A Week with a Prince

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕾𝖎𝖝

Their clothes and hair were quite damp, and Ginny was shivering with cold when they found the first inn of Aquae Sulis.

"We can't sleep under the tents in this snowfall, they are not properly dry yet after last night's rain. Let us get rooms for tonight here," Arthur proposed as the four of them followed a man who appeared in the inn yard when he heard the new customers arrive, towards the stable.

"But..." Ginny whispered to him when Garreth and his prince, leading four of their six horses, preceded them into the dark outbuilding.

"This changes nothing," her knight assured her, taking her snow-covered hat off and kissing her on the top of her head in the darkness, filling the vast and empty yard.

"Follow me, my lady, my lords," the innkeeper said, now leading them back towards the inn. The small torch he was carrying hissed loudly at the irritating snowflakes but illuminated their way sufficiently with its trembling light. "I do not remember a snowfall coming this early in the season..." he mused, opening the door for them.

The room they found themselves in was large, warm, and full of people, but less crowded and noisy than the one in Iseabail and Andrew's inn.

"Alienor, take our guests upstairs!" the man called in the direction of the kitchen before he turned back to them. "You'll be wanting rooms and dinner, right?"

"Yes," Arthur replied. "A room for the lady, and another one for the three of us."

"Very well," the innkeeper agreed even as a woman appeared at his side, and he passed her the torch he was still holding. "They need two rooms, four beds. Fire. Some water to wash. And dinner."

The woman nodded obediently. "Follow me," she told them simply, crossing the room and climbing up a narrow and dark stone staircase, leading to an ill-lit corridor.

"This room has three beds," Alienor, opening one of the four doors lining the wall on their left told Arthur, whom she took for the one in charge, "and the one at the very bottom of the corridor has one bed only. The fires are banked, you only need to add some wood. Each room has a jug of water, a wash basin, and towels, all ready to use." With that, she was off.

"Wait, don't you have two rooms closer to each other?" he called after her, not liking the gloomy distance separating the two doors.

"No, all the others are taken," Alienor called back from the bottom of the stairs.

"If it wasn't for the strange snowfall, we could have slept in the safety of our tents, Warwick. No one should be the master of another’s conscience, wizard or not, I think..." Arthur muttered to Garreth as he passed by him into the room he was to share with the two men, dropped his saddle bag by the first bed, then took Ginny's bag from him and accompanied her to her room.

He sighed with relief when he lit her fire and inspected the lock on her door-- unlike in the inn in Saintsbury, here the rooms could be locked with a proper key.

"Please, lock yourself in. I, or your cousin, will come for you when we are ready to go down to dinner," he said, then added as he reached the door, smiling at her, "Wear something warm, I'll take you out later if you wish, Lady Gwendolyn..."

She smiled back at him from the fireplace, nodding, already unbraiding her damp, cold hair, running her fingers through it to shake it loose. "Thank you, my lord."

Arthur stared at her speechless for a few moments, unwilling to walk out of that door, wishing to walk back to her and kiss her, help her out of her damp clothes... More... He shook his head to clear it of the images his imagination swiftly conjured up. He couldn't do that. This girl did not deserve to have her life, her future happiness ruined by one night of pleasure... And he couldn't give her more, they only had one day left. She wasn't meant for him; it must be the one to whom she was promised to love and treasure her, make her happy forever.

Tearing his eyes off her Arthur forced himself to walk out of her door, closing it between them, leaning against its cool, solid wood until he heard the key turn in the lock, once, twice... Then, running his hand through his hair in desperation and sighing deeply, he walked towards his companions' room.

Garreth came to fetch her nearly a full hour later, saying that Alienor had passed to call them to dinner. Ginny, dressed in the dove-grey gown Iseabail had forced her to accept when they left Saintsbury, followed him towards the other two men waiting for them at the top of the staircase.

"I told you to wear something warm," Arthur whispered, taking her hand and kissing it, then keeping it in his as they descended the stairs after their friends.

"I have my cloak, a blanket, and towels for both of us right here," she giggled, blushing, showing him a tightly folded parcel she carried pressed to her side, under her left arm.

She was perfect, Arthur realised yet again, admiring her courage to follow her own heart and mind, despite the possible risk which a night spent bathing in the famous hot springs of Aquae Sulis together could mean for them. He could imagine all the gossip and rumours spreading through the country like wildfire, should he, or she-- a cousin of Garreth of Warwick engaged to be married-- be recognised and seen alone together. He cursed himself for having put the idea of bathing in her mind, but she looked too excited about it for him to back away now.

Arthur needed to speak with his father-- he didn't care anymore that the old King Leodegrance was a family friend, he was not going to marry his daughter. He would tell Lancelot to invite young Warwick to join the Knights of his Company before they parted ways at Tintagel, so he could ask him where to find the girl, to propose to her once he would have dealt with his father.

They ate in silence, Ginny trying hard to feed herself the stew left-handed, as her right hand was closed tightly in her knight's left under the table the whole time. When Alienor carried their empty bowls away and brought them another bottle of wine, the prince announced, smoothing his large moustache thoughtfully, "I am going to play cards. I want you, Garreth, at my side." He smiled at the man fondly. "You, Lancelot, can come too. But I don't want her around, Lady Gwendolyn seems to bring me bad luck. She will make me lose again."

Ginny and Arthur laughed at hearing his words. Garreth looked at the couple sitting opposite him and the prince, holding hands under the table. It was like... destiny. It wasn't in his power to keep them apart no matter what he did; Prince Arthur himself just gave them an indirect permission to leave, together, by his words.

Garreth smiled at Ginny, letting her know that he trusted in her judgement. He didn't know what she felt for the man sitting next to her, the man who had never left her side since they met in Dudley Castle six days ago, he could only imagine. Who was he to judge them, to try to prevent them from running towards their fate... Garreth felt relieved when she met his eyes, smiling at him, forgiving.

He followed the prince to the next table when one of the men sitting there produced a deck of cards, pretending not to see her sneaking out of the inn, hand in hand with Sir Lancelot, soon after.