Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 133: Best of Luck

15 August, 1359. Magdaline Castle, Islia.

William and Francis returned their practice swords to their racks after a long training session, both men aching and drenched in sweat. The early afternoon sun beat down on them without mercy.

William was glad to have a way to burn off all his over abundant energy. The last few weeks had felt like months, for a multitude of reasons. His friends all teased him of course, saying his restlessness was simply because he was eager to bed a pretty girl. He put up with their bawdy jokes and blows at training, with good humour.

"Tom looked like he was trying to take your head off a couple of times." Francis commented, swiping at his brow. "Didn’t he refer to his strikes as wedding gifts?"

William chuckled. "He did. He managed to land a few decent blows too, but nothing too serious." He rubbed at his sore ribs and flinched slightly. He was going to have an unsightly bruise for a few days. "Apparently Eleanor has been even more intolerable than usual and the poor bastard had a lot of aggression to get out."

Francis also laughed with gusto. "Ugh. I’ll try to avoid sparring with Tom then, at least until he’s able to banish that shrew to the countryside." Francis was quiet for a moment, then eyed him, "For a man getting married in a couple of days, you don’t seem overly nervous."

"I’m not. Why would I be?"

"Well, a wedding is a rather significant event, isn’t it?" Francis asked.

"The ceremony has been planned to the very last detail. Her Majesty has taken care of everything." William shrugged. "Truly, everything you can think of, my aunt has already resolved. This may be the most perfectly coordinated event the court has ever seen, thanks to her. All I have to do is stand in the right spot on the day and repeat the words the priest tells me to."

Francis snorted a laugh. "Yes, I’ve heard the queen has planned the event with the care of a military campaign. The ceremony itself isn’t exactly what I was talking about, though."

"Then what?"

"Well, the responsibilities of actually being married. Aren’t you nervous about those?" Francis tried to explain.

"You mean like the wedding night?" William was puzzled. As far as he could understand, the responsibilities of marriage involved waking up and going to sleep next to the most beautiful woman alive, and spending his days with someone whose company he genuinely enjoyed. That all sounded rather pleasant.

"I mean, yes, that’s part of it. Aren’t you concerned you’ll discover that the two of you aren’t very...compatible?"

"No."

"Oh come on, Will! She’s a maiden, and one that sounds like she’s been closely guarded by her family all her life. How can you be sure the two of you will sort well together..." Francis’s voice died off as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. He then stared at the prince with slowly dawning shock. "Son of a bitch! You’ve already lain with her, haven’t you?"

"I said no such thing. And keep your voice down." William replied evenly.

"You don’t have to say it! It’s obvious now." sputtered Francis. "No wonder you’re not worried about your wedding night!"

"Brother." William replied sternly. "My future bride is an innocent maiden. And I expect you to say no different."

"Of course I won’t say anything else. You know I’m very fond of Princess Camilla. I’m just...just marvelling about your luck, I guess." Francis grumbled. "I’ve had no luck convincing Anne. She thinks we’ll both be condemned to hellfire if I touch her out of wedlock."

William gave him a sympathetic look. "I think that’s a common theme amongst all high born girls. The gates of hell are used as a threat since they’re in the cradle. Camilla said something very similar to me the first time-" he hastily shut his mouth, realising his mistake.

Quick as a predator, Francis howled, "The first time? What the hell, Will! I’m about to stab you with a practice sword myself at this rate! How many times have you already lain with her?"

"Shhh! Twice." William blurted quickly, trying to minimise the damage with a white lie. "And after the second time, she pretty much cut me off as well, for the same reason as Anne did with you."

Francis nodded, though he still looked sulky. After pausing for a moment, he murmured very quietly, "So...how was it?"

William kept silent but couldn’t resist flashing a smug grin.

Francis groaned in disbelief and closed his eyes. "Lucky, lucky bastard. I swear it, does anything ever not go your way?"

William laughed but then pointed out, "It was no easy feat reaching this stage. I was made to work hard for Camilla’s attention. Besides, you’re to be married in the autumn, aren’t you? And you’ve known your betrothed since infancy. She actually likes you. My betrothed couldn’t even bear the sight of me for the first few months."

"Yes, that’s true. Yours wasn’t a very auspicious start." Francis cast his mind back to several months ago and started grinning. "And you kept managing to do things that seemed to offend the princess. You really made it look effortless."

William gave him a flat look. "Why, thank you for the reminder." He recalled how envious he had been back then of the warm, easy rapport that had quickly grown between Francis and Camilla. The two of them had become fast friends whereas every time William had opened his mouth around the princess, he’d said something insulting, inappropriate or plain rude. Often, all of those at once.

William could see the humour of it now but at the time, it had tied him in knots of frustration.

"You’re very welcome." Francis cheerfully replied. "And yet, here you are. If Anne and I end up even half as besotted with each other as you and the princess clearly are, I’ll consider myself a fortunate husband."

"Besotted, you say?" William grimaced. He was a little uncomfortable that his feelings were quite that obvious. He’d always prided himself on keeping his emotions buried from the rest. Maybe he wasn’t quite as adept at it as he thought.

"Yes. Don’t deny it, Will. She has you by the throat. And balls."

Shaking his head with a reluctant laugh, William quietly surveyed the training grounds, which were almost empty. He could almost sense Richard’s presence in the place where they had spent so much of their time. From the first moment the two of them had picked up swords as youngsters, to their more recent practice bouts as men.

No one had dared bring up Richard’s name to him in the past weeks, seeming to accept at face value that he was addressing family related matters at his father’s estate. William knew, however, that questions would arise sooner or later.

Almost as if reading William’s mind, Francis asked, "Have you heard anything from Rich lately? I assume he won’t be returning to court for the wedding."

"He won’t." William confirmed.

"Is what he did to earn your anger, really that unforgivable?" Francis looked up at the cloudless sky. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

So Francis knew something more had occurred, William noted silently. He wondered who else had similar thoughts.

"Yes, it was unforgivable." William replied coldly and without hesitation. After a couple of moments, he then asked something that had been rolling around in his head for a while. "I know now that I should’ve cut Richard out of my life a long time ago. But if I hadn’t, would any of you have ever spoken up about it?"

"No, never." Francis was swift and brutal in his response. "Nobody ever saw themselves successfully getting in between the bond the two of you shared. You would never have listened. Even Princess Camilla knew to keep quiet about how much she disliked Richard."

William scowled, knowing how events had turned out because of his willingness to turn a blind eye to Richard’s worst tendencies.

"The falling out between the two of you...it has something to do with her, doesn’t it?"

"What makes you think that?" the prince asked carefully.

"Because she’s the only person you love more than Richard."

William watched his friend steadily, refusing to confirm or deny anything. Out of respect for Camilla, he would never discuss the reasons with anyone.

Francis was right, though. He did love the girl more.

Camilla made him feel content and loved just as he was, even if when occasionally meant he was a childish, crying mess. There was no relentless striving for more, no feeling that simply being himself wasn’t quite enough. Instead, being in her company brought William an exquisite sense of peace.

The silence between the two young men stretched on.

Eventually, Francis merely nodded. "I trust your judgement, Will." After clapping him briefly on the back, Francis started walking in the castle’s direction at his usual unhurried pace, apparently content not to know any more.