"Come on." I ran my hand down Shadows right leg where he lifted it and I grabbed onto his hoof. "Good boy." I praised as I grabbed pick and began to clean the muddy horseshoe.
I had taken him round the castle grounds for some early exercise so for the past half hour, I had been grooming and making sure his black coat was almost spotless. He then drew his attention away from the hay net however and furiously began to rub his head against my back and I nearly flew forward.
"Shadow! Stop it!" I couldn't help but laugh at the horses playful behaviour. "Go away!"
"I see that he likes to annoy you just as much as I do." Luke suddenly laughed and I looked up to see him standing outside the stable door with Calum.
"You're actually more of a nuisance then what he is." I replied, dropping Shadows hoof now which didn't stop him from nudging his head against me. Calum then burst out into a laugh as Luke watched with a pout on his lips. "I'm joking!"
"I'm sure you're not." Calum snickered before Luke playfully punched his arm and I rolled my eyes at the pair.
"Yes, anyways... A letter arrived for you." he said holding out a folded piece of parchment so I wiped my hands on my trousers and went over. "It's from your mother."
I took it off him and slowly scanned down my mothers neat handwriting, but so far there was only mention that our borders were secure and that there was no word from Keit regarding their sudden attack. The next paragraph however made me let out a groan and I looked back up at the two men.
"Is everything alright?" Luke asked.
"Yes, it's just-" I paused as I stuffed the letter in my pocket. "It's actually my birthday in a months time so my mother is already preparing everything for the celebration." I sighed, going back over to Shadow.
"Don't you enjoy birthday celebrations?" Calum asked, leaning on the stable door now.
"It's not that I don't." I span round and waved the pick about. "But my mother is a perfectionist and sometimes it can be too overwhelming."
My mother would always make sure my birthday celebration was the most important event of the year but for this year, I was worried that Keit would find out and plan something against me.
By no means however was I thinking of inviting Edmund to my birthday, despite the fact that he invited me to his own. It was too much of a risk to myself, my people and my loved ones.
"I'm sure it'll be fantastic." Luke reassuringly said and I gave him a wide smile. "Calum, leave us please." he said after a few seconds so the man beside him nodded and rushed off opposite to Michael and Ashton. "You and I both know that you're worried about Edmund finding out." he said, opening the door and slipping inside.
"How could I not be, Luke?" I huffed picking up Shadows foot again and proceeding on picking out the mud. "My mother will be in charge of everything so I do not think she will invite them after what happened."
"I don't think she will either. It'll be a careless move." he said, crossing his arms against his chest. "Hopefully they won't turn up out of the blue."
"That's what I fear for. Word will get around very quickly and it won't take long to reach the Keit. I'm just worried for everyone's safety." I said, dropping Shadows leg and moving to the other where Luke was standing.
"It's good that you are concerned but the more you worry the worse it'll become. It'll all get to your head."
"I know that but I can't go with a clear head when I feel that people's lives are in danger." I said standing back up and wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. "Especially my own. Anything could happen at this point."
What I feared the most, however, was what would happen if Edmund appeared and would tell everyone of his proposal and threat so everyone would know what he was capable of. I didn't want anyone to find out for the time being, especially Luke.
"Nothing will happen to you. I can promise you that." he took hold of my hands now and pulled me away from the stallion. "I've sworn to you so many times that I will try to protect you and now more than ever. But now, I won't just try; I will protect you. Even my mother and father know I will do anything for you, so you must take my word." a solemn expression appeared as he said this, his eyes glued to my own
"I do Luke. I've never doubted what you have said or done. Never." I said, my cheeks turning pink from his kind words. "And I thank you for caring for me the way you do."
"Of course." he smiled just as he perked his head up at the sound of his name being called. "I'll see to them and I'll come find you later." he said before he bent down and left a kiss to my cheek and then he walked out the stable, leaving me to stare at him in awe.
—
I walked out the bathroom, patting my now combed hair with a towel before shaking it about to make it extra curly.
It was quite late now and everyone in the castle was slowly getting ready to call it a day. I had spent the afternoon with Luke and Jack, who was now up and walking even if there was a slight limp in his leg. It was just a relief to see he was getting better day by day.
"Your Grace?" I then heard Alices familiar voice and she stuck her head through the door. "May I come in?"
"Yes, Alice you can." I replied, throwing my cloth to the side and I went over to the fireplace and grabbed the poker. Alice then pushed the door open with her back and stepped in with a tray in her hands and she set it down at the table.
"Can I help you with anything?" I asked, pushing the burning logs over to create more fire. I huffed as I couldn't reach the ones at the back so I kneeled down and began to flip them to their other side when I stopped as everything was a little too quiet. "Alice? Are you there?" I then turned round but I froze as she was now standing just behind. In the blink of an eye she suddenly pulled a dagger out of her boot and pointed it dangerously close towards me.
"Don't you dare call for the guards!" she hissed, seeing my horrified reaction and I jumped back.
"What on earth are you doing?" I gasped, slowly moving away from the fireplace and I jumped behind the sofa, trying to remain calm.
"Something I've been ordered to do for a while now." she snapped, both of us moving in a circular way around each other. "Does King Edmund sound familiar?" she cackled and I let my mouth fully drop as I soon realised who this was.
"You're the spy?" I cried out, being forced to walk backwards now as she slowly made her way over, not lowering the blade.
"I'm one of them." she quietly said.
As much as I would liked to have been surprised, I wasn't. After all the things that have happened since the first day of my arrival, I was convinced that the spy really did exist. I never thought however that it would have been Alice, one of my own maids.
The worst part was that she knew almost everything that had been said between my ladies, myself and anyone else. The girls tended to want to gossip whenever the maids were attending to my outfits and Alice was always there, meaning she's most likely informed Edmund of everything.
"How many of you are there?" I almost yelled, causing her to take a big step forward, bringing the dagger closer as a warning and my mouth snapped shut.
"There's enough." she spat. "It's a shame really because I couldn't help but take a liking in you. But, I must obey my King."
"Is this because of his hand in marriage? Because he wants me to marry him instead of Luke?"
"Well, you catch on quickly don't you?" she dryly laughed as my back suddenly found the wall. "Now, be quiet to make this easier for the both of us." she said, now only standing inches away from me but then out of nowhere, I suddenly raised the poker and hit her hard against her leg. In the seconds that she screamed out in pain, I reached for the door just before I felt something sting at my side and everything after that happened in a blur.
I managed to rush out the door, madly screaming for the guards who by now were on high alert from all the commotion inside. Mari, Louise, and Clara suddenly burst out of their own rooms in complete confusion and shock when the guards appeared again, now dragging a screaming, cursing Alice with them and they took her away.
My whole body trembled and I desperately tried gasping for air, my hand clutching the blades handle that was stuck in my side. The shock then kicked in on what had happened and I started to feel very dizzy, swaying about slowly as my vision became blurry.
Next minute, Luke came running up the stairs, his wide eyes meeting my own terrified ones and just as everything was about to turn black, I felt his strong arms catch my collapsing body.
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Hi!
So as promised, there's more drama happening hehe.
I'm also really trying to not rush the love part between Luke and Sophia but back then, things would have been different, especially for royals. They wouldn't do the whole going on dates and etc so I'm just trying to make the story roll as normal as possible.
If you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to drop a vote!
Have a good day/night!