Wayward (Prince Arthur x Oc)

Chapter 22: In which Arthur meets Eddas parents

The sheer frustration inside Edda was about to reach a boiling point when she realised that guards had already been positioned to block off any exit from the town. Sure it made sense, she supposed, they knew she was inside so they obviously wanted to make sure she stayed there, but that hardly made her feel less angry about it. She needed to get outside, now, she couldn’t just stand there as they did who knows what to Arthur, wherever they had taken him...

Actually she had a good idea of where they had taken him, there was after all only one place that the royal family stayed during their visits to Endeslättaren. And that place wasn't even inside the town's walls. So, she needed to get out even more.

She moved her gaze away from the guards in front of the western exit, and looked at the wall. Maybe she could scale it, she hadn't climbed something like that before, but-

Her thought was cut off by the sound of surprised whispers and exclamations from the other people that had gathered around the closed off exit, and as she looked away from the wall she spotted the polished metal of one of the royal knights.

The colours of the cape and the feathers that brandished his helmet looked vaguely familiar, but Harriet had never really gotten close enough to any of the knights to really be able to tell who from who. Sure, there had been a point where she had tried to, but when they all ended up treating her the same way, she stopped seeing a reason for doing it.

The Knight moved to stand in front of the guards, facing the crowd, making a hush fall over it. He pulled out a paper, pushed up his visor, and began speaking loudly and clearly.

"Tonight, by sundown, the fate of the man suspected of kidnapping Princess Harriet will be decided. This will be outside of any public spaces and in the private residence of the royal family." He glared sternly at the crown, and continued talking. "As far as we are aware, the princess, now free from her captor should still be here. And the royal family invites her to return back to them, to take part in the judgement of her ex captor, and thusly." He took a small pause. "Be able to influence what his fate will be." Another pause, in which the crowd whispered between themselves, until finally quieting down again as she began speaking again "They have missed her so, and can't wait to see her again and make sure to put this all behind them... That's all."

The crowd immediately began talking among themselves as the knight rolled up the paper and walked off. Edda didn't think to hard about the message herself though, it mostly served to confirm her suspicions, and as soon as she saw the guards move away from the exit, the message completely left her mind as she and others hurried out of the town gate.

As soon as she was outside she took a turn and hurried off the road and onto the green grass towards where she assumed the sword would have ended up. She could still remember the view she'd seen from the window that morning, which along with the splashing sound she'd heard, gave her a rough idea of where she should look.

Her eyes fell on the small river that ran past a part of the wall, then they flickered to the roof of the inn that she could see stick up behind the wall, and then, with a cautious grip on her dagger, she moved closer to the river. She could almost feel her charms pulse ominously as she grew closer.

The river seemed relatively calm as she looked at it, but she knew that appearances could be deceiving, and she did not miss the water lilies floating by the edge. Still, she took a careful kneel by the edge and peered inside.

At first she saw nothing but rocks and river debris, and she almost stood up to look at another part of the river, until something shiny caught her eyes.

Her excitement was short-lived however as she leaned closer, registering the golden shimmer of the object and promptly jumping back just in time to avoid the cold, clammy hands that erupted from the water to grasp at her.