Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 80: A Quiet Moment

6 May, 1359. Magdaline Castle, Islia

William trudged through the forest, leading his favourite hunting steed by the reins. He had been out hunting with Francis and Robin since dawn and despite the ground being muddy from several days of on and off rain, they’d managed to bring down two does and a stag. His friends had been keen to return to the castle to wash the grime off themselves, but William had wanted to spend some time alone, so he had sent them and their accompanying pages back ahead of him.

He tied his horse to a tree and sat down on a dry patch of dirt, leaning his back against the scratchy trunk and stretching one of his legs out in front of him. He was in a foul mood and even the long hunt hadn’t lifted his spirits much.

At least Princess Sarai was no longer a potential threat. She had finally departed Islia with her retinue two days ago. While the alliance between Islia and Havietten had been confirmed and strengthened through a few additional trade deals, no betrothals had been announced between the royal houses, to his intense relief.

It meant he no longer had to spend time with her and pretend to enjoy her company, under the king’s watchful eye. He no longer had to lead her out to dance, go hunting or take walks with her, while pretending not to notice when she batted her eyelashes at him and tried to act coquettish.

A few times he’d flirted back with Sarai in Camilla’s presence just to make the Moraigthian princess jealous or provoke some kind of reaction from her. But that had been a disastrous move. It was actually his restraint that had snapped first, leading him to try and seduce Camilla in a dark storeroom. When that attempt had failed, he’d lost his temper at her and shouted like a belligerent child.

And then, her finding out from Richard that William wasn’t a stranger to visiting bathhouses had turned an already angry fire into an inferno. William knocked the back of his head against the tree trunk in frustration. How did it all go so wrong?

Richard hadn’t even understood why William was so upset with him. He had found the whole situation amusing. "Well, why does it matter if she knows you visit whores? There’s no shame in the truth. You’re not doing anything wrong. Why do you even care about the opinion of a penniless foreign orphan?"

William couldn’t explain to Richard why the princess’s opinion mattered to him, because he didn’t understand it himself. It shouldn’t matter at all, but it did. Knowing that she was not only angry but wounded by him, made him feel sick inside.

William closed his eyes and sighed, enjoying the quiet of the forest and feeling the dappled sunlight on his face. He spent most of his days surrounded by people - servants, pages and hangers-on who wanted to beg favours from him. A peaceful moment to himself was a luxury.

Perhaps I should avoid women for a while, he thought to himself drowsily as he pushed his messy hair back from his face. Luck is definitely not on my side these days.

William suddenly blinked and sat upright, startled by a sound. Realising he’d nodded off, he looked around him. His horse was standing quietly by the tree, lapping water from a puddle on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and slowly stood up. It was probably time to head back towards the castle with a fake smile on his face, to pretend he led a charmed life when in reality, he felt like punching walls.

A faint sound reached his ears again, coming from the direction of the small creek that ran through the forest. He placed a hand on the dagger hanging from his waist in case he crossed paths with a thief.

There had been occasions where thieves or beggars had snuck through the royal forests to try and enter the castle. Leaving his horse behind, William moved stealthily towards the creek.

He suddenly heard what sounded like female voices. Puzzled, he followed the source of sound. Peering through a small gap in the thick vegetation that covered the banks of the creek, he could barely believe his eyes.

The creek itself was swollen from the endless rain, the water levels higher than he’d ever seen them. Four women had discarded their gowns and were frolicking in the slow moving waters. His mouth went completely dry when he realised it was Camilla and her ladies-in-waiting. He couldn’t quite make out their words but he suddenly heard the shorter of the blonde ladies mention what sounded like his name.

He slowly moved closer.

The sight of Camilla rising out of the water almost stopped his heart. She was wearing only a linen chemise, which was translucent from being soaked.

She gathered the long skirt around the tops of her legs with her fists to avoid tripping over the fabric as she carefully stepped towards a large flat rock in the middle of the silvery waters, where the other maidens were already sitting. The ends of her unbound hair were wet and the chemise clung to her curves of her body like a second skin. He could clearly see the outline of her breasts and her dainty protruding nipples through the sheer fabric and thought he would scream from pure lust.

He knew he should look away and not torture himself further. What was the point? She would never even look in his direction again. But seeing her sitting on the rock looking like a forest goddess in a pool of sunlight, made it impossible for him to tear his eyes away. His legs were as unmoving as stone pillars as his gaze hungrily scanned over her body again and again.

The blonde lady mentioned his name again.

Intrigued, William slowly inched ever closer, knowing he’d never want to overhear a conversation as much as the one happening just a short distance away.