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Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. About the Author
  4. Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims
  5. Dedication
  6. Though the Lancastrian Claim comes from Edward III’s THIRD son, it relies on a) possession and b) that the crown can not pass through a woman – Philippa Mormer – so must fall to the next male in line. The Yorkist Claim relies on their descent from Edward III’s SECOND son, and says it can pass through Philippa. The Tudor Claim ignores the fact of passing through a woman – Lady Margaret Beaufort – or that John, Earl of Somerset, was born illegimate.
  7. Factions in the Wars of the Roses
  8. Prologue
  9. PART ONE
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. PART TWO
  15. 5
  16. 6
  17. 7
  18. 8
  19. 9
  20. 10
  21. 11
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. PART THREE
  25. 14
  26. 15
  27. 16
  28. 17
  29. 18
  30. 19
  31. PART FOUR
  32. 20
  33. 21
  34. 22
  35. 23
  36. PART FIVE
  37. 24
  38. 25
  39. 26
  40. 27
  41. 28
  42. 29
  43. 30
  44. 31
  45. PART SIX
  46. 32
  47. 33
  48. PART SEVEN
  49. 34
  50. 35
  51. 36
  52. 37
  53. 38
  54. 39
  55. Acknowledgements

The innkeeper pours them ale and leaves the stew on the board by the fire and Thomas watches as Katherine sits and drinks some warm ale and pushes the food away. Now she is dressed as a girl, she drinks more delicately, so whereas Kit made a conscious effort to guzzle ale and then wipe her mouth on her sleeve, here she is, sipping at the cup as might a female. He feels suddenly very anxious in her company, as if she is a stranger, and he does not know what to do when she puts the cup down and leans against the table, holding her head.

‘We are the only people staying?’ Thomas asks the innkeeper when he brings the straw for their beds.

‘No one’s about this time of year generally, and with Tudor coming, well . . . Are you quite well, mistress?’

Katherine’s eyes are glassy and she sways where she sits at the board.

‘Tudor is coming here?’ she asks.

‘So they say. Coming up from Pembroke around the hills, he is, with six thousand men. Soon set that Earl of Warwick back on his heels, won’t he, eh?’

Neither Thomas nor Katherine say a word while the innkeeper takes their bowls and puts them on the floor for a short-legged dog to lick.

‘And where are you from?’ he asks, turning to Thomas. ‘You don’t sound to be from these parts.’

‘We are from Lincoln,’ Thomas stammers. Is it bad to admit they are from Lincoln? He has no idea. The innkeeper brightens.

‘Then you’ll have further news of the battle?’ he asks.

‘Battle?’ Thomas asks.

‘A friar brought news only yesterday,’ the innkeeper says. ‘There has been a great battle outside the castle of Sandal, somewhere up, you know, north? Near York. It was fought on the eve of the New Year, and Richard of York is killed! Aye, and the Earl of Salisbury too! Have you not heard? The whole of the Duke’s army were cut down, to a man, and now the north country lies in the Queen’s hands, and all of England soon, too, so they say.’

29

SHE IS WOKEN by the sound of horses on the road outside. It is still dark and though she recognises the noise of men in harness she cannot stop herself slipping back into sleep. When she wakes again her body is heavy, and she peers through her half-opened eyelids to see Thomas in his linen shirt feeding slips of wood into the flames of the fire.