The Sword Of A Princess

CHAPTER TWELVE

"The castle has the west, north and eastern wing, upstairs is the northern wing, were our chambers, guest rooms and studies are mainly. The west wing holds mother and fathers' chambers, that wing is essentially their personal area." Arthur said as we stood back in the foyer of the castle. "The eastern wing has the library- it's mostly historical archives, accounting books and were most spare things get stored. So it's not much of a library I suppose." Arthur chuckled gesturing to the eastern side, I followed his step as he toured me around his home.

"I see Nate likes to read, do you have another area for books?" I asked making Arthurs smile widen.

"Indeed, the sunroom, were we like to spend most of our time together as a family, have tea, lunch, and relax." Arthur said gesturing to the set of white double doors facing us. The butler by the door opened it for us showing windows facing the outside from across the room.

Inside it was long, filled with decorative sofas, armchairs, tables- short, long and taller small side tables. Plants and vases decorated the space and portraits hung on either end of the room, the southern side of the room was all completely windows, displaying the perfectly groomed garden and open fields. I understood why it was called the sunroom, it was so bright and open, like being outside but from the comfort within the castle walls. Looking away from the view the Northern wall was filled with books filling the space from the floor to the roof with a ladder sitting along a beam somewhere halfway.

"This is amazing." I grinned walking through the sofas to admire all the books.

"They are all story books. Nate is usually the only one adding to the collection, but we all read them from time to time." Arthur stood, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched me move about the room.

"I didn't realise he likes books just as much as I- we will get along just fine." I chuckled lightly, turning back around to the windows that were in fact the wall, thin white drapes sat every couple of meters along the glass. The other Ashmore brothers had gone hunting this morning- the King in his meeting and Ariellah was around.

"Any books you have, you're more than welcome to add to the shelves. I'm sure a space can be cleared for you." Arthur said gesturing over to the book wall. I smiled making my way back over towards him.

"Thank you. So, where do the knights train?" I asked.

Arthur turned slightly, back to the door, "The knights and maids' quarters are in the lower Northern wing, everything else behind the castle." We walked back through the white doors, the butler closing them behind us. I followed Arthur down a corridor and through a smaller door, inside were rooms, three separate kitchens- all filled with cooks bustling around preparing lunch. Not only did they cook for the Royal family but for the knights, the maids, butlers, stablemen and all the other workers that filled the castle. Men and women alike all worked going about their duty and supporting the Royal family. We passed the maids and knights quarters, laid out very similar to the Norths. It wasn't hard to notice the lavishness of the main parts of the castle didn't make it all the way through.

"There's a knight I think you'd like to meet as well." Arthur said as we walked. "Just, prepare yourself." He added. I gave him a perplexed look wondering if the knight was disfigured or scarred from the war. Warning me not to stare too long. I kept quiet taking in my surroundings as we walked, we stepped out of the quarters, the armoury to our right, knights almost everywhere. Some polishing armour and weapons, sharpening swords, moving barrels and large packages onto horseless carriages. I assumed they were to be sent out to the front lines, carrying much needed supplies. A wooden floor stretched out in front of us, pillars sat long the face of the castle, one bench near another entrance, racks of swords, bows and arrows sitting past that. Out, under the blue sky stood an area of leather and hay training figures, obstacles and a platoon of recruits on the field practicing their sparing, they were marked with a red strip of material around their sleeve. Besides the wooden floor, it was very similar to the knight's area back home.