Medieval England - Year 1450: Eleanor was a poor shopkeeper's daughter whose only hope for a better life for herself and her family was to marry well. When she caught the eye of Thomas Fletcher, a royal courtier of noble blood, her family thought he...
King Henry stood in front of the mirror as his attendants fastened on his heavy iron chest plate that had the royal crest on it and attached his dark red velvet cape to it that was trimmed in spotted fur before placing his golden bejeweled crown on his head. Wearing that crown still felt strange.
It seemed like at any moment his father was going to walk into the room, take his crown back and say in his deep husky voice that it was all a misunderstanding and he was very much alive. He had always thought his father was invincible, but unfortunately he found out he was wrong.
Henry let out an exhale, sheathing his longsword into it's holder on his hip, before turning around and making his way out of the room, followed by his guards. He headed down the long stone hallway of the castle that was furnished with large golden framed paintings of his ancestors that had ruled before him.
He passed a few guards along the way that were keeping watch wearing a full suit of iron armor. Henry made his way to the throne room and took a seat on the ornately carved, golden throne that had a blue velvet cushion on the seat.
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He looked over at the empty throne next to him that would be vacant until he found himself a Queen and then out at the rows of cushioned seats running vertically along the sides of the room that were full of his courtiers that were observing today's session of the royal court.
"Your highness, today we have several citizens that have petitioned to speak to the King for various reasons. Most of them are civil matters, disputes between two parties, that need your help being resolved," his royal advisor, Duke Montelbane said, looking down at several scrolls scribbled with dark black ink.
This was Henry's first time presiding over the court, which was going to be one of his regular duties as the King of England. It was a family tradition that his great, great grandfather had started when he was King, to show that he was in touch with the needs of his people and accessible to them. It was something he was going to do once every two weeks from here on out.
"Please proceed," Henry said to his royal advisor with a wave of his hand.
Duke Montelbane waved his hand and the guards opened the heavy wooden doors at the end of the long aisle and an elderly man and woman walked in followed behind by a young man and they all bowed and stood in front of the throne.
The Duke unrolled a scroll and looked it over before saying, "This young man petitioned to see the King. He claims that he was hired by this couple to work on their land and he worked tirelessly for an entire month in their field and then they refused to pay him what he was owed. They threw him out on the street with no food or water and nowhere to go."
The King looked over at the old couple and asked, "Is this true?"
"No!" the wife scoffed. "He never did a bit of work. He was lazy, laying about in the barn all day drinking our wine and eating our food. If anything, he owes us money," she laughed. "And when I told him we no longer needed his services, he refused to leave until we paid him even though he didn't do the work and then he had the audacity to threaten me! I was afraid for my life!"
