Chapter Text
Anne went into the nursery, watching her six months old son sleeping soundly in his crib. The child turned and opened his dark eyes; he let out a giggle when he saw his mother. Anne gently picked him up and began to rock him. Little Ned tried to grab his mother’s nose; he was all smiling until he decided it was his meal time. Anne gave him a kiss on the forehead and the child stopped crying. She took out one breast and began to nurse him.
She would miss him.
She would miss this.
She was still nursing him when Richard came in.
She gave him a smile and returned her attention on her son.
He came closer and placed a kiss on her shoulder. He watched as his son’s cheek bloating up and down as he suckled his mother’s breast. Then drops of tears fell onto his face; it was Anne’s.
After she finished nursing, Anne held her son closely. In six months, he would be walking. Oh, what other things she would miss? It was so much harder than she had expected.
Little Ned fell asleep in his mother arms; and Anne placed him back in to his crib. Richard took her hand to lead her out of the nursery, but Anne could not help looking back at her child.
***
Back in their bedchamber, Anne watched as Richard bolted the door.
Besides of her son, there was also him—Richard, her husband, lover, and soul mate.
Six months of separation…
She dropped her robe on to the ground as he came to her. She cupped his face and crushed her lips against his. They continued to kiss while she took off his shirt and unlaced his breeches. Slowly, she pulled away, slipped her shift off, and moved towards the bed.
She was lying on her back, watching him coming to her, naked.
He hovered over her and rubbed her lips.
Anne wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tightly against her body, for she wanted to be his; just his.
The two joined hands as they made love.
She wrapped her legs on his waist; moaned and cried out his name when he entered her. He held her arms over her head and showered her face and neck with kisses. Rolling over, he had her on the top. Anne adjusted her position and began to ride him. She moved her hair to the back so that Richard could have a full view of her body. She bent backward and threw her head back as they reached climax. She could feel his hand moving up from her belly to her breast. She stopped him before he could nuzzle her breasts. She wrapped her arms around him and held him against her, burying her face in his dark curls.
Tears fell down.
She cried for a long time until he kissed her tears away.
The two lied on the bed side by side.
Richard broke the silence. “You don’t like me touching you here anymore?” His hands went to her breasts.
“Be careful,” Anne said, stopping him before his fingers could touch her nipple. “There’s milk.” Her hand stroked his cheek. “I’m going to miss you…and Ned, what if he’s not going to know his mother?”
“Ned will know his mother, always,” Richard promised her. “He’s my son, a strong child. He will be fine.”
“Six months…” Anne muttered. “I will be back in six months. And you will be here, and our son too.”
She said this to comfort Richard, but she was also saying it to convince herself.
Before she knew it, she buried her face into his bare chest and cried incessantly.
***
Anne was in her favorite blue gown when Richard came to brush her hair. After he was finished with 100th stroke, Anne braided her hair. The maids came in with her jewelry box. She stood as they donned the jewelries on her; necklace, bracelets, ring, belt, and finally her coronet.
She placed her hand in Richard’s and the two stepped into the ferry.
Little Ned was wrapped in a dark blanket trimmed in gold. His eyes were wide open with curiosity when he was placed in Anne’s arms.
Anne wondered if Ned knows what was going to happen.
The three of them were going to Heaven together to have Ned receive blessing from his uncle King Edward. He would make him a god and give him his duties. Then, he would return to the Underworld with his father, but Anne would have to stay behind as goddess of flowers.
It was a trip too long and too short.
***
They came to Heaven and presented their son to King Edward. Elizabeth was not there; she was busy with her two children, or at least that was the official reason. Anne was more than relieved not seeing her. Little Ned was a happy child, and he smiled at everyone.
King Edward made him God of Transition and Boundaries; he could move freely between the realm of Heaven, mortal, and Underworld like his father; he was to be patron of merchants and travelers; messenger of gods; and conductors of souls into the Underworld. He bestowed him a pair of golden wings.
Anne was more than pleased with this. It’d mean that during the days she was not in the Underworld, she could still see her son. Given that he was to be messenger of gods and conductor of souls, he could carry messages between her and Richard. It’d be a bond that would hold the three of them together, even when they are apart.
She was about to move the blanket to kiss her son, only was astonished to find the bundle empty.
Ned was gone.
Where did he go?
Everyone was surprised, including George.
“Ned!” Anne panicked.
Richard was worried too.
Everyone began to search for the child.
***
Elizabeth came to her son’s nursery and tried not to think what was happening right now. Anne’s son was to be made a god. Her plan to thwart his birth was ruined by Edward’s sisters. She could’ve cared less what kind of god Anne’s son was to become. All she wanted was to wait for this all to end. However, since it had been six months after Anne gave birth, it meant that she’d be sitting in a throne as goddess of flowers next to her namesake Anne goddess of agriculture—before her eyes.
It was so unfair.
Her only source of comfort was her children.
She came to her son’s crib and picked him up to nurse him.
She hummed a song while the child was suckling her breast.
After she was done nursing him, she lovingly held him against her shoulders and rubbed his back. The child, meanwhile, opened his eyes and gave a witty smile.
Elizabeth placed the child back into the crib and was about to go check on her daughter. Just then, her sister Katherine came in with a baby in her arms.
“He can’t stop crying,” she said. “I think he misses his mother.”
It was her son Edward who was in Katherine’s arms.
Elizabeth could not be more confused.
Wasn’t her son Edward here in his crib?
She immediately went to the crib to check, only finding it empty.
“Richard brought his son,” Katherine continued, completely disregarded her sister’s reaction and attitude. “The child has slipped away, and no one knows where he went.”
Now it all made sense to Elizabeth. Anger and jealousy came over her. She sank into the ground and cried and screamed.
She was played by a six months old child.
But then again, once a woman nursed a child—a bond was formed. Therefore, no matter what, Elizabeth could never hate this little Ned.
And thus, at tender age of six months, little Ned mellowed his worst enemy.
***
A few years later…
Richard walked Anne to the ferry. It was time for her to go.
Although it was to be a seasonal thing, but neither could really accept it.
She gave her small son one kiss after another.
Little Ned proved to be a witty child, something Anne had anticipated based on his behavior in her belly. She was relieved that Ned knows how to protect himself, especially from Elizabeth’s wrath.
“Henry Tudor,” Anne said before stepping into the ferry. “I hate him, for he had his playwrights making up a fake tales about you. He has cruelly executed and punished the innocents. When he dies, he should—“
“Francis will handle it,” Richard told her. “He will give him the right judgment. Henry Tudor is a king, and a king must do what a king must do.”
Anne was disappointed to hear that. She was hoping that Richard would create a special punishment for him.
“I will never forgive him,” Anne said bitterly. “They say that you are a hunchback with a whither arm. They said that you violated me against my will. They made you a monster—“
“Anne, let these mortals say whatever they may,” Richard comforted her. “You and I know the truth of our love. Henry Tudor’s tale may last for centuries, but our love will last for an eternity.”
With a final kiss, Anne stepped into the ferry. She gave her husband and son a wave of goodbye.
“Go now, Anne, and keep your heart and disposition kindly. Bring happiness to the mortal realm, as you always wanted.”
“And in six months, I will be back again,” Anne said as the ferry took off.
Richard watched until she disappeared from his sight.
His Anne will always be his.
Their son Ned will be their bond and messenger.
Their love will never die.
***
And this is the true story of Richard, Lord of the Underworld and his mortal Queen, Anne of Warwick.
What have been told for hundreds of years were nothing but lies.
True, their story did not begin like a fairy tale.
But loved her he did.
What he had done for her is what any man would’ve done for a woman.