𝐸𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 || 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑊𝐻𝐼𝑇𝐸 𝑄𝑈𝐸𝐸𝑁

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑋𝑋𝐼𝑉

~Henry and Edward~

June 1481, Ludlow....

Side by side, Eleanor and Margaret rode towards the town of Ludlow, the hoods of their cloaks pulled over their heads to protect themselves from the rain that hammered down mercilessly on them.

Each time they glanced up to see the road ahead their faces were drenched with rainwater and they would be forced to look down again, trusting their horses to take them where they were going! It had taken the Duchess of Gloucester much quicker than she thought to track down Henry Tudor and his Uncle Jasper and now the two had travelled from Brittany to Ludlow all while managing not to get caught. Secretly, she had rather thought they would.

But now, seeing Margaret's smiling face, she was glad that they hadn't. When smiling Margaret was actually rather pretty, Eleanor thought as she stole a glance at her companion before having to retreat behind her hood once more from the rain. Her cold features relaxed and her dark eyes sparkled, in a way. Eleanor grinned to herself.

Soon enough, they were trotting through the streets, pulling their hoods even further forward for fear of being recognised. Eleanor had worried that her brother Anthony or her nephew Tom would see her but she hoped they were both safely in the castle above the town and, in this weather, they most likely would be.

Water flooded the streets, poured down in mini waterfalls from the rooftops of buildings creating a flowing stream where cobbled roads were supposed to be and the citizens hobbled around in it, women pulling up the skirts of their gowns and men their cloaks to protect them.

"Is that it?" Margaret called after a while, pointing to an inn that held a Boar on the wooden sign for it. Eleanor nodded and the two pulled their horses to a halt. They dismounted as quick as they could, handing their reins to a boy who had rushed out to greet them.

"It looks as if arrangements have been made for us" Eleanor remarked lightly as they stepped inside, the warmth that filled the room flooding through her body, curling around her as a warm blanket might. She pulled back her hood and peered around the inn with almost the curiosity of a child in her eyes while she tried to wring a little bit of water from her soaked hair.

Eleanor had never been in a public inn before, had only ever stayed in them when castles or manors had not been available on the journeys to Middleham and back and even then the establishments were cleared out for the stay of a royal Duchess.

But now this new view on inns rather excited her as it would have her younger self as if she were doing something daring like sailing off to discover a new part of the world that was yet to be explored! Townsfolk gathered around tables, huddled together as they drank or gambled, trading cards and money between them and completely unaware of the woman watching them.