- 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒, 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 -
It's the year 1485 and King Richard III has been slain at the battle of Bosworth along with his beloved wife and Queen, Marian of Lancaster. Their eldest daughter, Lisbet, is given little time to...
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3 weeks later, 9th of December 1499...
Lisbet shivered and held her cousin's gaze as the carriage they had sat in silence in for the past three weeks rolled slowly through the gates of the tower at dawn. Each night they stopped at some great house or manor or even castle but the two never broke the silence, would simply stare blankly at each other, trying to figure out their minds.
"Perhaps we should have sent you through traitor's gate" Lizzie said as she drew back the curtains of the carriage. Lisbet simply remained silent and trembled as she took in her surroundings and the cold air of December chilled her to the bone.
As she felt frozen flakes begin to settle on her cheeks she realised it was snowing and saw a frosty layer covering the ground as the carriage came to a halt a a guard opened the door.
Lizzie was the first to get out and the man saluted her before holding a hand out to assist Lisbet who clutched onto his hand perhaps a little tighter than she should've, betraying fear of what was to come. Holding her daughter to her chest, Lisbet followed her cousin inside the daunting walls of the tower, not daring to look at the green where she knew her love's life had ended so abruptly along with her brother's.
As they climbed the stairs, the Duchess could feel her heart gathering speed, beginning to pound against the confines of her gown. Anne looked up at her with innocent blue eyes and her mother felt the urge to run, to at least try and flee with her, keep her safe...but she knew she could not and so tried to avoid her daughter's gaze lest she begin to cry again.
Her cousin led her to a small room and firmly shut the door when she was inside. Standing by one of the walls were two women, their hair bound in linen coifs and dressed in black gowns. Lisbet immediately knew they were nursemaids and automatically backed away, hugging Anne to her (who began to fuss a little, small cries escaping her puckered lips).
"No" she said as the two women began to move forward "no...my daughter stays with me!" "You knew this was to happen" Lizzie said and Anne cried louder, wailing at the top of her little lungs while her little hands tried to cling onto her mother's gown.
"No!" Lisbet shouted again when a pair of bony hands clasped onto the bundle of cloth that held her only child "no you will not take her from me! Not my Anne! Never my Anne!" She looked to her cousin pleadingly as the two women continued to try and force the baby from her grasp "she needs feeding! That is why she cries! Let me feed her one last time, Lizzie! One last time before she is ripped from me!" She yelled in defiance and her hold on Anne tightened.
"Stop!" Lizzie suddenly commanded and the two women immediately stepped back, allowing Lisbet to retreat to the other side of the room where a hot bath lay waiting for her. Her cousin turned to her and gave her a clipped nod "you have one hour" she said "to say goodbye to Anne and to ready yourself. You will find all you need here"
