Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 91: To Hide a Bruise

William tried to quell the white hot fury churning through him. He felt like punching anything and everything he could get his hands on. If Richard hadn’t left the room when he did, William didn’t think he would’ve been able to stop himself from punching his lying, devious face until the man was half dead.

He’d never felt such uncontrollable rage before. Not towards his enemies on the battlefield, not even toward his own father. He had known those people never cared a thing about him. But to find that very same thing out about a man he had always relied on and admired as his great friend...

William looked around the room wildly, seeking an object he could vent his anger and hatred and disillusionment on - and then he noticed the young woman hunched in the corner with her knees drawn up against her chest.

For a few moments, he’d almost forgotten Camilla was there. She was utterly silent, a bruise already forming under one eye. She looked at him with a wary, vulnerable expression, as if she didn’t trust him not to turn his fury onto her next.

William almost groaned out loud. He realised her expression wounded him. Despite her knowing he’d overheard the truth and having seen him punch his dearest friend to the ground, it was clear she still didn’t fully trust him to be on her side.

Part of him understood why, but it still hurt.

The anger ebbed away the longer he stared at her. All that was left behind was a dull ache of bitterness.

He slowly walked to where she was and extended his hand to her. She gingerly took it and he hauled her up gently to a standing position.

"Are you alright?" William cursed himself inwardly. How could she be alright? His focus over the past few days had been finding out what she was hiding so that he could help her. But now that he knew, he had no real idea what to do.

Camilla stood up straight and quickly tried to swipe her eyes dry with her sleeve, trying not to flinch in pain when she touched the bruised eye. Clutching her torn dress modestly together with one hand against her chest, she smiled at William. "Yes, thank you." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Her smile was shaky. He could see she was doing her best to be brave and appear unaffected, despite everything. It made the ache in his chest grow.

They looked at each other, both unsure what the right words were. Finally, William spoke.

"You weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?"

"No. You wouldn’t have believed me." Camilla’s voice was quiet but rang with absolute certainty.

"You don’t know that for sure." His protest sounded hollow even to him.

Camilla’s smile was sad. "William. You’ve heard everything now. You know everything that happened and I can tell you still barely believe it."

William opened his mouth to argue but shut it again. There was no point arguing with the truth. "I’m sorry then, that you were left with no option but to keep this all to yourself. I’ve never liked his manner with women but I never thought he’d dare harm you."

She nodded. "I know. And I’m sorry you had to hear all those horrible words from Richard. He and I have never gotten along but I know how important he’s always been for you. I didn’t ever want you to feel like I was trying to drive a wedge between you and your best friend."

"Well, allegedly I have no friends, only hangers on." William said with grim humour and tipped his head slightly. "Come to think of it, that means you have no friends either."

Camilla’s smile turned wry. "I have to believe that the people who surround me, actually like me. It’s not like they’re around for my wealth. Because as many people like to remind me, I don’t have a single coin to my poor orphaned name."

William started to laugh, despite the bleakness of their shared situation. He watched her absentmindedly push a stray tendril of hair behind her ear.

Despite her bruised face, messy hair and tear stained cheeks, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He stared at her unchecked.

She look confused and then embarrassed at his focus on her. She looked away uncomfortably. "I know I look hideous. It’s been a difficult few days."

What an understatement. "No, it isn’t that." William hurriedly said. "It’s your eye. It’s going to bruise black."

Camilla shrugged. "It’ll heal. The important thing is Richard leaving and I don’t have to hide from him anymore. He will leave, won’t he? Or do you think he’ll try to defy you?"

"He’ll do as I’ve told him, just to save his own neck." William’s mouth was a thin, grim line. "The bruise is a problem though. When your maids see you tomorrow morning, how will you explain that you were in your room alone all night but still ended up with a black eye?"

She frowned thoughtfully. "I hadn’t considered that."

"I can’t believe that son of a bitch hit you." William muttered curses under his breath as he felt his temper rise again. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he slid two fingers under her chin and tilted her face slightly so the candlelight hit her injured cheekbone better.

Camilla held her breath at his touch.

"Actually, I have a tonic from Tession that might work on this bruise. We should try it, otherwise this will take days to fade. It should at least help reduce the swelling..." William’s voice drifted off as their eyes locked again.

Camilla stared back. He felt as if he’d been hypnotised. How could she have no idea of the intense pull she had on him, he wondered?

William’s hand under her chin moved until he could place his thumb lightly on her lower lip. He slowly brushed the length of her soft lip as his gaze flicked rapidly between her eyes and mouth. She made no move to stop him, even when he started to inch closer.

He saw her eyes drift closed and he couldn’t stop himself any longer. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly.

The second kiss wasn’t quite as gentle. They were soon entangled in each other’s arms, kissing frantically. He slid a hand down to cup her backside, pressing her hard against him.

When he actually stopped to think about what he was doing, William abruptly pulled back and stared at her in horror. What the hell was he doing? The girl had just been brutally hit and nearly violated - and all he could think of doing was kissing her? Was he really no better than that?

"Ah fuck. I apologise, Camilla. That was...I shouldn’t have done that, now of all moments." He felt his face grow hot with shame.

Her cheeks turned pink and she also looked mortified. They both looked away.

Desperate to fill the awkward silence, William quickly mentioned going to look for Tession’s tonic in his apartments and strode towards the door. As he stepped out of Camilla’s bedchamber, he yelled behind him, "Lock the door behind me. I’ll be back shortly."

He quietly ran through her presence chamber and into the dark corridor towards his own rooms.

Rustling through one of his drawers, he finally found what he was looking for - a small vial partially filled with amber coloured liquid. Grabbing the tonic and a handkerchief, he made his way back to Camilla’s apartments. There was no one else in sight.

He entered the princess’s presence chamber and locked the doors behind him. He was about to knock on her bedchamber door when he hesitated, suddenly nervous. He couldn’t deny the hot desire running through his veins, despite how inappropriate the situation was.

Keep your goddamn hands to yourself, he told himself sternly. The timing is atrocious. Focus on being helpful and that’s it.

William knocked on the door and called out. He heard the lock from the other side and the door slowly opened.

He stepped inside and locked the door behind him again, though he was fairly sure Richard wouldn’t dream of appearing again. He moved to the centre of the room, glanced briefly over at Camilla and motioned she should come closer.

William gave a short humourless laugh when she hesitated. "Don’t worry. I do actually have self control, despite what you probably think. I need you to stand under the light here so I can see what I’m doing."

Camilla moved to the spot he’d indicated, wincing in embarrassment at his words. "It isn’t that...I just-"

William sighed. "It’s alright." If only things weren’t so painfully tense between them, he thought. He opened the vial, poured some of the liquid onto the handkerchief and corked the vial shut again.

Turning to face her, he brought the cloth close to her face but stopped his hand just short. "I’m warning you, this will probably sting."