The last time Annabelle had recalled to grisly and tedious journey to the Northern Kingdom, she had been a young girl of fifteen, a lady-in-waiting to the then Lancastrian Queen, Juliette of Guardi had been her name and Annabelle had always remembered the woman as a great beauty, her grace and poise had been spoken of across the lands, she had been a gentle soul also, kind and generous, Annabelle truly didnāt have a bad word against her. However life was remarkably unusual at times, when she had had married Henry but two years later, she had initially been surprised by his lack of love towards the royal family, especial the Prince and heir to the throne, Harold Lancaster. Whereas she had always seen the prince as a kind and polite young man, Henry seemed to see him as a venomous spider, a dangerous species that needed to be crushed, the change in attitudes was something that Annabelle had struggled with and even now, despite everything that had happened she could not bring herself to hate the Lancasterās, not for the love of a Queen long since dead.
Thirty-Two years had passed since she had last travelled these roads and she could scarcely believe that fact, since then she had bore four child, held her grandchildren in her arms, lived through a rebellion and watched her daughter be crowned Queen. Looking back, Annabelle could hardly remember that young girl she use to be, but she could never have imagined that she would have lived such an eventful life, for anyone else it could have been too much to bear, but she was a Marcus and by god their resolve was tough. It was the only thing that was beating her exhaustion on this trip, that and the thought of seeing Eleanor and Jonathon after three years away from them, which gave her the most strength. It was a closely guarded secret that Annabelleās health had been ailing in these past months, she was fatigued more often than not, even nauseous at times and she had begun to suffer from excruciating headaches. It had taken almost all of her resolve to keep it a secret from Harriet, yet she had been a little surprised that her inquisitive daughter hadnāt picked up on it, usually Harriet was the first to notice even the minute change in a personās behaviour, though she had been going through many of her own problems recently, in hindsight it was not wonder she had missed them. Henry not picking up on them had not surprised her, her husband was so narrow minded at times it was a wonder to her how he had lasted this long in such a world, still, she supposed that was one of the reasons she loved him so deeply, despite the annoyance it caused her at times. A part of her wondered if Eleanor would notice, she truly hoped not, she couldnāt bear the thought of adding to any of her childrenās problems.
Annabelle had never once wished to have time on her side once again, she had never been one of these women who wished and prayed for their younger years once again, no she had taken aging in her stride, she had been young once and now it was anotherās turn, besides she enjoyed a mother and grandmother. However on this day she nearly wished it, wished for her strength back for every hour which past within the confides of the coach, her resolve broke just that little bit more as the fatigue set in, and the aching began in her bones. For a moment she almost thought it had been a bad idea to participate in the mad cross country trek, deep down she supposed a part of her was mad, but at the end of the day she was a mother and to get to oneās children, mothers would climb mountains or swim oceans.
Finally, the castle which had been the home of her eldest son and youngest daughter was in Annabelleās sights and a joyous, if not tiresome smiled broached her lips, creating an almost tearful gleam in her eyes. She was excited but also a little apprehension about her arrival, she had only told Jonathon and only on the day she had left, sending the letter ahead by messenger to save him trying to do anything to stop her from coming, as he likely would have done. As planned the coach pulled up within the servantās courtyard as too avoid suspicion, and luckily deserted courtyard. The carriage came to a sudden halt with a slight jolt and the door was pulled open quickly, immediately Annabelle was hit by a cold wind, of the likes she had never felt before and it chilled her to the bone. Pulling her cloak tightly around her body, she descended from the carriage, her eyes immediately meeting the figure of a tall man, it took her a moment to realise whom it was but once she did her bright smile returned, āJonathon!ā she exclaimed perhaps a little too loudly, but her excitement was almost too much to contain, āOh my darling boy!ā
āMotherā Jonathon returned in an equally emotional tone, his long strides bringing him into his mother embrace in a matter of seconds, he could scarcely remember the last time he had embraced his mother and it surely was a wonderful feeling. Pulling back slightly, he pressed a loving kiss against her cheek before hugging her tightly again, āWhen I received your letter I almost sent a messenger back to stop you, I am so glad I didnāt now, it is so good to see you once again, we have missed you so much.ā
Tears began to well in her eyes as Annabelle regarded her son, he hadnāt changed one bit, perhaps a little paler, but that had been expected from living in such a dismal country, where the sun seldom shone and the winds were never without the cooling nip. āOh my boy, my darling, you have no idea how good it is too see you. Tell me how is your sister? Does she know I am coming?ā Jonathon froze for a moment, his expression morphing into one of concern, which in turn only worried Annabelle, āWhat? What is it? What happened?ā She asked hastily, her blue eyes widening.
āS-she found out about Lizzie and-andā¦well, the physician is with her nowā he paused shaking his head, āit doesnāt look good, mother.ā Annabelleās hand slowly covered her mouth as she portrayed her shock, no, this couldnāt be happening, not again, she couldnāt lose this baby, it surely would destroy her daughter and certainly not so soon after Lizzie, god would not be so cruel, would he? āTake me to her Jonā¦ā she was cut off by the adamant shake of his head, āno, I cannot do that mother, James is in there and we do not know how he will react to you being here.ā Annabelleās jaw momentarily clenched, āJonathon Stanford, you take me to your sister this very instant or so help me godā¦ā He did not speak another word, merely nodded along and lead her into the castle.
All James could do was stare at his wife as waves of agony and sorrow washed over her pretty feature, no this couldnāt be happening, not again, they had been so close this time and now it seemed that they were set to face another tragedy. "You lied to me!...Why didn't you tell me Lizzie was dead?" She accused him almost venomously, a lump forming in this throat as her glanced down at her, shame etching across his features. Honestly, James had wanted to tell her of her young nieceās death the moment he had found out himself, but he had been so scared that something like, well exactly like this would happen that he had decided against it. āI-I am sorry my love, truly sorry.ā He apologised quickly, although weary about what effect it would have on her, he highly doubted she would accept his apology, not that he could blame her, he had kept an important piece of information from her and he was aware Eleanor would see this as a betrayal. āEllie, please I did it to protect you, I am so sorry, my love.ā
Eleanor did not speak for a moment, only stared at him with those steel eyes, almost narrowed in anger, that was until her saw her features twist in a sudden pain and a loud gasp escaped her lips. Seeing this, Jamesā own eyes widened in fear as he grip tightened on her hand. The moment she looked at him with those frightful eyes, his heart froze, knowing the words she was going to say before she had even uttered them. āItās the baby,ā Ellie cried, āThereās something wrong with the baby.ā
Pure devastation was what James felt in that moment, although he knew those words were coming, nothing could have prepared him from the revelations from his wifeās own lips, those words were utterly damning and piercing like a dagger being plunged repeatedly into his heart, hell he would have preferred that to have happened rather than being in the position he was in now. Being unable to comfort his wife was a terrible feeling and suddenly James felt utterly inadequate at a husband, a failure almost. It was then did the physician enter, looking back he nodded at the older man before turning back to his wife and placed a loving kiss upon her brow as he wiped away the tears which had spilt down her cheek. āIt will be alright my loveā he uttered breathlessly, as the physician asked him to take a step back so he could examine Eleanor and James did so reluctantly.
Taking a step back, he buried his head within his hands and released a quaking breath as he uttered a silent prayer, begging god to not take another child away from him, promising him anything and everything in return. Minutes past by whilst Eleanor was being examined, the physician asking her questions as her prodded and poked at his wife, James almost lost his temper with the man on numerous occasions, couldnāt he see that the Queen was in agony, of course something was wrong! How long must it take to be told what was wrong!? He was about to open his mouth to shout at the older man when the door opened again, this time Jonathon walked through the door with an older woman, whom at first he thought was a midwife, but she was too finely dressed for that, it took a few moment for him to fathom who the woman actually was, it was none other than Eleanorās mother, Annabelle Stanford.