One for Cards

Chapter Thirteen

31/05/2020: I hope everyone had a great weekend, and is hanging in there in iso! Sending you hugs and love xx

WALES IS BEAUTIFUL, SHE THOUGHT TO HERSELF AS THEIR CARRIAGE TRUNDLED along a beaten path. The sky sat heavy and thick, a fat layer of grey, but somehow it added to the landscape. She'd never left Altarc before, and even in the dullest of winter, the countryside stunned her. Around them the rolling hills, green and brown, were dotted with trees and sheep; she also saw the occasional pedestrian, a local man or woman who peered curiously at her unmarked carriage. They'd never seen this one before – or perhaps carriages rarely came by so far out of the city. Nobody knew that she was here; no one but her parents and, of course, Charles Williams, who was sitting next to her. Ahead of them loomed a castle – their destination. Not Caernarfon; another, in a place she couldn't name, but equally beautiful nonetheless.

"We're here," Mr Williams said when they pulled up beside the gate. "Come on."

He hopped off before helping her down. In a plain dress and with a dark veil over her face, she might've looked like a widow, or a recluse; but certainly not a princess.

A footman was standing there when she emerged.

"Good morning, my lord... Madam."

"Miss Smith will suffice." He spoke in English, and she replied likewise. She said these words quietly – she didn't want to conduct herself with too much pomp; after her coronation and consequent appearance in too many newspapers, she didn't know who would recognise her if she wasn't careful enough. And this was a most covert operation, as she'd been reminded time and again by just about everyone she knew.

"Ah." He nodded. "Well, Miss, any friend of His Lordship's is a friend of mine. Let me know if I can do anything for you."

"You're very kind, Mr Davies," Charles Williams said. "Would you happen to know where the Prince is waiting?"

"In the main drawing room," the footman replied. "I'll take you."

He did, leading them through the castle – which itself was a masterpiece – and to a splendid sitting room, where art covered the walls, books were piled high on tables and a piano sat contentedly in a corner. A sharply-dressed man stood by a window looking down at the vast estate outside. His vast estate, Addie realised; the Prince of Wales. Eldest son of the British King.

"Your Highness," she greeted, curtsying.

He turned when he heard her, and bowed in return. "Princess Adelaide of Lastyria. Welcome."

They both rose, and then she saw that he was grinning. "I never thought Charles would take a shine to a lady of such propriety. Oh! Forgive me. A princess."

"George." Mr Williams placed him with a look, and he burst into uproarious laughter.

"I apologise," he finally managed, sobering. "Come, Princess, Earl Arbough, sit."

"I didn't know you were on such good terms," she remarked, as she obliged. When Mr Williams had told her that they were friends, she had assumed some slightly deeper variation of an acquaintance. This was, after all, the heir to the British throne she was looking at, speaking to her secretary as if they were brothers.

"Charles and I have been friends for as long as I can remember," Prince George replied. "We went to school together, and he has been taking care of me ever since."

She couldn't help smiling. "I see."

"I would be happy to help him – and, by extension, you – in any way I can," he continued. "This, as I mentioned, includes giving you a choice between my brothers Frederick, William and Edward. I must say however that I find William the most handsome, and if you like an officer, he currently serves in the navy."