Chapter 15
We moved as quickly as we could after that, drawing up a plan as we went. Blanche and I were to seek sanctuary in Westminster Abbey if things got really nasty, while our army marched to secure the rest of London.
It was hoped that, by seeking sanctuary, like my Yorkist Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville, before me, I could secure public sympathy for my cause even more than I already had.
Meanwhile, nearly every messenger we passed on the road brought news of my half-brother, so that we knew his movements almost as well as he himself did.
True, the fact that the Seymours and their mercenary army had marched into Colchester and taken it was a blow, but key city though it was, it wasn't London. It wasn't England's capital.
"We can win Colchester back some other time." Edward promised me, holding me as I raged, railing against fate, against my half-brother, against everything. "As soon as we've won London, Colchester will follow, Elizabeth. I promise."
"How can you be so sure? If we've lost Colchester, who's to say that we won't lose London?"
"London is loyal to your family. We won't lose it. Particularly not if we offer them a sixteen year old woman as their Queen; a woman who has been trained to rule from childhood and might be able to produce an heir, rather than a twelve year old boy who won't be able to marry for another two years at least."
"Able to produce an heir?" I pounced on a fragment of Edward's speech instantly, leaning back against him carelessly, smiling that coquettish half-smile that came so naturally both to my mother and to me.
"Yes. Able to produce an heir." Pulling away from me, Edward dropped to one knee and stretched out his hand to me.
"Elizabeth Tudor. Your Majesty. Queen of England, Ireland and France and Queen of my heart. Will you marry me? I know I am naught but your humble subject, but will you marry me?"
My heart literally soared at his little speech and I smiled down at him.
"In a moment such as this, could any woman say no?"
"In a moment such as this, could a Queen say no?"
"Absolutely…" I hesitated for the merest fraction of a second, just to tease him, before exclaiming "Not!" and reaching out to help him up. "Of course I'll marry you, Edward. Of course I'll become Elizabeth Brandon-Tudor. I shall be Elizabeth Brandon-Tudor, Queen of England, Ireland and France and you shall be my husband. You shall be King, Edward. How do you like that, my love?"
"I like it very well indeed, Your Majesty."
"I'm glad, Lord Lincoln. You deserve nothing less."
With that, I pressed my lips to his, letting my inborn passion bubble up and melt between us in the heat of the moment.
"Do you, Elizabeth Tudor, take this man, Lord Edward Brandon, Earl of Lincoln, to be your lawful wedded husband; to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer and for better or for worse, until death do you part? Do you vow to love him and cherish him and to forsake all other men for him, now and forever, as long as you both shall live?"
Glancing at Edward through the fine mesh of my silver veil, I nodded. "I do so solemnly swear."
Pleased with my answer, the officiating priest nodded and I felt Edward's hand squeeze mine, just briefly, as the priest turned to him.
"And do you, Lord Edward Brandon, Earl of Lincoln, take this woman, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Tudor of England, France and Ireland, to be your lawfully wedded wife; to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer and for better or for worse, until death do you part? Do you swear to love her and cherish her and to forsake all other women for her, now and forever, as long as you both shall live?"
Edward didn't look at me as I had looked at him before responding, but his hand tightened on mine again and his voice rang the rafters of Oxford's St Mary Magdalene Church as he said "I do so solemnly swear."
At Edward's words, Blanche and Ambrose Dudley stepped forward, carrying our rings. Blanche beamed at me as I accepted the finely-wrought silver trinket from her and I chuckled under my breath at her obvious delight before turning to Edward and slipping it on to his hand.
"With this ring, I thee wed."
Edward inclined his head to Ambrose, silently thanking him, then gently enclosed my hand in his once more, looking me straight in the eyes as he murmured "Elizabeth Tudor, with this ring, I thee wed."
I couldn't wait any longer. Scorning propriety, I threw back my veil and the chaplain had to almost gabble his permission for Edward to kiss me if he was to regain any control of the situation.
There was laughter and applause as our lips met and then, hand in hand, we left the church, ready to ride to London.
The common people went wild with joy when they heard of my marriage to Edward and they lined the streets of our route to London, cheering us. We were hailed as another Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville; another Edward III and Good Queen Phillippa; another Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
And when my half-brother tried to march from Colchester to meet us in open warfare, half his army defected almost before he reached the battlefield.
My new husband confidently predicted that it would be the work of a morning to defeat him and his remaining rabble and he was right, in a way. However, it was a long and bitter morning. My army rode out under the guidance of my father in law and step-uncle just as dawn was breaking and rode back into our camp, grey and exhausted, while I was having lunch with Anne and my sisters.
Edward looked particularly shaken and I ran to him like a common woman as he dismounted.
"What happened? Edward, what happened?"
"We made them turn tail and captured your half-brother, but we lost Ambrose Dudley. He went down fighting in the thick of it. And that's not the worst of it. My father had to fight his own son in single hand to hand combat before he was able to drive Henry into exile. His own son, Elizabeth. And I watched him do it. I watched him do it."
Edward's voice shook with exhausted horror at the mere memory. I reached for him and led him inside without another word. I might be unchallenged Queen, but my crown had come at a heavy price. My own husband had lost his brother, or as good as lost him and my most trusted allies had lost a son and a brother. I would have to repay them at some point in the near future.
Right now, however, I had to play the devoted wife rather than the Queen and try to comfort my husband.