Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 28: A Bit of Warmth

William watched the lightning flashes and heavy relentless rain, finding it oddly soothing. Wild storms were common this time of year but tended to blow over fairly quickly. "We just need to wait it out but it shouldn’t be too much longer." He shrugged out of his outer tunic and wrung it out, then donned it again. The fabric was light so he managed to squeeze out most of the water. "It’s unusual for the temperature to drop so suddenly though."

He turned to Camilla when she didn’t respond. She had her back pressed against the rock face and was racked with violent shivers. Her face was drained of all colour and her lips were tinged blue.

"Are you alright?" She stared at him with glassy eyes but didn’t reply, looking like she was about to pass out. Her eyes slowly closed.

He stood in front of her and peered into her face, giving her a shake. When he placed his hands on her arms he was taken back by the freezing fabric of her sleeves. He cursed under his breath as he realised her velvet dress had soaked up as much cold water as it could hold and was chilling her slight body to the bone.

"Take off your clothes."

Camilla’s hazy eyes widened. "What?" she squeaked.

"Your dress is soaked through and it’s causing your body temperature to drop. If it keeps dropping, your heart will eventually stop. So take off the dress." his explanation was brusque.

She wrapped her arms around herself and clung to her dress, the dark red fabric almost black from the water. "N-n-no n-n-need. I’ll be f-fine." she forced out through chattering teeth.

"Just take off the fucking dress!" He spun her around impatiently and started unlacing the back ties. "You’re turning blue which is a very bad sign. I refuse to be blamed for your death just because your shyness cost you your life!"

"A-a-alright! But y-y-you need to f-f-face the other way." she conceded weakly, feeling a numb drowsiness wash over her in waves.

William turned away from her and he heard her struggling as she peeled the dress off. After what seemed like an eternity, she whispered that he could turn around again. He found her wearing only her linen chemise and sitting on the ground with her legs tucked against her chest and her arms hugging her knees, shuddering pitifully.

"I’ll try and get as much water out of the dress as I can since you’ll have to wear it on the ride back."

When he picked up her gown, he almost staggered under its weight. The rich velvet had soaked up the rainwater like a sponge. The cold would have killed her if she’d worn it for much longer. He was about to start wringing it when he glanced over at the girl.

Her bare arms were waxy white and so was her face. She had her cheek against her knees and looked barely conscious. Dropping her gown, he crouched in front of her and shook her by the arms. "Wake up! You must stay awake. The cold will take you if you fall asleep."

"I’m tired..."

"No goddamnit!" He growled and kept shaking her. "Keep your eyes open!" He pressed two fingers against her throat and felt her slow, sluggish heartbeat. Panic started to build in his chest as he lightly tapped her cheek.

If the princess died or became gravely ill under his watch, he knew there would be hell to pay from his uncle. If word of it reached Moraigth, King Kenneth might even use the harm to his niece as a pretext to invade Islia’s northern borderlands. Even though he’d probably rejoice at her death, William knew that sly bastard would use any excuse to invade.

Cursing again, he pulled off his outer tunic and shirt and positioned himself behind her, sitting with his legs astride her body. He started rubbing her back and arms with firm, steady strokes.

Camilla flinched and tried to pull away but he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her back against his bare chest.

"What are y-y-you doing?" Her voice was drowsy.

"Warming you up. It would be better if we could light a fire but we have no dry timber. Sharing body heat is the best option we have. So sit still and stop fighting it."

She felt fragile in his arms, as if her bones might snap if he squeezed too hard. She turned a little so that she was on her side while he continued rubbing her icy back and shoulders. Curled up in a ball, her head fell to rest on his chest and her breath tickling his bare skin was maddening. He gritted his teeth.

"You’re not falling asleep, are you?"

"Sleepy..."

"Stay awake and talk to me then."

"About what...? Can’t th-think of anything...to t-t-talk about."

"Really? You seemed to have no problem finding things to talk about with Francis earlier." William tried to keep his jealousy out of his voice and failed miserably.

"Hmmm? Who’s...Francis?"

"Francis Lowell!" he snapped. He pressed her tighter to his chest, feeling her wet chemise. It would have been better to remove that as well so he could press against her skin directly but he knew there was no way she’d ever agree to be naked in his arms.

And no way in hell I’d ever survive it either, he thought to himself.

"I like talking...to S-s-sir Francis. He’s k-kind to me."

"Do you find him attractive then?" William dreaded knowing but at the same time, he had to know.

Camilla slowly raised her head from his chest and looked at him confused. At least she was starting to look slightly more alert and her lips weren’t quite as blue. "What kind of question...is that? Sir Francis is...my friend."

"So because he’s your friend you don’t find him attractive?"

He could see his questions were starting to annoy her, forcing her to focus on his face to reply. He took it as a good sign as he kept rubbing her arms.

"It’s a c-completely different thing...If someone is your friend it d-d-doesn’t matter what they look like." Camilla frowned. "Do y-you only have female friends you find attractive?"

William paused, unsure whether it was because her question was difficult or because having her pressed against him was stirring up all kinds of feelings in his body he’d rather ignore.

"I don’t know. I can’t say I have any female friends." He adjusted his position slightly so that his rock hard aching groin was no longer pressed against her.

He swore what sounded like a small giggle escaped her lips. "No female friends? I’m t-truly shocked."

Was she teasing him, even while half dead from the cold?