~Trapped~

As darkness fell the next day the Countess lay on her bed for she could not stop Elizabeth's words from spinning around in her head 'we must see you married'.

Even after over a month of being legally engaged to the Duke of Gloucester by royal decree, she could still not wrap her head around the fact that the wedding may actually happen, that she, Eleanor Woodville would no longer be a free woman by the time the new year came to pass.

Instead she would be the Duchess of Gloucester. Powerful? Yes. Respected? Yes.
But stuck in a loveless marriage which she would have to put up with until the end of her days unless the Duke died before her which Eleanor thought was rather a hopeful prospect! Still that did not stop her from trying to escape.

She had pleaded, she had begged and wept, even writing a letter to the king, trying to get the marriage plans dissolved but neither he nor the Queen would budge in their decisions and Eleanor knew that she was trapped.

At that moment she wished she had not sent her maids away for they were her friends, her closest friends in truth and she felt desperately lonely. They could always make her laugh, always raise her spirits, but then again, if she had not sent them back to their home she would have been putting their very lives in danger for selfish reasons of her own.

She sighed.

Turning onto her side, she tried to imagine what it would be like to share a bed with her husband. 'Husband' she thought 'will that ever not sound strange?'

She attempted to envision the Duke by her side, his shoulder length, jet black curls spread out on the pillow beside her....but she could not. All she saw what the white case that covered the linen stuffed with feathers and this made her sigh again, rolling back over onto her back. In all honesty, she did not know if she and Richard would even share a bed. It was well known that Eleanor hated to be alone during nights, always sought a companion in case she had a bad dream or simply needed someones presence to comfort her.

But would it be the same once she was married? Or would she be subjected to miserable solitude?

During her stay at the tower Elizabeth had said she would keep her company but her sister knew that the Queen would hardly ever come to bed as she preferred to stay in the chapel and pray for the King and for Parliament to vote against George's usurpation of his older brother. 

Because of this, Eleanor resolved to try and face her fear of being alone during the dark but that didn't exactly reach very far as the previous night (once she had come in from the riverbank) she has lit all the candles in sight and simply become lost in thought until dawn, contemplating her actions.

"Eleanor! Eleanor! Eleanor!" A voice cried before Bella threw open the door and rushed into the bedchamber quickly followed by Elizabeth who was holding a letter and a look of despair on her face "Eleanor you have to help me!" Bella yelled as she shut the door and sat down on the bed, clutching her little sister's hands.

"What is it?" Eleanor asked, frowning as tears began to streak Bella's cheeks.
"I-I am to be married" she whispered.
"Married?! Married to who?"

"Lorenzo de Medici" Elizabeth answered slowly, watching as the Countesses' expression turned to one of anguish "Isabella is to go to Italy tonight"

"No!" Eleanor cried, shaking her head fervently as she clutched at Bella's hand "no, Lizzie....we can't be parted! My marriage....I can't do this without her! Please, sister...."

"I'm sorry" the Queen whispered, holding out the letter before Eleanor snatched it from her grip, reading it as quick as her eyes would allow.

A stifled sob escaped her lips and she clapped a hand to her mouth as she rushed from the bed and threw the paper to the flames of her bedroom fire.

"Edward" she seethed, clenching her fists "does Edward intend to make my life miserable?! First he makes me marry his brother and now he intends to take Bella away from me! To Italy! I'll never see her again"

"I can't bear it" Bella groaned from the bed as she put a hand to her belly, sparking an idea in her younger sister's mind.

"What about the baby?!" She cried "what will happen when she arrives in Italy eight months pregnant?! Surely he will send her back to us?"
"The baby will be born in France" Elizabeth said "and once it is it shall be sent back to England and put into a convent under my care. No one will know but you, I, Bella and Mother. From France, Bella will go to Italy and will never speak of any of this to Lorenzo...."

"You expect me to abandon my child? Leave and forget about them as if they had never existed?!" Bella yelled, weeping harder "I can't do it, Lizzie! You know I can't!"

"You must" the Queen replied "Edward has ordered it and it is the only way forward!"
"Oh damn Edward!" Eleanor cried "damn him and his plans which are tearing us apart....we are sisters! And look at us!"

As soon as the words had left her lips, Eleanor watched as Elizabeth stood and left the room before she rushed to the bed "you can't leave, Bella" she sobbed "not now....not yet, I cant lose you....I need you by my side and I must take care of you, take care of the baby....I won't let this happen"

"I am to sail for Italy tonight" Bella whispered "so that Warwick cannot hear of the plan and stop me....apparently the King hopes for the allegiance of the Medici's in Lorenzo marrying me, for soldiers or money if he needs it....I can't do it, Leena!"
"I won't let you leave! I won't let you, Bella!" Eleanor cried "you can't....we can't be parted... what if we never see each other again! I cant bear it...."

"Nor can I...."

꧁꧂

Eleanor pushed back her tears as she lifted a small coffer into the rowing boat which was to take Bella to the ship to Italy; was to take Bella away from her....forever.

Elizabeth put a hand on her shoulder but she pulled away, walking to her other sister who was clinging to their mother, tears in her soft brown eyes that were once happy, now glistened with despair.

When she saw Eleanor she smiled a little before pulling away from Jacquetta and embracing the Countess.
"I will write to you" she promised "and I will hope that you write back..."
"Of course I will" Eleanor whispered "nothing would bring me more happiness....and I want you to know, Bella, that I will look after your child.... Elizabeth may say that they will be in her care but I swear to you that as soon as it is possible I will take them into mine....I will tell them of you each day...."

"Thank you, Leena" Bella murmured, kissing her cheek "I know that I can always depend on you"
"Always" she replied with a smile.

"Bella" Elizabeth called softly, clutching at the grey silk of her gown "it's time" The twenty year old nodded and tried to smile at her sisters and mother before she took the hand of the man in the boat and lifted the hem of her gown to step down.

"Do not forget me" she pleaded as she pulled the hood of her cloak over her face despite the warmth in the air.

"How could we ever do that?" Eleanor said as the little boat pushed away from shore and began to disappear into the night.
"Oh my baby" Jacquetta wept, pressing a handkerchief to her mouth before she fled inside.

"And now Bella is gone it's time for me to be offered up as a sacrificial bull for Edward" Eleanor murmured as she crossed her arms, trying not to sob as Bella disappeared from sight.
"You may find happiness, Leena?" Elizabeth offered but the younger woman only scoffed.

"As if that's possible" she sniffed "I know I may sound rather belligerent going into this arrangement with no hope and no real inclination to try....but if I was to be happy, surely I would have had a seeing? Or you or mother? For all I can see is misery"

"And you blame Edward for it?"
"Who else would I lay the blame on if not the person who put me in this position in the first place?"

꧁꧂

Four days later....

"What is is?" Eleanor asked as she lifted her gown to make it up the stone steps to the ramparts where Elizabeth was standing, having called down to her just moments ago.

The Countess had been playing with the three Princesses on the green as a way of distracting herself from the loss of her sister when the Queen's golden head had appeared over the walls with one of her brightest smiles.

"It's Anthony!" She cried, linking her arm with Eleanor's while she used her other to point to the rider that was fast approaching the Tower. The Countess grinned as she recognised her brother's mop of brown hair that blew gently in the summer breeze, lifting a hand to wave only for it to falter as she saw the second rider beside him.

The Duke of Gloucester.

"Christ on the cross" She whispered as Elizabeth turned to her, suddenly hugging her tight "he's here....he's here Lizzie"
"I know, Leena" the Queen whispered, stroking her sister's braid "don't be scared....it will all be well....I promise"

Eleanor pulled away a little, fiddling with the hem of her sky blue hanging sleeves while she tried to control her breathing, feeling bile rise in her throat.
"But that's just it!" She stammered, looking Elizabeth in the eyes "I'm not scared, sister....I'm terrified!"

"Well are you going to leave me down here or will you greet me?" Anthony's voice called and immediately Elizabeth and Eleanor rushed down the steps to their brother who had now dismounted.

Feeling her breath catch in her throat as she saw Richard by Anthony's side, she decided to stay near the bottom step, nodding a little at him as they made eye contact. His expression was unreadable, even rather cold, as he returned the gesture before bowing to the Queen and handing the reins of his stallion to a servant.

"Aunt Lyanna! Lyanna!" Lizzie yelled as she waved impatiently from where she was sat on the green with her two sisters.
"Ah yes, Lyanna!" Anthony laughed as he walked over to embrace her "are you well?" He whispered, taking her hand as they began to make their way across the green.

"As well as I can be" she said, touching the pendant which hung around her neck "a-am I to be married....soon?"
Her brother nodded and picked up Cecily as she held her little arms up to him and Eleanor took Lizzie's hand while Mary pulled up chunks of grass.

"Tomorrow at the latest" he said and Eleanor tried not to gasp as she heard him "I think today may be a little too soon....I've heard about Bella, Richard and I received a message from Edward detailing the plan and I know how aggrieved you will be at her going"

"Very!" The Countess sighed, sitting down on the grass while her young niece began to play with the pearls that adorned the neckline of her gown. "I don't think I can do this without her! It seems so strange to me! Sometimes it doesn't seem real, that I'm trapped in a form of nightmare from which I cannot escape!"

Anthony nodded as he frowned slightly, setting Cecily on her feet and watching as she picked a daisy "I don't want to be married" Eleanor whispered, setting Lizzie next to her sisters as she took the Earl's arm and they walked to the Tower "it's too soon....I'm sixteen, brother....I don't want to be trapped, with no power of my own, no choices of my own!"

"Many girls younger than you are already married, you know....Richard's older sister Anne was married to the Duke of Exeter when she was nine!" Anthony reasoned but Eleanor simply raised her eyebrows at him.

"Just because it is what's done does not make it right" She replied, lifting the hem of her gown to step into the building and Anthony smiled.
"You are ever the moralist or the rebel" he said, earning a sharp elbow in the ribs and a grin.

That night Eleanor did not sleep, though sleepless nights were becoming a pattern for her, all she could do was that these dark hours were the last she would spend as a person with any choice in their own life. By that time the next day she would be a wife....the Duchess of Gloucester and soon, maybe even a mother.

'No' She thought with a jolt as she sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees as sudden panic rose within her. She had never considered motherhood before, that she might soon be carrying a child in her belly just as Bella was.

Placing a hand to her stomach, she shivered. How was a baby even made? It was a question she did not know the answer to, she had asked Elizabeth once, around the time of her wedding but had not received a clear answer.

Her elder sister had said it brought the greatest pleasure but Eleanor had simply not understood and didn't ask for elaboration for she thought she didn't need it. But now, she wished she knew what she was to do, what the Duke would do to her.

Looking down at herself, she silently wondered how on earth a child would grow within her, how her small body would be able to give life to another. She had seen the Queen in childbirth, saw what pain it brought and all but trembled to think that one day soon she would have to go through that.

Laying back down onto the pillows, Eleanor drew the soft sheets around her body and curled up as if she were still a small child, reaching out to slowly draw Fortuna to her chest. The little dog squirmed a little at the sudden movement but quickly settled down, snuggling into her mistress's arms.