~Sister~

January 1484, Westminster....

Eleanor smiled encouragingly at her sister as she walked towards the dais at the far end of the great hall, where the King and Queen sat on their thrones, their friends on either side.

Catherine took slow, steady breaths as she walked, focusing on the steady tap of her shoes on the stone floor rather than the piercing eyes of the court that looked at her with a degree of disgust. She knew they viewed her as nothing but a widow of a traitor and that she was a Woodville made it all the worse!

That was something Eleanor was now thoroughly safe from. She was no longer a Woodville to the court and the nobility; had successfully made her way into the Plantagenet family and was considered a York by almost all in the country! First she had won the love of the people with her generosity and spirit then she had won the nobles when she stood against Elizabeth.

And now she was their Queen. A Queen that was just and fair, unlike the vindictive one before her and who made friends with the old nobility instead of trying to force them into the gutter!

Yes, Eleanor of York was safe.

CatherineWoodville was not.

The nobility had always resented her marriage to Harry and now that he had died a traitor she was the object of their scorn and dislike. Earlier that week Eleanor had come to her with an offer she could not refuse. She would be proclaimed Countess of Kent and would have the lands to go with that title; would not be left a penniless widow.

The only condition was that her children were to live in the country on her lands while she stayed in London as one of the Queen's Ladies. It seemed Richard wanted to keep an eye on her, still stung by her husband's betrayal and didn't want for her to follow the same path.

That morning she had said goodbye to her son in a river of tears, but now, walking towards the King and Queen at Westminster Palace, she felt a little more like herself.

Her hair was arranged in an intricate braid that was coiled at the back of her head and had small gems woven into it. Her gown had been one Eleanor had lent to her and had fitted, a light green damask with a golden girdle around her waist. And, her favourite, she had a necklace of emeralds and rings on her fingers as she had always done!

As Catherine finally came to a stop, she found her hands curling into the silk of her gown as she curtsied; legs trembling a little. She dared to glance up, as she stayed in her curtesy that almost had her kneeling on the floor. While Eleanor smiled at her a little, her eyes warm and encouraging, Richard's were cold and his face almost unreadable.

It was almost as if he was assessing her as his gaze swept her from head to toe, seemingly searching for the treason that had engulfed her husband. His Mother, Duchess Cecily, was the same only she viewed Catherine with a clear dislike and had one bejewelled hand placed protectively on her son's throne.

When Richard found himself satisfied that the blonde woman before him wasn't going to try and assassinate him there and then, he tilted his chin up and relaxed into his throne a little more.
"Rise" he commanded, his voice rather sharp and Eleanor glanced at him with a look that told him to be nice. He arched an eyebrow at her.

'Is this how Anne Neville felt?' Catherine wondered as she stood up straight and stole a glance at the honey haired woman that stood beside the Queen's throne. She remembered when Anne had had to stand before King Edward and proclaim her innocence as she had to do now, casting her eyes to the floor as King Richard stood and approached her.

"Do you swear to me that you had no part in your dead husband's treason?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a little. She did not have the strength to meet his gaze again, worried that in a second assessment he would find her guilty or lacking in some way. So she nodded and kept her eyes on the skirt of her gown.

"I do, your grace" she answered.
"And do you also swear fealty to myself and the Queen for as long as you may live?"
At that Catherine slowly knelt before the dais, placing her hand over her heart. She knew after this moment that she would be expected to forget about her husband and if he was ever spoken of she would be expected to act ashamed of him, even speak ill of him.

'Why did you have to be so reckless, Hal?' She cried in her mind, yearning for the answer she knew she would never have.
"I swear fealty to God, to King Richard and to Queen Eleanor" she proclaimed clearly and the King gave her a satisfied nod. It was done.

꧁꧂

"Thank you for today" Eleanor said as she entered the Queen's chambers that night and poured herself a drink of watered down wine. "Cat is beside herself with happiness! Though she still yearns for her children" Richard pushed himself up on his elbows from where he was lying on their bed and smiled a little.

"As a matter of fact I've been thinking about the other sister of yours in the Tower" Eleanor groaned.
"What about her?"
"I think it's time we set her free"
"You think what?!" Her eyes were as wide as saucers in an instant and for a moment she had thought she had misheard her husband. Set Elizabeth free? It was madness!

"I've had a letter from her" he explained "and to me her spirit seems rather broken...."
"Elizabeth's spirit is indestructible, believe me" Eleanor interrupted, taking short sips from her goblet and placing a hand on her hip.
"All she wants is to live in peace now!"
"All she wants is to trap us again!"

Richard sighed and flopped back onto the pillows, staring up at the canopy of the bed.
"She would be under house arrest" he said, almost grinning at the irritated noise Eleanor made before she went to sit by the fire "she would simply go back to Grafton with her daughters"

"Are you quite ill?" She called, looking over to the bed as he sat up again and folded his arms.
"She wouldn't dare to try anything" he said "not after her last rebellion failed. We have her sons. We took her daughters from her and we can do so again if we please!"

"May I remind you that as soon as we were in the North she did try something? We had her boys and she tried to set them free which is the very reason we put her in the Tower in the first place!" She shook her head, tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair "she cannot her trusted"

"I know that!" Richard returned "but she will not have the resources to move against us!"
"She will always have the resources to move against us!" Eleanor cried, placing her hands on her swelled belly out of pure instinct "She's a goddamn witch!"
"So are you" he pointed out and then she looked at him as if he were truly mad.

"Yes but I wouldn't curse you, would I?" She hissed through gritted teeth "And I wouldn't curse our children either! Although I will admit if she was going to go down that route I think she would have done it by now!" Richard nodded in agreement.
"I think so too....which is why I will be sending her back to Grafton! She will be under guard all of the time and will not be allowed to leave the grounds!"

"Suit yourself" Eleanor mumbled "but if you are doing that then I am going to be the one escorting her and her daughters there" she held up a hand when Richard began to protest "you either let me go or she stays in the Tower, Richard, it's your choice"

"I could always simply keep you here?" He said and she scoffed.
"I'd like to see you try, sweetheart"

꧁꧂

February 1484....

There was a stone cold silence among the party that rode to Grafton that month. Eleanor and Elizabeth had not spoken a word since the Queen had collected her sister from the Tower a day prior; neither had wanted too.

Elizabeth's daughters had been collected from Leeds Castle and they had met the royal party on the road, momentarily bringing light and laughter upon the journey. Lizzie had been a whirling cloud of excitement and smiles, embracing her Mother and then hugging her Aunt (something that had surprised Eleanor beyond belief) with all her might.

Cecily and the little ones had done the same but after all had regained their horses, the same deathly silence had fallen again. Even the youngest quietened to small sighs.

As the day moved on and the sun rose high in the sky before slowly descending and turning close to evening, everyone (apart from Elizabeth who was set on appearing haughty) seemed to be bored almost to sobs. Hearing another heavy sigh from the eighteen year old redhead behind her, Eleanor looked over her shoulder with a grin, her fingers placing with the hilt of the dagger Richard had given her that morning.

Just in case Elizabeth tried anything.

Looking to her Mother and then back to her Aunt, Lizzie rolled her eyes comically, making her Aunt and sister's smirk, Eleanor being tempted to laugh.
"Are we there yet?" Little Bridget (the youngest of the Yorks) asked but she received no answer as her Mother and Aunt had stopped their horses and were staring with a mix of happiness and nostalgia in their identical eyes at their home.

Grafton Manor.

"We are home, Leena" Elizabeth whispered softly as she slipped from her saddle and onto the stone walkway that led up to the Manor doors. Eleanor followed suit and together they walked towards their old home, horses obediently walking behind them.

'It's the same' Eleanor thought as tears filled her eyes and she sniffed a little, her senses ignited by the familiar smell of a wood fire 'it's just the same!'

The same red tiled roofs, the same stone towers, the same oak doors that Elizabeth had walked out of almost twenty years ago. Nineteen years Eleanor had been away and she felt her tears spill as she thought of it. Nineteen years since she had first gone to court in her first ever green gown with her adored hanging sleeves.

She had met George that day, he had helped her from her saddle and called her pretty. She almost giggled at the thought.

Almost two decades had passed since then and by God how much had happened in those two decades! She had gone from being the daughter of a Baron to the sister of the Queen to a Royal Duchess, a wife who had gone from hating to loving her husband, the mother of twelve (soon to be thirteen) children and now she was Queen.

"What would I have thought if someone had told me I would rise so high when I was still a girl galavanting around these lands with ribbons in my hair?" She wondered aloud, though quietly.

"You would have called them a fool then challenged them to a duel" a voice replied and Eleanor turned to see Elizabeth staring at her, a faint smile on her lips "and Mother would be called out to stop you!"

As they entered Grafton, the found it as unchanged as the exterior. The great hall still had its trestle tables and large shutters Eleanor remembered swinging on to get to the ledge just big enough for her to perch on when she had been around six, all of the other rooms were the same too. And it brought back memories from long ago.

All of a sudden she could hear her Mother calling her in from the gardens for supper, she could see herself sneaking out of the back door for a shooting lesson with her older brothers. She could see Bella and herself sneaking down the stairs to watch as Elizabeth spoke to King Edward. Oh, how Eleanor missed those days of innocent excitement and fantasy.

As she mounted the steps to her old room, she felt herself begin to truly smile, a smile that widened as she entered into the long attic that used to house all of the Woodville girls. Their beds were still there, their blankets upon them, their coffers at the ends. Eleanor could hear her sister's squeals as they ran about and played together, grinning while she walked over to her bed and looked on it with a sigh.

"We used to sleep there" Elizabeth said from behind as she came to stand by her sister who nodded, her smile faltering a little "you would be curled up beside me under the blankets and I would tell you stories before you went to sleep" she shook her head a little "we were so close then, Leena"

"We were" Eleanor whispered, staring at the empty bed that served as a tomb for their memories laid to rest long ago "I looked up you, you know. In those days I would have done anything for you and would have done for a long time after. You were my idol. That's one of the reasons I followed you to the oak tree that day, other than curiosity. Where you went I would follow. Blindly so"

She let out a hiss as a stab of pain suddenly ripped through her belly, forcing her to lean on the end of her bed as she clenched her jaw. Immediately Elizabeth's hands were on her waist, helping her to stay upright.
"Lizzie!" Eleanor cried "my baby! It's coming!"

"Girls!" Elizabeth yelled down the stairs as she nodded and removed her sister's cloak before beginning to untie her gown "Lizzie, Cecily, come quickly! Leena is going into labour!"