Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 128: Aftermath

5 August, 1359. Magdaline Castle, Islia

William stared at the canopy over his bed as he absentmindedly stroked Camilla’s arm, which lay across his chest. She was asleep next to him, the sight of her bare, slender back making his blood run hot again. He thought about waking her but decided against it. He knew she struggled with nightmares and broken sleep, so thought it better to just let her rest.

William knew it would be good for him to sleep as well, as it would be dawn in only a few hours. His body hummed with unquenched desire though, even having already taken Camilla twice that night. His hunger for her was insatiable, yet there was still several days to go until the wedding. He sighed with frustration.

Camilla twitched against him and slowly raised her head, her hair falling across her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily.

"After midnight, before sunrise." he whispered back, rolling on his side to face her as she lay her cheek back on the pillow. "I didn’t mean to wake you."

"Didn’t you?"

William chuckled as he propped himself up on one elbow, running his other hand down her spine and up again. She wriggled slightly.

"I’m not going to fall back asleep with you tickling me."

"Is that all you can think of? Sleep? Hardly imaginative." he teased, continuing to stroke her back.

"It’s either sleep or thinking about how I’ll explain to everyone in the morning why I can barely walk."

William laughed out loud at her immodest remark, then eased his body on top of hers. When she attempted to turn over to face him, he held her down firmly on her front and kissed the back of her neck.

"You have taken over my mind." he muttered into her ear as he heard her breathing quicken when he slid his legs between hers. "You’re clearly every bit the witch the courtiers think you are."

He smiled as she giggled, then plunged into sheer joy.

- - -

Casimir’s discreet knock on the bedchamber door came sooner than either of them wanted. Camilla heard William utter a string of curses as she groggily disentangled herself from his arms and slid her nightgown over her head.

Picking up her robe from the floor and donning it, she felt William’s arm around her waist. She turned to face him and instinctively tried to smooth his hair, which was thoroughly tousled.

He smiled lazily but his eyes then turned serious. "We’ll both need to be very careful from now onwards. King Edward has given me his word he’ll speak to Kenneth today and turn down the offer of the Arandar Valley."

"That means my uncle won’t be in his usual pleasant mood." Camilla nodded, then asked worriedly, "King Edward will keep his word and continue our betrothal, won’t he?" She couldn’t bring herself to trust the cunning Islian ruler.

"Yes, he’ll do it. He and I have a binding accord. If he breaks it, he knows his word as king means nothing to his subjects." William cupped her cheek and she leaned into his touch.

"The only way that King Kenneth can now argue the betrothal should end is proof of unchaste behaviour. So he should only see us together when we have other people around us, and you need to make sure your ladies keep sharing your bed." William frowned deeply. "I think it’s probably best we don’t meet up like this again, as much as I hate to say it. We can’t risk any whispers against your virtue."

Camilla couldn’t help but smile when being lectured about her virtue by the man who had kept her up for half the night with his relentless hunger. William seemed to see the irony as well, smiling as he pulled her in for a last kiss.

She tiptoed out of William’s apartments and and down the corridor to hers. When she moved silently through her presence chamber and into her bedchamber, she saw Katerine was still fast asleep. Meg, however, popped up her head from the bed and peered at her through disheveled curls.

"Good morning indeed, my lady." Meg shot her a sly smile.

"Don’t start with me, please." Camilla groaned as she eased her aching body onto the bed.

Meg started to laugh. "I may need to have a word with the prince and ask him to not push you quite as hard. Obviously a lusty young man!"

Camilla opened one eye and asked in her most ladylike voice, "And what makes you think anything improper occurred? For all you know, William and I could have simply shared a bed for comfort and companionship, nothing else."

Meg laughed louder and playfully threw a pillow at Camilla. "With the way he looks at you? Pull the other leg now, my lady."

- - -

William walked into Camilla’s presence chamber a few hours later to join her and her ladies for breakfast. He made polite conversation with Elizabeth and Katerine, as if a few hours earlier he hadn’t been tumbling her through the bedsheets, all heated caresses and quickened breaths.

As she nibbled on fruit, Camilla had to marvel at his ability to look so put together and almost impossibly handsome after so little sleep. She on the other hand, felt like collapsing into bed and not moving for hours.

Camilla jolted back into the present moment when she heard Meg laugh. Looking up, she saw William shake his head and turn red in response to whatever Meg had said. Meg delighted in teasing the prince and making him blush. William at least took it in good humour, though he’d whispered to Camilla more than once that Meg’s future husband had his work cut out for him, trying to manage her irreverent sense of humour.

The lively conversation was halted when Louisa rushed into the room and announced in an awed voice, "My lady, His Majesty your uncle is here to see you."

Camilla quickly swallowed her mouthful of food as she felt a pang of fear. She looked at William, who gave her a small nod, his eyes hard. Camilla knew that logically, confrontation was inevitable. She just wished it didn’t have to happen in that moment.

Everyone in the room rose as they heard heavy footsteps approaching. A moment later, King Kenneth strode through the doors.

Camilla eyed him critically after she bowed. In some ways, he reminded her so much of her father though in other ways, the two were so different. She felt resentment surging as she remembered what William had told her - that her uncle had described Duke Robert as a bastard from an unknown man.

Everyone stood there for a few moments in fraught silence. Kenneth’s eye lingered lustily on his niece, staring at her chest as he cleared his throat. Camilla didn’t miss the appalled glances her ladies shared. She couldn’t bring herself to look in William’s direction though she could sense he was ready to react to any provocation.

Camilla looked at her shoes, hating her uncle for several reasons, but one of them being for making the days before her wedding so anxious and unhappy. What should’ve been one of the most joyous periods of her life was being marred by the twisted whims of this man.

"It’s rather inappropriate for you to entertain men in your rooms, isn’t it?" Kenneth’s voice was disdainful. "An unblemished reputation is all you have to offer a man."

Camilla clenched her teeth. She refused to be lectured on what was appropriate by a monster. Then again, she didn’t want to provoke his rage.

"My reputation remains as it was, Sire. As you can see, my ladies-in-waiting accompany me at all times. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Kenneth rubbed his bushy beard and swayed slightly on his feet. "I have items for you, to form part of your dowry. The jewellery Isabella...your mother...brought from her own country. Pagan gems."

Camilla smiled with genuine gratitude, ignoring the insult to her late mother’s faith. "Thank you. That is most thoughtful of you, Sire."

"They’re in my apartments. I can take you there now."

Camilla only hesitated briefly. "Of course, Your Majesty. Lead the way."

William gave her a quick glance of warning. "Would it not make mose sense for the gems to be delivered here, Sire?"

"I don’t take instruction from you, boy." Kenneth turned on his heel and lumbered towards the doors to the corridor, indicating with a waved hand for Camilla to follow.

William watched as Camilla dutifully trailed her uncle, nerves fraught. Her three ladies immediately followed the hem of her gown. As she passed him to leave the presence chamber, Meg whispered in a rush, "Follow us at a distance if you please, my lord."

There was a hard glint in Meg’s usually bubbly smile. William gave her a nod.

- - -

Camilla followed her uncle until they reached the castle’s eastern wing, where he had been granted the largest and most luxurious of the guest suites. One of King Kenneth’s guards swung open the doors of his presence chamber.

Kenneth threw a glance at the cluster of young women behind him. "Your ladies can wait in the corridor."

"Begging your pardon, Sire, but my ladies accompany me everywhere." Camilla replied courteously.

Kenneth clicked his tongue with obvious irritation but said nothing further as all four young women walked into the presence chamber behind him.

Inside, Camilla noticed an Islian maid quietly tidying. The maid kept her gaze downcast but Camilla could see her eyes were red with tears and she had finger shaped bruises on her neck.

Part of her wished that her uncle’s claims of having no blood ties to her, were true. It disgusted her to be related to such a man.