Free The Lost King by Alison Prince Page A

repeats.
    He stares at me again then runs to his uncle, who is still talking to Papa. He tugs at his coat, causing Earl Rivers to look down in surprise.
    â€˜What is it, Edward? You should not interrupt.’
    â€˜I want Lisa to stay here.’
    People glance at each other but say nothing. After all, this child is a prince.
    His uncle seems perplexed. ‘Are you sure?’
    â€˜Yes,’ the little boy says. ‘I am sure. She is nice. I like her.’
    Earl Rivers looks at me and asks, ‘How old are you?’
    â€˜Twelve, sir.’
    â€˜She is the eldest of five,’ Papa explains, ‘so she is used to children.’
    Edward takes my hand.
    â€˜I want her to stay,’ he repeats. Then he adds, ‘Please.’
    It sounds like a word he seldom uses. He and I look at each other carefully. Neither of us smiles, but his hand tightens round mine.
    Papa and Earl Rivers are talking together, so we have to wait and see if agreement comes. Edward holds the feather up to my face and I blow at it gentlyto make it flutter in his fingers. He laughs. I feel he does not laugh often.
    Papa turns to me.
    â€˜Lisa,’ he says. ‘Earl Rivers would like you to be a companion and helper to this royal boy. But it means you will have to leave home and live here. The choice is yours. I cannot tell you what to do.’
    Little Edward knows he must not pester, but his grey eyes are full of entreaty.
    I’m scared and breathless, but in these few astonishing minutes, I have come to know that he needs me. How can this be? This child who will inherit a kingdom has everything, and I have nothing. But I cannot let him down. I start to answer but my voice doesn’t seem to be working properly, so I take a shaky breath and try again.
    â€˜Yes,’ I manage to say. ‘I would like to.’
    Earl Rivers tells Papa, ‘Bring her back tomorrow with her things.’
    Things? I have only a shawl and a spare dress, and a comb for my hair.
    Edward is not absolutely sure his wish has been granted. He asks, ‘You promise?’
    â€˜Yes,’ I tell him. ‘I promise.’
    â€˜Good,’ he says.
    Papa and I climb back into the trap. He slaps the reins gently on the horse’s back and we move forward through the gateway to the road outside. I feel as if I’m dreaming.
    â€˜Well,’ Papa says. ‘Your granny will be surprised. And your mother, too. I hope we have done the right thing.’
    My fingers are crossed. With a magpie’s feather that cost nothing, it seems I have bought a new life.

So much to learn

May 1473
    They said my clothes would not do, and gave me two blue dresses and black leather shoes. I wear a clean apron every day and my hair has to be tucked into a white cap. I still feel like a new, strange person, but I am getting used to it.
    Edward is an easy child to amuse. He has no brothers or sisters here to play with, so he welcomes my company in his free time – not that he has much of that, poor little soul. He does not have to collect firewood and look for mushrooms and help weed the garden as we do in our family, but in many ways, his life is more severe. His uncle, whom people always call Rivers, expects him to work hard at his learning.He has a tutor called Dr Alcock – not a medical doctor like Papa, though. He is the Bishop of Worcester, a stern man, though he is careful with his little pupil and never unkind.
    Edward’s Uncle Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, has been here several times. He is the King’s youngest brother. He brings small gifts, but what Edward really likes is that he treats him as an intelligent fellow-person, not a mere child. They get on wonderfully well. Richard is married to Anne Neville, who is slim like him, with a bright, smiling face. They have a young baby, a little boy called Edward, like his cousin. Royal people seem to use the same names all the time.
    Richard is not much taller than I am, though