Chapter Text
14th of April 1471
Barnet, England
George, Duke of Clarence, rides behind his brother, King Edward IV, who keeps him close, as if he fears George is going to betray him yet again, but George has no intention to do that. He has realized that being the King's brother is far more preferable, then simply being one of a dozen distant cousins. He only hopes he has made the right choice to be on the side of the victor.
When Hasting had sent messages that he was overrun by Oxford's forces, George had almost regretted his decision to support Edward, but then Richard reported that he had broken past the Lancastrian lines and that Exeter's standard had fallen. This gave him hope.
Now, the battle was in a state of equilibrum. Nothing was lost and nothing had been won. Everything was possible.
It was now up to them. To him and Edward, who commanded the center together. Each vanguard had broken past the rearguard. Thus the battle would be decided here. Who would win the center, would win the battle,
It's so dark and foggy, that he hardly sees anyone except for his and Edward's men in front of him. They all wear the same liveries of murrey and blue, but his soldiers are bearing a badge with the Black Bull of Clarence, while Edward's adherents have the sun in the splendour.
Suddenly in the darkness, men in bright red liveries appear, with the white ragged staff of Warwick on their coats. A year ago, he had fought beside them, in anticipation that the Earl of Warwick, whose elder daughter Isabel he had married, would make him King, but his father-in-law had betrayed him. After Warwick had failed to make him King, he had dropped George and instead decided to King Henry VI, whose heir had married the Earl's younger daughter. George still feels anger at his betrayal. This battle is his chance to make Warwick pay for it.
Somewhere in the near distance he sees Warwick's colourful standard and slightly behind, that of his brother the Marquis of Montagu.
Soldiers in red and black, who belong to Montagu also advance steadily, even overtaking Warwick's troops, as they come closer to Edward. George sees the Standard of Lord Cromwell falling, Minutes later that of Lord Berner's and finally that of the Earl of Essex.
The enemy is making rapid progress. Too fast George thinks as he rallies his troops, as they are about to engage with Warwick's troops, replacing their fallen comrades.
The Neville brothers are coming nearer. There are now less then thirty feet between Edward's standard and Montagu's one. The battle is soon going to be decided. The main leaders, who both command the center, are facing each other directly. If they kill Warwick and Montagu, then the battle is won and Edward's crown is secure.
He encourages his troops to keep fighting harder, as they have entered the final, most important stage of the battle.
Warwick and Montagu must think the same. If Edward and his brothers are killed, then victory is theirs and Henry VI, who will only be a puppet to Warwick, is secure on his Throne.
George hears Warwick shouting: "Attack the usurper!", as he points to Edward. He is now so close that George can see the small bronze bear, Warwick's heraldic beast, on his helmet.
A group of Montagu's men breaks out. George thinks to recognize one of them as the Marquis himself.
Despite the darkness, they realize immediately who stands before them. The crown on Edward's head and the Royal Standard, whose bearer is their first victim, mark him as their target. Another knight tries to pick up the standard, but is stroke down in the process. No one dares to take it up again as its trampled upon my Montagu's men. It is a bad omen. He slowly rides backwards.
They ignore the ordinary soldiers, as they charge almost recklessly at Edward, the King whom they had served loyally for almost a decade.
They had fought for him at the battles of St. Albans, Hedgeley Moor and Hexham. Montagu himself was responsible for quashing the last viable Lancastrian resistance.
Surrounded by his former allies, more then five against one , Edward strikes back, as he mortally wounds one of the fighters. His height and giant built, he is taller than each of his opponents give him an advantage over them, one that he uses to the fullest as he fights for his life.
Edward's henchmen, who are composed of his most loyal knights, join him in this crucial battle for survival.
George tries to get him, but he is too far away, so he can only watch, half in horror, half in fascination, as he prepares to fight Warwick's troops.
This is the moment of the decision. His heart is beating faster. His grip hardens on the reins of his horse.
More and more of Montagu's men charge at Edward, as if he is their only target. They know, if he is dead, the battle is over. Then, they can stop fighting and return home alive
A few of them lie on the ground, a testimony of Edward's strength and that of his men, but he tires and most of his knights have already fallen. George wonders how he can help him, but he is still too far away.
The Marquis' foots soldiers are trying to drag Edward from his brown horse. He is a heavy man, wearing armour, but Montagu's men are hardened, strong, and most importantly determined to defeat their former King .
In the end their efforts pay off. Edward falls of his horse, on top of one of his own squires, crashing him to death. He manages to stand up again, shacking. A royal henchman tries to block an axe aimed at Edward, shielding him from injury, but he pays for that with his own life, as a halberd cuts though his skull. He had already lost his helmet.
Despite standing upright, Edward can't last for long and in this moment, as he simutanously fights three opponents, one of them manages to strike a blow at Edward's skull. Edward stumbles disoriented, tries to strike back, but he trips over the corpse and this only makes him unprepared for the incoming onslaught. His armour is covered in mud and blood, while his helmet is slightly disformed. He looks more like wild beast then a King of England.
Meanwhile, almost all of his henchmen are killed. There is only John Cheyne, a giant, one of the few men in existence, that are taller then Edward, but his height doesn't help him as like his master he is surrounded and outnumbered. With the swung of an axe he is cut down. Edward is now alone, surrounded by a multitude of enemies.
He screams George’s name.
George is still far away. He hesitates. His soldiers are supposed to fill in the gaps. He might try to rescue Edward, but this is very dangerous.
There are so many enemy soldiers, that it is unlikely to make any difference.
Instead prepares himself for he thinks is the ineventual outcome . When Edward is killed, He is next. They will exterminate the whole House of York, after their leader has fallen. It is now only a matter of time. Knowing the outcome, he realizes, that after hours of fighting his horse is already tired and exhausted.
If he wants to escape this bloodshed alive he will need a fresh horse. He sends a squire to fetch a new one, hoping it will arrive in time.
As George plans his flight, several soldiers are striking mercilessly at Edward. With their swords, axes, war hammers, halberds, and morning stars. It's a whole range of brutal and effective weapons. Blood splashes on Edward's dirty armour.
They want total defeat of their enemy.
Warfare is always brutal, but this is not a normal battle. There will be no kingly ransom.
Only when Edward IV is truly dead there will be peace.
His squire arrives just in time. It is a white horse, that George mounts as swiftly as he can.
Edward screams terrified, as he goes down. As he sees Montagu, he whispers something, that George can't understand. Maybe he pleads for his life.
Then the deadly blow. It's hard to tell who was the one that took the life of the King of England. Maybe it is the Marquis himself. There are so many of them and George is already too far away, as
he wants to bring as much distance as possible between him and the enemy.
Even after Edward's lies motionless on the bloody ground, they continue to strike at him. They need to be sure of his death.
They remove his helmet, throwing his crown in to the dirty mud and shatter his skull, it only stops after Warwick commands them do it.
As he sees his brother fall, George realises immediately that the battle is finally lost. He turns his horse. He is at the forefront of those, who give up and start to flee. Many throw away their away their weapons, in the futile hope they would be spared, but George's grip on his sword only tightens. As he rides away, the Neville soldiers in pursuit of him, he sends a messenger to his brother Richard who leads the vanguard. If Richard is intelligent enough, he will flee as well.
He tells the messenger to be prepared to face Richard's stubborness. To explain him that their cause is lost and the only thing he can do is to save his life, by joining him in his escape. George would prefer not to lose his last remaining brother.
He overlooks his shoulders, countless of mutilated bodies lie on the ground
In the distance he sees the standard of the Earl of Oxford.
As he flees from the bloody battlefield he curses himself, for having made the wrong decision. He should have stuck with Warwick, even supported King Henry, that would have been far more preferable because now he is a fugitive, fleeing in his dirty clothes and bloodstained armour, constantly overlooking his shoulder, whether Montagu's men have catched up to him. If they catch him, he will be killed. Regardless, he will be an attained traito soon. He doesn't even know, whether he will survive this day, whether he will see the sun going down. All he knows is that he made a terrible decision and is now paying the price for it.
He might have been only second in line to the throne under Henry VI, but that would have been his fate under Edward as well. With his wife being the Prince of Wales sister-in-law and his father-in-law running the government, his future would have shone bright, but his sisters had persuaded him to reconcile with their eldest brother and out love he had allowed himself to be persuaded.
But it is too late to regret, he needs to make it to a port and find a shipmaster willing to take him to Burgundy, where his sister reigns as its Duchess. She will give him shelter.