~To Return a Traitor~

July 1470....

Eleanor tilted her head from side to side as she watched, from a window, John walk to his horse in the courtyard but there was no usual spring in his gait nor the usual nod he gave the page handling the reins.

Instead his steps were heavy, his posture stooped as if he now held the weight of the entire world on his shoulders and he simply took his reins and mounted his steed. The Duchess stared after him as he left the palace, until he disappeared from sight and questions began to run through her mind.

"What is wrong with John?" She asked, turning away from the window and to the Queen. Elizabeth merely arched an eyebrow from where she stood behind her sister and folded her arms.
"I do not know why you ask after him" she remarked rather cooly, her expression blank "he is a Neville, a traitor"

"He is not a traitor!" Eleanor protested, frowning and leaning back against the wall of the corridor "he has always been true to York and always will be! If he were not why would Edward let him hold the title, Earl of Northumberland?"

"Why does Edward let Warwick still hold the title Earl of Warwick?" Elizabeth countered "but still, your friend John must have done something to displease the King for the earldom has been taken from him and given back to the Percys! He is now the Marquess of Montague!"

"But that is an elevation is it not?" Eleanor asked, picking up her skirts as her sister began to walk, rather quickly, away "and why give the title back to the Percys? They are Lancastrians! They would never be loyal to Edward?"

Elizabeth suddenly stopped, a malicious smile curving the corners of her lips. The same one she always used whenever an enemy was about to be eradicated from her path.
"An elevation...." she said slowly "in rank....yes... but the title Marquess of Montague holds hardly any income and does not come with many manors or estates at all"

"You have made him and his family destitute?!" The Duchess's cried in disbelief but her sister merely shrugged and shook her head.

"Not destitute" she replied "but they are certainly not as rich nor as powerful as they were! So you see, that is one Neville brother out of the way!" She began to walk away again, her steps clearly displaying satisfaction as she puffed out her chest as little and pushed back her shoulders, leaving her little sister to catch up.

"Do you not realise that you have just given him an incentive to move against us?" Eleanor whispered, still not believing her ears. Her mid turned to John....the six young children he had.... how was he going to manage?

Her loyalty to her sister wanted to make her believe that she was not capable of such wicked action....but her mind and memory knew that the opposite was true and that Elizabeth would do anything in her power to take out opposition.... but now, in attempting to do so, had she simply created an enemy out of a friend?

"Are you quite vell, your grace?" Anais' comforting voice said from behind and Eleanor turned nodding her head a little.
"Of course" she replied quietly and Anais smiled at her, momentarily reaching out to place a hand on the Duchess's arm "h-how does my daughter?"

"She is a true jewel I do swear it before god!" The Lady replied, throwing her arms dramatically into the air, her flaxen curls swaying from side to side, and let out a startled laugh when she dropped the fresh linen she held in her hands.
"Throwing the washing around, are we, Anna?" Marie called as she walked past, stopping to curtsy to her mistress before she continued "really, I'll throw you next if you are not careful!"

Anais stuck her tongue out at Marie's back and Eleanor giggled, putting a hand to her mouth to try to contain her amusement. She truly did love the interactions that her two ladies in waiting had for, although they were friends, they were like chalk and cheese and found endless ways to annoy one another.

Her mood lightened, the Duchess nodded to Anais, who curtsied as she hurried to pick up the dropped linen, before following in the direction her sister had taken.

"It seems Warwick has stumbled from his shipwreck straight into the arms of Margaret of Anjou!" Anthony's irritated voice said from a chamber and Eleanor immediately flew through the door, making the eyes of her brother, her husband, the King, Queen all turn to her.

"Margaret of Anjou?" She cried and Richard grinned at her, clearly finding amusement in her unexpected entrance, though his face fell, resumed its normal serious expression as his elder brother nodded.

"They are planning to form an alliance!" He sighed, leaning back against the King's desk while Edward glared at the maps and papers in front of him.
"Well then you must read this!" Jacquetta said as she strolled through the chamber door, pulling a letter from the sleeve of her gown and handing it to the King "Anne Neville is to marry Edward of Lancaster"

"How can he think to give his own daughter over to that monster?" Richard exclaimed as Edward gave a clip nod to confirm Jacquetta's claim.
"I agree with you, for once" Eleanor replied "they say he talked of naught but cutting off heads by the time he was ten! And besides, Anne is thirteen! She's far too young to be married!"

"After all that we have endured at this bitch's hands" Edward murmured, pacing back and forth across the chamber, throwing the letter to the ground as quickly as if it had struck him. In truth it had, but it had struck his heart.

"George can have nothing to gain from this...." Elizabeth whispered while her husband's anger rose.
"He hates me so much, Dickon, is that it?" He demanded "that he is driven by his hatred of me?"

Richard sighed again, though remained calm.
"George is driven by his own ambition and greed" he stated but his words did nothing to quell Edward's anger.

"He would fight against me...for the very woman who tore our father and Edmund apart!" He yelled shaking his head, looking up to blink back tears of long lasting grief.

"Warwick will use Anne to bind them together" Eleanor concluded and her husband nodded in agreement "then restore mad old Henry to the throne!"

"It is Warwick who lit a fire in me...." Edward cried "taught me to fight, to win, to drag her down and punish her for what she did!" He banged his fists hard down onto the table and all around his jumped slightly "for what she did to all of us and now, he stands with her! Did none of it matter?!"

"Warwick does not know loyalty, although there was a time when I thought he did, and our dear brother George will soon see this!" Richard offered, making Eleanor marvel at the way he managed to keep the anger, that she was sure surged through his veins, in check.

"George can't be pleased with his new set of circumstances" Anthony said with raised eyebrows.
"I'll wager he didn't even see them coming" Jacquetta replied "Elizabeth, Leena...come"

"Where are we going, mother?" Eleanor asked as she and her kin swept down the corridors of the palace, ignoring the servants that bowed to them.
"Your dear mother in law, Duchess Cecily, shall be having a visit from us" Jacquetta replied, smiling a little as she glanced at Elizabeth, who nodded, her mind clearly at work.

"We are going to have the three sons of York reunited" she said, halting as she waited for Cecily's ladies to announce her and the others.

The Duchess looked up haughtily from where she was washing her hands in a brightly polished basin before drying them on a towel and sliding her shining rings onto her fingers. It was only then that she gestured for the Queen and her family to enter into her presence.

"I believe the Queen wishes to speak to you, alone, Duchess" Eleanor said, clasping her hands together and Cecily sighed, blatantly rolling her eyes.
"Ah, so you have returned to my presence have you?" She asked mockingly "shall you bring Richard's heir to me too? But wait, you only had a girl....so no heir for my dear son, how disappointing"
"I...."

"I am sure that my daughter shall have a son soon, your grace" Jacquetta said quickly before her daughter could snap a retort that may potentially ruin their plans "and so shall the Queen, for after all, she is with child again"

"And dear Eleanor is not" the Duchess sneered, waving a hand so that her Ladies began to depart the chamber "and I doubt she shall ever be again....now what is it that you came to speak to me of?"

"It is of your son, George's, betrayal" Elizabeth answered, stepping forward "I assume that you are aware he had joined forces with Margaret of Anjou?" Her green eyes flicked to an older woman that still stood beside Cecily's throne and she watched her curiously while the Duchess merely tutted.

"You may speak freely in the presence of Lady Sutcliffe" she sighed as if explaining herself to a child "we have no secrets....so let us dispense with the pleasantries and get straight to the purpose of your visit. And this disgusting rumour that you are spreading about my son"

"It is not a rumour" Eleanor countered with narrowed eyes as she went to stand beside her sister.

"You have always been determined to paint him as a villain" Cecily hissed while Eleanor merely scoffed at her words, shaking her head.
"I am sure you know that is not so for I was close friends with your traitor son for nigh upon four years before he betrayed his house....and besides if anyone were to paint him as a villain I believe that he has managed that well enough himself"

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, looking to her sister with a thankful expression before she spoke.
"Indeed, I know that this is difficult for you to hear but you should understand...."

"No" Cecily thundered suddenly, rising from her seat, her determined eyes seemingly glistening with forbidden tears "he was barely eleven years old when his father and brother died at the she-devil's hand....have you any idea...."

"Indeed we do" Jacquetta interrupted calmly "I lost my own husband and my son in a similarly brutal and senseless manner...."
"Are we to measure our pain against each other?" Cecily sighed, striking Eleanor slightly with the true grief that showed in her face, something the younger woman had not thought possible for her to feel "are we to compete over who suffered more? Over who lost more of their loved ones? Who had their heart broken by betrayal and death most times?"

"All we wish to do is prevent more suffering from taking place!" Elizabeth explained as her mother in law once more sat down on her throne, her familiar, cold facade returning "speak to the King, he shall tell you himself of our intentions"

"Warwick and George plan to restore Henry to the throne" Eleanor said, a gentler tone in her voice than she had ever used when her words were directed towards Cecily "and when they are defeated Edward will be forced to execute his own brother....and George will die with a red rose at his collar!"

Slowly Jacquetta approached the throne, holding up a hand as if to surrender or offer peace.
"Even if Warwick were to win, George would gain nothing by it! Warwick is to marry his daughter, Anne, to Edward of Lancaster!" A look of alarm came across the Duchess's face and she looked to her lady who frowned slightly in return "He will naturally inherit the crown....George will never be King! Duchess, it's all been for nothing!"

"Good Lord" Cecily murmured, trying to hide the weary tone that affected her voice.
"George must be feeling quite lost...." Eleanor said, not quite believing that she was appearing to defend an enemy but one look from her elder sister told her that it must be done "rather alone at sea, as it were, and with everything that had passed he must feel that he has no other choice!"

That claimed her mother in law's full attention.

She sat up, suddenly alert once more as her piercing eyes swept quickly over Eleanor, searching in earnest for lies but finding that she could detect no deceit in the young woman's voice.

"B-but you think he does?" She asked and her daughter in law nodded, letting her hands unclasp and fall to her sides.
"Edward and Richard would welcome him back! And that is the real tragedy! Oh, if only George knew....then the three sons of York....your children....would be reunited once more! And England can blossom under their care" she paused for breath, wondering if her words truly would have any sway over the Duchess's mind but, at long last, she nodded and the three women turned to go, their task complete.

"Eleanor?"
She turned as Cecily called out her name, waving her kin on.
"Duchess?"
Cecily was silent once more. Again assessing the woman in front of her before she tilted her head a little and a tear ran down her pale cheek.

"Perhaps I have been unkind to you" she said "mistreated you....underestimated you....but now....now I thank you, child"
Eleanor stepped forward a little, letting her own silence fall as she deliberated on her answer. We must be united her mind told her....and so she smiled.

"All is forgiven" she said "....Lady Mother"