The White Countess - The White Queen

The Tower of London, London, England Spring 1453

We leave two days later, without ever seeing the king. I am disappointed by this. After all, I am to be his heir. How am I supposed to be prepared to take the throne when the king himself refuses to meet me? I am befuddled by this, but bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut.

My ladies and I are taking to a castle by the coast in the English county of Kent. It is an old castle, apparently constructed by William the conqueror after he became king of England. Rochester castle, it is in good enough condition although it's lack of inhabitants have left some of the furniture dusty. Not that I have to worry about that. Claire orders an immediate cleanup of the house as soon as her disapproving eyes land on a speck of dirt.

"This is to be a royal residence, not a pigsty!" She declares as the servants scramble about her.

In the meantime my life in England slowly starts to take shape. I am assigned tutors. John Littleton, A lawyer and gentlemen is given to me to learn math, spelling, the sciences, and history. He is a short man with brown hair and a jolly smile and I like him immediately. He soon becomes my favorite teacher that I've ever had.

Then I am given a governess. 

Because this woman will probably be the closest adult female to me there is much bickering over who it should be. My father and my Medici relatives who are far away in Italy don't get much say on the matter but my great grandfather the Duke of Burgundy who is just across the channel sends letters instructing the court on who will raise me. The matter becomes embarrassing with a full-blown disagreement over who will be put in charge of my well-being and education. Finally, a compromise reached. The Duke of Burgundy was to pick my mistress of the household while the English picked my governess.

The Burgundians chose Anne of Burgundy, the bastard daughter of the Duke Philip and my half great aunt even though she was only 18. Despite this, I very much like my aunt Anne. She is charming, tall, beautiful, and smart as well as very well-versed in Dutch, French, English, German, Italian, Latin, and Greek. Even Claire, who I have known to barely approve of anything in her lifetime, likes Anne. 

The English choose Alice Chaucer, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk. Her husband, the Duke, was murdered a few years back by Kentish rebels, something that makes me uneasy about the land in which I am to call home. Alice hasn't secured her son's inheritance and went back to being a lady and waiting for Queen Margaret. She decided to take over my post at the behest of the queen, who wanted one of her friends near me so that I may be raised with her influence. I am not sure what to think of this as I am not sure what to think of the queen, but old Alice seems very nice and has been nothing but sweet, so I give her the benefit of doubt. She even manages to get along with my aunt Anne, bringing peace to the household and cooling the tensions between the courts of Burgundy and England.

Then I must be given a master of the household and a master of the hunt who will serve as my male guardians at Rochester Castle. The king and queen choose John Wenlock, 1st Baron Wenlock to be master of my household and Sir Thomas Kyriell. They are both agreeable men and are sworn to my service.

It seems that almost as soon as I have settled into life at Rochester a letter arrives from court. By the order of the king and queen I am summoned to the Tower of London to witness the knighting ceremony of the kings brothers, Edmund and Jasper Tudor. I know a little of these brothers, whose very existence is the talk of scandals themselves. Their mother, Princess Catherine of France, and my great great aunt fell in love with a Welsh servant who is the boy's father. Some say they were married. Some rumor say they were not, whatever the truth Princess Catherine married far below what a woman of her station should, even a woman who is a widow. It was quite the news at the time, or so my mother told me.

"I can't believe they request you to go to such a thing!" Nora sneers as my ladies began to pack my chests with clothes. "Making the heir to the throne witnessed the knighting of two bastards, the thought itself is preposterous!"