Forget About Me (Knight!Tom AU)

Forget About Me (3)

She watched as her father and King Gregory rode off with a hoard of knights to find the prince and Tom. She begged to come with, but her father gave her orders to stay at the castle with King Gregory's wife and wait for their return. The knights held onto torches to light the way in the forest and she watched until they disappeared into the darkness.

"Princess, please come inside, for your safety," the watchmen said softly, holding the large doors open for her to move back into the cold halls of the castle. At this point, she would choose the darkness of the forest over the darkness of the castle halls.

She glanced back towards the brooding tree line, wondering what would have happened if she hadn't gone back to get King Gregory and her father. Were Tom and the prince even alive?

Her boots tapped against the stone steps and she made her way through the door, soon surrounding herself with stone walls. As she walked idly through the corridors, she was led into a room that was decorated with gold materials and blood red accents. The flickering light of the some black and gold lanterns illuminated the decorative accents that caught her eyes as they traveled the room. There is were she saw the queen, sipping tastefully on a cup of tea as she sat near the fire, opposite the door.

"Ah, Adaline, please come in," the queen spoke, gesturing to a chair that faced hers. The princess stepped forward, crossing the red-stitched fabric that covered the stone floors.

"Your majesty," Adaline uttered, bowing forward in respect. The heat from the large fire covered her body as she lowered herself into the chair, getting her first glimpse at her future mother-in-law. Her blond curls fell past her breast, an extravagant golden crown sitting atop her head, which only contributed to the glow of her porcelain skin. Her blue eyes were cold in comparison to the rest of her body, staring Adaline  down as she relaxed back into the chair. The queens hands rested on her lap, her ring-clad fingers folded with each other, gracefully.

"You look worried, child," she spoke, her body language conveying the exact opposite of worry.

"Yes, I am. I wish I could help my father in the search for the prince and t-his knight," Adaline  croaked, sitting forward in the chair, her hands running over her tan pants.

"I know, dear, but Gregory and your father are men. They are trained in combat and the knights who accompany them are serving their only purpose. We are meant to stay here and keep the castle in order when they are away," she lectured, making Adaline's insides crawl. She was trained as well and could probably take each knight on her own, but no one dare talk back to a queen while in their kingdom. She knew that she must remain respectful to the crown, but that didn't mean she'd have to remain truthful.

"Would it be alright if I got some rest? Its late and I had a long journey today," Adaline inquired, standing up form the chair again, as the queen nodded.

"Of course," her eyes turned soft as she set her tea cup down and stood up as well, turning towards the doors. "Alice!" her voice echoed off the gray stone walls. A small woman entered the room almost immediately, waiting for her orders from the queen. "Please show our guest to her quarters," she smiled, placing a hand on the princess' back as the lady's maid nodded, gesturing for  to follow.

The castle's halls were more confusing than those of her own home back in the Northern Kingdom. She went up two separate staircases and down several corridors before Alice opened a door, leading her into a room that was decorated with more gold accents, except this time, the other color was a deep blue. The Gregory family crest was chiseled into the wall above another fireplace across from a large bed with mahogany posts.