ROYAL BLOOD
— 19. Outburst

   In Burgundy, Nora was sitting at a table outside, writing on a scroll when Jasper entered.

He cleared his throat, causing Nora to slowly look up and genuinely smile at the sight of Jasper. "Your Grace," He politely greeted her in the way she deserved, which was different from the way the other Tudor men chose to treat her.

That was one thing Nora always could say about Jasper. It didn't matter what side they were on. Whether it be the same side or opposing sides, Jasper was always kind to her and never spoke to her as though she was the enemy, even when she actually was.

"Jasper," Nora bowed her head to Jasper slightly, but didn't rise to greet him.

"Writing letters?" Jasper questioned curiously as he gestured down to the paper in front of her.

"A poem, actually," She admitted, a smile forming on her lips, "I haven't done it in a while, but I grew a fondness for it in the years before Edward's death. Many mornings, we laid in bed together and I'd read them to him. He listen to every word of it with a smile on his face, even when they were bad."

Jasper smiled back at her and nodding in understanding. "May I take a walk with you through the gardens?" He offered and Nora quietly laughed.

"It would be quite rude of me to refuse you, would it not?" She commented and Jasper slowly nodded.

"Indeed," He replied and Nora wasted no time standing up.

Facing her, he held his hand out to her, but instead of taking it, she walked right past him.

He smiled in amusement, realizing she wasn't all that changed from the woman he knew long ago.

He took a deep breath and wasted no time following her, trying to keep up with her fast pace.

"I didn't realize you were a poet," He spoke up as he finally caught up to her.

"Not a very good one, but as Edward used to say, it's the thought that counts," Nora admitted, causing them both to quietly laugh, "The poem I was just writing was for one of my daughters."

"Lizbeth?" Jasper asked, a curious look on his face.

Nora smiled in amusement, knowing what he was trying to do. Nora wasn't supposed to be able to have contact with Lizbeth, whose received letters always went through Margaret first.

"Katherine, actually," She informed him, a smile on her face as she pointed toward where she was bothering Lord Strange and ruining his chances of flirting with the women around him.

The ladies' attention was on the girl, laughing as she bullied the man in front of her.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Jasper commented, causing them both to laugh.

"She is. I hope she wasn't too rude to you both upon your arrival. When she doesn't like something, she doesn't try to hide it behind a smile like most do," Nora explained in a calm tone.

"She wasn't to me, but the same can't be said about Lord Strange. She has a vendetta against him, it seems," Jasper responded and Nora hummed in response, "Does she write poems as well?"

"No, but her sister Grace used to," She answered, trying to contain her sadness, "I used to write poems back to her as well. She used to love them but it seems I cannot do that anymore, given that Lady Margaret poisoned her."

Jasper stopped walking and turned to face Nora, seeing that Nora was no longer willing to have a normal and light-hearted conversation with him once Grace was brought up. "There is no evidence of such things."

"Ask Henry. He knows the truth. My daughter told him and he believed it," She argued, but instead of continuing on, she was overcome with sadness when she thought of Lizbeth.

She turned her back to him, taking a deep breath as she tried to maintain composure.

"You miss her," Jasper stated, causing Nora to slowly turn to face him once more.

"She has always been difficult, but she is still my daughter. I miss the others, too. Lizzie..." She trailed off, smiling at the thought of her, "Oh, have I grown fond of that girl. And of course my niece Maggie and my precious Teddy," She paused, tilting her head as she stared up at him and practically glared, "I'm gone one day and it seems you've imprisoned him."

"It was necessary," Jasper replied, a genuine look on his face.

"Like killing my sons to take a throne that wasn't rightfully yours?" She retorted, clenching her jaw in anger.

Jasper remained silent, not replying to comment. There was nothing to say. She had a point, after all.

"My sister-in-law's court is very beautiful, don't you think?" Nora asked him, deciding to change the subject, for both their sakes.

"Indeed," Jasper agreed with Nora, a small smile on his face, "I thought when I returned to England, I'd be happy to leave Europe well behind me."

"And you weren't?" Nora asked, a genuinely curious look on her face.

Jasper shook his head, agreeing with her question. "In all honesty, I miss the light."

"But the light is not why you're here, Jasper, so instead of sugarcoating it why don't you just get to the point," She snapped at him, snapping herself back what was truly happening there and instead of allowing herself to be tricked by his kindness, "Tell me, what is it you'd like to tell me on behalf of your king?"

"King Henry sent a gift," He informed her as he held up a small pouch, which held a coin, "As a token of his friendship."

Nora smiled in amusement as she took the pouch from his grasp. She opened it and lifted the coin up. She couldn't help but scoff when she found Henry and her own daughter plastered on the front of it, the two of them facing each other. It was almost like the one Spain had for Isabella and Ferdinand.

"A sovereign. A coin of solid gold. The King himself and your daughter, the queen, is rendered on the front," He explained, earning an amused look on Nora's face.

"Perhaps he fears his reign will be so short, he must have permanence?" She taunted Jasper, trying to contain her proud smile when she ran her finger over her daughter's part of the coin.

"The King and the Queen feel most confident in their reign and would have peace with Burgundy and you if it pleases you. If you pledge fealty to Henry once and for all, he invites you back to court, not as a prisoner. You may have your title as Duchess of Bedford back and you'd have much respect as the Queen's mother."

"Oh, now it hurts him to be at odds with me. He didn't think that way when he had Margaret lock me up. Or when Lord Stanley struck me and allowed his men to lay a hand on my poor Katherine after she tried to defend herself when we were dragged to court in the first place 'by the hair' as Lord Stanley put in," Nora explained in a venomous tone.

Jasper found himself frowning in confusion, seeing as though he hadn't known about Lord Stanley laying a hand on her and his men assaulting Katherine, who was no older than fourteen.

"As I recall, he told me I'm nothing now. As did Margaret. If I was nothing, I don't think they'd send you here to beg for peace with Lord Strange, believing you are the only one capable of such a thing because we were involved with each other in the past," She continued on as she leaned toward him, an emotionless look on her face, "Allow me to let you in on a little secret, Jasper. You have no power over me. No man does. Not anymore. And it shall remain that way."

Nora shot Jasper a glare, just before she began to walk away.

Jasper let out a large sigh but soon found himself speaking up. "When Henry and I were in exile, you were the only one who ever helped us. You saved me from a trap set by Edward on the coast once. It was the day that storm came so suddenly. I found you in the rain, stranded. And when I was going to head to the coast, you convinced me to turn back and head back to Pembroke Castle with you. You saved me that day. Both Henry and I are thankful for that. He always will be. As will I. That is why he wants to make peace. Because he doesn't believe being at war with you is necessary. You are family, after all. Bound by blood and the union between him and your daughter Lizbeth."

"No, I think it is my daughter insisting that he may peace with me. After all, when you both weren't seeking sanctuary with me, he was being raised in brothels and cowsheds. He knows nothing of politics. My daughter does, though. She knows war is the last thing England needs right now. We only just got peace after more than thirty years of war. That war cost him nothing, though," Nora explained to Jasper coldly.

"What has he lost? What does he know of pain?" She found himself asking Jasper as she walked toward him, tears threatening to spill from her cold blue eyes.

"I've lost a father, a mother, four sons, two daughters, two men who were like brothers to me, and the love of my life," She snapped at him, beginning to cry as she took before him, "Do you know that feels like? Do you know what it feel like to wake up every day, feeling as though your heart's been carved out and taken from your body? That is how I feel. I have nothing. I feel nothing. Nothing but pain and hatred. Hatred towards the people who cost me everything."

   Nora began to cry as she stepped toward Jasper, despite trying to maintain composure. "You're right. I did offer you both sanctuary and we were family. Yet how did you both repay me?" She cried out, her voice cracking, "Henry killed my boy, my first boy. He stole his throne and my eldest daughter with it. Lord Stanley, who betrayed my son on behalf of Henry, killed my second son by stabbing him in the back, just like Lord Warwick did to my father nearly thirty years ago. Lady Margaret poisoned my second daughter, and she had Lord Strange killed my two youngest boys and Elizabeth's boys."

"Lord Strange did no such—" Jasper began to argue, only to have Nora cut him off.

"Check his right arm, Jasper. There's a scar on it. Caused by my son when defending himself against Lord Strange as the man tried to kill him after killing my youngest boy in the Tower. That is why my daughter struck him there when they sparred earlier today. She knows, and guess what? He reacted as though he was already wounded there and he is," Nora explained, continuing to walk toward Jasper until their faces were inches apart.

Nora was sobbing by that point and Jasper knew he was at fault. "It was one thing for Henry to send you here, but you dare come here, asking to seek peace alongside the man who killed my two youngest boys. How dare you?" She growled, looking at him as though she could kill him right then and there.

"Nora—" He began to say, only to have her walk away, crying as she did so.

Jasper frowned, beginning to think about what she said about Lord Strange. It was far too specific to be a lie. And she was right. He did react oddly when Katherine hit him there. What if Nora was telling the truth?

_____

   At Westminster, Lizbeth stood in her room, anxiously pacing back and forth as Maggie stood near her.

"Oh, I cannot bear this any longer," Lizbeth complained, placing her face in her hands as she let out a large sigh, "Being parted from my son. How did my mother ever do it?"

"The King said he would free him, when Arthur has been christened?" Maggie asked in concern as she looked up at Lizbeth while talking about Teddy.

Lizbeth stopped pacing. She turned to face Maggie and nodded her head. "And I will do everything I can to see that he does, Maggie. I intend to keep my promise to you. No matter what it takes," She explained in a calm tone, "The moment I am blessed, we shall go to the Tower and visit Teddy."

"Thank you," Maggie spoke up softly, trying to contain her sadness, "I must ask something of you, Lizbeth. What did you mean by the Tudor curse?"

"It was—" She began to lie to Maggie, who was quick to argue.

"It wasn't nothing, Lizbeth. I know you meant it and I'm worried," Maggie explained and Lizbeth sighed in defeat, realizing the girl was worried it would affect Teddy.

"You needn't worry, cousin. It is nothing that will affect Teddy," Lizbeth assured her as she grabbed the girl's hands and held them with her own, "It was on whoever killed my brothers in the Tower. Lizzie and her mother laid a curse that their male line would die. So, if Mother was telling the truth and it was on Lady Margaret's orders that my brothers' lives were taken, then..."

"Lizbeth," Maggie spoke up softly, an uneasy look on her face.

"But no harm will come to Arthur. No harm will come. I'll make sure of it," Lizbeth argued, trying to think of the bright side of things when in truth, she was unable to do so. Her mind was consumed by the fear of the Tudor curse. And the bad luck she believed her son would have after being named after a man his own father had killed.

  Not to mention, Lizbeth's brother, her son's namesake, had been named that after the man who beat her mother constantly and whose life was taken by her as well. The name carried bad luck and it terrified Lizbeth, to say the least.

"You said it yourself. My boy is strong," Lizbeth continued on, but it was clearly she was only trying to convince herself.

Maggie forced herself to nod, despite feeling just as uneasy as Lizbeth was.

____

  In Winchester, Baby Arthur cried loudly as the priest christened him by dunking him in the water while chanting in Latin.

After it was over, the baby was placed in his Aunt Lizzie's arms, causing the girl to smile as she looked down at the boy.

Just then, Margaret walked over, taking Arthur from Lizzie's grasp.

Lizzie gave the woman a cold look, knowing Margaret had done it on purpose. However, she began to smile when Arthur cried in his grandmother's arms. It was unlike when Lizzie was holding him, where he was utterly calm and happy.

Margaret turned, handing Arthur to Cecily instead. She turned her head, watching as Lizzie began to walk in the direction of the exit, only to be stopped by Bishop Morton.

"Lady Elizabeth," He called out, causing Lizzie to stop walking.

She rolled her eyes, slowly turning to face the man she found herself annoyed by constantly.

"Please, come with me," He insisted, much to her confusion.

_____

After being blessed in London on her fortieth day, Lizbeth smiled victoriously as she grabbed Maggie by the arm before they both traveled in the direction of the Tower to see Teddy.

They soon arrived, followed by two of Lizbeth's ladies.

After ordering the guards to open the door to Teddy's room, they did so and the two girls wasted no time rushing into the boy's room.

"Teddy! Teddy!" Maggie called out, beginning to cry as Teddy lifted his head and rushed toward her, "Come here. It's all right."

Maggie rushed toward her brother as well, hugging him tightly while Lizbeth watched on sadly.

As his sister hugged him, Teddy lifted his head to look up at Lizbeth. "I am sorry we could not come to see you sooner, Teddy," She told her cousin softly, feeling at fault for his imprisonment since it was her mother's mistakes that had caused it, "I had a baby boy and Maggie helped me. I had a little baby named Arthur, just like your cousin Arthur."

"Can we go now, Maggie?" Teddy asked as he looked up at his sister, who was trying her hardest not to cry while hugging him.

"I am so sorry this has happened to you, Teddy. We are trying to bring you home," Lizbeth continued, trying to contain her own sadness.

Maggie guided Teddy into sitting on his bed, just before she knelt in front of him.

She looked up at him, forcing a smile as she grabbed onto his hands. "Now that Cousin Lizbeth has given birth to a baby boy, when they return from his christening, she'll be officially Queen of England once and for all," She paused, turning to glance at Lizbeth before back at Teddy, "And she has told the King that you shouldn't be here. He loves her very much and will do anything he can to make her happy. Which means he will free you. Because it's a mistake."

Maggie paused, trying to maintain composure as she continued on. "And when you are free, we shall go and live together with Aunt Nora and cousin Katherine. She'll keep us safe. She made a promise to our father and I know she will keep it," She explained, causing Lizbeth's eyes to widen in shock while Maggie tried to choke back her sobs, "You'll be home soon, Teddy. I promise."

Maggie began to sob, pulling Teddy closer to hug him. "I love you, sweetheart. I love you."

"Aunt Nora said she'd come for me. And you, Maggie. That when she came, we'd all be safe again," Teddy explained, causing Maggie to pull away from the hug with a shocked look on her face.

"What?" Maggie asked, a concerned look on her face.

"She came to see me. She said she'd come back for me," he informed, causing Maggie to turn her head and exchange a look with Lizbeth.

_____

    In Winchester, the Tudors decided to hold a banquet in honor of Arthur's christening. Henry sat at the head table along with his mother, Bishop Morton, and a few others.

He took a sip of his wine and glanced around, feeling weird about being at his first big feast as king without his queen by his side.

He turned his head to Cecily having a good time with John Welles. He turned his head again, seeing Eliza and the De La Poles having a nice time as well.

"We know for certain it was Lizzie and not Nora," Henry spoke up as he turned to give his mother a questioning look.

He felt as though it didn't sound right, but his mother insisted that it was true.

"She wrote to Lovell in a plot to steal your throne and put the boy Edward Plantanget upon it," Margaret lied, causing Henry to turn to her and frown.

"But why?" He complained, finding it all confusing, "I haven't done a thing to wrong that girl in my life."

"You killed her lover on Bosworth Field," Margaret pointed out, referring to Arthur, "Arthur Plantagenet."

Henry scoffed, shaking his head in disagreement. "This was merely a lie made up to weaken Arthur's claim to the throne."

"My husband, Lord Stanley, saw it first hand. You may ask him yourself," Margaret encouraged her son in a stern tone, "Now that your son is safely in the world, you must imprison the girl and keep her as far away from Lizbeth as possible."

"You do not monitor Lizzie's letters as you do Lizbeth's. Surely, she will have spread all that she knows already about us to Burgundy, including us imprisoning Teddy. No doubt she's exhorting war," He explained, but Margaret was quick to argue.

"Surely, Nora has nothing she can offer Burgundy or any other country to win an alliance, not while I now have a son to bargain with," Henry explained, but Margaret was quick to argue.

"She has the York girl with her. Princess Katherine. She has flowered already. My ladies learned that while she was still here with her mother," She explained in a calm tone, "King James' son and heir is fourteen and his father is looking for a suitable wife for him. Princess Katherine is surely one of the highest eligible matches. Just like her sister, Lizbeth, she has more royal blood in her than anyone else. Her sons would be potential heirs," She paused, giving Henry a knowing look, "You should make a stop to that, Henry."

"And how should I do that, Mother?" Henry scoffed, turning to give his mother an annoyed look, "Send an assassin to kill her? She is a girl. Would you so easily kill this one as you killed her sister Grace?"

"I did not—" Margaret began to argue, but stopped when it was obvious that Henry did not believe her.

"At least we can be assured that during this trip, Jasper will impress this offer of peace with the birth of your son, Nora's grandson, on her. And if he wins over her, she may win over the Duchess. I hear they are hand in glove together," Margaret explained, letting out a small sigh in defeat.

Henry turned his head, noticing the hint of jealousy in his mother's eyes at the thought of Nora and Jasper spending time together.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Poor Lizbeth. Everyone's so willing to leave her to go with Nora instead. 😭😂