Lady of the Wood

XIII. Arthur

Several weeks later, Genevieve was doing much better and had taken to walking the palace halls with a maid to get her leg back to full strength. Henry had been smothering her in affection and worry ever since she woke up the morning after we returned from Morwyn y Pren. They'd announced their engagement just last week, and it had been met with such thunderous applause from the public, I was surprised my ears weren't still ringing. I had made a trip to the Islands to make sure everything was still running smoothly, and my cousin, who I'd put in charge of governing the province and taking care of my sister Ella during my absence, had gone above and beyond what I'd asked of him. He'd taken to personally visiting various farms and villages around the islands and the people loved him. Ella had even praised his kindness and quiet strength in his rule in several of her letters to me as well.

Now I walked through the palace gardens with Henry and Genevieve, who was leaning on Henry's arm for support as her leg still wasn't able to support her full weight. She'd lost a lot of blood from the wounds, but luckily none of them were poisoned or infected so she was well on the way to a full recovery. Henry looked like the happiest man alive with her there on his arm, and I couldn't help but envy them. Sure, I loved them the same way any man loved his brother and sister, but I wanted more than anything to find a lovely woman to marry and settle down with myself. But I kept those thoughts to myself, especially after the happy couple had asked me to stand beside him as his best man and their best friend.

Henry was telling one of the stories from our years as pages and squires together, and Genevieve and I were both laughing. "I remember we got in such deep trouble after that, I'm surprised we're still alive to tell the tale!"

"You little stinker!" Genevieve laughed, and it sounded like the music of heaven. She wasn't perfect by any stretch, none of us were, but she was perfect for Henry in every way he needed her. "I can't believe you would do that to a poor, unknowing noblewoman! She must have had a heart attack when she opened her jewelry box that morning to find a frog instead of rubies!"

"That wasn't the worst prank we've pulled together, I assure you!" I laughed along with her. "Yes, we were quite the pair, Henry and I."

"We really were," Henry chuckled and shook his head. "But we never gave away our secrets to anyone, still haven't for that matter!"

"Do you think they ever found the snake we hid in the linens?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh, you two are despicable!" Genevieve's face went slack and she stopped dead in her tracks. "A snake in the linens! Saints alive, you two were terrible!"

Henry and I looked at each other and burst into laughter. We stood there for several moments laughing until our sides hurt and tears were wet on our lashes. Genevieve eventually joined us, and soon the three of us were falling down onto the benches we'd stopped at, laughing like drunkards.

"Oh, those were the days, weren't they Arthur?" Henry wrapped an arm loosely around Genevieve's waist.

"They certainly were," I sighed. "And here we are, still the best of friends."

"And here we are, indeed," Henry exhaled. "Speaking of which, I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Go right ahead, old friend!" I swept my hands in front of me like I was inviting him to dig into a spread of desserts on a tabletop.

"Well," He started. "You know that since the ordeal with Corran, I've been running this country on my own and Genevieve's been working to rebuild the villages and estates he destroyed." Henry looked over at Genevieve. She'd spearheaded the efforts to restore Evalor to its former glory after we'd gotten rid of Corran and the last of his dreadful minions, and a magnificent job she was doing of it.