Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 166: Much Has Happened

7 August, 1360. Westerhaven Palace, Islia

William yelled with delight as soon as Westerhaven’s dramatic stone spires in the horizon, pointing to James. James beamed back at him and spurred his own steed faster.

"We’ll be home within the hour!" James shouted over the din of their galloping horses. "I cannot wait to see the sweet faces of my wife and children. It has been a fucking eternity, hasn’t it?"

The two of them rode on across the steamy, mangrove fringed swamps that covered the south of the country.

James and William had been given permission earlier that day, to ride on ahead of the rest of the returning Islian army. King Edward had reluctantly granted them permission, relenting after much begging. While the king appeared to have made a swift recovery from the malady that had felled him a few days earlier, all had agreed it was probably best that he didn’t push himself to exhaustion on the remaining ride to Westerhaven. The king had also seen the wisdom in avoiding having all his male heirs clustered around him while they were beyond the safety of castle walls.

William estimated the rest of the army was due to arrive at the palace by sunset. There would no doubt be feasting and celebrations well into the night, to welcome the king home and celebrate the end of the war.

He was glad however, to be given the chance to arrive home relatively unannounced. He just wanted to see his beloved before the whole palace erupted into celebrations and they wouldn’t have even a moment of peace.

Ignoring the burning ache in his tired muscles, William drove his warhorse to greater speed. The landscape swept past him in a blur and the hot, humid air was oppressive. He grinned beneath his helmet, feeling as if his elation might actually swallow him whole.

In less than an hour, he knew his happiness would be complete.

- - -

William leapt down from his horse as soon as James and he galloped into the enormous entry courtyard. He craned his head to look around at the familiar gothic-style towers, the endless galleries of pointed stone arches that ran in so many directions.

The last time William had stood in the very same courtyard, it had been crowded with an army about to depart. Now it was quiet and empty, save for the servants rushing towards them, the shock clear on their faces at the sight of the two princes arriving unannounced.

William had never much liked Westerhaven’s architecture but looking at the palace now, it was as beautiful as the clouds of heaven to his eyes.

William turned to beam at the stable boy who ran to his side to attend him, and handed him the reins. He pulled off his helmet and tossed it into the arms of the nearest servant, then started pulling off his gauntlets.

William started hastily making his way through the galleries and gardens, on his way to the south wing of the palace. As he almost ran, he started pulling off and discarding pieces of his armour, grinning at the clutch of servants following him haplessly and laughing as they picked up his dull armour, section by section. His joy was infectious, making the servants laugh as well.

Once he’d finally shed all the armour, William started to run in earnest, brushing past and dodging servants and courtiers in his path. Everywhere he went, their faces looked at him and bowed in utter surprise.

William knew it was his duty to see the queen first, to seek her out, kneel before her and receive a motherly blessing from her as he’d done after every campaign he’d ever returned from.

But he was desperate to see Camilla. He had to see his wife first.

He told himself he’d greet her briefly and then go straight to Queen Celia. Her Majesty would understand his actions, he was sure of it.

He sprinted up the stone stairs to the floor where their shared apartments were, hoping Camilla would be inside and not in the gardens. Then again, who’d want to be outside in such stifling heat?

William burst through the apartment doors and looked around his presence chamber. Ladies Meg and Katerine both yelped at his sudden entrance and leapt to their feet from the couch they’d been sitting at while embroidering. He grinned at them both. Hell, he was almost tempted to hug them, William mused.

"Your Highness! You’re back!" squeaked one of the ladies as they both quickly bowed to him. "We were told the army wasn’t due back until sundown."

"They’re not. It’s only James and I who’ve arrived a little earlier." William smiled. "Where’s Camilla? I wanted to surprise her."

Katerine gestured to the bedchamber door, which was shut. "She’s resting, my lord. Asleep, I should say."

William gave a puzzled laugh. "What? Are you teasing me?" If there was one thing his wife had no patience for, it was sleeping during the day.

"No, my lord. I’m not. But there’s something you should know..." Katerine’s voice faded after a pointed look from Meg Vere.

William frowned as he looked at one lady, then the other. "Camilla’s not ill, is she?"

"No, she’s in good health, Your Grace." Meg looked him in his he eye and William felt himself relax again. "But, well, much has happened since you left."

William was starting to feel rather strange at the way both ladies watched him warily. Meg glanced down at the fabric she’d been stitching, draped across a couch cushion. He looked down at it as well and raised a brow. It looked like a miniature smock, like something a young child would wear.

Then William remembered Lady Taunsen would’ve probably had her child by now. I suppose it makes sense Lady Meg would be stitching baby clothes for her friend, he said to himself. But why wasn’t Camilla with them, instead of sleeping at midday?

"I’m going in to speak to my wife then." William told them both, well and truly out of patience. Both ladies just bobbed heir heads mutely.

He strode to the bedchamber door, a pinprick of confusion and unease niggling at him. He slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

The room was almost completely dark, which startled him. It was also on the warm side. Why the hell would anyone want the drapes closed and the fire lit in the middle of a summer’s day?

Closing the door quietly behind him, William squinted and peered around, a little disoriented. He stepped carefully towards the figure he could see on the bed, unmoving.

He looked around until he spotted an ornate gilded candleholder on a table near the fireplace. Quickly grabbing it, William ducked down to light the three unlit tapers, with the low flames cracking in the fireplace. The scent of beeswax immediately hit him.

He turned to face the bed again and walked towards it. The sight of his beloved’s peaceful face made him break out into a smile like an excited child.

Camilla was curled up on her side, fast asleep with her hair loose and the silk blankets bunched up around her middle. William felt intense relief to see no signs of illness on her face. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Her skin seemed to almost glow in the warm candlelight and her cheeks held a rosy bloom.

His eyes slid down her body and he swallowed when he saw the tops of her breasts pushing up firmly against the neckline of her gown, lush and round. Had she always been that curvaceous or had he simply started to forget his own wife’s body?

William laughed to himself, intent on remedying that as soon as possible. He reached out to lightly touch her cheek, so as to not completely startle her.

Camilla’s lashes fluttered for a moment, before her eyes opened, slow and sleepy. As she slowly focused her gaze on him, her eyes went wide with shock.

"William? Are you really here?" Her voice was full of disbelief as she stared at him.

"Yes, I’m truly here. It was one fucking gruelling journey to make it home. You have no idea how hard I had to ride to arrive here while the sun is still high in the sky."

"Are you sick? What happened to you? You look so gaunt and ill." Camilla’s dark eyes skimmed over his face in alarm as she struggled to raise herself onto one elbow.

William smilingly shook his head. He knew how he looked - dusty and disheveled from two days of almost nonstop hard riding, not to mention thin and unshaven. But he was home.

"Don’t worry about my health. I’m not the one asleep in bed while the sun is still out." he teased her with a laugh. "Now, sit-up and embrace your husband, who has missed you so goddamn much these past months." He opened his arms to her.

Camilla slowly struggled to sit up on the bed. The weak, awkward way in which she moved struck fear into William’s heart, as did the sudden anxiety that flitted across her face.

Was she truly ill? Was that what her ladies had been trying to warn him of a few moments earlier?

It was only once she was in a sitting position and what he’d assumed were blankets piled against her middle fell away, that William truly saw. He saw what was hindering her movements.

His adored wife, who’d always been so lithe and graceful and quick on her feet, was now encumbered by her round, protruding belly.

Oh no. Oh, holy fuck, no.