FOR LOVE AND COUNTRY

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my imagination and loads of history books!

NOTES: I was bespelled by James Purefoy's portrayal of The Black Prince of Wales. Even though he was in the movie for all of 15 Minutes, he (and Paul Bettany) stole the show.

After writing one of my exams on Edward…I figured it was time to write about him and the love of his life: Joan, the fair maiden, of Kent. He indeed married her for love and that alone is romance enough.

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Winning was easy….without her by your side. Without her warm laughter and honey blond hair. Without her blue, blue eyes and her mocking smile. Without her …you had nothing to loose but your life. You'd proven your valour a hundred times over; won Pointier for your father and the glory of England….because you had not been afraid to risk it all. Your father was proud, oh so proud of you…..the successor, his heir, a champion and warrior. Still he'd given away the one thing you wanted to another...the traitor's daughter with a dowry worthy of any king. So winning was easy ….cause there was nothing left to loose.

Marriage did not diminish her beauty, did not disarm her sharp tongue or wit. Marriage did not drain her spirit or dull her complexion. She returned to court, ever the lady….and soon her beauty was the talk of the land. Joan …his sweet cousin, the beauty, the fair maid of Kent, fairest of them all. Only her eyes, though bright had sadness about them …every time you went to France, every time you went to battle….for her you returned. Everything to see that smile….

Winning was easy ….with the lock of her hair you still carried close to your heart.

No matter how much your father berated you…there would be no other, at least not soon. Not with her beauty still bright in your mind. Not with her throaty laugh, her gently voice, her warmth and strength so fresh in your memory.

Winning was easy ….as long as there was Joan.

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It had been like a kick to the gut….so soon after returning from Campaign. The weather had been dreadful and though he had once more prevailed and won the battle for his father, for England ….there were friends he had lost. And it being one of his dearest friends bringing him the news that the duke had died ….leaving Joan widowed and with a fortune to exceed the treasury of England….it was too much. He had to sit and listen…watching his friend's animated face. Oh, every man in England would try to wed this lady, as rich as she was fair.

"Will you speak for me, Edward?" his friend asked. "Will you speak to her for me?"

To him she would surely lend an ear.

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She stood in an orchard, watching the wind play through the leaves of her apple-trees, the sun dancing on her honeyed hair.
" I have come to speak for my friend."

She gave him a rueful smile that told him that there had been many suitors here, some more courteous than others, "I gathered as much." She said, with a little irony. She looked him over, smiling slightly.

"You were not hurt in France, I trust?"

Edward shook his head, the shadow of his usual roguish smile returning to his face. "No."

"I am glad. We prayed for your safe return. Welcome home Edward."

For a moment their eyes met and it amazed him that she seemingly hadn't aged a day since they had last met. He took her hand, kissing it. "Thank you."

Joan the fair ….the fair maiden of Kent. Oh ….he had almost forgotten her easy, lingering smile, her whole character …so utterly without pretence, so unlikely to play courtiers games. How could he have forgotten that despite her beauty she was fierce and proud and yet gentle and kind to those who won her friendship? "Shall you acquaint me with your friend's case then?" she asked with some hidden amusement.
"I do not think I will." Edward said, shaking his head with a chuckle. She gave him a questioning look.
" I mean ….I was going to speak on his behalf, but …now that I am here, I fear that I will prove a most unfaithful friend. For now I should think that the only cause I shall speak for is my own."

At this she blanched, a shocked look on her face. "Edward…" Joan gave an incredulous laugh as she turned to walk along the rows of trees. "You cannot be serious."
"Never more than this day." His earnest, severe tone of voice made her turn to look at him with a frown. "I promised him to propagate his cause but….looking at you now after all the fighting and all those years, I will not stand by and see you wed to another man for a second time."

She closed her eyes for a moment as though to gather herself. "Edward…" she said gently, looking at him. "You will be king. One day you will be king. You cannot marry me. You have to marry according to your station and for the good of England."

"I wrenched Pointier from the French for England; I think I can do as I please from now on." Edward returned, his roughish smile growing. "I am not a green boy anymore. I will marry who I choose, not to my father's advantage. This once I will …"

"Edward!" she interrupted him, stepping further back…almost angry "Do not be unreasonable. Think about this, I beg of you. I am a widow. I am no virgin, no princess and my father died a traitor's death. What kind of bride ewould I make to a prince og England? "

"You have a dowry that could ransom a king, Joan…."

"A dowry does not a kingdom make…."

"Do you not love me?" he asked seriously, watching her face pale even further and her bright eyes turn sad. She looked at him with regret and confusion.

"I have loved you for as long as I can remember, Edward. From the first time you entered a joust to the first time you rode to battle the French with your father, you were the only man in my thoughts and my heart. But your father will never consent. to this madness." She answered just as seriously.

"I won this war for him; he will can deny me nothing." He moved over to her, taking her hands. Joan looked up at him, her conflicting feelings painted across her face like shadows chasing one another in quick succession. Finally leaning her forehead to his chest, ignoring the excited chatter from behind the hedges. "He has come to bid for her ladyship, I told you, I told you ...they were chuldhood sweethearts and now the prince has come to steal her away..."

"You father will get news of this before you can even get close enough to shout your plans at him across a battlefield!" she said with an amused frown, rolling her yes

"I will not desist from this …" he laughed and caressed her face, marvelling at the twist of fate that had brought them together again.

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You remember as though it was yesterday …the row with your father. "I will marry her or no other woman on this earth. Look at the bright side, father. This way you can hold on to her fortune."

Winning had never been easier….with her by your side. You were invincible with her embrace to return to. Her letters keeping the darkness at bay on the battlefield….

Sweetest, beloved companion of my soul ….how would you long for her smile, her voice, her arms in the long months of siege and battle. She brought the peace to your life, to your heart.

The peace to sit and watch another young warrior fight ….for his life, his honour ….and for love. You hold her hand and watch the twinkle in her eye, the promise in her secretive look that says that she will give you an heir before the next summer. The promise that she will give you anything your heart desires as long as you return safely to her embrace.

Winning is the easiest thing ….with her by your side. For love and country ….and fair Joan of Kent.