Waging Wars: A Klaroline Fanfiction

3.

Caroline leaned heavily against the wood door to her chamber and sighed. She had told the king that she couldn't be seduced by him and she wouldn't be, she was determined, but the things he'd said...they were tempting. To feel like your different from anyone else in his world would make anyone's heart swell. She knew she could fall hopelessly in love with him, but he was King Niklaus. He conquered lands and cut down anyone in his path. The words he spoke weren't true. He just wanted to get her into his bed like any commoner that would fall for a nobleman's false promises. Even though she was beginning to feel hopeless she wanted love. Noblemen didn't want a woman who spoke her mind like she did. She was inappropriate, clumsy, and sometimes she laughed too loud. Traits that men didn't want in a wife. They wanted a proper woman to tend to their every need, but she didn't think she'd be able to play the part of a loving wife if she had to fake smiles.

But everything the king had said she wanted the man she would someday marry to say and mean. She witnessed the hardships Rebekah went through in her arranged marriage. The prince ignored her and everyday Caroline saw Rebekah's heart harden and a little bit of her compassion was being replaced with resentment and bitterness. Even the prince's mother didn't treat Rebekah with any kindness and showed more affection toward her pets. However, Rebekah was trapped and Caroline didn't want that for herself.

She sighed heavily and slipped out of her dress and slid under the cold sheets of her bed. Caroline rolled over and closed her eyes, wondering if she'd be disciplined for speaking to the king the way she had, but she couldn't help herself. She shook her head, worry niggling into her mind and planting a seed of doubt. The king was easily angered and she knew she had peaked that anger in him that night because her mouth had run away from her. But the more she thought about it the less she could block out the way he held her hand or the way he looked at her, genuinely interested in what she had to say. By showing her something so personal to him made him vulnerable, yet he still wanted to present the beautiful paintings to her. She closed her eyes, seeing the king's mouth tightened in ire, the sparkle in his eyes when he looked at her, and of course his smile that she saw every time he didn't think she was looking.

When she opened her eyes again she expected to be blinded by the candle that was still burning by her bedside, not the sun shining through the small window across the room.

Once she had tiredly gotten ready for the day, slipping on the light purple dress with a gold belt Rebekah had given her as a birthday present, she made her way to Rebekah's chamber to help the princess with her daily routine.

The rest of ladies in waiting were already present as Caroline walked in, going right to Rebekah's side to tie the laces of Rebekah's black gown that was bordered in red.

"You look tired, Caroline," Rebekah commented, inspecting herself in the long mirror.

"I feel like I hadn't slept at all," she said as Margareta passed her a long gold necklace with a large red pendent hanging from its end.

When Rebekah was dressed and looking perfect the ladies followed her through the winding halls to the dining chamber to break their fast.

Caroline glanced at the king as her chair was pulled out and she was tucked into the table. He didn't look back, confirming that his words and gentle touch were lies. She knew it and wondered which other lady in waiting he would try to bed next. Would it be Mary with her exotic red hair or maybe it would be Margery with her long shiny russet curls? A stab of jealously pierced her heart, but she shook it away, remembering what he had said were lies or at least half truths.

"Are you enjoying your time at the castle, Lady Caroline?" Elijah asked from his seat beside her, startling her out of her musings.

She smiled politely. "I am, although I haven't had much time to explore the grounds."