-𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙-
It's the year 1466 and King Edward IV is on the throne of England. His wife and Queen ,Elizabeth Woodville, has just given birth to her first daughter ,Lizzie, but not all is w...
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Side by side, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (along with their two eldest children) rode into the courtyard of Middleham castle and dismounted, handing the reigns of their horses to the squires that were waiting, eager to please.
The doors to the castle opened and a flood of small children rushed down the steps, all Plantagenets.
Ned and Dickon made their way down the steps and jumped at Edmund and, pulling the boy to the ground in a fit of laughter. Lisbet watched on, engaged in a tight hug by her little sister and two cousins.
"You're back!" Teddy shouted in childish excitement"did you kill anything, did you shoot a deer today?" "Teddy" Maggie chided quietly "give Lisbet a chance to breathe!" However she was not heeded and her brother continued to rain questions down on the older girl. "Mama shot a stag!" Lisbet said proudly "isn't that right, Ed?"
She looked down at Edmund, who was currently being wrestled by their younger brothers, and laughed. Edmund smiled and nodded before grabbing Ned in a headlock and smirking, thinking he had won. Though, little did he know, Dickon had crept up behind him and gave him a quick kick in the shin, causing his elder brother to fall to the floor once again.
Ned was more than a match for Edmund, for although he was only 7, he was the same height - perhaps a little taller - confirming the suspicious his father had had when he was born that he would inherit his Uncle, the King's, tall stature, and was certainly strong for his age. They continued to play fight and another child appeared at the doors: Meg. She rushed down the steps, ran towards Lisbet, brown hair flying behind her, and embraced her tightly. The 5 year old gazed up at her sister. "Lisbet!" She cried "c-can I see pony now?"
Pony was the nickname Meg had given Edmund's palfrey since when it had first been bought, she hadn't been able to pronounce its actual name (which was Galahad). Her sister smiled and took Meg's small hand in her own, leading her to the stables where Galahad was being fed, Teddy happily trailing after them while Maggie watched the boys fight. The stable boys bowed and left when they saw the Meg instantly went to pet the horse, stroking its mane gently and bringing forth an apple from her skirts which 'Pony' accepted with a merry neigh. Teddy stayed next to Lisbet, leaning against the stable wall and watching in fascination as Meg managed to use a stack of hay bales to hoist herself up onto Galahad's back, which had by now had its saddle removed.
"Meg" Lisbet warned "I don't think mama will like that. You might hurt yourself" "You're right, chérie, I don't like it" Marian appeared at the door, arms folded, though she was grinning. "Get down from Galahad now, Meg"
Her daughter groaned a little, looked at her with pleading eyes "Please, mama! Please can I ride pony? Just for a little bit?" She said "When you're older, chérie" Marian walked over and unfolded her arms, reaching up to her daughter "now come along, there is to be a grand feast and you need to get ready" after letting out a little huff, Meg smiled and slipped down from the horse, into her mother's arms and allowed herself to be carried from the stable and into the castle, being placed in her room and given a small kiss on the cheek before being left alone, waiting for her maid to arrive and ready her for the evening.
