This came about largely because I watch too much Tudors and I couldn't get it out of my head. So if this does well I may write more of it and if it doesn't, I might anyway.

So all these places are fairly made up. Any resemblance to places that really exist is purely coincidence.

Jesters and Kings

Part the First

James Gordan, Duke of Acryl, was a sensible man. He was loyal to the King, but he knew well how corrupt court could be. He had spent a large portion of his life attending to King Bruce, something that he would never complain about. But he did not trust his daughter, Barbara, to the evils of the court.

Barbara, for her part, felt slighted. It wasn't that she particularly wanted to be at court, but she had friends there. She was particularly fond of the king's eldest son, Richard, and she enjoyed spending time with him. The fact that her father would not let her go to court meant that she would see less of Richard than she already did, and she was more than a little upset by it.

Richard Grayson, though the king's son and raised by the king, was not fathered by the king. Richard's real parents, Sir John and Lady Mary, were killed when Richard was quite young, and King Bruce, moved with compassion for the child, had adopted him as his own.

Though it was common knowledge at court that Prince Richard was adopted and not sired by the king no one knew exactly how it was that the king had come to adopt the boy. Barbara had been the first person that Richard had intimated the story to, and was, to this day, the only one he had told willingly.

Barbara trusted him and cared for him above any man in her life, save her father. She missed their summers together when the court was on progress and he would come stay at her father's manor, the days spent chasing each other around the apple orchards and racing each other on her father's most wild horses.

She was long past the age that a girl was expected to come out, much less be at court, though she had thought nothing of it until Richard had sent her a letter dictating that he could not come visit her as he once had because he had duties at court and that he no longer had time to come spend his summers with her as he used to. Barbara had then gone to her father and asked his permission to go to court with him when the next opportunity presented itself.

He had looked at her for a moment before laughing. "Barbara," he told her, "I would not have you at court for all the riches in Gotham. That place is like a pack of wild dogs, and I will not subjugate my daughter to such evils. Go play with your dolls, child, and do not entertain any more thoughts of attending court."

Barbara stomped off, angry that her father thought her such a child. She had friends at court, friends that were much younger than she, at court, ladies of much less rank who were much more easy prey than Barbara would be. Her father insulted her by telling her to be with her dolls, by insinuating that she was but a little girl. Richard did well, and he was the bloody prince!

In the days following, Barbara attempted to change her father's mind, but it was to no avail. He only became angry every time she mentioned it. In time, she ceased in speaking to him about it, though it was constantly in her thoughts. She felt a bit like a petulant child, and perhaps she was, a tiny bit, acting like one, but she didn't care. She was of a noble family, and a noble family that the king smiled upon. Her father complained that the court was like a pack of wild dogs, but she needed to be married some time, and how was she to do such a thing if she were not permitted at court?

It all irritated Barbara so much that she did not speak to her father for a whole week, and tried to see him as little as possible, ignoring him when he came to check on her progress on her needlework or her reading. He found her disdain of him rather amusing and remarked that she was much like her mother, no matter how much he hated to admit it. She simply looked away and threw her flaming red hair over her shoulder, as if to illustrate that she was more like him that he thought. She was stubborn, something James knew Barbara had not gotten from her mother.

Almost halfway across the country, Prince Richard sat to supper with his father, silently staring down at his plate. King Bruce was not the easiest person to have a father, and the prince was feeling the sting of his father's stony silence.

"If I may, Your Majesty, do you think you could spare me for a fortnight to visit Lady Barbara and her father at the Duke's manor?" Richard spoke, glancing up to see the king's near vacant expression.

"No, Richard, I cannot spare you an entire fortnight." the king replied. "I need you here. If you wish to visit Lady Barbara, you may go for three days and no more. I understand that her father has forbidden her from coming to court and that you crave her company, but you cannot be gone so long."

Richard sighed as he took a bite of whatever was on his plate. Swallowing, he spoke. "Then with your leave, I shall write to the lady and tell her that I shall come to visit her at her earliest convenience. This is acceptable?"

The king nodded and Richard went back to eating, already planning his letter to Lady Barbara in his head. How excited she would be to see him! And perhaps he could even convince His Grace to allow his daughter at court!

Though three days was a short visit indeed, Richard already found himself dearly looking forward to it.

"Oh, and Richard," added the king as Richard found himself planning just how he would greet his lady. "when you return there is a great matter I would like to discuss with you. I think it is high time you were married."