Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 125: Sins of The Father

"What kind of a question is that?" Camilla flinched against him.

"If something happened between them, it’s best that I know."

"My mother always hated my uncle." her tone was defensive.

"And yet, I suspect he didn’t feel the same way about her." William replied. "When he first saw you when he arrived here, he clearly thought you were your mother for a moment. The look on his face was...well, like nothing else I’ve ever seen from him."

Camilla remained quiet.

"I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable or shame your late mother. I’m simply trying to understand what’s in your uncle’s head so that I can best argue my case against him. And if he has weak spots, I will exploit them."

Camilla burrowed her face in his chest in a way he found pleasant, if a little ticklish, as the words started to haltingly pour from her lips.

"My uncle always resented my parents’ union because it occurred without his royal blessing. He wasn’t even present at the wedding because it was a secret ceremony. My uncle always thought he’d be the one to choose my father’s bride and exert control over him that way but he was outwitted."

"How did your father outwit the king?" Every time William learned something new about Duke Robert, he liked him more and more.

"My uncle passed a decree that no heir to the throne could marry anyone from the Moraigthian nobility without the king’s express written consent. So my father snuck out of the country. He disguised himself as a craftsman and boarded a trading ship headed west. By the time my uncle discovered him missing, it was too late."

William laughed in admiration.

Camilla laughed a bit too. "During his travels, he met my mother. She was one of ten children belonging to a wealthy earl from the western continent. She was the third - or perhaps the fourth - daughter? The two fell in love and once my father earned the earl’s blessing, they married in a very small ceremony with only a few witnesses. My father didn’t want a grand wedding because he feared word of it might reach my uncle."

"And after that, your parents returned to Moraigth?" William guessed.

"Yes. My father had to return eventually, being his brother’s heir and all."

"Your uncle would’ve been furious at your father returning with a wife. Why didn’t he annul the union?"

He felt Camilla shrug. "He couldn’t. His decree stopped my father marrying a Moraigthian lady but said nothing against his marrying a foreign noble. The Grand Council of Lords were also quite happy with the match, so they rejected any suggestion of an annulment."

"Why was that?" William asked.

"Stability of the succession, I guess. My uncle was married to his first wife at that point but they had no sons. My father was the only male heir, so it made sense that he have children to help continue the line. Of course, it didn’t really improve the relationship between the two royal brothers when my mother gave birth to Duncan after only a year of marriage. Daniel followed not long after and Malcolm a few years after that."

William remembered the jealousy in King Kenneth’s voice when he’d spoken about his nephews. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"My parents never settled at court." Camilla continued. "Instead, they based themselves in Arlen, which was the main centre of my father’s duchy. They only visited court when they absolutely had to. Arlen Castle was where my brothers and I were all born. But when my brothers became older, my uncle would order them to court every summer. Once I turned five, I was expected to join them. I missed my home and my parents so much that I would cry for weeks at Port Canfirth."

"Why do you think your uncle summoned you all? Just to spite your parents by separating them from their children?" William asked.

"I don’t really know. Perhaps that, or perhaps he thought he could win my brothers over and turn them against our father." Camilla propped her head on her elbow. "It wasn’t because he enjoyed our company, I can tell you that. I didn’t see him much though, as I had to spend most of my time in Queen Antonia’s rooms. That was miserable in itself."

William recalled an old memory of when he’d visited Port Canfirth Palace with his father. He had crossed path with a young Princess Camilla, who had been slapped by the angry queen. "Did you tell your parents that you didn’t want to spend your summers at court?"

"Oh yes, they knew. But you don’t defy your king." Camilla looked thoughtful. "My mother disliked the king but she did her best not to anger him and tried to keep the peace between the two brothers. She feared her children would be in danger if open conflict arose."

William was engrossed in the story. "Then what happened?"

The summer I was six, my brothers and I had to go to court again. But when it was finally time for us to return home in the autumn, we weren’t just sent home with our escorts. The king and queen decided to accompany us and pay a visit to Arlen Castle. I’m not sure they’d ever bothered visiting before."

"They just decided to visit? Sounds strange to me." William folded his arms behind his head as he listened.

"Who knows the reason? I doubt my parents would’ve been at all happy but again, when the king tells you he’ll be showing up at your home, you don’t deny him hospitality."

"What happened? Surely it wasn’t a peaceful reunion with both couples under the same roof."

"It wasn’t." Camilla frowned, as if trying to recall events. "I don’t exactly know all the details because I think a lot was deliberately kept from me. But I recall one night there was a lot of noise and shouting from the wing where my mother’s rooms were. I ran to see what was happening. I remember she was crying and the servants were whispering. My uncle was there too, which struck me as odd because the guest apartments were in another wing. He and my father were arguing."

"What were they arguing about?" William had an inkling of the reason.

"I remember my father shouting and accusing my uncle of coveting his wife. I didn’t even know what that word meant but I’d never seen my father so angry. Then..." Camilla paused and swallowed. "Then I remember Duncan picking me up and carrying me to my room so I wouldn’t see or hear anything more. But even though he tried to cover my eyes with his hand, I remember seeing the king on the floor as my father punched him repeatedly."

"Your father struck down the king?" William was astounded.

Camilla nodded. "He yelled that my uncle was to never darken his doorstep again, king or not. I remember the queen being so angry over being told to leave Arlen that very night. She accused my mother of being a foreign harlot, telling her everything that had happened was her fault."

"Your queen has always been a jealous bitch, hasn’t she?" William murmured.

"Their Majesties left that night in great haste, but I remember the queen screaming that she’d avenge such disrespect. A few months later, my mother’s health started to falter. In less that two years she went from being full of health to in a casket." Camilla’s voice was tinged with sadness.

"Do you think the queen had a hand in your mother’s death?" William had no idea such animosity had existed within the Stephenson royal house.

"I’m not sure." Camilla admitted. "I know my father had his suspicions. "But if the queen had a hand in it, she just made the situation worse. After my mother died, my father lost all restraint and started actively defying the king. My mother had always talked him out of plots and rebellions but once she was gone, he started plotting to take the throne."

"Sounds like your uncle was in love with your mother, in his own way." William quietly mused.

Even in the dim light, he saw her grimace with disgust. "No, not love. I don’t think he’s even capable of that emotion. He simply wanted her because she belonged to my father."

"And now he wants you, because you remind him of her."

"I swear on my family’s lives that I won’t go back to Moraigth with him. I’ll cut my wrists open in the bath first." Camilla whispered.

William pulled her to him hard, his voice firece. "Don’t ever say such a thing again! I won’t hear of it. Understand?"

"I mean it. I won’t be his next wife or his mistress, or whatever he wants from me. I won’t live through that hell, and then end up with my soul damned for all eternity as well. I can’t do it!" she clung to him.

"You will be my wife." William planted a kiss on her lips. "I swear it, there’s no other way forward."