Moon Lantern - Yes, I think Anne is around four or five. I think I put Richard about seven, so I'm not sure. Maths is not my strong point! Most stories I've read have Ned as a father-figure to Richard, so I guess he would! And thanks! Clifford was a Lancastrian supporter, and the man most people believe responsible for the death of Edmund at the Battle of Wakefield.
Merry Christmas everyone! This story is taking me longer than I thought it would to write. It's not even Christmas Eve in the story yet! But I promise to get this finished before the twelve days of Christmas are up.
So, it's the first official day of Christmas Court, and it starts with a tour for the European guests. Tensions start to arise as Margaret discovers the new Christmas tree, Edouard makes a scary discovery, and Angelo upsets Gabriel twice. I actually felt sad writing the bits with them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!"
Gabriel jolted awake "Someone's being abducted by the aliens!"
He scrambled out of bed, ran over to where Angelo was sleeping, and shook him "Angelo! Angelo, daddy, wake up! It's the aliens! They've come for us!"
Angelo groaned "Go away"
He hadn't slept well. He heard that Mercutio and his two friends scampering around all night, and Lord Capulet yelling at Tybalt and Hermia for fighting, and then Lord Montague yelling at Lord Capulet to be quiet, and then Escalus yelling at Lord Capulet and Lord Montague for yelling at each other.
"No, daddy, you have to get up! Mercutio said they'd take you! He said they'd come for you, now they've taken mum, and he said they'd get me when you weren't there to protect me!"
Angelo opened one eye "Did he?"
"Yes! I'm frightened, daddy, I'm frightened" Gabriel burrowed under Angelo's duvet and tried to cuddle him.
"Get off! That's...that's not right, Gabriel, you don't hug other men"
Gabriel looked hurt "But I'm your son"
"That's why you don't hug me. And as for these aliens, Mercutio has been telling you silly stories. There are no such things as aliens, he was trying to scare you"
"Then where is mum?" asked Gabriel.
"She walked out. I told you this. Now, go back to bed"
"But someone was screaming"
"Ignore them. Go back to bed"
Crestfallen, Gabriel climbed out of Angelo's bed, and climbed back into his own bed. He shivered, and tried not to cry. Angelo always told him not to cry. 'Men don't cry' he'd snap, every time Gabriel came rushing home in tears because another boy had called him names or laughed at him for having long hair.
Instead, he tried to tell himself how different it would be when he was a famous ballet danseur, and wore beautiful costumes, and danced every night, and everyone applauded him, and everybody loved him and saw him for who he truly was...
"MAMA!" screeched Edouard "MAMA! COME QUICK!"
Margaret came running.
"Edouard, mon petit tresor! What is it?"
"There's a Chucky doll at the top of the Christmas tree! I HATE CHUCKY!"
Margaret glanced over at the Christmas tree and did a double take. Instead of the red and gold colour scheme she had organized, the tree was now white and silver.
It was a Yorkist Christmas tree.
"I don't like Chucky!" Edouard wailed "He'll kill me!"
"Who did this?" demanded Margaret, as the other members of her court appeared "Who turned the Christmas tree into a Yorkist Christmas tree?"
"Who put Chucky on top?" Edouard screamed.
York himself made an appearance, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"Did you do this?" seethed Margaret "Did you put your colours all over our Christmas tree?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, your grace" York rolled his eyes.
"Look!"
York looked at it. He did a double take "I had nothing to do with it"
"Yes, you did! Those are your colours! You switched all the decorations over so that we would have a Yorkist Christmas tree!"
"It's a Christmas tree. It's a non-sentimental being. How can it be a Yorkist Christmas tree?"
"It's white!" screamed Margaret.
Ned meandered out, yawning "What's the matter? I woke up hearing shrieking and yelling. What's going on?"
"You're the one behind it!" Margaret screamed "You're the one who made the Yorkist Christmas tree!"
Ned glanced over at the tree "Oh. So I did. It looks really pretty, don't you think?"
"Ned, you did this?" asked York.
"Yeah. One of the Italian kids climbed up the red and gold one, and it fell down, so I bought us all a new one"
"Oh, that's right. Blame the other guests, why don't you?" Margaret seethed.
"Well, they did. I'm being honest. You can ask them if you want" Ned scowled.
"So, you put Chucky on the tree?" Edouard demanded.
It was actually George who had put Chucky on the tree, but Ned wasn't going to give his younger brother away.
"Yep. I thought it was a Christmas angel" replied Ned.
"I HATE CHUCKY! HE SCARES ME!" shrieked Edouard.
Edouard was afraid of Chucky? Well, that was an interesting piece of information!
"How could you upset my son like that?" snarled Margaret "He's a little boy!"
Ned felt fury bubble up inside of him, and he turned and spat "Anne Neville is a little girl but that doesn't stop Edouard upsetting her every time adult politics forces her to spend time in his vile company"
Margaret was speechless. Thankfully, King Harry wandered out, and the situation was salvaged. Somewhat.
"What's happening?"
"Henry!" Margaret hissed "This...this Yorkist boy has taken our Christmas tree and replaced it with a Yorkist one!"
"I did not. One of the Italian kids climbed on it, pulled it down, so I replaced it!" Ned repeated.
Harry glanced over at the tree "Oh. Well. Thank you, cousin, for replacing our tree"
"You're thanking him? Look what he put on top of it! It's Chucky! Edouard's petrified of him!"
Harry looked at the top of the tree "Oh my gosh! Someone take it down!"
"I'll take it down" sighed Ned, reaching over and untying Chucky. Edouard peeked out from behind Margaret's leg. Ned couldn't resist jerking the doll suddenly in his direction and making a 'bleh' noise. Edouard squealed and pressed his face against Margaret's leg. Ned and his family headed back to their rooms, with Margaret glaring at them.
"Now what? You let them go, like that, after upsetting our darling son?" demanded Margaret.
"I'm sure they didn't mean anything. Edward was just trying to help" stated Harry "I know what will make us feel better. Why don't we go to morning prayer?"
"Ugh!" Margaret replied.
"They tied a Chucky doll to the top of the tree!" chortled Mercutio "That's too funny!"
"And, Edouard is scared of Chucky!" giggled Hermia.
"I have so many ideas for pranks now. If we find where York's sons have put the Chucky doll, we can grab it, and then stick it to the roof of the lift. Then, we could get two walkie talkies, put one inside of Chucky, wait until Edouard goes in the lift by himself, and then go into the other walkie talkie 'Look up! Look up!' and see what he does!"
The children all giggled.
"So, have you decided what you're doing for the Talent Show yet?" asked Romeo.
"No" sighed Hermia.
"I've got an idea" said Mercutio "We should go into Queen Margaret's room, go in her wardrobe, dress up in her clothes, and do a fashion show!"
"Mercutio! She'll go nuts!" cried Benvolio.
Romeo and Hermia both laughed.
"That is the general idea, Benny" Mercutio rolled his eyes.
"Hermia?" they heard Lord Capulet call "Hermia? Where the bloody hell have you gone? Hermia!"
"What?" asked Hermia, turning around.
"What the hell are you doing, sitting with the Montagues? I told you to stay away from them!"
"I'm not sitting with the Montagues, I'm sitting with my friends" retorted Hermia. Mercutio pulled a silly face. Lord Capulet scowled and shook his head. He picked Hermia up and led her away to sit down with the other Capulets. They all looked grumpy this morning. Probably because last night, Mercutio had got up, woken up Benvolio and Romeo, and made them run down the corridors, knock on the Capulets' doors, and run away again. Hermia and Tybalt began fighting with each other again some point in the night, and Lord Montague had gotten up to yell at Lord Capulet for being unable to keep his kids under control, which prompted Escalus to get up to yell at them for not being quiet.
It had been an interesting night.
Today, however, they were going to have an interesting day. They were having breakfast, then they were going out for the day for a tour of London. Then, in the evening, they were going to watch a performance of The Nutcracker. Needless to say, Gabriel was very excited about that. Mercutio and the other guys, not so much.
Mercutio finished eating breakfast, and then returned to his room where his mother scrubbed his face and behind his ears fiercely.
"Now, after your little stunt with the Christmas tree last night" she said firmly "I want you on your best behaviour today. We are representing Verona. Do you want the whole of England to think that Verona is an Italian City State full of crazy loonies?"
"King Harry is a crazy loony!" protested Mercutio.
"That is not funny, Mercutio!" snapped Adelaide "He has a suspected mental illness, which he and his family are trying to keep private, because it's his private business. Do you understand?"
"Yes, mum" pouted Mercutio.
"Right" said Adelaide "You look semi-presentable. Come on. Time to go and join the others"
Valentine, Mercutio's older brother, emerged from the bathroom.
"Valentine, you look lovely and smart" beamed Adelaide "I'm so proud of you"
"Thanks, mum!"
"Come on, then, boys, let's go out"
Adelaide took her sons by their hands and led them out.
"Richard loves Anne!" sang George "Richard loves Anne!"
"Shut up, George!" shouted Richard, blushing red.
"Next time we see some mistletoe," taunted George "I'm going to push you both under it and make you kiss!"
"Shut up, George!" cried Richard.
"George, shut up" commanded Ned "It's not funny anymore"
"Yes, it is! It's bloody hilarious!" George turned back to Richard "When I get my two gold fish for Christmas, I'm going to name one Richard, and the other one Anne, and they can be a couple. Like you!"
"Stop it, it's not funny!" cried Richard.
"George, shut up!" Ned repeated "Or I'll push you in the River Thames!"
"All of you, be quiet. I'm tired and I have a headache" grumbled Edmund.
"I'm not surprised. Hearing Edouard shriek at the sight of Chucky" snickered George.
"I don't like that doll either" shuddered Richard "Can we put it in someone else's room?"
"No. It's mine!" dismissed George.
"Who paid for it? Me! It's mine" said Ned.
"What did you pay for it with? Dad's credit card! It belongs to him" retorted George.
"So, what are we doing today?" asked Richard.
"Well, the European guests are getting a tour of London" said Ned.
"Do we have to go?" asked Edmund.
"I don't think so" replied Ned "We've seen London plenty of times before"
"I wonder what the others will think" said Richard "Especially what the Italian kids will think"
Ned opened his mouth to reply, but the door to their rooms slid open. Two pretty little faces peeked in. Ned smiled "Hello girls! What brings you here?"
The door opened wide and Isabel and Anne stepped in shyly.
"We came to see if you were still here" said Isabel.
"We're still here. Shuffle up, brothers, so the girls can sit down"
The boys rearranged themselves, and Isabel and Anne came and joined them, so they were all sitting on the bed.
"Everyone else has gone for the tour, but daddy drank a lot of wine last night" said Isabel, a slight giggle escaping her lips.
"That's not like Warwick" remarked Edmund.
"He said something about Prince Escalus' nephew Mercutio being loud and wine helping you to sleep" explained Anne.
"Yeah...wine tends to have that effect" sniggered Ned.
"So why are you all still here?" asked Isabel.
"We're tired" yawned Edmund.
"I liked your Christmas tree!" Anne beamed "It's so pretty! And what you did with the scary doll! Prince Edouard was so angry!"
"Serves him right" George shrugged.
"I'm glad you liked our tree, ladies. We liked decorating it!" Ned laughed.
"I couldn't believe Mercutio climbed it" the girls giggled again.
"He's a naughty boy" nodded Ned "But he's quite amusing"
"I can't wait to see what he does for the Talent Show" said Anne "Are you doing anything?"
"No, I think I'm a bit old for that stuff now" replied Ned.
"I don't think belching the alphabet counts" stated George.
"What about you, Dickon?" asked Anne.
"I don't really have anything I'm good at yet" mumbled Richard shyly.
"You love her!" hissed George in his ear.
"Shut up, I do not!" cried Richard, shoving George. George almost fell off the bed, but Edmund grabbed him in time. But that didn't stop George. He reached in his pocket, pulled out some mistletoe, and held it above Anne and Richard's heads.
"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" he taunted.
"Stop it, George!" Richard tried to push George off.
"All right, that's enough!" Ned pulled George away from Richard and Anne "Let them be. I tell you what. Edmund, go in my case, I packed some cards. Who fancies a game of 'Go Fish?'"
"I don't think I know that one" said Isabel.
"I'll teach you" said Ned.
"Not the drinking game version!" Edmund teased, getting up to fetch the cards. Ned blew a raspberry at him, and the girls laughed again. Eventually, they all settled down to game of cards, blissfully unaware of the spoilt and lonely prince who peered through the crack in the door and watched enviously.
"Twenty nine!"
"Mercutio, stop playing 'Spot the Chav' and sit down! I'm not telling you again!" grumbled Escalus, pulling Mercutio back from the edge of the red double decker bus.
"So, the flag's not flying over Buckingham Palace anymore" Hermia turned around from where she was peering over the edge "Which means King Harry is out with us"
"That's right, Hermia" said Lord Capulet.
"Is he going to wear his crown and shake hands with people?" asked Hermia.
"Something along those lines" Lord Capulet rolled his eyes "Tybalt! Stop slouching! And stop spitting over the edge of the bus!"
"I'm bored!" Tybalt snapped "There's nothing here apart from rain and chavs!"
"I don't know what you're complaining about. You are a chav" Hermia added.
"Shut up, minger! If you're not careful, I'm going to push you over the edge!" threatened Tybalt.
"Don't you dare!" snapped Lord Capulet.
"Tybalt, don't be mean!" chimed Juliet, coming to the aid of her half-sister.
"Number thirty!"
"Mercutio!" Escalus yelled "I told you to stop!"
"And anyway," said Hermia "If all that's here is rain and chavs, why are King Harry and the Duke of York fighting to be king of it?"
"I have no idea. Why don't you ask them?" replied Lord Capulet. Hermia got up, and began to walk towards Harry. Lord Capulet grabbed her and pulled her back "Actually, on second thoughts, don't!"
"That's true. Why doesn't the Duke of York find somewhere else nicer to be king of?" Juliet asked.
"I don't know either" said Lord Capulet.
"What about Disneyland?" suggested Hermia "He could invade Disneyland, kick out Mickey Mouse, and be king of that"
"That would be so cool!" beamed Mercutio "And, there's loads of princesses for his sons to marry, and handsome princes for his daughters, and he could have Mulan as his bodyguard, and Pluto for a pet dog!"
Lord Capulet let the kids get on with inventing an imaginary kingdom in Disneyland for the Yorkists and decided to look back out at London. They were all speaking Italian, so it wasn't like they were going to offend anyone accidently. They drove past the Houses of Parliament.
"Oh, lucky them" sighed Angelo "They get a separate building for the government. And we're all crammed into one palace, getting pranked by a certain boy counting chavs all day"
"Tell me about it" Lord Capulet rolled his eyes. He looked back at Mercutio "I hate that kid"
"Do you know what he's been doing to Gabriel?" asked Angelo.
"What?"
"Telling him stupid stories about his mother being abducted by aliens" Angelo growled.
Lord Capulet sighed "I would suggest telling Gabriel to stay away from Mercutio, but with Mercutio, there is no getting away"
"Hey, Benvolio!" yelled Mercutio's loud voice "Look! There's Big Ben! That's you!"
Benvolio looked at the clock strangely "I don't think so..."
Excitedly, Gabriel buttoned up his smart light blue skirt and adjusted his formal trousers. His shoes were shiny, and his hair was smooth. He looked in the mirror and found himself wondering what he'd look like in ten years. Would he by then finally be a dancer too?
"What are you doing?" asked Angelo.
"Getting ready!" Gabriel pirouetted on the spot.
"I don't know what you're so excited about, we're only going to see a bloody ballet performance"
"Exactly, daddy! My favourite!"
"We're going to be sitting on our asses for three hours, our butts going numb, just watching people prance around on stage. You're mad!"
Gabriel stuck his chin out "I am not. I have different tastes to you. And there's nothing wrong with that"
He pranced out the room, and collided with a disgruntled Mercutio.
"My uncle Escalus said I had to say sorry to you about telling you your mum was abducted by aliens" Mercutio stated. He didn't sound sorry.
"Oh. Thank you, Mercutio" replied Gabriel.
"You can sit with me and Romeo and Benvolio and make fun of all the stupid ballerinas if you want"
Gabriel tried not to let his offence show "Thank you, but I have to sit next to Angelo"
"I hate ballet" complained Edouard "It's for girls"
"Now, now, mon petit tresor" said Margaret, as she combed his red hair into place "It's just this once, and for Christmas. When you are the king, and you are hosting your own Christmas Court, then you'll never have to watch a ballet performance again"
"But can't I just stay here like I did this morning?" asked Edouard.
"No, darling, this is a public outing, I'm afraid" Margaret finished combing his hair, and gently kissed his forehead "But I'll buy you some sweets when we're there, and let you read a book"
She held her hand out, and Edouard took it. They joined up with Harry, and then made their way out to the car. Edouard sulked the whole way there, and Harry gazed absent-mindedly into space.
'What does he think about when he does that?' thought Margaret 'Is he having another religious moment? Does he wish he could be rid of our company? I just hope he doesn't fall asleep again...'
Finally, they arrived. They were ushered through rooms, past crowds, past dancers, and into their seats. Margaret's dark eyes sought out the guests as they found their seats. Edouard sighed and sulked some more, slumping in his seat.
"Sit up straight, poppet. All eyes are on us"
"Then they can watch me be bored" retorted Edouard "Where are my sweets?"
Margaret mentally cursed.
"I'm sorry, darling, but I forgot to get them"
"But I want them!" Edouard shouted. The entire theatre turned and looked at him "I WANT SWEETS!"
The Duke of York stared straight at them. Margaret sat up, uncomfortable in his glare. His children had all turned around and they were watching.
"You can't have them" said Margaret "Because I don't have any. You can have some later when the performance has finished"
"BUT I WANT THEM NOW! I'M THE PRINCE!"
Harry was staring into space again. Margaret wanted to whack him around the head.
'Help me!' she screamed mentally at him 'He's your son! Do something!'
"You can have them later!" Margaret repeated "I promise you, you can have some sweets later"
"I want them now!" demanded Edouard.
Why was he like this? Was it her fault? Harry's? Margaret had tried to make Edouard happy. She'd given him everything he wanted, given him all her love, made herself look like a fool just to keep him happy, keep him safe.
Across the theatre, the guests looked on as Margaret finally stood up, led Edouard out of the seating area, and back down to the entrance to buy him some sweets.
"If my son ever acted like that," muttered Angelo to Escalus "I would throw him off a cliff"
Gabriel glanced up, horrified.
"That prince puts me off having kids" replied Escalus "And I need to get an heir!"
"Oh, I don't blame you. Gabe's enough. I don't want anymore. Couldn't your brother inherit it after you?" asked Angelo.
"He could, but I don't want him to. It's not fair. He hasn't had the training for it. And if that law eventually gets through, which means we follow equal primogeniture, then I don't want my sister and her children being ahead of my brother in the succession. Just think, if something happened to Valentine...Mercutio would be prince! And that would be a nightmare!"
The men chuckled.
"Ssh!" scolded Gabriel "It's starting!"
The overture began to play. Gabriel gazed eagerly at the stage, practically buzzing up and down in his seat. Angelo and Escalus continued their conversation, albeit in hushed voices to avoid Gabriel telling them off. A few aisles down, Tybalt had fallen asleep and was snoring. Hermia was imitating him, and making Juliet giggle. Further down, Mercutio was telling Benvolio and Romeo rude jokes and they were trying hard not to laugh too loudly.
On the other side of the hall, Ned sat with Richard on his lap. George had been singing "Richard loves Anne!" again, so Ned had moved Richard onto his lap away from him. But, unfortunately, Ned had been sitting next to the Nevilles, next to Anne, to be precise, so now George was sniggering and making kissy noises and romantic gestures at them. Anne was sensibly ignoring them, and Richard was glaring back at George. Perhaps if he didn't stop, Ned would go and sit on George instead, and see how that would shut him up.
Baby Henry snuffled in his sleep, cuddling up to Margaret. She gently rocked him. Edouard's tantrum had woke him up and made him cry, but luckily, once Edouard shut up, he had stopped crying. She watched the dance with interest. It reminded her of when she had been a little girl, before everything became so complicated.
Edouard was snuggling up to his mother, contently stuffing his face with sweets. Harry was gazing into space again, imaging himself flying away out of here, away from his bratty son, his pushy wife, the constant pressure and duties of being king...
He wished he could take them all away from it. Him, Edouard, and Margaret. They'd settle somewhere quiet, in the countryside, perhaps. He would be a teacher, or a priest, and finally do something he loved and that he wanted to do. He'd show Edouard and Margaret that having power and money wasn't everything, and that joy came from the simple things in life. Perhaps Edouard wouldn't be so spoilt, and perhaps Margaret would finally see him for who he was, and maybe even love him for who he was.
Lord Capulet shepherded his family back into their rooms.
"Tybalt...Juliet...Hermia, go and put that stick back outside"
"But it's my magic wand! We're playing Harry Potter, and we're going to Ollivander's, and this is going to be my wand!"
"Who is 'we'?"
"Me and the boys" replied Hermia.
"Hermia's a slut, hanging out with all the boys!" hooted Tybalt.
"Shut up, Tybalt!" snapped Juliet "You're so mean!"
"Tybalt, she's seven" scolded Lord Capulet "Go to bed"
"Gladly. And don't come and wake me up in the morning, I want to sleep" Tybalt stormed into his room and shut the door.
"Someone's not enjoying Christmas Court" remarked Hermia.
"No one is enjoying Christmas Court. Everyone is just being naughty!" stated Juliet.
"And none more so than your sister" frowned Lady Capulet.
"I'm sure everything will work out" clucked Regina "I'll go and talk to Tibby, maybe he'll perk up a bit"
"Of course he will, Aunty Regina" Hermia rolled her eyes.
"That's enough" Lord Capulet frowned back "Time for bed, everyone, I think"
Hermia and Juliet tucked themselves up into bed together. They fell asleep whispering secrets, like they usually did if Hermia crawled into Juliet's bed in the night.
About an hour or so later, Juliet awoke, hearing raised voices that were broken whispers coming from her parents room. She climbed out of bed, trying not to disturb Hermia. Hermia simply murmured in her sleep and rolled onto her back. Juliet pattered along, and placed her ear against the doorframe.
"She is your daughter, not mine!"
"She's part of our family, regardless!"
"But why should I have to suffer when she's hanging around with...Montague boys, and doing stupid things!"
"Well, you can leave then!" snapped Lord Capulet "Go on! Get out! Sometimes I wish it had been Hermia's mother who I'd married, not you!"
Juliet gasped.
Hermia wasn't her real sister?