Waiting For Spring
Chapter 21

When I finally heard the clashing of swords and the loud shouts of men, I had almost ridden the entire perimeter of the castle walls. I had lost Troy somewhere between the castle gardens and the summer patio on the east side of the castle.

Climbing down from my mare, I spun her around and nudged her in the direction we had just come from, hoping she could replace her way back to the palace stables, but I also wasn’t opposed to her replaceing her way into the castle and wreaking havoc.

Watching, to make sure she disappeared around the side of the castle’s stone walls, I turned back to the dense crop of trees in front of me. Judging from the sound of swords, the training grounds were surrounded by these trees and I had every intention of replaceing my way through.

Picking my way through the trees, dodging exposed roots and low limbs, I was finally able to see the mess of bodies sparring in the castle’s training grounds. Watching the shirtless men weave in and out of graceful manoeuvres, I couldn’t help but think of the women from the king’s court who had been wishing for this exact sight the day of the archery competition. Little did they know, the men trained shirtless in the castle training grounds.

Shuffling closer, my eyes landed on a man at the center of the chaos. He was sparring against the largest man in the field. His body was slick with sweat and his muscles strained with every move of his blade. Yet, despite his size deficit he still seemed to have the other man beat. His feet were swift, and he seemed to anticipate the other man’s every move.

I was watching as the man swiftly knocked his opponent off his feet and pointed his sword in the center of his chest when I felt a presence at my side.

“Lady Anne?” I almost lost my footing as I found two men at my side. My fear quickly morphed into amusement when I noticed they were the two men who failed to stop me when I ran from the king’s room on that first night I spent in the castle.

“Hello, boys.” I watched as both their faces morphed into ones of apprehension. They were probably remembering their last punishment for letting me loose in the castle. I wondered what the king would do for a second offence, and I bet they were wondering the same thing.

“Lady Anne, you should not be here.” The taller of the two looked at his partner who seemed to be studying the toes of his boots.

“How do you know?” And for a moment, he seemed to question his own words before the shorter one mumbled, “No ladies from the King’s court are allowed in the training grounds.”

“I think I could easily manage the two of you,” I smirked, leaning against the nearest tree with my arms crossed. The bark bit into the bare skin of my arms not covered by my riding dress but I remained nonchalant.

“They are the King’s rules, Lady Anne.” The tall one squeaked, his voice betraying his age. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me.

“And what will you do if I break them?” I asked, looking over their shoulders to see Troy approaching the dense crop of trees encircling the training ground. His head was darting back and forth, obviously searching for where I had disappeared to. Unfortunately for him the trees, as well as the two bumbling fools in front of me, provided the perfect cover.

“We should take you to the King.” The one studying his shoes looked to his partner for support, but from the apprehensive look on his face, shorty wasn’t getting any support from him.

“How is stable duty?” From their silence, I assumed they were still serving their punishment. “Why don’t you just carry on like you never saw me. You won’t be in any more trouble and the King will remain ignorant- “

“What are you doing here, Lady Anne?” The deep timbre of the King’s voice caused the men in front of me to jolt in surprise. Their eyes widening at the looming shadow over my shoulder.

“Your majesty,” the two stuttered. Rolling my eyes at their pathetic attempt at a bow, I slowly turned to face the impassive face of the king. For a moment, I was distracted by the corded muscles along his arms and torso that had always been hidden beneath his court clothes. Now they were staring me right in the face and I couldn’t seem to calm my racing heart.

Trying to calm myself, I looked passed the king, only to see the man who had been sparring moments before and instantly I knew it had been the king I was admiring. Tamping down the rush of heat through my body, I schooled my face into a practised scowl and returned my attention to the king.

“I see you aren’t where you’re meant to be,” he admonished, adding, “again.”

“You might get confused if I were.”

“Lady Anne, this is no place for a woman.”

“How do you know? Has one ever been here?” I challenged, placing my hand firmly on my hip.

The king let out a weary sigh, running his fingers through his sweat-dampened hair before nodding at the two men behind me, dismissing them. For a moment, the crunching of leaves were the only sounds until they faded, and the sounds of clashing swords rose again.

“Arlarose, why do you insist on disobeying me?”

“Don’t think of this as me disobeying you. Think of it more as me trying to further my education.” When he gave me a confused look I continued, “I want to learn to defend myself.”

His eyes narrowed and he took a step in my direction just as Troy came crashing through the trees, out of breath and looking about ready to spit fire.

“Rosie, you are returning to your rooms immediately. I am done chasing you all over the castle grounds and looking like a crazed fool.” He growled, seeming to not notice the king, he made a lunge for my arm, but I easily side-stepped his approach, sending him stumbling between the king and myself.

I felt the King’s eyes on me as Troy righted himself and quickly took several steps back when he turned to face me. “Go with Troy, Arlarose.”

“No.”

“Excuse me,” his tone, like his eyes were cold. His steps were silent as he moved and before I knew it, he was barely an inch away from my chest, his frosted brown eyes boring harshly into my own.

“I want to learn to fight.”

“You will do as I say and return to your rooms.” I could feel the warmth of his breath brush across my cheek as I leant back to see his face more clearly, he seemed to press closer.

“Don’t you want me safe?”

“Of course,” he frowned. His eyes clouded over into a brown, muddy mess, as if my question had filled him with a storm of confusion.

“If I could fight, I could keep myself safe. Isn’t that what you want?”

“You do not need to learn to fight. I can protect you.”

“No, you’d rather I stayed locked away and docile. You lied.” I hissed, remembering the moment we had shared among the willow tree leaves. He told me my unpredictability was what he loved. “Why do you insist on keeping me locked away?”

“This is the only way I know how to keep you safe.”

“I don’t feel safe,” I seethed, pressing closer to him so all my vision was filled with the deep brown of his eyes. “I feel trapped.”

“You’re impossible.” He all but yelled and in my head, I had taken a step back. In my mind, I put some distance between us. I ignored the glistening of sweat that still trailed across his warm, sun-kissed skin and the flare of something hot blazing through his eyes. I ignored the heat pulsing from his body and consuming mine.

But in reality, I remained where I was and absorbed it all until all of my senses were overwhelmed by all that was him. Nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter where I was or who I was watching. The only thing on my mind was tasting his lips again. I wanted to know if the same all-consuming rush would fill my body like the last time we had kissed. Had it been a mistake last time? Did the King think it had been a mistake?

“James?” Troy’s voice jolted me from my daze and my feet which had been uncooperative only seconds before, took several steps back from the King’s heated gaze.

Needing to look anywhere but at the king, I glanced at Troy to replace another soldier standing stoically at his side.

“Your majesty?” He dipped briefly in a respectful bow before rising and levelling his eyes on the king. “They have scaled the walls.”

“How many?” The king snapped, his body shifting slightly so it partially covered my view of the man. His muscles in his back tensed as if he was preparing for a hit and I wondered what could have made him act this way.

“Seven.”

“Have they been captured?”

“Yes, they have been placed with the rest.” Nodding dismissively at the guard, he left our little gathering until it was just Troy, the king and myself. Breathing deeply, the king slowly seemed to regain some composure before he spoke to Troy. “You allowed this. You allowed her to put herself in danger.”

“You are- “

“No,” the king shouted. “You know why I need her in her rooms.”

Peering around the side of the king, I saw Troy’s jaw set into a stubborn line as he advanced on the king.

“You can’t blame me for wanting to give Rosie even a small taste of freedom.”

“Don’t call her that.” His voice rumbled menacingly between the two friends.

“You think you know her, James?” Troy scoffed. “You don’t know anything about her.”

“And you do?” Anger was building in my veins as they continued to argue about me as if I wasn’t even there. Like every other moment since being in the castle, I was watching these men run my life for me. They were making decisions about my future and didn’t even pause to consider what I wanted. They acted like my input in my own life didn’t even matter, or maybe they simply didn’t trust me enough to make a decision on my own.

“Enough,” I shouted over the top of them and moving to stand between the two, eyeing them both. “I’m tired of you both excluding me from my own life.”

“Arlarose,” the king began, but my fury was quick to cut off his words.

“Does it matter what I want? Is it always going to be this way?”

“Take her back now, Troy,” the king demanded, looking over my head at Troy, effectively dismissing my concerns.

“I don’t want to go back.”

“I don’t care what you want, this isn’t your choice.” King James levelled me with a look of finality. The look of a man who always gets what he wants, no matter who stands in his way.

“So, my life isn’t my choice?”

“No.” Abruptly, I spun on my heel and marched towards the training grounds, the king and Troy following closely behind. I could hear the king calling out for Lady Anne to stop, reminding her that the training grounds were off limits to women, but it was too late to slip into the dull personality of a courtier.

The sounds of swords clashing and men shouting slowly faded as all eyes seemed to lock on the scene that was unfolding between their king and the girl many of them had probably searched for countless times over the past few weeks.

Stopping in the center of the grounds, I spun back so swiftly to face the king that he almost walked right through me.

“I will not leave these grounds until you fight me.” I planted my feet firmly in my riding boots and clenched my hands tightly at my sides in fists. I refused to be moved. “I challenge you, King James, to a sword fight.” I raised my voice to ensure all around us had heard. I wanted to give him no opportunity to back out.

“You’re absurd,” he hissed, making a move to grab for me but I easily sidestepped his advance.

“No, I’m tired of being locked away like a criminal.”

“You’re a woman, it isn’t your place to fight.” He reasoned, unfortunately for him, I was beyond reason. I was beyond sense. All I wanted was to prove to him that I was strong enough.

“And it isn’t your place to lock me away without cause.”

“I am the king,” he began, taking another step in my direction and forcing me to take another back in reply. “It is my choice.”

“Then I want to fight for my freedom,” I announced, aware that every guard had their eyes and ears trained on us. Every guard was waiting to see what their king would do next.

“You can’t leave R-Lady Anne.” His anger seemed to break for a moment as he realized just who was watching and I took my opportunity to strike.

“Don’t you think you will win?” I challenged and his eyes locked back on mine, flashing with the challenged I had just issued in front of his men.

“Have you even held a sword before?” Shaking my head, I barely contained the smile as I watched him suppress a groan of frustration. “You really think you can beat me?”

Smiling still, I asked, “Well, your majesty, what will it be?”

With barely a moments consideration, he stepped closer towards me and said, “When I win, you will do everything I ask of you. No complaints.”

“Agreed.” The crowd around us ripped with the bargain made between us. Disbelief filling the faces of many of the king’s guards.

“James, this is a bad idea,” Troy warned, so only the King and I could hear, but the King didn’t appear to be listening. Instead, he wrapped his calloused roughened hand around my upper arm and began dragging me in the direction of where he’d been fighting the mammoth man.

The King’s men were quick to form a circle around us, eager to see what would happen. A guard pushed to the front carrying two wooden swords before handing them over to the king. Then he disappeared into the mass of bodies.

“The first one of us to land a fatal hit will be the winner. We’ll be using wooden swords,” he extended one of the swords to me.

“Why, do you think I will truly be able to hurt you with a real sword?”

“No, I think you will hurt yourself,” he grumbled as I took the sword from him. It was heavier than I thought it was going to be and when he released the full weight into my hands, I fell forward, unable to hold it up. If I couldn’t lift it, how was I going to be able to land a blow on the king?

“You couldn’t lift it anyway,” he chuckled, as I glared. I attempted to straighten, leaving the sword resting beside my feet. I wasn’t going to be able to use it in a fight anyway.

“Ready Lady Anne?” I didn’t miss the mocking nature of his tone and for a moment I considered slipping my shoes off, just to see if I could tip him over the edge. However, when I was done with him, my shoes were going to be the least of his problems.

“I’m more than ready,” I answered, watching as he gracefully cut through the air between us with a flick of his sword. No doubt he was trying to intimidate me, but I had no interest in fighting with my sword.

“It’s not too late to concede,” he mocked. “Lord Hennison can still return you to your rooms.”

I smirked at his attempt to rile me, instead of being shaken, I continued to stand calmly with my sword resting heavily against the side of my leg. I was very aware that every eye was trained on us and for a moment, I questioned what I was about to do.

“What do you think, Lady Anne? Why don’t you return to the safety of your rooms? I’ll have Marla teach you how to embroider a cushion.” Any doubt that had been running through my mind quickly evaporated and I shifted so my weight was on the balls of my feet and my smile was buried beneath a scowl.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he chuckled and for a moment my eyes darted to a disapproving Troy, but I wasn’t sure who he was more upset with and I didn’t have time to ponder it before the king was announcing, “Let’s begin,” and all thoughts vanished and my adrenaline took over.