I stood completely still, head propped up on my pillow as I just replayed the day's events in my head. I had been invited to a tea party, humiliated myself and another lady, and got invited personally to the castle just within an hour. After searching for (and failing to find) Catalina, I decided it’d be best to just go back home. I had gone out and looked for Nicholas, who was just casually enjoying a croquet match. Sensing my desperation to go home, he decided to end it early and return to our carriage. The ride back was just as silent as the ride there, except now my head was swirling with thoughts of what would happen next.

There was Lady Catalina, who no doubt hated me by now. The first time I spilt wine on her could have been seen as an accident, though now with the tea incident it was more than clear that it was on purpose. Seeing her run away in tears was confirmation enough that she didn’t like what I did.

Then, there’s Arthur. For whatever reason, he’s keen on inviting me to the castle to thank me for buying him a sword off an auction. He stopped me in my tracks as I was going after Catalina just to show me how thankful he was. Originally, I had given it to him as a way to maybe keep him from killing me in the future.

When we arrived at House Montfort, there was a royal servant waiting for me. He handed me a letter with the royal crest, addressed to me.

“Lady Alexandra of Scarlet, you have been invited to spend tomorrow afternoon with me. I need to express my gratitude for the exquisite gift you had bestowed me in person. Don’t be late, signed Arthur Lancelot.”

I thanked the servant, walking back into the manor as Nicholas stared at the letter curiously.

“What’s it say?” He asked, peering over my shoulder to try and read the letter. I quickly pressed the letter against my chest. How shameless!

“It’s from Arthur. He’s inviting me to the castle tomorrow.”

“He’s asking you out on a date?”

“I guess so,” I said, raising an eyebrow. I never saw of it that way, I guess.

We walked into the manor and parted our separate ways. Nicholas busy with the war, and me busy with writing up a letter to Catalina. When the duchess had returned from Camelot Castle, she burst into my room.

“Is it true?” She asked, a skeptical eyebrow raised.

“What’s true?”

“That Arthur sent you a letter.”

“It’s true.”

The duchess looked at me dead in the eye, using what I can only call the Montfort stare, and then clapped happily.

“That is a first! Usually, it’s the king sending you letters to invite you to the castle. Having Arthur take the initiative is a step in the right direction,” The duchess exclaimed, grinning widely. She took my hand and raised it in celebration.

“What did you do to get him in his good graces?”

I opened my mouth to answer, though she did not let me utter a word.

“Do more of that,” she said simply, answering her own question.

“Maddy, Anne,” she called, dropping my hands as she turned to my maids.

“Make sure Arthur can’t take his eyes off her tomorrow. She’s beautiful as she is, but tomorrow, make her look ethereal,” and with that, she walked out of my room.

I finished my letter and left it on my desk to deliver tomorrow, and decided to wind down and get ready for bed after the day I had. The warm lavender bubble bath I took at night was more relaxing than usual, as I destressed from the day I had today. I was dressed into my silk nightgowns and sent off to bed.

But instead, I lie here. Tossing and turning. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. I don’t know what I’ll face tomorrow, and Arthur himself is a very unpredictable person. He may have liked me yesterday, but will he like me today? Somewhere along the line of overthinking, I fell asleep and was awoken by Maddy.

My usual morning routine was a blur, mostly overshadowed by the wrecking nerves. I will be going to the house of the man directly responsible for Alexandra’s death in the book. The same hands that will hold the sword that cut my head will be the same ones that wave to me in greeting. Even through the nerves, I noticed that my usual morning routine was longer than usual. My maids spent more time on my hair and makeup, and my dress was particularly flashy today. It was a lower cut on the bust, lower than anything I had worn before. From my ears dangle diamond earrings, with carats as big as my iris. After lunch, the duchess personally saw me off to the carriage, and even the chauffeur tipped his tophat at me.

Everyone was counting on me to continue making an impression on the prince. It was only on the carriage ride to the castle that I realized during my anxiousness, I had completely forgotten to mail Lady Catalina’s letter!

I could only hope it’d be there when I return. My maids weren’t particularly untrustworthy, so I was sure it’d be there when I got back. It still annoyed me that such a big task was left undone. I was given no more time to think as the carriage pulled into Camelot Castle.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The castle still looked so beautiful as when I last saw it. The pure white bricks and the grand marble columns greeted me. The dragon statue stood tall, its noon shadow fierce and looming. There was a royal butler waiting outside for me. He came and helped me out of the carriage, curtsying in greeting.

“Greetings to Lady Alexandra of Scarlet,” he said, bowing. He raised his head, standing up straight.

“Please follow me,” he requested, walking towards the castle entrance. The castle’s custom wallpaper and painted roof welcomed me, the images on the roof moving as I walked down the hall, and into one of the balconies.

“In here,” the butler said, stopping at the entrance. I walked in, failing to see Arthur waiting for me. Maybe he’d been messing around all along. I caught myself smiling. All my worries could be eased. I walked up towards the ledge, hands parting as they slid on the smooth marble, breathing in the crisp autumn air. I raised my head, letting my face be hit with the rays of the sun, before lowering it down to peer below.

There, Arthur sparred with a knight. His sword clanked against the knight, their battle heated as Arthur walked backwards fending him off. The knight had cornered Arthur, with nowhere to go but a wall behind him. He lets him pin his sword to him, raising it to his neck, before Arthur flicked it out of his grasp, dropping the knight’s sword to the ground. He glanced back up at me, to see if I had watched his victory.

I held back an eye roll. Had he done all of that to try and show off to me? Not much longer, Arthur walked back into the castle and appeared behind me.

“Good afternoon, Alexandra,” he greeted, wiping off beads of sweat from his forehead.

I turned to face him, curtsying in greeting.

“Good afternoon, your majesty–”

“Ah, ah, ah. What did I say yesterday?” He huffed, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed, trying again.

“Good afternoon, Arthur.”

He grinned, clearly happy as though what I had been doing had been a real inconvenience.

He stared at me for a moment, before scrunching his nose.

“You look ridiculous.”

“What?” I exclaim in disbelief. How could he just say that? That was totally uncalled for.

“Your makeup looks like you’re a circus clown, your jewelry looks bigger than you, and don’t even get me started about your dress,” he sneered, raising his eyebrow once more.

There goes trying to impress him.

He paused for a moment, giving me a once over again before speaking up again.

“Did you do all of this because you wanted to impress me?”

Of course I did. Is that even a question?

I bit my lip. “I guess you could say that.”

He smirked, walking up closer to me. It was only then when I realized how much taller he was than me, his head having to angle down to look at me.

“Try harder. There are hundreds of girls in this kingdom who do what you do to get my attention. Guess what? None of them have.”

What an arrogant jerk! Why would I want his attention?

I didn’t reply, simply staring into his eyes, hoping maybe I could channel my inner-Montfort stare. It seemed to have work, because he cleared his throat and changed topics.

“Did you see my spar earlier?” He asked, glancing down the balcony.

“Yes.”

“What did you think?”

“It was–” What do I even tell him?

“--entertaining to watch.”

He grinned, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

“I used your gift,” he answered imperiously, raising his sword. Excalibur glistened under the afternoon sun, the gold handle resembling Arthur’s hair. The blade reflected my face back on it.

“You must really like that sword,” I said, staring down at it. I could see why. The sword could pass as piece of art.

“It’s very dear to me. It holds special history,” he said softly, twisting it slightly.

I nodded, and for a moment, we stood in silence.

“Alright. That is all. You may go back to Montfort now.”

All of that for this? A spar and a 5 minute talk!?

“Really?” I asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Of course. You’re coming back next week, so don’t miss me too much.”

“I am?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see why you can’t. You are my betrothed, are you not?”

Now you want to play that card?

“I am.” I confirmed, voice still skeptical.

“Then it would be completely normal to see my soon-to-be-wife at least once a week.” He reasoned, nodding.

“I guess it is,” I agreed, not having much of a choice.

He grinned mischievously. “Great then. See you next week.”