Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 60: The Fox and The Crow
3 February, 1359. Westerhaven Palace, Islia
The courtiers scattered through the marshes, shrieks and laughter echoing through the air as they wove through the gnarled willow trees with their drooping branches.
The southern parts of Islia were famed for their elusive black foxes, and they were most prolific in the marshes and forests near Westerhaven. Prince Leo had arranged a hunt that day, promising five gold ducats for whoever was able to catch the rare animal.
"Do you suppose he wishes to make another stole for his wife?" Meg had whispered in Camilla’s ear. Camilla had been forced to give Meg a little kick and clap a hand over her own mouth.
The hunt was on foot as the twisting roots of the willow trees made it difficult for horses. It was in fact less of a hunt and more and excuse to enjoy the pale winter sunlight after days of unseasonably cold mists.
Camilla found herself next to William that morning, moving quietly over the uneven ground. William seemed in a cheerful mood and didn’t look right through her as he had on other occasions. However, she often felt uneasy around the prince. He said little to her but his intense stare made her feel like much was left unspoken between them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Camilla noticed a dark, moving blur. Without thinking, she started chasing the black brush of a fox’s tail, running and clambering over the uneven ground. She wished, not for the first time, that women weren’t confined to long skirts even when hunting.
"Wait! Don’t run off! Do you even know where you are going?"
Ignoring William’s calls, Camilla moved as silently as she could, following the darting animal with her eyes. The fox suddenly stopped and so did the girl, peering from behind a large tree trunk. William stopped behind her and she could hear his breathing.
Camilla watched, completely still, as the fox resumed running and then ducked into the hollow in the base of a nearby tree trunk. Inside the hollow, she could just make out the shadowed shapes of the vixen’s litter.
"Awwww. How sweet." she whispered to herself, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t alone. When she remembered he was behind her, she quickly turned around to face him, wishing she hadn’t acted so childlike about a litter of wild cubs.
Camilla found William staring at her with an odd expression on his face. She felt herself blushing and shook her head.
"Please stop looking at me that way, my lord. I know what you’re thinking."
"Is that so? Do enlighten me then."
She gave him a rueful smile. "You’re thinking I’m just a silly girl and that it’s ridiculous to fawn over a litter of cubs when next year we’ll end up hunting those same cubs." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
William laughed, marvelling at her quick wit, not for the first time. "That’s not what I was thinking at all. Though you’re likely right about the cubs." He slowly placed his hand on her cheek and Camilla stood there transfixed, holding her breath.
"I was actually thinking...that you are beautiful."
Camilla’s expression froze for a moment but then twisted in anger. She shook off his touch. "You truly know how to hit an existing wound, don’t you, Your Highness?" She turned and started hurrying away.
William was dumbfounded. That was her response? After a moment, he followed her, calling out, "Wait!"
She ignored him.
He caught up with her and spun her around by the arm to face him. "What does that mean? Where the hell are you going? And why are you suddenly acting so offended?"
"How am I supposed to react to that comment?" Her eyes blazed.
"Well, saying thank you seems like a good start. I think that’s appropriate when someone pays you a compliment."
Camilla gasped at his arrogance. "Why do you have to be so spiteful when I haven’t done anything to upset you today? We both know you don’t think I’m beautiful, so why would you say that?"
"How would you know what I think? Are you a mind reader now?"
"Never mind." Camilla could feel herself turning red and tried to leave, but the prince grabbed her by the arms and stubbornly refused to let her go. She struggled against him, to no avail.
Frustrated, she bit out, "You’ve made it very clear that you find me unpleasant to look at, so stop pretending otherwise. I hate liars."
William"s face went blank. "When? What did I say?"
She shook her head. "It doesn’t matter. Let’s not talk about it anymore." She wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and choke on her own embarrassment.
His grip on her arms tightened slightly. "What did I say? You’re not leaving until you explain yourself!"
"I don’t want to talk about this!" She shut her eyes tightly and tried to wriggle free but couldn’t. Why was he making her relive a humiliating moment? Did he just enjoy being cruel?
Despite swearing she never wanted to relive that day, she found herself blurting, "At the jousting tournament last spring!"
His expression didn’t change, making her even more furious. He was obviously pretending he had no idea what she was talking about. "You yelled in front of everyone that you’d never request a favour from a girl who was as dark and ugly as a crow!"
Slowly, she saw understanding dawn on his face. What she hadn’t expected was the blush that crept up his neck and over his face. "Oh, then. I didn’t think you’d heard me." he mumbled.
"How would I not have heard? You made sure the entire court heard! The villagers in the borderlands probably heard!" She looked at her feet in shame.
"That was already a hard day for me. I was so homesick and couldn’t stop thinking about all the times I’d watched my brothers joust. Then when you said that..." Camilla spoke softly. "All the ladies in the pavilion apart from Princess Blanche spent the entire afternoon laughing at me. Do you know some of them still call me the little crow behind my back, even now? I just wanted to lay down and die from loneliness."
William gave a low groan when he saw her face. He had never felt more like a terrible excuse for a man. "Damn. It wasn’t my intention to make things harder for you. I certainly didn’t mean to expose you to that pack of bitches at court and make you a target for them."
"Then why did you make such a horrible comment?"
William ducked his head, looking uncomfortable. "I was just angry at you. I didn’t mean what I said."
"Why would you have been angry? We hadn’t even spoken that day!" Camilla raised her voice. "Stop lying to me! An apology means nothing if you won’t tell the truth."
"I’m not lying!" The prince yelled back.
Camilla was determined to break free from his grasp, sick of his excuses and refusal to just tell the truth. She twisted in his grip and wondered if kicking him in the shins would convince him to let go.
"Sir Lewis Rouen."
She stopped struggling at his mention of the unfamiliar name. "Who’s that?"
"The name of the knight you gave your favour to that day. Surely you haven’t forgotten him?" There was bitterness in the prince’s tone.
"I remember giving my favour to someone but I never knew his name. What was I supposed to do? He asked me, I gave it to him." Camilla shrugged, struggling with the unexpected turn of their conversation. "Why are you even bringing that up?"
"You giving your favour to one of my men meant I couldn’t ask you for it myself. That’s why I was angry." William explained through clenched teeth.
"That makes no sense! You weren’t going to ask for my favour!"
"I was, actually..."
Something inside Camilla snapped. "You expect me to believe that? Why would you ever ask for my favour? You don’t even like me much!" she shrilled, enraged that he couldn’t find the decency to be honest for once.
"I like you well enough." William mumbled, flushing a darker red. Camilla gaped at him, utterly confused. The silence ticked on.
"Oh for fuck’s sake!" the prince finally growled. "I want you. I gave you a box of gemstones. I’ve been pursuing you for months and you just ignore me! What more do I have to do to get your fucking attention?" He let her arms go to push his hair back anxiously, then muttered mostly to himself, "I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to pursue a woman, I’ve never had to."
He closed his eyes briefly. This was definitely the most embarrassing conversation of his life. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the princess looking at him in stunned silence.
At that moment, voices cried out nearby as a group of courtiers drew closer, breaking the tense atmosphere between them. The dark haired beauty in front of William blushed and then bolted, as if she were the fox being hunted.
