- 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑛 -
It's the year 1464 and Eleanor Woodville lives at Grafton Manor as one of the younger daughters of Jacquetta and Sir Richard Woodville. At 11 years old, her worries are little and her joys great but her o...
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~Mother's Sons~
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester left Westminster for the North two days after George's death, departing in a miserable silence that followed them all the way back to the North. Eliza clung to Eleanor's waist as they rode together, tears streaming down her face while her lip trembled.
She finally seemed to understand that her Father was gone, that he was dead and she felt more alone than she ever had. She had always felt something was missing without the presence of her Mother but now that George was gone, she was sure her heart was not only empty but broken. She wept and wept during the days and weeks that followed George's death, curling up on her bed while Eleanor held her tight, stroking her hair.
At night she could not sleep and suffered from nightmares that plagued her endlessly, tormenting her mind.
How many times had she watched her Father die in her sleep?
How many times had she heard him plead and cry and beg while he was torn apart by his own brother?
Each night she would wake up screaming and would run through to Eleanor and Richard for comfort. Reaching out to her, they would let the little girl crawl between them and snuggle into their bed while she sobbed before she finally fell asleep again.
Eliza had never hated anyone before. She had been raised on love by the nuns at the convent and then by Eleanor and Richard at Middleham. But now she hated Edward. Hated him with all her being. She knew it was a sin to pray for the deaths of other and that it was treason to pray for the death of a King; that she risked her very soul in doing so.
But that did not stop her.
And she knew that both Eleanor and Richard felt the same. Though she didn't think they prayed for his death she could see the anger and resentment that filled their eyes every time Edward was mentioned, how they would reach out to take the other's hand for comfort and control.
They now had the guardianships of Edward and Margaret of Clarence but, just as they had expected, Anne had written from Sudeley begging that the children be put into her care. The Gloucester's had instantly agreed. It would have been what Isabel wanted for her children.
On the journey back to the North, George Neville tried to distract his little cousin by playing with her. He began to teach her to ride his horse, Thunder, in the morning before they began their journeys, though he had to spend hours seeking her out as she took to hiding herself away in her grief.
When he did manage to coax her out of her hiding places she would always stumble when he lifted her up into the saddle, her feet slipping on the stirrups. But after a while she would begin to smile a little, even giggle from time to time as she trotted around fields with Georgie leading her.
