Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 52: No Apology

26 December, 1358. Westerhaven Palace, Islia

Camilla and Katerine hurried down the chilly corridors, each carrying an armful of Tession’s books. Over the past few months, Katerine’s reading ability had grown immeasurably, to the point where she was challenging herself by reading simple poetry and ballads. However, no one outside the small circle of ladies-in-waiting around Camilla knew of it.

Camilla hadn’t even revealed the truth to Tession, in case it caused trouble for Katerine. Instead, she would always have Katerine accompany her to Tession’s rooms with the excuse the lady was simply helping her mistress return borrowed books. Katerine would then subtly gesture which of the old healer’s books she wanted Camilla to borrow for her.

Camilla was telling Katerine about an old fairy tale she’d recently read in one of the books, when she turned the corner and found herself face to face with Prince William. Quickly avoiding a collision, she stepped around him, gave him a quick nod of greeting and kept walking, ignoring the smile he flashed her.

"Slow down, Princess! I want to speak with you for a moment."

"No, thank you." She increased her pace.

"No thank you? Did you really just say that to me?" William sounded incredulous.

"I did." Camilla willed herself to not even look behind her as she kept walking briskly, her high heels clicking on the stone floor.

"Your Grace!" Katerine sounded a little shocked. "Aren’t you even going to-"

"Don’t start with me Katerine." Camilla hissed as she turned to look at her friend who was almost running to keep up with her. "I’m not speaking to that man!"

"You mean this man?" William had overtaken both ladies with long strides and when Camilla looked forward again, she found herself almost crashing into the prince again. He resolutely blocked her path.

He then turned to Katerine and held out his hand, while giving her the smile he used to charm all the ladies. "Allow me to take these books from you, lady. I’ll escort the princess to Tession’s quarters myself."

Katerine opened her mouth but thought better of it. How could she decline the prince’s offer without telling him the real reason she wanted to visit Tession? She slowly started handing him her armful of books.

"She doesn’t need your help." Camilla snapped. She gave Katerine a sideways glare. "Do not hand over those books!"

Katerine quickly pulled the books back against her chest. Her eyes skipped from one young royal to the other and back again. They were the same rank and looked equally stubborn and irritated with each other. Whose command was she supposed to follow then?

Camilla tried to swerve around the prince but he anticipated her move and kept blocking her path. "Please move, my lord." She gritted her teeth. "I’ve never had to kick a prince before and I’d prefer you weren’t the first."

William shook his head and started laughing. "Ever the spirited one, Princess. But I’m not getting out of your way until you agree to give me a moment of your time. What I’m going to say, I have no issue saying in front of your lady-in-waiting. But I suspect you probably would prefer she didn’t hear it."

Camilla felt her face starting to burn. Next to her, Katerine gave an odd cough that almost sounded like a laugh. William then grinned at Katerine as if they were co-conspirators.

Feeling trapped, Camilla glared at them both. "Fine." she muttered in defeat.

William stepped forward and gallantly scooped up Katerine’s books. The young lady then bowed to both royals and started heading back in the direction of the princess’s apartments. She was trying to suppress a smile and Camilla felt like reaching out and pinching her hard.

Shaking her head in frustration, Camilla started walking towards Tession’s rooms again. William walked in step with her.

"What did you think of Their Majesties lunch banquet yesterday? Is it similar to how you celebrate Christmas Day in Moraigth?" he asked pleasantly.

Silence. She refused to look in his direction.

William frowned at her. "Don’t ignore me. You agreed to give me a moment of your time."

"And you have it. So say what you have to say and then leave me alone. I have nothing to say to you."

William huffed with impatience. "Camilla. Stop being so stubborn and just tell me why you’re upset."

"That’s Princess Camilla to you!" She’d never thrown her title in someone’s face before but it seemed like a good idea in that moment. "And I can’t believe you have to ask me!"

"Is it about the silly wish in the garden? It really didn’t mean anything. It’s just an amusing tradition."

"Amusing to you perhaps, because you weren’t the one everyone was laughing at!" Camilla kept her eyes on the floor in front of her, worried that if she looked into William’s face he’d find even more reason to laugh at her. "I’m already disliked here. Do you really think humiliating me in front of half the court will make things easier for me?"

"Is that what you think? That I did it to humiliate you?"

"Well, didn’t you?" she snapped back.

He watched as the colour flooded her face again. Normally he loved seeing her blush, knowing that he’d gotten a rise out of her. But the genuine unhappiness on her face told him he’d gone too far this time.

William knew she was still treated as a pariah by many courtiers. And now this girl who could stare at nearly everyone in the eye and smile, no matter how hostile their treatment of her was, was too embarrassed to even look at him.

It dawned on him that he’d truly humiliated her, even if that hadn’t been his intention. She was an inexperienced girl with no understanding of the ways of men. He had probably frightened her by forcing her to kiss him in front of everyone and then laughing it off like it meant nothing.

"Fuck." William muttered.

He hadn’t meant to upset her. He hadn’t even known she was planning to show up for the cutting of the wishing cake. When he’d found the silver farthing in his piece, he had no idea what to do with it.

But then Camilla had shown up unexpectedly. He had been shocked to see her standing under the colonnade’s mistletoe, her eyes sleepy and her cheeks flushed. In that moment, he knew exactly what to do with the farthing in his hand.

He was going to have a little taste of her, even if that taste killed him.

He’d walked so slowly towards her, as if quietly approaching an animal in the forest he didn’t want to startle. It took every ounce of his willpower to not push her up against the colonnade and crush his mouth to hers. Instead, he’d kissed her hesitantly.

He hadn’t lied to Camilla when he’d said he’d kissed many other women. None of them had made him feel like he had lightning moving through his veins. None of them had tasted of pure sweetness and bliss.

Perhaps she had felt nothing but fear in return. And yet...she had kissed him back. Maybe, just maybe she felt at least a little desire for him.

Even if that possibility was only slight, he was going to pursue it relentlessly. He was determined to have this girl in his bed. No other conquest had ever mattered as much.

And if sounding remorseful for stealing a kiss from her when he had no remorse at all would make seducing her easier, then so be it.

"What if I give you my word to never pull a stunt like that again?" William finally offered, giving her his most most sincere smile.

"Of course you won’t repeat the stunt." Camilla replied. "I don’t plan to let you anywhere near me again."

Famous last words, William thought. Out loud he said, "At least you’ll have Richard Bentworth’s gratitude. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, the only idea I had for my farthing was to ask for the same wish that Tom made last year."

"What wish is that?"

"Forcing Rich to eat oats from a horse trough in the royal stables." William showed the barest hint of a smile.

Despite trying very hard not to, Camilla started to laugh. Shaking her head, she sighed, "Why are you making it so hard to stay angry at you?"

William grinned. "Part of my charm, I guess. Surely you can forgive me now?"

Camilla finally looked at him - a long, steady look. She replied, "You can’t just forgive someone when they haven’t even apologised."

And with that, she pushed open the door to Tession’s small library and stepped inside, ending the conversation.