feet firm on the ground

penned by izzy for bloodydayshq ; graphic by @cavalierfou

the youngest lady grey had been blessed to live most of her life in ignorance. she knew very little of what vexed her older sisters, only that they were often vexed. claude, for her part, was not often vexed. after all, what was there in her life to vex her? claude thought of herself as, for the most part, inconsequential to the goings-on of the english crown, just another lady in a sea of people fathoms more important than she was.

one of those people happened to be her beloved older sister, the duchess of suffolk. sure, claude knew of the power struggles that surrounded pippa's... well, everything. claude cared deeply for her sister, she truly did. it was just that pippa's world felt so different than claude's, even though they were in the exact same place.

but at least at the pageant they were on the same, well, relative footing. claude slipped her arm through pippa's, grinning. "the pageant is just so lovely, isn't it, sister? oh, but i wish i could just- well, just have lady richmond's dress!" she gazed at elinor fitzroy in jealousy, her fingers curling around her sister's wrist.

LADY CLAUDE ; the playlist.

the best day - taylor swift butterflies - kacey musgraves where you lead - carole king sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows - lesley gore dancing queen - abba innocent - taylor swift happy together - the turtles fifteen - taylor swift ophelia - the lumineers

there had been a break in the dancing (finally, claude's feet hurt from the sheer amount of intricate steps required to dance the galliard) and, in the commotion after the song had finished, claude had slipped out of the great hall. it was true, claude loved the spectacle that came with being at court during a pageant like this, but even the liveliest grey daughter needed fresh air from time to time. claude scurried down the palace steps, hoping to evade being seen by a courtier – or worse, her mother – and bolted straight for the garden, picking up her long, billowy skirt off of the ground.

claude had assumed that the garden would be relatively empty, since it was the middle of november and rather cold outside. she'd been wrong. claude skidded to a stop in front of a man much taller than her, her heels digging into the dirt. mamma would positively kill her for ruining these slippers! she frowned, but quickly regained composure upon meeting the man's eyes, and dipped into a curtsy.

"i beg pardon for disturbing you, good sir," claude said quickly, attempting to kick her feet in the most subtle way possible to get the dirt off. "i-- believe we have not had the pleasure of being introduced," she murmured, casting her eyes down in respect. she was sure she'd seen him around – but when claude was not attending to the princess or spending time with her mother, she was certainly not doing her duty of husband-hunting, instead caught up in palace gossip or picking out the prettiest ribbons and silks. claude barely cared to put names to faces: a disadvantage at an event like this.

𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 : claude, lady grey as eos