Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 190: Truths and Untruths

After some effort, William was able to calm himself down enough to speak again without shouting. He could still hear his pulse pounding in his ears as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"I’m willing to allow Lord Henry to train undisturbed as a knight under Rufus because I don’t believe he should bear the consequences of his brother’s sins." he managed to say in a choked voice. "But if I ever hear you or any of your kin so much as speak my wife’s name again, I swear I will end you all. I’ll tell the king everything I saw Richard do and spare no detail. I’ll make sure your family name is dragged through the mud and your estate is fined."

Lady Bentworth staggered back as if she’d been slapped. William knew that his threat would cut deep - the haughty woman valued her name and prestige more than anything else.

"How do you know the king would believe your word?" she asked, sounding far less confident than before.

William shrugged and smiled. "Perhaps he won’t, my lady. Perhaps he’ll insist on conducting his own investigation and I’ll be glad to help him with it. In fact, I’ll make sure my uncle speaks with not only my wife but with every court lady and maid who had the misfortune of crossing paths with Richard. We’ll likely discover many women who have suffered in silence at his hands..." he let his voice trail off.

The unspoken threat was enough. The countess’s eyes began to quiver with fear.

William shook his head a little as he continued locking her in place with his stare. "So perhaps you did know what kind of son you raised, Countess. You knew but you didn’t care. Somehow, that’s far worse." William grimaced in distaste. "Some people are noble in name only, not in character. Now get out of my sight and don’t come back. Don’t force me to ruin Richard’s reputation. Let him rest in peace."

Lord Bentworth finally sketched a shaky bow to William and grabbed his wife by the elbow. "Come, Margaret. We should leave. We can do no more here."

"But Richard-"

"He’s gone!" Lord Bentworth shouted. "Richard’s gone! We can’t do anything more for him, we must now focus on our living sons and not ruin this chance for Henry."

"A wise decision, my lord." William managed to sound almost polite.

The couple started for the doors to the corridor, their son shuffling obediently behind them.

"Oh, and Lord Henry..." William called out.

The youth turned his doughy, pockmarked face back to William.

"I hope that you’ll make the most of your training with my cousin and learn well." William tried to smile at the lad. It wasn’t his fault he’d been poorly raised. "And if I may give you a piece of advice...learn to think for yourself, lad. Form your opinions from what you know to be true, not just from what you’re told. Everyone has reasons to lie."

The youth turned red to the tips of his ears and nodded, then bowed.

"And, for fuck’s sake, learn to stand on your own two feet. No great man was ever made when he was too busy clinging to his mother’s skirts." William couldn’t resist one last little hit.

The Bentworth slammed the presence chamber door hard behind them.

- - -

Camilla sat watching with Malcolm in her arms, as the bedchamber door slowly open and William trudged in, rubbing his forehead and looking drained. He let himself flop onto the bed next to her, face down.

After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke. "You’re better off not going out there until I call a maid to clean up. There’s broken glass on the floor."

"Alright." Camilla kept her voice quiet, as if broken glass were an everyday occurrence.

"How much of all that did you hear?" he asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the bed linen.

"That depends. Would you like the truth or a comfortable lie?" Camilla brushed her fingers over the baby’s pale hair.

"The truth."

"Well then, I heard most of it. It was rather hard not to, even if I wanted to avoid it." Camilla smiled wryly.

"Fuck." William lifted his head, propping himself up on one elbow and scowling.

"It’s alright, William. I can’t ever expect those people to warm up to me, especially if Richard fed them lies. If I don’t have to see them again, why should I care what they think of me?"

"Because they said the most horrible things, without knowing anything about you!" he clenched his jaw, clearly unhappy.

Camilla shrugged, then kept rocking her son gently. With a belly full of milk and now that all the shouting was over, he looked ready to fall asleep again. "You’ve just described half of Islia with your words. You realise that, don’t you?"

"It doesn’t trouble you that people who’ve never met you, think you’re...?"

"I’m what? A witch who can read? A barbarian whore?" Camilla grinned. "Sometimes I actually enjoy my reputation as the sinful monster who led their golden prince astray. A shame they’ll never know I was the one led astray."

William tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing. "I’m being serious, my love." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"So am I! I have no great hopes of ever winning over Islian society. I’ll always be a foreigner and a barbarian to a great deal of people. Do you believe all those things the Bentworths said about me?"

"Of course not!" William jerked back slightly, glaring at his wife with a hurt expression.

Camilla smiled at him and reached down to cup his cheek in her hand, touched that he was so upset on her behalf. He turned his head and sighed, pressing a kiss against her palm.

"So long as my husband loves me, it really doesn’t matter what the rest think, does it?"

"No, I suppose it doesn’t." he said sullenly.

"Good. Now that we’ve agreed on the matter, please try and put all this behind you."

"I can’t." William continued frowning. "And I think I should be allowed at least some time to sulk about it, good and proper. Don’t rush me."

"We haven’t had an afternoon together like this for weeks, and you want to spend it dwelling on unimportant people?" Camilla tugged his hair lightly. "Cheer up, husband. Don’t make me have to harm you with my witchcraft."

William rolled his eyes in derision, then sat up and carefully took Malcolm from her arms. Placing the baby in his cradle, William lay back down on the bed and pulled Camilla on top of him. "How is it that you’re so unbothered by others’ opinions, my little spellbinder? Isn’t a lady’s good name supposed to mean everything to her? Lady Bentworth would certainly agree with me."

She smirked. "I’m used to it, given my father was always on the outs with his king. My entire family was always surrounded by unpleasant rumours and conspiracies. It’s why my parents taught me long ago to not rely on the admiration of strangers for my happiness. So long as the right people love me, the rest don’t matter."

"Imagine that. Not relying on the admiration of strangers for your happiness..." William repeated thoughtfully. "Goddamn, Camilla. You and I have led very different lives, haven’t we?"

"Yes, but that’s because you grew up without enough people around who truly loved you." Camilla briefly kissed his mouth. "It’s different now."

William’s arms around her gave a little squeeze as he kissed her back for longer. "You’re right. So long as you love me, I don’t really need to care about the rest. So you’d better show me now, how much you love me."

Camilla continued kissing him, finding him too tempting to refuse. But after a few moments, she couldn’t resist pulling back and asking, "It really doesn’t bother you to have Richard’s brother at court?"

William shrugged. "No, not really. I doubt I’ll cross paths with him much. Besides, the lad’s fairly harmless. Spent all his life under his mama’s thumb so he’s never had a thought in his mind that she didn’t place there first. The youngest brothers are even worse." William narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever you do, don’t raise our boy to be like that."

"I’ll try and keep that in mind." Camilla replied drily. "Just as long as you let him be a mama’s boy while he’s still so tiny."

She felt herself being rolled onto her back. William sat up, pulled off his tunic and lay back down over her. "I guess there’s nothing to be done now but enjoy my sinful wife’s body." He grinned.

"I don’t hear you complaining about my uncouth ways last night when I was writing all those documents." Camilla could feel the thrill in her belly that she always felt when William stared at her that way.

"A literate woman. How appalling!" William kissed her. "Lucky for you, you’re my favourite barbarian."