About this story
In the Stone Kitchen three giants turn the spits while the dwarf Xit calls himself the only honest man in the Tower, and the jailor Nightgall's lantern tends an underground way beneath the stair. Thirty-six chapters carry a scholar queen from the fortress gate to the scaffold on Tower Green, her eyes bound by her own hand.
How it opens
On July 10, 1553, cannon fire summoned a royal procession from Durham House to the Thames.
King Edward's death had been concealed while competing claims to the succession hardened beyond the palace walls.
Duke of NorthumberlandThe barges wait, Your Highness, and London must see lawful government moving without hesitation.
The first days of a reign belong in the Tower, as custom and security both require.
Choose
Proceed without ordering applause; obedience forced by halberds would prove nothing about allegiance.
Let the musicians fall quiet for one minute so we hear what the city is actually saying.