𝐸𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 || 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑊𝐻𝐼𝑇𝐸 𝑄𝑈𝐸𝐸𝑁

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑋𝑋𝑋𝐼𝑋

~Hell to Pay~

My Dearest, Eleanor,

I am in hell. Our march is slower than torture, the horses chest deep in the mud and half the bridges are washed away so we have to go for miles to find a ford. My men march with their heads down and when we rest we can't light fires as everything is soaked.

They say that this is a witches storm and I wonder to myself if their words are true. Is this your work? I can only imagine it is unless it is Elizabeth as because of the weather Buckingham cannot meet Tudor as the latter is unable to sail and that is the last thing she would want. We are quickly closing in on the traitor and I wager that in a few days he shall be caught. I will have him brought to Ludlow Castle and there he shall be hung drawn and quartered which my men think is nothing less than he deserves.

I know I appointed you regent and I hear your praises sung throughout the land each day for they say you have made yourself known to be a just yet clever ruler in my absence and I cannot deny my pride in you each time I think of it. But now, I would ask that you leave your post. Leave my Mother in charge with the children and come to Ludlow.

I do not ask this lightly, especially with you carrying our child and your role in the land but I need you, Eleanor. I need you by my side with the strength only you possess. Without it I cannot go through with my intentions. So I beseech you, my love, depart from London to Ludlow as soon as you can and I shall be there waiting.

Your ever loving, loyal husband, Lord and King,

Richard  Plantagenet ♥︎

Eleanor sighed as she ran a fingertip over the little heart Richard had drawn next to his name (as he had almost always done) but she could not find it in herself to smile at it, there was too much pain in the rest of the letter to do so.

Harry was to be hung, drawn and quartered? No, that was not possible, Richard would not do that! Not to Harry! 'Only he would' she thought as she placed the letter down on the desk in what was usually the King's study. Looking at her wedding ring on her finger, she twisted it back and forth a little, rays of sunlight catching on the sapphire in the middle as she thought. Her eyes widened as she felt the baby inside her kick.

"Even you know somethings wrong, sweeting, don't you?" She said softly and another kick answered her, making her wince a little. This babe was a determined little mite, that was for certain!

She would go to see Cecily Neville. She would know how to handle her son. Although how she would get her Mother in law to agree to change the King's mind on the fate of a traitor, Eleanor did not know. And so when she arrived outside the Duchess of York's rooms she hesitated, taking a deep breath before she knocked.

"Enter!" Despite being sixty eight, there was still no mistaking the authority and power that resided in Cecily's voice and Eleanor smiled nervously as she entered the room, shutting the door behind her. Cecily was stood at a small table, upon which were oval pieces of parchment displaying little figurines possessing golden crowns.