#Issy Moore

[white-cat-of-doom]

They look intimidating, but are all very nice.

International Tour in Düsseldorf, 10 April 2025.

Marco Venturini as Admetus, Daniel Timoney as Alonzo, Theo Reece as Bill Bailey, Olivia Barnett-Legh as Bombalurina, Emily Layden-Fritz as Cassandra, Gabrielle Parker as Jemima, Hazel Baldwin as Jennyanydots, Samuel Bateson as Mistoffelees, Marcus May as Mungojerrie, Lauren Bronwyn-Wood as Rumpleteazer, and Isabel Moore as Victoria.

[icantbelieveitsnotbomba]

[real-reulbbr-band]

Issy Moore celebrates a first week of opening performances !

CATS, international tour 2024.

[junkyard-gifs]

Tumblebrutus is very good at listening quietly and not fidgetting.

at all.

oops, hairball.

(Also the smoke machine is being over-enthusiastic, so a lot of the cast are incorporating 'trying to wave/blow the smoke away' into their reactions to Old Deuteronomy's words.)

Bennett Ryan as Tumblebrutus, with Issy Moore as Victoria, Lance Barker by Coricopat, and Ashlyn Fenn as Tantomile. Oasis cast 13, May 2023 (X).

[expectiations]

River Song’s Last Words

Cover artwork, cast and story details are today revealed for The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words, a brand-new box set of apocalyptic audio drama, due for release August 2024. 

River Song may be the Doctor’s wife, but there’s so much more to her than that. Alex Kingston played the time-travelling archaeologist on Doctor Who between 2008 and 2015, and has reprised the role in many Big Finish audio dramas since, exploring what River gets up to when she’s not with her Time Lord husband.

The first box set in her new series, The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words sees River, after cheating death as a digital consciousness uploaded to the Library, brought back to life in a cloned body and sent to Earth in the future, not long before it’s set to be ravaged by solar flares.

Joining Kingston in this epic story’s cast is Greg Wise – who listeners may know from The Crown and Sense and Sensibility, as well as the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing – as ultra-rich tycoon Garrison Clay. He’s the man behind River’s temporary resurrection, and he has a mission for her.

And, Jamie Parker – best known for playing Harry Potter in the West End show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, as well as roles in TV series Treadstone and The Crown – plays Sam Avner, a mysterious man who becomes an ally to River.

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, as a limited edition four-CD box set (plus digital download) for £29.99, or as a digital download only for £22.99.

Wrenched from her digital afterlife in the Library, River Song finds herself on sixty-first century Earth, resurrected in a clone body. Billionaire tech mogul Garrison Clay has a mystery to solve, and he’s selected River as the person to solve it.

Armed with only her sonic screwdriver and a fake ID, River heads out into a world soon to be ravaged by solar flares... where danger stalks her at every turn.

The story is divided into four episodes, or books, all scripted by Robert Valentine:

Book 1 – Apokalypsis

Book 2 – Fate & Fatality

Book 3 – The Black Hours

Book 4 – Book of the Dead

These four books together, as well as revealing an important chapter in River’s (after)life, serve as a prequel to the 1975 TV story The Ark in Space, with humanity preparing to flee the doomed Earth. Robert Whitelock guest stars as Lazar and Christine Kavanagh as Vira – characters originally played on television by Kenton Moore and Wendy Williams.

Also on the cast list of Last Words are Jane Booker, Shogo Miyakita, Jamie Zubairi, Jacob Daniels, Andrew James Spooner, Glen McCready, Issy Van Randwyck, and Nicholas Boulton.

Producer David Richardson said: “Robert Valentine has done something remarkable with this four-hour drama, which tells the story of the last days of planet Earth before it is destroyed by solar flares, a story told from the perspective of a woman temporarily brought back from the dead. It’s heart-breaking and exciting and doom-laden and, perhaps when you least expect it, uplifting and inspiring.”

Writer Robert Valentine added: “Originally, I thought I was going to be writing the final ever River Song story. Quickly I realised that I wasn’t, but I thought it would be fun to write something that feels like it’s the last we’ll ever see of River, and actually give that problem to her. Her life is usually intertwined with the Doctor’s, so I thought, what is her life like after her great relationship is over?

“And, the brief was to do a prequel to The Ark in Space, which is a Doctor Who classic, at the same time. When I went back and rewatched it, I realised that I wouldn't be allowed on this ship, I would have been one of the ones left behind. So I thought, let's give River a mission that leads into The Ark in Space, but with sympathy for those people who aren't on the Ark.”

Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector’s edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only).

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box sets are strictly limited to 1,250 copies and will not be repressed.

Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.

[pers-books]

River Song’s Last Words 

Cover artwork, cast and story details are today revealed for The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words, a brand-new box set of apocalyptic audio drama, due for release August 2024. 

River Song may be the Doctor’s wife, but there’s so much more to her than that. Alex Kingston played the time-travelling archaeologist on Doctor Who between 2008 and 2015, and has reprised the role in many Big Finish audio dramas since, exploring what River gets up to when she’s not with her Time Lord husband. 

The first box set in her new series, The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words sees River, after cheating death as a digital consciousness uploaded to the Library, brought back to life in a cloned body and sent to Earth in the future, not long before it’s set to be ravaged by solar flares. 

Joining Kingston in this epic story’s cast is Greg Wise – who listeners may know from The Crown and Sense and Sensibility, as well as the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing – as ultra-rich tycoon Garrison Clay. He’s the man behind River’s temporary resurrection, and he has a mission for her. 

And, Jamie Parker – best known for playing Harry Potter in the West End show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, as well as roles in TV series Treadstone and The Crown – plays Sam Avner, a mysterious man who becomes an ally to River. 

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, as a limited edition four-CD box set (plus digital download) for £29.99, or as a digital download only for £22.99.   

Wrenched from her digital afterlife in the Library, River Song finds herself on sixty-first century Earth, resurrected in a clone body. Billionaire tech mogul Garrison Clay has a mystery to solve, and he’s selected River as the person to solve it. 

Armed with only her sonic screwdriver and a fake ID, River heads out into a world soon to be ravaged by solar flares... where danger stalks her at every turn. 

The story is divided into four episodes, or books, all scripted by Robert Valentine: 

Book 1 – Apokalypsis  Book 2 – Fate & Fatality  Book 3 – The Black Hours  Book 4 – Book of the Dead 

These four books together, as well as revealing an important chapter in River’s (after)life, serve as a prequel to the 1975 TV story The Ark in Space, with humanity preparing to flee the doomed Earth. Robert Whitelock guest stars as Lazar and Christine Kavanagh as Vira – characters originally played on television by Kenton Moore and Wendy Williams. 

Also on the cast list of Last Words are Jane Booker, Shogo Miyakita, Jamie Zubairi, Jacob Daniels, Andrew James Spooner, Glen McCready, Issy Van Randwyck, and Nicholas Boulton. 

Producer David Richardson said: “Robert Valentine has done something remarkable with this four-hour drama, which tells the story of the last days of planet Earth before it is destroyed by solar flares, a story told from the perspective of a woman temporarily brought back from the dead. It’s heart-breaking and exciting and doom-laden and, perhaps when you least expect it, uplifting and inspiring.” 

Writer Robert Valentine added: “Originally, I thought I was going to be writing the final ever River Song story. Quickly I realised that I wasn’t, but I thought it would be fun to write something that feels like it’s the last we’ll ever see of River, and actually give that problem to her. Her life is usually intertwined with the Doctor’s, so I thought, what is her life like after her great relationship is over? 

“And, the brief was to do a prequel to The Ark in Space, which is a Doctor Who classic, at the same time. When I went back and rewatched it, I realised that I wouldn't be allowed on this ship, I would have been one of the ones left behind. So I thought, let's give River a mission that leads into The Ark in Space, but with sympathy for those people who aren't on the Ark.” 

Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector’s edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only). 

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box sets are strictly limited to 1,250 copies and will not be repressed. 

Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.

[safehavenhqs]

𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗦 hasta el día domingo 29:

Ahn Bohyun - Familia 2 - Mocha

Steve Sanghyun Noh - Cupo 13.1 - Mocha

Go Younjung - Familia 2 + Cupo 17.1 - Inna

Ella Purnell - Cupo D1 + 14.1 - Queen

Lee Yubi - Familia 6 - Skip

Lee Dohyun - Cupo 10.2 - Loafer

Camilla Queiroz - Cupo 5.2 - Lava

Song Kang - Cupo 16.1 - Lava

Jennie Kim - Cupo 3.2 - Kaisa

Cha Eunwoo - Familia 3 + Cupo 3.1 - Kaisa

Jeong Jaehyun - Cupo 8.1 - Jinx

Victoria Pedretti - Familia 4 + Cupo 4.5 - Renée

Byeon Wooseok - Cupo D3 - Rin

Xu Kai - Rin

Han Jihyun - Familia 1 - Poppy

Kim Youngdae - Cupo 4.1 - Poppy

Havana Rose Liu - Cupo 1.2 - Sofi

Lee Seyoung - Cupo 5.2 - Kokkiri

Ozge Yagiz - Eva

Camilla Morrone - Cupo D7 + 16.2 - Kitty

Drew Starkey - Cupo 15.2 - Kitty

Mookda Narinrak - Cupo 12.2 - Novita

Hwang Inyeop - Cupo D2 - Novita

Jung Jaewon - Sae

Force Jiratchapong - Dal

Jung Somin - Cupo D4 - Dal

Jimmy Jitaraphol - Cupo 14.2 - Aqua

Hong Kyung - Cupo 6.1 - Aqua

Park Hyungsik - Familia 5 - Ribbon

Lucy Boynton - Cupo D6 + Cupo 1.1 - Hui

Margaret Qualley - Plum

Sang Heon Lee - Cupo 4.3 - Plum

Choi Wooshik - Helium

Cha Hakyeon - Cupo 4.2 - Buffy

Aslihan Malbora - Buffy

Hayley Law - Cupo 6.2 - Amapola

Barbara Palvin - Cupo 13.2 - Berry

Seo Kangjoon - Cupo D9 - Berry

Elizabeth Olsen - Jas

Seo Inguk - Houd

Choi Miyeon - Cupo 9.1 - Juno

Adelaide Kane - Cupo 7.1 - Barbie

David Corenswet - Myers

Madelyne Cline - Myers

Tian Xiwei - Cupo 10.1 - Apodo a definir

Paul Mescal - Cupo 15.1 - Blue

Greta Onieogou - Cupo D5 + Cupo 2.1 - Mualani

Afra Saraçoğlu - Cupo 12.2 - Lluvia

Florence Pugh - Cupo 3.3 - Roan

Victoria Justice - Airi

Hande Ercel - Cupo 11.1 - Júpiter

Kim Jiyeon - Cupo 11.2 - Yoru

Boran Kuzum - Cupo 12.1 - Pipe

Im Jinah - Bambi

Dai Gao Zheng - Cupo D8 - Nanami

Lee Junho - Malva

Jung Haein - Ray

Ashley Moore - Pipe

Avan Jogia - Petunia

Willa Fitzgerald - Amapola

Ayo Edebiri - Cupo 4.4 - Petunia

Rowoon - Nebula

Chae Jonghyeop - Cupo 17.2 - Uva

Davika Hoorne - Cupo 9.2 - Panecito

Arnas Fedaravičius - Mora

Ana de Armas - Mar

Kim Sejeong - Blue

Ji Changwook - Coppola

Ahn Hyoseop - Familia 3 - Jas

Luke Mitchell - Familia 4 - Mar

Chase Sui Wonders - Ellie

Lee Sangyi - Issy

Harris Dickinson - Cuti

Theo James - Barbie

Han Sohee - Kori

Tom Blyth - Kori

Bae Joohyun - Blossom

Jung Chaeyeon - Hidden

Celeste Cortesi - Starla

𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗦 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦 y que aún pueden ser reservados:

Cupo 12.2

De existir un error en cualquiera de las listas les pedimos por favor se acerquen a nosotros para corregirlo lo antes posible y nos disculpamos también por la tardanza y posibles errores que podrían verse en el main durante los primeros días. Les agradecemos de todo corazón el interés y apoyo mostrado hasta el momento.

[junkyard-gifs]

Sam Bateson and Issy Moore, Oasis cast 13.

Instagram story: Feb 12, 2023

[theinsiderrp]

TUTORIAL GROUPS.

TUTORIAL GROUPS will start on MONDAY 27TH OF SEPTEMBER 2021. they will run from 9:00 - 9:30. this is where you’ll register for the day, receive any updates about things going on etc. and the tutor you’re given will be the person to talk to about concerns or thoughts you have. they’ll regularly check in with you. women teachers use “ms” at st judes because their marital status is none of your business.

MR THOMPSON (KENNETH) 

gisele collins

phoenix lin

matthew eccleston

remy matthews

kristofer nilsen

mila romanov 

imogen hamilton

harvey powell

MR WINTERS (JOEL) 

holly smith

duyi iamphang-lin

natasha banks

elora amari

anthony henshaw

kennedy calloway 

bella carmichael

evie harwood

lawson bishop

MR ELLIS (SIMON) 

mallory shaw

jiwon moon 

nero haven

eloise calloway

luke thompson

garrett baker

zara calloway

scarlett morgan 

MR FRANCE (TAZEEM) 

everleigh james

hanuel kang

poppy murry

naira eagleton

jude baker

margaret sinclair

ruby rosini

charlie barham

MR NICHOLS (JAKE) 

felicity calloway

sangwoo heo

rory fox 

yulia hernandez

tate simpson

louis powell

soraya castilo-sparks

harper fox 

elodie gwan

MR PAIS (ALESKY) 

riley james

dwight hakim

roxanne woods

margo jackson

crawford bishop

drew bradford

betty carmichael

mackenzie quinn

MR CAMPBELL (LEON) 

kendall carmichael

amber calloway

 sebastian quinn

dallas jackson

dominic romano 

yannis kraus

disney hamilton

MS MOORE (CLAUDIA) 

alexandria cortes

arabella romano

theo carmichael 

blake cruz 

evan halstead

tanner hawthorne

lorenzo romano

seo jun

MR MOREAU (MATTHIAS) - i dont know his fc 

jayden avery

ava quinn

zelda mayfair 

brody carmichael

madison sinclair

adrian cortes

alani santiago

clyde aarons

MS EROS (ROSIE)

jackson avery

caleb kingston

hensley west

mason carmichael

danny coleman

park hamilton

luke pitman

kun woo

MS RIVERA (LOURDES)

julian kingsley

cameron james

issy rosini 

miles carmichael

luna romano

alyssa amari

levi winslow

taehyun

MR MARIN (BEN)

kyle kingsley

damon napier

maria castillo 

otis kingston

winnie higgins (?)

jack coleman

athena carter

blair

MS SANTOS (LOURDES) 

oliver cole

eleanor desrosiers

vanessa castillo 

nate harwood 

parker coleman

ivy winters-brown

rosalie harrington

MS CADWELL (WILLOW)

leo carmichael 

felix kim

brielle quinn

darius richards

lucas romano

janey powell

natalie castillo 

MS HAKIM (TAURIMA) 

christelle mendoza

harrison bishop

elysia quinn 

ezra hughes

lorelai sloan

florence hamilton

wesley higgins

mattheo sinclair

MR CHAN (LEE)

kobi hare

heidi napier

mina bryant

marcus carmichael

owen walker

lacey calloway

annabel powell

[kwebtv]

Hothouse  -  ABC  -  June 30, 1988 - August  5, 1988

Medical Drama (7 episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Josef Sommer as Dr. Sam Garrison

Alexis Smith as Lily Garrison Shannon

Art Malik as Dr. Ved Lahari

Michael Learned as Dr. Marie Teller

Louise Latham as Louise Dougherty

Katherine Borowitz as Issy Garrison Schrader

Bob Gunton as Leonard Schrader

Tony Soper as Matt Garrison

Susan Diol as Claudia Garrison

Michael Jeter as Dr. Art Makter

Maureen Moore as Lucy Cox

Madi Weland as Ginny Loudon

Joseph C. Phillips as Billy Harris

[white-cat-of-doom]

A new set of promotional photos from the International Tour in China.

Marco Venturini as Admetus, Daniel Timoney as Alonzo, Reece Darlington-Delaire as Bill Bailey, Rhianne Alleyne as Bombalurina, Charles Croysdill as Carbucketty, Emma Johnson as Cassandra, Bailey Johnson as Coricopat, Alice Oberg as Demeter, Lucy May Barker as Grizabella, Hal Fowler as Asparagus/Bustopher Jones/Gus, Ann-Marie Craine as Jellylorum, Gabrielle Parker as Jemima, Hazel Baldwin as Jennyanydots, Liam Mower as Mistoffelees, Marcus May as Mungojerrie, Sam Brown as Munkustrap, Michael Robert-Lowe as Old Deuteronomy, Jesse Chidera as Rum Tum Tugger, Lauren Bronwyn-Wood as Rumpleteazer, Gavin Eden as Skimbleshanks, Deja Linton as Tantomile, and Isabel Moore as Victoria.

[icantbelieveitsnotbomba]

Isabel Moore keeping warm backstage.

[real-reulbbr-band]

First look at Issy Moore as Victoria !

Cats, international tour. 2024.

[junkyard-gifs]

While Munkustrap and Macavity fight, Alonzo and his emotional support ladies watch.

Then they supportively watch him getting thoroughly trounced.

Roberto Facchin as Alonzo, Lewis Rimmer and Logan Mortier as Macavity and Munkustrap, Issy Moore and Grace Crugnale as Victoria and Cassandra.

Oasis cast 13, May 2023 (X).

[beauvilliers]

Top 5 kristen trevormoore moments

1. when she woke me and issy up in the middle of the night sobbing that trevor moore had gotten traded

2. reading her ugly 5sos fanfic that she wrote when she was 16

3. “if it wasn’t for mitch marner i would be a lesbian” - iconique

4. every time we ft and she’s just completely in the dark and i can only see her forehead and it stays like that the entire 6 hrs but i know she’s only doing it to protect me from her beauty

5. every time she sends a pic of her crying over mitch’s [insert body part here]

[lady-plantagenet]

A Bygone Era - Chapter 6.

A fictional account written by me of Lady Isabel Neville’s life told through the points of view of her and those who knew her.

Points of views so far include: Anne Beauchamp Countess of Warwick, Lady Anne Neville, George Duke of Clarence, Lady Isabel Neville and Richard Neville Earl of Warwick

R&R, if you please<3

Chapter Text

15th August 1469

The Ladies of Warwick would grow tired in the coming days. Anticipation layed claim to their blood like a merciless tyrant, confounding all senses and transfiguring the muted colours of the garden into short sharp bursts of violets and reds unfolding their eyes, as their imaginations were left to run wild.

No woman was more well-versed in the practice of biding one’s time in dignity than the Countess herself. Her hands would be bound to the busy business of adorning her daughters’ sleeves. The mind would set itself upon matters of feoffee to uses . As a young girl, the needs of the heart would be met through the valiant deeds immortalised in The Grail Stories, her tired index finger tracing each engraved line for semblances of her husband’s character in De Boron’s poesies. Fodder for girlish fancies that now lay in the shallow grave of her youth, made colder with each miscarriage wrought on her person.

Her daughters trailed behind her as they left the resplendent terraces for the vaulted chambers, just as the sext sun began to claim its highest throne. The silks from their gowns flashed behind them like straggling snakes made subserviant footmen, occasionally overlapping in clashes of colour. Fresh bristol silk as red as the maiden’s hair, somber foliage patterned on crane-coloured satin for the mother and Indigo brocade dripping in richness and detail for the Duchess who would not deign it any other way.

Isabel’s boudoir at Warwick possessed an inverted ceiling, which made it a favourite backdrop for her daughters when they played at castles. It was their third place of repose for the day already, and one that would well shield their complexions from browning.

Anne was sat close to the oriel window, busily attending to the wrinkles of her labour - a baby’s smock. The green and murrey stitches, straighter than any stitches that had ever preceded them, glistened in the summer sun like cool jewels against the fire of her hair. She smiled gleefully.

Isabel, congruous to her usual character, made her pace slow and when finally appearing before them, had her hand placed visibly over her flat stomach as if two days shy of confinement. Her long dark hair shifted freely under the bare confinement of a frontlet emanating the carriage of the Virgin herself.

Anne eager to please held out to Isabel the flimsy cloth ‘Issy, tell me you like it, there you may have not noticed I added a little bear cub, can you make its likeness?’

Isabel propped her feet upon their father’s stool with a flourish before accepting the offering with delayed movement. She held it against the sun, nails critically grazing the handiwork for fault.

A daughter dark and pale with fashionable sadness in sage eyes, another with skin of honey and milk and hair like copper, full of vitality and goodness, as she. Had I not known them better I would have thought Isabel fit for mother’s old title of Gloucester and Anne, a bride for Clarence. They once seemed like the sun and moon. Annet felt a certain fondness for her new son-in-law, as much she would begrudgingly admit if held to question, but now that Isabel was free to take to him as a lawful wife, she started seeing vestiges of his hopefulness and flamboyance take root in her.

‘Daughter dear, how sure are you of your being with child?’ asked Annet ‘Only a week passes since your monthly course was due’

Isabel retrieved the smock to Anne, a brief inclination of her head conveying enough gratitude to inspire reassurance in Anne, just. The frock did little such for the Countess. ‘As to your knowledge, father and George tarried in Calais near a week after we were wed. I can assure that the nights we had as man and wife were spent most fruitfully. If a child had not been begotten already, it would defy the workings of god and nature’

Annet shot a look at Anne, who was desperately trying to trap the giggles in her throat, but with little success. ‘Isabel, you need not blaspheme and above that, being a woman wed does not entitle you to such vulgarity’.

Isabel stared back at her and redness took root over blanched features. She was once again her teenaged daughter, who would not have dreamed of retorting back to her mother.

‘What have you taken to amuse yourself with today?’ asked Annet willing a motherly warmth remedy her tongue.

Isabel produced some papers, the wax of the scarlett seal bearing two crows and a lion was unbroken.

‘Are you truly planning on reading George’s letters to us for the third time?’ Jested Anne. Annet smirked in hidden gratefulness for the opportune timings of Anne’s defiances when they rarely did arise.

‘This is new news. Fresh news. A messenger brought it some hours past. If you both determine to be this way then I see no reason to share its contents’ she said with newfound boldness.

‘Go on then Isabel’ prodded Annet patiently

‘ Dear Heart,

I write to you a jubilant husband eagerly bequeathing unto you the bestest of news. Your father and I have captured Edward and are but a day’s ride from Warwick. Edgecote Moor is proof enough that God smiles upon our work and your uncle at Olney has now given us my brother. I think it would amuse you much to see our Edward fallen into the guise of our prisoner, his hands bound and unable to wright any more mischief upon this kingdom. I have mentioned to your father that the Oubliette would do perfectly, but he thinks me jesting and will not entertain the suggestion.

I once again say that my only regret is that you were not there beside me to witness for yourself the cries of ‘A Warwick! A Clarence’ as we rode through Kent and even London, though they say the South loves Edward. As you know Sir John Conyers was slain in the melée, which may be the only regret I carry with me, having found the northerner rebel’s loyalities most touching. Withall, it is now more certain than ever that you will be Queen. Engage in your revelries as you ought to as you shall be the finest and most beloved’

Isabel pressed the letter to her chest and drew a deep breath smiling blissfully . The theatrics of the gesture ran deep and true, even Annet admitted to herself, seeing an unusual raise in her daughter’s hooded eyes. They were now the Despencer green. Annet noticed from a wandering shimmer that escaped the window, how sprightly a new wife’s eyes could be.

The reminding realisation of her daughter’s youth once more hit her with a blunt fervour. She thought that perhaps, innocence indeed trumped experience in virtue, for the latter’s lesser value never stilted the joy of the former. She remembered all too well the pangs of emotion she felt when reading her husband’s triumphant war letters in what felt like another era, however, it was never like this.

She only saw the children who a season past were sneaking bonbons from the pantry now playing at war and crowns. Unjaded and unfortified hearts are liberal in their joys which, however much they rival the shallowness of a horse trough, also have it in them to overcome the Pennines with hope alone.

‘Ah Anne, when I am Queen you shall be joined in the second to the best match in Christendom’ Annet heard Isabel say and knew better than to ask who Isabel in fact considered the foremost eligible suitor.

‘Oh truly Issy?’ Asked the hopeful child

‘Yes. Gloucester’s cowardice will be forgotten like a dandelion would readily its pappus’ Isabel passed to Anne her unguent so that she may too pride herself with soft hands, within lay crushed amethysts among a cornucopia of older herbs. ‘A French prince perhaps, now I never much liked them, however, father says it is an important country to appease. Calais claims more of your childhood than it did mine. One only need hear your French. It even surpasses mine, I daresay unsurprisingly so’

Annet raised an eyebrow at that, in surprise as much as in amusement. She did not think she would hear Isabel admit that Anne could best her in anything, while still here on earth.

‘Thank you dear sister, I am readily committed to forget Richard. Tell me, how can one brother so valiantly cross the channel in defiance of the king for love, whereas the other would not even dare ask him twice?’ Edward, the cold calculating king, denier of love, prohibitor of the happy marriage. My, what a fanciful image these two weave.

‘I would tell you if I knew Annie’ chuckled Isabel shaking her dark head in disbelief ‘Richard clearly would rather his brother than a wife he loves. If I were you I’d say “good riddance”’

Hands tightened around the stout wooden arms of the Countess’ chair while an errant foot involuntary kicked at the rushes freeing a herbal scent. ‘Truly, had cat’s brain been slipped into your porridges this morning?’ She noticed both her daughters suddenly veering their faces away from each other and towards her, startled by her exclamation.

‘Gloucester was not yet a man when Clarence first defied the king, what would you have a twelve year old do, Isabel? I know that to attempt to veto your musings would be in vain, but you are no Queen yet and as such must not alienate anyone of the house of York, not in thought nor in deed’

Isabel nodded quietly, Annet saw in her face the crestfallen expression George wore the five years past. Wide eyes sparked with dismay rather than dulled by contrition or diminished pride. ‘Yes, we have all seen the French price of loyalty. Jesus wept, you think any of this I did not know before? As you said, let me muse in peace’

Just as in St Omer, a curtain of silence swept over the room only to be availed by the Sunday tintinnabulations of the bells in St Mary’s Church. The peal of Anne’s voice added to the chorus, ‘But this letter dates three days past. Why are they not here?’

It would be like George to sacrifice clarity for flare. ‘Best read the rest’, prodded Annet

‘Very well then’, Isabel conceded

’ Beloved one, I bid you goodnight presently at Kenilworth where I tarry for a day in the dispensation of justice. Two snakes heads are to be taken off by matins tommorow, they are those of the witch’s father and brother John - married to your aunt Katherine. I believe that is explanation enough for why though I am near, you must wait a day or two to rejoice in my return -‘ the letter slipped unceremoniously through stunned fingers.

Annet was at once at her side ‘Isabel! Isabel!’, she shook her by the shoulders freeing her raven hair from its frontlet and into the pallour of her face.

‘I did not want this mother’ she whispered faintly behind a shaking fist ‘What would god think, what would-. Oh jesus, have mercy on us’

‘God smiles upon them’ Annet found herself quoting George ‘he is the almighty and the Queen’s kin would not have been put in their path if he willed it any different’. Hands were now placed about her daughter’s collar as if she were a horse caught in a storm needing to be steadied.

‘You would say the same for my grandfather of Salisbury. That god willed him lynched and cut down, rotting in the squalor of Wakefield?’ She would have drawn her hand indignantly to her chest had her mother not enclapsed her wrists into a steely grip.

Soothing her daughter, she realised, had all the wisdom of a cripple instructing a mute on how to walk. Annet briefly looked away. She, the cripple here, was unsettled rather than horrified. Yes, feeling naught for a man and his young son being strung up like poultry is unsettling.

Have I no heart, have I relived this moment too many times, just to find that everything that is to be felt, I felt, yet none the wiser for that?

‘I would not. That you do know perfectly well. Now, your father has done great good. His place in God’s kingdom is assured. Clarence is young, he has many more years to uncover the long, winding road. As for you, you have no part in this. Your soul is not tarnished, worry not for yourself- selfish practice it would be if you did’

Pale green eyes stared back into hers streaked with bronze. Anne was ever more a joy to her than Isabel, the bond was obvious. But in moments like this, her attentions covered aught but Isabel in their griefs and worries. ‘If you’d only know mother! It was George’s path that placed exclusively into my consideration. Father as well, but certainly not myself and my soul. I think of my wretched powerlessness. On how often I will find myself able to do nothing to ensure that George may walk the golden path with father when the time comes - that even before that he will be cursed here on Earth like a Henry Fitz-Empress’

The Countess stood up, the crane-coloured thistles in her skirts gathered around her like a ghostly garden against the windowed backdrop of a coming storm. ‘Oh but there is much to do. Be his wife and love him, be England’s Queen and keep its peace, bear the King a son and secure his succession. Do this and there will be no more deaths. I vow this to be true’.

‘Lo- mother, sister, the King!’ shouted Anne across the room. The warm wind from the Campion hills was in conflict with the sudden onpour, noisily banishing the raindrops to the windows in opaque watery blankets. Annet did not need to be with her husband and attendants below to know that the gravel was still hot. She could make Clarence’s likeness: the rider of the black destrier whose curls streaked golden by the sun stood on one end. Her husband’s return she saw not with the eyes but felt instinctively. Her eyes would not have demasqued the downcast man for the king had he not so towered above all the others.

‘Isabel, tidy yourself your ki -‘ no, brother by marriage. For heavens sake, what to call him? ‘ Edward is here’ she finally settled on.

Isabel was looking too, the Byzantine garnet pendant she was gifted by George as a wedding night gift, claimed what little light came from outside in its opulence. Her face showed no sign of duress and no sign of tears. Annet sighed with contentment and now relief for Isabel’s imperturbable exterior, how she would have hated a crying daughter. One to remind her every waking hour that she was no son.

A white bolt of silk was fashioned onto Isabel’s head into a chaperon and they made their way down to the great chamber for their last excursion about the castle. The three men passed the threshold and when the women curtseyed, the befudled Countess thanked chance they came at once as none of them knew for whom the deference should be intended.

Isabel was the first to rise, greeting George as a wife. A wife’s devotal duty. Surely none could gainsay her for bypassing the King .

Any neutrality was however broken when George in spite of- or rather because of- his brother’s presence drew Isabel towards him pressing his lips lingeringly against hers.

The King did not need to do more than narrow his dark eyes, and fear was struck into the walls themselves. The stalwart grey stone which saw all their childhoods and marriages unfolded, all but this giant of a man, who in them saw nothing but the betrayal that had passed against kings. No two kings were as different as Edward IV and Edward II whose Sir Gaveston was sentenced to die in this very castle. Yet fate is wrought with irony.

‘Cousin, welcome to Warwick Castle’ said The Countess who was in no mood for a confrontation regarding honorifics . ‘I have made ready your lodgings at Caesar Tower. As soon as it started to rain I bid the servants prepare a bath, if you please’

The morose nod he then gave was greater confirmation of his capture than any tied rope could have given.

As he was escorted away, she fell into her husband’s arms in a strange variation of their reunion customs. ‘Is it done?’

‘I know my clever Annet better than to ask which you did mean- the deposition or the executions’ The Earl joked, cracked lips forming a warm smile ‘Yes, the deed is done’.

Drops fell into his collar as he shook his head at George, clucking, who instead chose his plain tattered boots as his focus ‘For the love of Christ George, I know you did add that to your letter to Isabel. I told you: platitudes and naught else should be there. Have you spared any though on-‘

George met his eyes and answered with, ‘Thought on what? That news would get out and Edward would find out?’ The smirk that gathered, sat as naturally on his soft lips as a dagger in a babe’s hand.

Read the rest here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22268239/chapters/57406180