The weather is still horrible. The sky is gray and grim, thunder is the only source of lighting and I still think that French landscapes are magnificent.
I wrapped the duvet tighter around my naked body. The maids have taken my clothes to wash and dry them, and because they weren’t expecting a female any time soon there weren’t any clothes for me, but I asked them to prepare servant clothing for me, it has been a while though, but I’m still waiting.
It's strange to know that The almighty French King is here with me, I'm not sure how much I can handle. No man has ever… impressed? No, no man has ever… affected? No, no man has ever made such an impact on me. Maybe it's just because he's so powerful and mighty, that it gets to me.
I know it's not the reason, but I still hope that's it.
My brother must be worried for me.
The door opens and I turn around forcing my head away from the window. I hope to see a maid who finally brings in my clothes, but no, The King is standing in front of me. He's carrying wood, water is trembling down his clothes and face, his green eyes stand out even though he's not looking at me. The wood is protected from the rain with his doublet, now he's only wearing one shirt.
One drenched white shirt.
I'm trying to keep my mind, but this is too inappropriate. I'm a woman, I am not allowed to see a man's chest if he's not my husband or fiance. And this man is neither, he's my King and I need to remember that. Also, I am butt naked under this duvet. He doesn’t seem to glance at me, which relieves me.
“I'll light the fire and then some of your clothing could be dry for tomorrow.” He says to me, not looking at me because he is too focused on lighting the fire.
“The servants can do that, right?” He turned to me, raised his eyebrows and then continued to light the fire. There needs to be some boundaries here, also my poor heart can’t survive this man in such a state.
“I let them leave. We’ll only be staying till midnight here, afterwards guards will come to take us back to French court.” He mumbled. It is a relief that I don’t need to spend the night here and that I can be back by sunrise. The Royal was sitting on one knee as he lit the fire by a piece of strike-a-light on flint.
“Do you mind if I keep you company till the knights arrive?” He questioned, as much as I wanted to have boundaries, I also didn’t want to be freaked out by every noise I heard in my room and around me. It’s just for now, I promised myself.
"I don’t mind, your Majesty." I answer, I'm not sure what we are going to do this evening. It's cold and raining, we're both drenched, we can't make our way to the castle before sundown, I'm not sure what I can expect.
It's been a while and The King and I found some more blankets and we're now sitting by the fire on three blankets and I'm still wrapped in one, every once in a while I make sure that every part of my body still is completely covered. It's dark outside, totally utterly darkness, it scares me ,the unknown. I don't know what to expect or when, I’m invincible when it comes to things I can see and truly know, not the exact opposite, so I'm slightly terrified. It makes me feel a little bit safer when I am not alone. The silence between us, it's like we both want to say something. But if we're just like this, not talking, we are keeping our distance and everything should be fine.
"Have you told anyone where you were going?" He suddenly asks, I look at him and he's just staring at the fire.
"I didn't know where I was going, so no, I didn't tell anyone. But my maids know that I went riding." I say the truth, he turns to me and gives me a nod.
"Your brother must be worried." He comments, I turn to him and give a light smile.
"I think so too, but he knows that I ran off and probably will return in a couple of days, besides I think he's too interested in the woman he is courting." I say, he turns to me and smiles a bit. Back at home, I used to leave our house for a few days, communicate more with the villagers and peasants. So James shouldn’t be too worried.
"Ah, I understand, still he must be worried in the back of his head."I nod my head with the sentence. It somehow felt like he was talking about his own experience.
"Your wife must be worried too." I say, I know I might shouldn't but it is the truth. He turns to me and then slowly to the crackling fire.
"Probably," He answered dryly, without any emotion, he stood up. He certainly didn't want to talk about it, it was written all over his face, and who am I to say that he must open up to me. He is a King and I’m just a wealthy girl with no title compared to him.
I hear sounds, I slowly open my eyes, I must've fallen asleep.
Somebody is banging on the door, my eyes are closing on their own. I turn around to look in the direction of the door , when somebody is covering my view.
Oh Lord, what have you done to me?
The King is sleeping in front of me. He isn't touching me which is the only good thing, but our hands are almost touching and his head must lie above mine as I feel his breath on my hair.
"Your Majesty!" I hear someone shouting, as the banging gets louder.
I quickly sit up and by that movement the King starts to stir in his sleep, his eyes open slowly, one of his hands reaches to his eyes and on the other he leans for support. His eyes find mine and then he turns his head towards the door where the sounds come from. I quickly grab a blanket and cover myself, the only thing that I'm wearing is an undergown that I’ve found.
"I- '' I started to speak but he quickly put his hand up, showing me to stop talking. I shut my mouth and wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. The King walked towards the bed where his sword rested and grabbed it.
The banging got louder and in a single movement The King unlocked the door and pushed the sword against his neck, it would cut his neck if he would've made a single movement.
The king inspected the guard and looked at his uniform before he retrieved his sword.
"They came for us, take your things we're leaving." He said to me, I gave him a nod and started to take my drenched clothes. The King took his clothes and accessories.
"Are your clothes dry?" He asked me, I shook my head and whispered a no. He walked towards me and took my clothes from my hands and walked in front of me.
"I'll take your clothes, cover yourself up with the blanket, you just need to reach the carriage, I don't trust these men around a woman." He spoke and then waited for me to walk out of the door and I could hear his footsteps echo after mine. It's scary how this is such an informal manner still it brings shivers up my spine.
As we reached the carriage which stood in front of the mansion's doors The King opened the carriage door for me and I sat down, after me he stepped in and closed the door. We sat down next to each other and I could smell his tempting, musky scent. I quickly turned my head to the other direction which made my blanket fall off my right shoulder, I quickly covered it up. The King faced the left window, staring in the opposite direction of me.
If people would know about this encounter I would be seen as his mistress and most probably a whore or prostitute, I want neither of those titles, and both aren't true.
What will the Queen think?
May the Lord have mercy on me.
We reach the castle doors and The King steps out first, he opens the door for me and I hold a guard's hand to help me savely on the ground. The King stands in front of me with his face turned toward the castle his back facing me.
"Ronald, please escort her Lady to her chambers." The King orders and I turn to look at him but his back is still facing me. I turned to the guard and gave him a smile before I left without saying anything.
As I reached my chambers I tried to process everything that happened today, as I thought back about the king, I can't keep him out of my mind. I don't know what the queen will do, I also need to find out what rumors she spread through court.
"Your Grace a letter has arrived for you." My maid said walking into my chamber. I spared her a glance and later on a smile. She handed me the letter in my ice cold hands and she walked away closing the door behind her. I opened the letter.
My dear Victoria,
I came to Bordeaux for you, but unfortunately you weren't in your beloved home town. I wasn't aware that you got an important invitation from French court to help your brother. But now I just don't understand how you couldn't tell your fiance this. I will come to get you and we will finally get married. I don't care what you think, you are not available.
Yours Edward,
Oh no.