A Week with a Prince

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

The princess shivered when she and her knight walked into the gloomy inn yard, her ill-fitting shoes, a poor match for her dress, slipping on the snow. He pulled her close, wrapping her dark grey cloak tightly around her shoulders as the door closed behind them, creating a barrier between the two of them and the heat and noise reigning within the walls of the inn, them and the rest of the world.

"It is not far," Arthur said softly, his words and breath morphing into a mist, merging with the falling snow. He cupped her face in his warm hands, his eyes searching hers for a hint that she had changed her mind.

But she hadn't, she didn't care if the pools were far or close, she would follow him to the edge of the world and stay there with him for the rest of her life. He was not asking that of her, though. All he had asked for and could give her back was one night spent alone together... Ginny had never been tearful, but now her eyes welled up with tears for some reason, and she turned away quickly from him, not wanting him to see.

He pulled the hood of her cloak over her russet hair wound around her head into a crown. Then, holding hands, they crossed the dark yard and followed a winding, cobbled lane lit with torches mounted on the houses' walls at wide intervals, emitting just enough light for them to find their way towards the hills standing like silent sentinels around the small town.

In mere minutes of swift walk, behind the last house of the town, they saw steam rising like fog from the surface of one of the pools, reflecting the moving light of a solitary torch. Thick like a cloud and shimmering like the mists they knew so well, the steam coiled in wisps towards the night sky, melting the snow flakes before they could touch the warm water.

There was no one except the two of them; the strange snowfall must have put visitors off bathing for tonight. Ginny giggled as they reached the pool's edge, laid with smooth, snow-free, flat stones. Her knight looked at her questioningly, dropping their towels and the blanket on one of them.

"I was just thinking that we should thank my cousin. His snow seems to keep all other visitors indoors."

Arthur smiled, shaking off his coat, then shoes, quite impatient to feel the heat of the water on his skin. "That didn't go quite as Sir Garreth planned," he muttered, now standing in front of her wearing only his shirt.

She shivered again at the sight of him-- Was he never cold?-- then turned away as he took the shirt off too. She did not turn back until she heard him slip silently into the warm depths of the pool.

He chuckled when she finally turned around again and met his eyes, "You did not think that we would bathe dressed, did you, Gwendolyn?"

Ginny wasn't sure what she had thought anymore. But she knew that she had promised that she would bathe with him.

"Turn around," she ordered, dropping her cloak, and he obliged. Her shoes followed the cloak, then it was the turn of the dress. She was ready to join him in the pool when he said, "Your shirt, Gwen. You'll be so much colder when you get out of the water with that long shirt, all wet, still on."

"You were not supposed to look!" she whisper-shouted, feigning indignation, making him chuckle.

She let the shirt drop on the pile of their clothes and then walked into the pool quickly to hide. Her feet, rushing too much to get her out of his sight-- it had stopped snowing and the clouds, shifting a little, revealed a thin sliver of moon brightening the misty night around them-- slipped on the waterweed covered bottom of the pool. But he was expecting it and caught her in his arms safely, steadying her.

They stood mere inches from each other, perfectly still, enchanted by the warmth of the water and their closeness.

She brought her hand farther up his arm slowly, her fingers, as if they possessed a life of their own, exploring his strong muscles. He pulled her closer yet, his hands trailing down the curve of her spine, making her blush as a sigh of longing for this night to last forever escaped her.

"May I... kiss you?" he murmured, not trusting his voice.

She forced herself to shake her head, wishing he would understand how much she wanted him to do just what he had asked...

He did. Cupping her blushing face, he kissed her slowly, carefully, deepening the kiss when she did not protest but clung closer to him, feeling suddenly unsteady on her legs.

"Do it again, please," she whispered, her eyes closed, the moment he pulled away.

Laughing softly, he obliged, and she ran her hands through his hair this time, pulling him closer.

"Gwendolyn," he murmured reluctantly, feeling her hands leaving his hair, becoming bolder, exploring his body curiously as he struggled to keep his own hands still at her waist. "We... can't... We really should stop..."

"I don't want to stop,"she confessed, then took a deep, shaky breath and a step away from him. "But you are right, of course. Let us go back."

It took all his will to nod and walk out of the pool after another long kiss. "Wait there until I'm dressed. You'll get less cold if I help you dry up and put your clothes back on."

Ginny smiled at him thankfully as he led her back to the inn; he had got her out of the pool, dry and dressed, and even wrapped in the blanket before she could start feeling cold.

Only a few customers still lingered at the tables when they entered; they saw no sign of Garreth and the prince as they crossed the room and climbed the staircase.

Ginny pulled her knight down for another kiss after he added wood to the fire in her room. "Please lock yourself in," he begged, his hand caressing her cheek, her arms wrapped tightly around him, unwilling to let him go away.

"Stay with me," she said. She knew she shouldn't have, knew that it wasn't right... but she no longer cared.

Arthur closed his eyes briefly; the girl wasn't making it easy for him. But how could he refuse when staying with her was the only thing he wanted?

"I will. Just let me tell our friends that we're back, so they don't have to worry about us the whole night."

She nodded, and he crossed the room, reaching the door again in two strides, disappearing into the corridor.

While he was gone, Ginny undressed, keeping her under shirt on this time, and the moment she climbed in the bed, leaving space for him, Arthur was back.

The instant his arms were around her, and her head laid on his chest, she drifted off to sleep, stubbornly banishing all thoughts of the future.

They still had one day and one night left to enjoy. What would happen after was not important right now.