Royal Love

Chapter 36

(Sarah's POV)

   I woke up in Henry's arms. At first I was confused, then memories of the night came back to me. I shifted closer to Henry and turned around to face him. My movement must woke him up because his eyes flew open and his eyes were staring into mine. "Good morning," he whispered.

   I smiled. "Good morning."

   He pulled me close and pressed a kiss to my lips. "Are you feeling better after last night?"

   "Yes. The dreams were horrible. I was drowning again. At another point Emanuel held me and forced me to watch you drown." I started shaking as I recalled the horrible visions that had played through my head last night.

   "It is fine. They are over now. He can't hurt you again. No one will hurt you. I will protect you forever."

   "Thank you Henry. I sometimes wonder if he will keep hurting me, us. He has done enough to cause us a great deal of pain, is there a way he will keep causing us pain?" I knew I had to voice my worries.

   "No. He will never hurt us again." Henry said sternly.

   "Yes you are right. I am just worried and it is causing me to think irrationally."

  "Yes." We heard footsteps down stairs. "We should get dressed and get ready to leave." He stood up and I saw that he had not changed the night before.

   I also got out of bed. I saw a clean folded pile out clothing on the dresser. When I picked it up I saw it was a dress and my shoes. I took my nightgown off and stepped into the dress. I realized that the dress did not have any buttons or strings to be tied and I thought that Gertrude must have picked the dress out, to keep me from asking for Henry's help. I braided my hair quickly and turned to face Henry. "Ready?"

   I followed him through the door and down stairs where I could hear Elizabeth and her mother. I walked in to the kitchen to find Gertrude cooking and Elizabeth helping. "Good morning!" She called when she saw me.

   I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Good morning."

   "Good, now that Sarah is here will you please go get water from the well?" Gertrude asked her daughter.

   Elizabeth grabbed the pail from where it sat on the table and walked over to me. "Lets go Sarah."

   I started to follow her but Henry grabbed my arm before I could leave. "Would you like me to go with you?" He asked. Concern covered his face.

   "No. Elizabeth and I should be fine." I reassured him and followed Elizabeth outside. She hooked her arm through mine and started to skip. I joined her and started to skip myself. "You are awfully happy this morning. Why is that?"

   "Father and mother have agreed to allow me to be your lady in waiting."

   I was so happy I wrapped my arms around her. "That is wonderful news!"

   "Yes. Mother says if you wished I could leave with you and Henry today."

   "I won't do that to you. When you arrive with your family for the balls and the wedding then you will stay. Until then stay with your family."

   We reached the well and Elizabeth started to lower the pail. "Thank you Sarah. You are very considerate."

   "It was a surprise to you and your family. They love you. I wouldn't just suddenly take you away from them."

   "Thank you."

   "No need to thank me, but you are welcome," I told her. I watched as she pulled the pail back up and then we went back to the house.

After breakfast Henry and I started to say our goodbyes. I first said goodbye to Elizabeth. "I will see you soon." I then shook hands with her father and moved on to Gertrude.

   She pulled me into an embrace. "Take care dear. Here is some food for the ride," she handed me a small sack filled with food.

   Henry and I left and mounted our horses that Jonathan had tied out front for us. With one final wave farewell we started our ride back to the castle.

   Like before the ride was long and we only stopped once to eat the food that Gertrude had given us. It was almost dusk when we finally arrived back at the castle.

   After we handed our horses over to the stables men we went to find everyone. We went to the dinning hall thinking that everyone would be eating supper, and we were right. Everyone was eating and looked up in surprise when Henry and I entered.

   "Oh, finally. We were starting to worry," My father said.

   "We're sorry. We arrived late last night and Gertrude requested that we stay the night, and then we didn't leave till well into the day," I told him as I took a seat besides Alice.

   "No problem. I figured you would end up having to stay the night. I knew you would most likely be back this evening and the clock was ticking down."

   "Again I am sorry."

   Henry and I joined the meal with everyone else, telling about our small adventure to the outskirts of the village and back. When we were finished I stood up followed by Henry. "Excuse us but after such a long ride I am terribly tired. I  think it would be best if I retired to my chambers. I need to be well rested to help with the planning for the upcoming events."

   "Of course. After the journey you must be exhausted," Lady Weller said.

   "Does that mean no dancing tonight?" Alice asked.

   "Not tonight."

  I left with Henry and we went to my chambers. I changed in to a clean nightgown and crawled into bed. I watched as Henry changed into a night shirt and the joined me. He blew out the candle and I curled up against him. "This is going to be our life from now on."

   "Yes. We well spend as much time together as possible."

   "I like that." We fell asleep and with Henry beside me the nightmares stayed away.