"If I am being honest," Richard said, "it would. But you know what the throne was built on," Richard continued. "You know the blood beneath it."
"You did not seem to mind when I told you myself."
Richard's face hardened. "Because I thought you were a different person then." His voice lowered. "Because when you told me, I heard guilt. I heard grief. I heard a man haunted by what had been done around him. I did not think you capable of evil."
"And now?"
"Now I have watched you. Now that your other side is turned in my direction."
"So because I fought for a woman I love," Henry said, "you think otherwise now?"
"I watched you take what was not yours."
"She was never yours."
"She was under my protection."
"She was hidden under your name, and your decisions. That is not the same as being loved freely."
Richard's eyes flashed. "Do not speak to me about loving her freely."
"Why? Because she chose me freely?"
"Your Majesty," Richard said tightly, "why am I here?"
