball into her hands she ran across the courtyard, trying not to slip on the icy cobble stones and threw it.

She jumped up and down in joy as it hit Richard in the back of the head, making him exclaim in surprise while she laughed, a laugh that turned into a squeal as he spun around and began to chase her. Around and around the courtyard he they went, stumbling over piles of snow little Bess had built with the help of Jack and sliding over puddles of ice.

"Dickon!" Eleanor cried with a laugh as she finally slipped and grasped his hand, glad he had been about to catch her as she fell down and he did too with a shout of surprise.

"You little minx" he whispered in her ear as she quickly rolled over, so that she was lying on top of him, and kissed him fully on the mouth.
"I am a little minx" she laughed "your minx and glad to be so!" Richard grinned and pulled her back for another kiss that she smiled into.

"Let's go inside" he murmured as he stumbled to his feet and lifted her into his arms, letting her wrap her legs around his waist "You're shivering"
"Then you had better find a way to make me warm" she replied with a smirk and he arched an eyebrow.
"Oh I think I have a few ideas, sweetheart"

"And so, the former Duchess of Buckingham, now Lady Catherine Stafford has been brought to London" Eleanor looked up, her daydream broken as Robert Brackenbury spoke. It was Christmas Eve yet Richard's most trusted nobles and her were gathered in the council chamber, yet again discussing the rebellion.

But this was the first time he had heard of her sister!

"My sister?" She asked "what about her?" All eyes turned to her and Richard smiled a little, taking her hand.
"Have you not been listening?" He asked and she sighed, looking around all the men at the table with a small smile.

"Forgive me, my Lords" she said, finally managing to compose herself a little more "the baby tires me sometimes" they all glanced at one another, knowing looks on their faces and she knew she had provided a plausible excuse; put her hand to her belly to emphasise.

"Would you like to retire?" Stanley asked and Eleanor's eyes snapped to his. She plastered a sickly smile on her face and shook her head.
"No" she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes "I would like to hear what Sir Robert has to say" she turned to the man mentioned and her expression returned to normal. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rob and Francis smirk at one another "what is this about my sister, Sir Robert?"

"She is in London" Brackenbury explained and the attention in the room returned to him "she was captured just outside of Gloucestershire. It seems she was waiting near the Welsh border to join her husband with her children" he paused, waited for Eleanor to nod before he continued. She did "her three youngest children have been separated from her and have been placed in Bermondsey Abbey. The Lady Catherine herself and her eldest son, Edward, are now in the Tower"

"With my sister Elizabeth and my nephews?" Eleanor exclaimed with a frown. The nobles exchanged looks and Richard held up and hand, a simple gesture that demanded the attention that flicked to him in and instant.

"I think that that is enough for today" he announced, rising from his throne and the men at the table practically jumped to their feet in order to stay in step with their King "we shall reconvene after the Christmas celebrations. You are dismissed"

Eleanor watched in silence as the men slowly left the room and shut the door behind them before she turned to Richard once more and waited for an explanation. He shrugged a little as he sat back down on his throne.

"What did you expect me to do?" He asked "the nobles were dissatisfied by not getting the justice they wanted in Harry's death and I will not ask you what happened that night as I have not done for the past month. I don't want to know. But I had to give them something!"

"So you decided to incarcerate a woman and her child?" Eleanor cried. He sighed, taking her hand again.
"I'm not going to harm them. Catherine in an innocent in this as far as we know but I had to make a show of it for the nobles benefit. And if you are wondering why I separated the rest of the children from her it's because I was not about to put more little children in that God forsaken place! Are you happy with that?"

Eleanor said nothing, only watched Richard before she slowly began to nod and brought his hand to her lips, kissing it gently.
"May I see her?" She asked quietly and he immediately nodded, offering her a small smile.

"Of course" he said "but we must be quiet about it or they will think you partook in the plot somehow"

꧁꧂

They used the cover of darkness and the connection of Robert Brackenbury to move Eleanor to the Tower without a word about it spoken among the nobles but as she was conducted through the gates, she wondered if it had been a good idea at all.

It was not the cold of that chilling December night that made her shiver beneath her cloak but the looming Towers that overshadowed her and made her think of the people inside. Or the people that had been inside.

George
Anthony
Edward
Richard
Richard Grey
Elizabeth
Catherine
Her son

Jesus Christ it would seem to the outside world that she intended to incarcerate her entire family in that dark place! Her brother had been executed there! Did the boys fear the same fate? Did Elizabeth? Did Catherine? 'No' she told herself firmly, Cat would not think that of her. She would know better.

Sir Robert smiled at her reassuringly as he lead her through the torchlit halls and up winding staircases until they at last came to a door.
"Your sister and her son are in there" he explained "if you need to come out at any time just knock"

Eleanor nodded and took a deep breath as Robert turned the heavy iron key to the cell in the lock and pushed the door open. Nodding to herself, she stepped inside and her eyes widened as she looked around the small chamber. The door shut behind her.

It was nowhere near as worse as Harry's cell had been but still, for a Duchess (although Catherine was no longer that) who had committed no crime it was sparse.

The walls were bare of tapestries and several small candles were the only givers of light. The two windows were locked and bolted securely and a single bed lay in one corner, though it was laid with heavy blankets.

Under the woollen blankets lay a boy asleep with golden hair that had not yet darkened like his Father's had. His Mother sat in front of the small and empty dressing table, her reflection barely visible in the dusty mirror hung loosely on the wall.

Catherine Woodville had changed a vast deal since the last time Eleanor had seen her. At twenty five, gone was the giggling golden haired girl that floated around palaces and castles in the finest of jewels and silks. Her lovely face seemed careworn and her eyes were tired, held dark circles underneath them. She wore a simple black dress and left her hair loose, without a headdress or circlet. It fell limp to her waist.

No jewels adorned her neck or fingers, they were bare. She did not appear the glittering Duchess she had always prided herself in being at all. Now she was only the wife of a traitor, without lands, money or titles and separated from all of her children but one.

Catherine seemed in a trance at that moment, simply staring at the wall opposite her, and did not register Eleanor's presence until the Queen put a hand gently on her arm. Suddenly, blue eyes met green and they both filled with tears as a small sob escaped Catherine's throat and she rose from her chair, wrapping her arms around her sister.

"Sister" she wept against her shoulder as she felt Eleanor return her hug, holding her tightly "you have come to me!"
"Of course I did" she replied "of course I did, Cat" the blonde haired woman pulled away, leaning on the dressing table and trying to control the shaking that filled her breaths.

"I was afraid you had abandoned me" she sniffed, wiping at the tears that ran down her face "and that my son and I would be left here to rot!" Eleanor shook her head, walking forward and taking her sister's hands in hers.
"How can you believe that?" She asked, being careful not to wake the boy that lay sleeping a few feet away "you're my sister!"

"Elizabeth is our sister!" Cat returned "and you have locked her in here too!"
"Because she was plotting against me! You were not! Harry was!" At his name, Catherine's face suddenly crumpled and she began to cry again, looking towards the sleeping figure of her son.

"He's gone" she whispered fretfully "and we are all left alone! We are destitute Leena!" Looking up, he caught the look on her sister's face and slowly shook her head "I didn't love him if that is what you are thinking!"

"Then what?" Eleanor asked "I know you, Cat, you would not cry for one you hated! Unless you simply cry for the fates of your children? I thought you found happiness with Harry?"

"And I did!" Catherine cried, throwing her hands up in the air and turning away, staring at herself in the dusty mirror "but it was not love" she said, her voice softer "as time went on we began to realise that we truly were stuck with one another and realised....there was no point in forcing ourselves to be miserable!" She sighed to herself a little and shook her head again "I was seventeen when we finally found pleasure in one another's bodies. That was where our happiness lay, in the pleasure we could bring one another. I still remember the smile he used when he wanted to bed me clear as day. He could send me it from across a great hall and I would know exactly what he wanted and I wanted it too....and then the children came and with the children came a certain level of affection. He would call me Cate and I would call him Hal. But is was never love, Leena. We were never in love"

Eleanor nodded as her sister came to and end and looked at her in the mirror, their eyes meeting once again.
"You will not stay here for long" she said determinedly "of that I will make sure" Catherine turned to look at her, her expression brightening a little with hope.

"Really?" She asked, tilting her head "you would do that for me?"
"You are my sister, Catherine, I will not allow for you and your children to be left destitute. I cannot raise you to the level you are used to but...." she stopped as Cat suddenly pulled her into another embrace and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, sister" she whispered "thank you"
"Get some sleep" Eleanor murmured as she drew back wiping away her sisters tears with the handkerchief she drew from her sleeve and smiled a little "and I will send someone for you soon"

Turning away, she knocked twice on the door and smiled over her shoulder one last time at her sister as she left the cell, a little happier than before. She could save her sister, she could restore her to a good life! She could....

Eleanor stopped in her tracks, a sudden chill flooding her body, making her shiver and her breath catch in her throat. Staring straight at her from a little window in the door of the cell opposite were a pair of green eyes. Piercing green eyes like those of a dragon.

Elizabeth's eyes.

They held Eleanor captive in their gaze so that she was unable to speak, unable to move, unable to break the frosty stare that was full of hatred.
"Traitor" the word was barely a whisper but Eleanor heard it loud and clear before the window in the door was slammed shut and she felt Sir Robert's hand on her arm.

"Pay your sister no mind" he said gently "she means to frighten you but you mustn't let her"
"I won't and never will" Eleanor replied firmly "I am the Queen of England. She cannot frighten me. I am no longer a little girl she can scare into submission, Brackenbury"