You could tell that Prince Edward was a royal from miles away. He simply radiated that aura. He arrived on his horse, dressed in a knight's outfit, much to the surprise of Archie and Kenric. His armor was different though, it was polished brighter and had jewels embedded in it, making him stand out from the other soldiers.
Of course, the crown on his head did that too.
His wavy, blonde hair reached his shoulders. He was tall, maybe only an inch or two shorter than Kenric. His face was chiseled, his jaw sharp and his noise pointed but slightly crooked. He was clean-shaven, bringing a softness to his face. He had a half-smile on his lips. Not a happy grin, but rather an arrogant smirk that pissed off Kenric the moment his gaze fell upon the prince. His eyes were sky blue, a few shades lighter than his sister, though the two looked eerily alike.
Archie's breath was caught in his throat as he watched Princess Eleanor step out of her carriage. He had no words to explain how she looked, she was hands down the most beautiful woman Archie had ever laid his eyes on. She had the same gentleness on her face as her brother, but hers felt more... genuine. Even with her half-hearted smile, she was drop-dead gorgeous.
Archie was not attracted to her. He had never been attracted to a woman. But he could not deny that she was stunning. He had eyes, after all. He gulped nervously as Kenric walked towards her, holding her hand as he pressed a light kiss on the back of her palm.
It was a polite gesture, that was all. But it made Archie sick to his stomach. He knew Kenric did not wish to marry her, but that was before he saw her. What if he was to change his mind after seeing how beautiful she was?
No, no, Archie lightly shook his head. He could not think this way. He was not going to doubt Kenric. He knew the prince loved him and only him. He kept reminding himself of that, which helped a little with his insecurities but did not make them go away completely.
The King and the Queen welcomed the two royals, with Prince James standing behind them. He had a bored expression on his face, which made Archie smile. He knew that the boy would rather be reading or playing than faking formalities. James sometimes reminded Archie of a young Kenric, which warmed his heart beyond measure.
When one of the knights motioned for Archie to come take the horses, he neared the group slowly and carefully. Kenric glanced at him as Archie held the rein of Prince Edward's horse. Archie met his eyes for a brief second before looking away. Just as Archie was about to walk, someone called for him.
"Stable boy!" Exclaimed an unfamiliar voice. Archie turned around to see Prince Edward looking at him. The prince ran his hand through his horse's mane, looking at the animal with affection. "I need to know my Steed will be treated well."
"Of course, sire, you need not worry," Archie replied, bowing slightly in courtesy. "I will take good care of him."
"I shall see that for myself," the prince hummed before his gaze moved to Archie. "And I shall keep an eye out for you too."
All Archie could do was nod and bow again as he took the neighboring prince's precious horse to the stables. The small interaction had his heart beating fast, and Archie could not point his finger at what the exact issue was. There was something about Prince Edward's look and his tone... it felt unsettling.
Or maybe the stable boy was just overthinking it. He was on edge because of the proposal, and he was probably jumping onto other matters to divert his mind.
Archie had neither time to practice for the tournament nor to take a short break to sit down and breathe. He worked all day- cleaning, feeding, and grooming. Two of the other stable hands had chosen the most unfortunate time to fall sick, which meant that Archie had to take on double his usual load.
He did not complain though, because this gave him something other than Kenric and the princess to focus on. His mind and body were too tired to care about much else.
As the day came to an end, Archie finally headed to the servant's quarter for supper. He had almost forgotten to eat lunch, but Jude had brought it to him and forced Archie to sit down for a few minutes to eat before getting back to work. Archie was grateful for him, and he wondered whether Kenric had sent him. But he could not ask, so he kept his mouth shut after thanking the old man.
"The prince is so handsome. I saw him chatting with King Godric and his smile... Ah! I thought my heart would stop beating," Edith said dreamily. "Oh, my lord, and Princess Eleanor? What I would give to be even half as gorgeous as her. "
"She looks like an angel," Bella agreed. "I saw her and Prince Kenric go out for a walk in the gardens. He looked smitten, let me tell you."
Archie felt his heart drop. He had not seen Kenric since the arrival of the royals and now this is what he was hearing? He thought that Kenric was going to make the Princess dislike him but apparently, the real case was different.
Did her beauty sway him?
"Really?" Edith grinned. "Are you thinking what I am thinking? Are we finally going to hear wedding bells in the castle again?"
"I sure darn hope so!" Bella exclaimed. "I always wondered why Prince Kenric was still a bachelor. But now I see why, he was just waiting for the right princess. And if that is not Princess Eleanor then well..."
"Then nobody can ever be good enough," Edith finished the sentence.
Archie shifted uncomfortably where he sat. He felt uneasy. No. That was an understatement. He felt like he was going to throw up every single thing he had eaten that day. He had to try his hardest not to yell at the girls to shut up. He wanted to tell them that they did not know Kenric. At least not like Archie did. Kenric was his, not anybody else's. The princess could go fu—
He was fighting with himself, forcing himself to stay strong and not let his eyes water. He was not going to cry. At least not in front of others. He needed to have faith in Kenric. He did have faith in his prince. Kenric would never betray him.
Archie knew that.
Then why did his heart feel like it was breaking?
"Archie? Archie!" Edith raised her voice, breaking the stable boy from his trance as he faced the handmaiden. He blinked innocently, completely out of touch with the conversation.
"Huh?"
"I asked what you think about it."
"What I think about what?" Archie questioned, tilting his head in confusion. Edith sighed audibly as she rolled her eyes.
"What you think about the royals, duh. Do you not think Princess Eleanor would be a great wife for Prince Kenric?" Edith repeated herself.
"Uh," Archie gulped, shrugging lightly as he tried to keep his tone neutral. He could not show them how much this was bothering him. "I do not know. Sure, I guess?"
"Come on! You can answer better than that. Or are you lost in your head dreaming about how pretty the princess is too?" Edith spoke with a laugh.
"She is pretty, yes, but that does not mean for sure that Prince Kenric would marry her," Archie muttered, feeling beyond annoyed now. "There is more to people than how they look. What is on the inside matters too. I have known the prince since we were children, he is not a shallow man who would marry somebody simply for their outer beauty."
"But—"
"Archie is right, I believe," Sybil said as she stared at Archie with affection clearly visible on her face. She kept her hand on his bicep, passing him a shy smile. "Not many men think this way. You are a rare man for wanting someone based on the kind of person they are, and not what is on the outside."
"I... I, uh," Archie cleared his throat awkwardly. He knew that Sybil was trying to flirt with him, she had been doing that for a while now. Archie never knew how to react. The whole thing made him queasy. "I need to go now. I still have work to finish."
With that, Archie bolted out of the servant's quarter, leaving three very confused girls behind. But they did not pay him much mind, by now they were used to how sheepish Archie could get at times.
At the other end of the castle, Kenric was having a terrible time. That too for reasons he never would have guessed before.
Princess Eleanor was... she was good. Sure, she was beautiful and whatnot. But Kenric did not care about that. He was not attracted to her. He could not be attracted to her for a variety of reasons. The most important ones being that firstly, she was not a man. And second, she was not Archie.
That did not change the fact that the more Kenric spoke with her and spent time with her, the more he liked her as a person. She was smart and gentle. She was down to earth, something that Kenric did not expect. At least from a spawn of King Alfred. She was witty too, and held herself well in conversations. She was someone that Kenric could see himself being friends with.
Kenric enjoyed her presence, which made what he had initially planned to do all the tougher. How was he supposed to treat her badly? Someone as sweet as her? He had been cold with her at first, he had been the farthest thing from a gentleman but... she took that with stride. She challenged him in her own way, and Kenric simply did not know how to continue.
Archie was at the back of his mind all the damn time. He missed the stable boy, and he would have given anything just to be able to spend a few minutes with his beloved. But he had too many things to do, too many people to attend to, and not enough hours in the day for all of his duties that were piling up.
"Is something troubling you?" Princess Eleanor asked. The two of them were out on yet another walk after dinner.
"What makes you think that?" Kenric questioned back.
"I can see it on your face," she replied.
"It is nothing for you to worry about," Kenric spoke.
"Well," the princess paused, her voice a little stressed now. "If we are to wed each other then your troubles will be mine. Sharing them will make you feel lighter."
"We are not married," Kenric could not help but snap. The idea of vowing himself for life to anyone but Archie... no. He could never do that.
"No, we are not. Not yet, at least," Princess Eleanor said softly. "But I can tell after today that you are a good man, Kenric. I did not know what to expect. I had heard so much about you and I... I was almost scared if I am to be honest."
"Scared? Of me?" Kenric questioned, and the woman nodded in response as she bent down to graze her fingers against a flower.
"Everyone says you are a cold-hearted monster that does not shy away from torturing or killing whoever is in his way," Princess Eleanor explained. "That is what my father has said to us for years. And then all of a sudden he wants me to marry the man that he used to tell me horror stories about..."
"That must have been quite a shock to you," Kenric stated.
"It was. But now I am thinking that maybe he was wrong."
"Was he?"
"Yes," she spoke with a confident nod. "You are neither heartless nor a monster."
"I see."
"Do you want to know how I know that?" The princess offered with a smile.
"How?" Kenric decided to humor her.
"Because I can see that someone has warmed your heart. I can see that someone resides there already," Princess Eleanor said. "So tell me, oh feared Prince Kenric, who is she? Who is the woman that tamed the beast?"