The One Shot Chapters (18+)

King!SteveRogers (AU) - Wildflower

A/N - This is a reader request, and certainly something in my area of expertise. I absolutely love writing royal/historical stories and being a fan of things such as Merlin, The Tudors and Skyrim etc, I hope to bring some of this into this oneshot - this is very special indeed!

Synopsis: When her father Philip, Jarl of Wisconsin dies in battle, his daughter Amberley is imprisoned, awaiting to suffer the same fate. Execution. However her captor, the High King of Brooklyn, Steven Rogers has other ideas. Coming to stand trial before the court, Amberley is given a choice - the executioners block or marriage to the enemy.

**

The tower was just how people described it to be. Lonely, dark and cold. The last place that people saw before they were sent to the executioner's block. The cells did not provide when it came to the form of comfort – and why should comfort be provided to traitors? The bed was a luxury in some ways, but was just as hard and cold as the cell itself. There was a single desk and a chair and a chamber pot. That was it. The last 'home comforts' anyone had. 

Lady Amberley Coulson had been there for days, simply picking at the meagre meals of bread and water that the guards brought her. The aftermath of the battle had meant that the city her father, Jarl Philip, had governed had been seized by the crown, all lands and assets now under the rule of the High King.
With the army breaking down the barricades, Amberly been arrested for treason and taken to what people called the 'Golden City'.

To her it was hell on earth.

Brooklyn.

Now here she sat awaiting trial. Many times she'd hazarded a guess at what her outcome would be. No doubt the King would send her to the block anyway. A quick swing of the axe would be fine if the executioner were skilled. Amberley had made peace with her fate – now it was just a case of waiting. 

The waiting was enough to send anyone insane. 

From outside the door she heard footsteps and someone speaking with the guard. Amberley rose as the door opened and in walked the man who had arrested her just days earlier.

"Leave us." He told the guard, who nodded and closed the door, locking it behind them. 

She bobbed a quick curtsey, not wanting to meet his eye. This man had been one of the many who had taken everything from her. What more could he possibly want? Blood? Her soul even? That was already breaking, each day the crack grew more at the thought of never seeing her father again. She wasn't about to break just yet, but now she looked at her hands she could see them shaking. 

King Steven leant back against the wall and crossed his arms, watching her with interest. It was not common for him to make house calls to prisoners so it were, however this one? She was a 'special case'. Amberley had not yet even realised who he was and that would remain unknown until she came to stand before him at her trial. "The guards have reported that you're on some type of hunger strike."

She looked up with fire in her eyes. "I am not hungry. You will forgive me for being used to something more filling other than a simple lump of bread and water." 

"You shall have to get used to the new menu then." He shrugged. "My advice would be to eat. If you are to stand before the court...well, you will need to make sure you can actually stand. Malnutrition isn't the best way of proving your innocence." 

"Why do you care?" 

"I don't." he replied flippantly. "As far as I'm concerned you made the wrong decision siding with Jarl Anthony..." 

Amberley half laughed. "I am but nineteen years old! When he came to sit on his throne, I was not even a babe in arms!" She now glared up at him, still settled on the floor. "How could I have possibly known who was right and who was wrong?"