Page 89 of Pervade London
Despite my doubt and apprehension, I closed it, leaning back against the wood. This man was the reason I’d lost Xavier. Whatever he needed my boyfriend for could be done by someone else. He’d manipulated him back into his life with some contrived story and Xavier had believed it.
I was going to fight for him.
So, I stayed put. “Xavier told me you have royal blood?”
James shot him a quelling look.
“It was important to establish trust,” Xavier explained. “Share a bit about you.”
“What else did you tell her?”
“Apparently you could have been king?” I answered for him.
“I imagine my ancestors are more upset than I am.”
“Your ancestor, Richard of York, was entitled to the throne,” added Xavier, as he leaned against the frame of a rack.
“What happened,” I asked.
“You’ve heard of the two princes who disappeared in the confines of the Tower of London?” said Xavier.
“Yes.”
“What do you remember about them?”
I recalled my shaky history lessons. “Two Princes were held in the Tower as prisoners. Was it in the fourteenth century?”
James gave a nod. “They were there to be protected.”
“They were brothers?”
“Yes. Edward V, King of England, and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York,” said James. “Ages nine and twelve. They were lodged at the tower for their protection so Edward’s coronation as King could go unhindered.”
I remembered. “But they died before he was crowned king—under suspicious circumstances.”
“They disappeared,” added Xavier.
“I thought their bones were discovered in the late seventeenth century,” I said. “Two workmen found them under the stairs of the Tower? Didn’t Charles II have them buried in Westminster Abby?”
“She does know her history,” said Xavier. “But what you couldn’t know was animal bones were mixed with adult bones.”
“To make it look like they died?” I realized.
“The false bones were placed in the box to protect the boys.” James sat on the edge of the rack…an intimidating move on his part.
I ignored it. “I thought the boys were murdered?”
“The princes survived,” said Xavier.
The weight of this revelation had me staring at James. “They lived?”
Xavier pointed to him. “You’re looking at Edward V’s direct descendant.”
“So they went into hiding.” I studied James’ regal features. “What does this mean? You’ll challenge the crown?”
James laughed. “Not on the agenda.”
I glanced from him back to Xavier.
