White Boar and the Red Dragon, The by Margaret W Price Read Free Book Online Page A

said to you at the Micklegate in York about the need for revenge! Your father was the next rightful king when he was murdered! And your brother Edmund—innocent of sin—killed at just seventeen years old!’
    ‘How could I forget?’ Richard’s face crumpled at the memory. ‘I made up my mind then to avenge them, and one day I will! Just you wait and see! I do not forget the vow I made then and many times since!’
    ‘I believe you, boy. I see now that you have inner strengths. Edward may be king and George may be much older than you, but I feel that you will be the one to get ultimate revenge on Queen Margaret! George is too idle and overmuch concerned with enjoying life and Edward is too busy being king!
    I despaired of you after your illness, but I realise now that, though you may be small and not so well-endowed physically as your brothers, you have a most capable brain in that head of yours and compassion in your heart for poor men. That will stand you in good stead as you grow into adulthood! Lord Neville was right! He said you would turn out well in spite of your physical disadvantages! I did not believe him then, but I do now, for it is not how a man appears, but what he is like inside that determines his worth!’
    She moved away, back to where Elizabeth and Margaret sat, leaving Richard almost open-mouthed with amazement. His mother had hardly ever seemed to speak to him unless really necessary for as long as he could remember! She had always adored his elder brothers and indulged them, whereas she had invariably been hard on him. He had frequently felt rejected; unloved. Now she had actually admitted to admiring something he had done; declaring that he was worthy in her eyes!
    It made him feel good again. He must think of more ways to earn her praise!
    Middleham Castle, Yorkshire, Early Spring, 1463
    The brothers Richard of Gloucester and George of Clarence, with Richard’s friends Robert Percy and Francis Lovell, were seated at their studies on a fine, bright March morning. Outside, a, sharp frost was just beginning to thaw in the slowly strengthening sun, but the boys were snug and warm in the library, near a roaring log fire.
    George was frankly bored stiff, as that day, they studied law with their tutor, which George found dry as dust and completely irrelevant, as everyone knew that the King’s Justice had broken down under the incompetent, mentally ill Henry VI and that now men did more or less as they pleased, especially if they were powerful and rich. So what was the point? His elder brother Edward IV had begun to institute new laws in Parliament, but it would take a long time to build up a proper system to enforce them again.
    Richard, however, was completely engrossed in the work given to him to study. Their tutor had gone for his afternoon break and the boys were taking the opportunity to relax a little, even though they had been set work to get on with and knew they would be questioned closely on it as soon as Master Gardner returned, all except Richard, who was so completely engrossed that he hardly noticed when the tutor had gone or that the others had stopped work. ‘Richard, anyone would think that boring old tome had pictures of nude women in it! You have not lifted your eyes from it this past hour!’ Robert remarked amused.
    ‘He’s serious-minded, my little brother!’ retorted George. ‘Too serious-minded for his own good! Eleven years old and he’s an old man’s head on his young shoulders! You need to lighten up a bit, lad!’
    He got up and leant indolently on Richard’s chair back, peering over his shoulder to see just what it was that absorbed the younger boy’s attention so utterly.
    ‘“Immunity from punishment by virtue of position.” That looks very interesting, I must say! Not exactly guaranteed to stir the mind, let alone the senses! Forget that rubbish, Dickon, and look at this!’
    He produced a small book of hand-painted pictures on vellum from his scrip.