I've made plans for a few EPOV's which will be added at the end of the chapter they correspnd to. They are little extras, meant to give his perspective on things, but not to replace Bella's version of things. I hadn't planned on doing one for their initial meeting, but several reviewers, including LaSpia, asked specifically for his side of their meeting so I've included it at the end of this chapter. It is unbetaed. so Mizzdee can't be blamed for my foul ups. Thanks again for all the support. My writing is my stress relief, and my job offers plenty of it, so I'm glad that you all enjoy it as much as I do.
Disclaimer:All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 13
King Carlisle's order rang in my ear as the people filed out. They knew. I don't know what gave me away, but the king had figured out that I wasn't the princess and he was going to prove it and have me executed.
"Princess, are you all right?" Garrett's voice was foggy as he asked the question.
"Someone get her a seat," a voice called out and then there were hands lifting me up and carrying me away.
"Unhand her," a stern man yelled but I was already being lowered into a plush chair.
"I was simply aiding the princess, Your Highness, I meant no-" Garrett spoke but his words were halted by the stern voice shouting over him.
"It is not your place."
"All of you step away," a female voice called out and the room fell silent.
My eyes fluttered open and I was shocked to see the Queen of Masen kneeling before me. "Majesty?"
"Be calm, Isabella," she said. "We need to talk about how you came to be here so early, but first, are you well?"
"I am, I just didn't eat much this morning. Nerves got the better of me," I whispered.
The queen smiled. "Well, we will see to your lunch shortly, but according to the information we received you were supposed to be leaving your school today, and your arrival was set for the end of the month."
"Our plans never wavered, Your Majesties. My school ended at the end of June and I left from there. The journey took the normal two weeks so I do not know who misspoke. Even Lady Tanya of Denali knew the dates before she left Genoa so I'm not sure how anything could have been confused," I said, looking around at the eyes that watched me.
"Arriving at an empty dock, no one there to perform the traditional welcome that I was prepared for was humiliating. Thankfully, the people of Masen were ready and willing to embrace me and join in my procession to the capital."
King Carlisle stepped forward, offering his hand to the queen to help her up as he spoke. "Princess, I promise you that if we had known about your true arrival date, then we would have been there as was planned. In fact, the supplies have been gathered for the feast in your honor, so I will order the kitchen to prepare the feast for the day after tomorrow and we will welcome you in true Masenian style. Now, please go with Prince Edward and he can have some lunch ordered for you while you take the chance to get acquainted."
I stood from the chair, earning a bow from Seth and Lord Garrett but as I turned to Prince Edward, I noticed his stare was still fixed on Garrett. "Your Highness?"
Prince Edward's eyes met mine and he smiled. "I'm sorry, Princess, let us go and see to your meal."
The prince offered me his arm and I took it, his confidence growing as we exited the Great Hall through the rear passageway. I was so relieved after I thought they'd figured out who I was that there was little that could spoil my mood. We traveled upstairs and down another corridor until we reached a hall that split off in two directions. Prince Edward took me to the left and towards the room where we would have some time to talk.
"I wanted to be there, Princess, please believe me," my betrothed said as we approached a heavy wooden door. "Claiming you from the ship and bringing you to shore as my future wife is not only a tradition, but it was my first opportunity to be there for you and we were robbed of that by fate."
He pushed open the door to reveal what looked to be a meeting room, but it had a large table that would serve the purpose. Edward ducked his head out of the room to order someone to bring food and drink for me. Once the food was delivered, we settled in and he began to question me gently as I ate.
"Now, I'm sure you're tired from such a long journey, how many days travel was it?" he asked.
"From the Dunn School to Callie was five days, from there it was a week by ship, and then another week across Masen to arrive here," I answered.
"And I'm sure it was costly as well. Once you landed at the empty port, how did you make arrangements so quickly?"
"Lord Garrett took care of that for me. He wasn't keen on letting me off the ship until he could gather more information and make arrangements. I paid him back for the expense of the trip once we had a final total, but he and Seth looked after me most wonderfully," I explained.
The prince didn't speak, but as I watched him, his countenance grew darker by the minute.
"Your Highness, are you angry with me?"
"No, of course not, why would I be?" He was surprised by my question.
"This is not the first time you've appeared unhappy since my appearance, so I had to ask," I supplied.
"My ire is not meant for you," he promised. "It is Lord Garrett that irritates me because he has had the last several months in your company and to top it off, when you were in need he was the one to come to your aid. He claimed your hand to escort you from your ship; he was the one to introduce you to my people. It was him who escorted you safely through my kingdom. Any man who had stood beside you in that moment would have earned my contempt because he took the place that was meant to be mine."
"Prince Edward, if he had not been there I would have been far worse off, there are things you are not-" I wanted to tell him about all the good Lord Garrett had done for me, but the king's entrance silenced me.
"If you've had sufficient time to eat, Princess, I would like to have a private audience with you," he requested and I stood to follow behind him.
"Father, why don't you simply join us here?" Prince Edward asked, but his father shook his head.
"This is something that must be done without your presence at the moment, Son. I will return her to you as soon as I'm able," the king offered.
Smiling inwardly at the prince's grumble, I followed the king to a similar room further down the hall, past the place where the prince and I had turned left before. We entered to find Lord Garrett and Seth standing already there along with some of the members of the king's council. King Carlisle led me to a chair and after I sat down he began.
"Princess, once you left with the prince, I was able to speak to the baron and the captain and what I learned was truly disturbing."
"What did they say?" I asked, afraid that I'd been betrayed.
"There is no reason to fear the people in this room, Princess Isabella, they are my trusted advisors and are here to help," the king said. "When I chose Seth and Lord Garrett, it was a precaution because I knew that there were people who might use you to strike against me, but I had no idea the scope of it. Your father should have warned me about the threats against you; I would have helped protect you."
"Keeping me in hiding served the purpose until I went to school, and there was no way to strike at me there. There was little more that could have been done, Sire."
"You were nearly ambushed over one of your breaks, you traveled a day early to give you a head start on anyone who might have wished you harm and still you were poisoned before leaving your shores. The guard at the castle has always been present, but it will be increased until we know that the threat against you rested solely on your shore."
"According to my brother, Prince Emmett, the threats were coming from within our country. Some people were executed when the first threats were made, but they never knew for sure if that was the end of it," I explained.
"Well, you will have someone with you whenever you leave the royal family's private wing as it is guarded already," King Carlisle told me. "I don't feel it necessary to put guards on you at the moment since it will draw more attention than we want on the situation. Your food will also be tasted before it is delivered since you were poisoned."
"Can I speak with you about something in private, Your Majesty?" I asked and he cleared the room of everyone but the two of us.
"Speak freely, and you may call me Carlisle when we are in private. I was not born into this role so I try not to be so formal with family. And you will be family in two months."
"Thank you, Carlisle, and you can call me Isabella. I wondered why Prince Edward was not invited to this meeting, as it will surely affect him." I hoped this wasn't something I would have to keep from him.
"Edward is a passionate young man, a thing that will serve you well as you get to know one another better, but that passion leads to outbursts that he needs to learn to control. If he had been in here as we discussed how close he came to never meeting you, he would have been demanding retribution and then hovered around to protect you." Carlisle sighed, catching my eye as he brought a chair to sit in front of me.
"I know that you picked up on the tension between my son and the Baron of Penn," Carlisle spoke softly; much different than the way he spoke when others were around.
"I did, and he said that it was because he was upset that he wasn't able to be there for me. It isn't like there's a need to be jealous of Lord Garrett," I explained.
"There may not be a reason, but reason has little to do with the heart. Lord Garrett has spent nearly half a year in your company and the friendship that has developed is obvious and Edward is going to find a threat in that. I am not saying Edward cannot know about the poisoning, but he has to find out in private," Carlisle implored and I agreed. "I will not keep you from the prince any longer. The corridor that led from the Great Hall to the main stairwell is something you will learn in time, but this horseshoe that we walked just now is the royal quarters and it is the area where you will not need to worry about walking on your own. Yours and the Prince's rooms are to the left of the fork and the queen and I occupy the rooms to the right. Will you be able to find the Prince without an escort?"
"Yes, Carlisle, I'm sure I will be fine," I told him and then he walked me to the door.
"Pleasant evening, Isabella. I will have food sent to your rooms tonight so that you may rest from the long journey," King Carlisle said as he took my hand to kiss it before closing the door so he could be alone.
I walked the hallway, finding the part of the wing that was Prince Edward and mine easily, but not knowing which of the rooms I had left him in, or if he was still even in there. Not knowing where to go, I stood still and tried to recall something familiar about the door I'd entered with him or the tapestries on the walls.
"Princess, why are you standing out here alone?" The prince's voice caught my attention.
"I could not remember which of these rooms had been the one you'd brought me to. I was trying to find something familiar, but it was not working too well," I admitted.
"Then I'm glad that I came in search of you. One of the servants asked where we would like to take dinner this evening and I requested that it be brought to my rooms so that we may enjoy the meal in private. I'm not entirely sure when the ladies selected to serve you will be here to begin, but the peasant girl you brought along is here for the time. She will return with the carriage and an escort as a show of gratitude for helping you in your time in need," Prince Edward said as he took my hand.
"Have all my things arrived from the carts that followed us to the capital?" I asked.
"They were brought to your rooms, though I don't think the girl would have been so bold as to go through your things so that will need to be taken care of," Edward explained leading me further down the hall until we were at a large set of double doors.
Guards that stood so still they might as well be statues moved to open the doors for the prince and then he guided me into his outer chamber. "Sit down and I will get us a drink before dinner."
The wine he returned with was light and fruity, not like the heartier wine that Genoa was known for.
"I will admit, you are younger than I expected you to appear," the prince said in a way that left me wondering what, if anything, he knew about me.
"You did not know that I was four years your junior?" I asked.
"Of course I did. I hadn't meant that I didn't know your age, just that…you seem truer than those I've grown up with at our Court. There's an innocent about you that is quite intriguing."
"Thank you?" I did not know if that was a compliment or not, so it came out as a question.
"What about me? I must inspire some thoughts as all you had were other's opinions and my portraits to judge me on," he pressed and I took another sip of my wine before answering.
"You are leaner than I had expected," I started, "and I was right that the portrait did not do you proper justice."
"You think me handsome?" he asked and I shook my head
"Your Highness, you know that you have a striking visage," I commented and was happy to see him smirk. "I also was surprised at your height; it makes me feel slight beside you."
"You are a little slip of a girl, but you are still growing. At the moment you barely reach my shoulders. But there must be something else that you noticed?"
"I don't know what I can say after being in your presence for little more than an hour. Ask me again in a week's time what my first impression of you was."
"Fair enough," the prince said.
We spent time talking more about my trip across Masen until there was a knock on the door.
Servants came in with a variety of food and then exited, Edward thanking them before he picked up a pitcher and poured a glass of whatever type of drink had arrived with the meal.
"I was told that this is a popular drink in Genoa, and one that you were partial to, so I made sure the kitchen staff knew how to prepare it before you arrived." Edward smiled triumphantly, but I felt myself grow cold.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Hot mulled cider." He held out the glass but I simply shook my head.
"I can't drink that," I spoke barely above a whisper, but Edward just shrugged and took a sip from the glass himself. "Your Highness, don't!"
My raised voice earned not only his shocked expression but the presence of the guards from outside.
"We are fine," Prince Edward said and the men left. Once alone, he moved to my side of the table and took my hands. "What is the matter with you?"
"I'm sorry about my reaction, it is just that I'm not sure when I will ever be able to drink that again, and then I wondered if the king's assurance that I would have a taster was already done or not. If the drink was prepared for me, it was possible that another attempt could have been made with it."
"I don't understand," the prince whispered.
"I was poisoned with a glass of mulled cider," I answered.
"What? When was this? My father must be made aware of this at once," he growled, his hands trembling in mine with his aggravation.
"The day my ship left Genoa, we were eating at the inn we'd stayed at the night before and that was where they found me. If it hadn't been for Seth and Lord Garrett's knowledge of what to do, I would have surely perished," I explained. "Your father learned of this earlier today, it was why he asked to speak with me after lunch."
"He wanted to keep this from me?" he seethed.
"No, he simply wanted you to learn of it in private," I promised. "I had no intention of keeping it from you."
"I'm so sorry, Sweet Girl; I didn't mean to frighten you with my outburst." Prince Edward pulled me into his chest and brushed his fingers over my cheeks to remove the tears that had fallen. "The thought of never meeting you because of someone else's plots is unbearable."
"The threats have followed me my entire life; it is why I spent so little time at Court because my father was worried I would never come of age."
His intake of breath came just as he squeezed me tighter. "There is no reason to fear any longer, Princess, I will keep you safe."
"I believe you," I whispered before he let me go.
"You should eat, we can talk more about this later," he said, ending the discussion.
The meal was delicious and Edward didn't speak much, but he was attentive and it warmed my heart to see how he looked after me. Once I'd eaten my fill, Prince Edward escorted me down towards the end of the hall, another set of double wooden doors a hint that we were at my chambers.
"Your girl should be waiting for you, so please relax tonight and I will see you tomorrow. Pleasant dreams, Sweet Girl."
"Goodnight, My Prince."
*MatM*
EPOV
I listened intently as Peter once again described the process of claiming my betrothed at the docks. He'd been the one to ride with my mother when she sailed down the coast to be claimed as the future queen of Masen, and knew the planning of the ceremony better than any man.
Just thinking about my princess had me picturing once more the portraits she'd sent me, one of which had rarely left my person since its arrival. Puling the portrait, which hung from a watch chain so I wouldn't have to fear losing it, out of my pocket, I caressed the face that I longed to see in person and wondered how close to the painting reality was.
"Prince Edward, please pay attention, or you will never know how you're supposed to claim your bride," Peter chastised me.
I was about to reply when a page came bursting through the doors. "Begging your pardon, Your Highness, but the king has summoned you to the Great Hall. Word has it that the princess has just arrived."
The princess? That's impossible, her journey should just be beginning, not completing.
"I'm on my way," I responded.
Hustling down the main staircase, I turned before entering the hall to allow myself to use the rear entrance. I caught sight of my parents, who had been in the middle of their monthly assembly, where people could bring their problems before the king and queen and be heard, when the news came.
My throne was placed besides theirs in haste as the murmurs began around the room.
Those murmurs fell silent as the caller announced the princess, which of course had them going again as she passed.
I watched her approach with rapt attention, noticing several things. The first being her hair, which I had thought the picture had portrayed styled up, was actually its true length. I had hoped that wasn't a style she was fond of.
The more important thing was how closely she walked to Lord Garrett, a baron that my father had chosen to tutor Princess Isabella in dance. The Baron of Penn meant little to me, but knowing that he'd held her in his arms for months irked me.
I looked briefly to my father, who seemed displeased as well, something made obvious when he ordered that the hall be cleared.
Isabella looked around frantically for a moment, as though afraid before Garrett spoke. "Princess are you all right?"
"Someone get her a seat," my father ordered as she swooned.
Garrett stepped in to lift her before I could cross to her, irritating me further, "Unhand her."
Garrett settled her into the seat that had been carried over before responding. "I was simply aiding the princess, Your Highness, I meant no-"
"It is not your place," I cut him off.
"All of you step away," my mother spoke as she pushed past to kneel before the princess.
I watched my mother as she talked to Isabella, who still seemed worried. It pained me to hear about her humiliation when no one was there to meet her, the very thing I had been practicing so all would go smoothly for her arrival. When she mentioned how the people of Masen had made an impromptu procession for her, my father stepped forward, helping my mother up as he spoke.
"Princess, I promise you that if we had known about your true arrival date, then we would have been there as was planned. In fact, the supplies have been gathered for the feast in your honor, so I will order the kitchen to prepare the feast for the day after tomorrow and we will welcome you in the true Masenian style. Now, please go with Prince Edward and he can have some lunch ordered for you while you take a chance to get acquainted."
I was still glaring at Lord Garrett for being too familiar with her when she addressed me to gain my attention. "I'm sorry Princess, let us go and see to your meal."
The moment Isabella's delicate hand wrapped around mine, I felt sure that this was right. Betrothal or not, she was meant to be my wife.
I led her through the back passages until we were nearing our hall. In time I would show her the proper way, but for now, I needed to get her to our rooms so I could feed her.
"I wanted to be there, Princess, please believe me," I implored as we neared the meeting room. "Claiming you from the ship and bringing you to shore as my future wife is not only a tradition, but it was my first opportunity to be there for you and we were robbed of that by fate."
I opened the door and led her in, sticking my head out long enough to tell the guards to have someone bring us a hearty lunch. I took the time that we waited for the food to be delivered to really admire my bride-to-be. She was such a tiny thing, but beautiful to be sure.
When the food arrived and she began to eat, I asked her about her journey so that I could begin to know her. But as she spoke about Lord Garrett and how well he looked after her, I grew irritated. He shouldn't have had the opportunity, it should have been me.
My annoyance must have showed on my face because Isabella asked if I was angry with her. Not wanting things to start off on the wrong foot, I explained my feelings so she knew it was contempt at the situation and the man who was my placeholder, but never her.
I was about to offer her a tour of her rooms so she could relax when my father came in.
"If you've had sufficient time to eat, Princess, I would like a private audience with you."
Isabella immediately stood to follow, so I tried to delay her departure. "Father, why don't you simply join us here?"
My father's reply of needing to speak to her without me added to my annoyance. Would everyone stand in my way of knowing her?
I grumbled as my father led her away, leaving me once again alone in my rooms to think.
My sweet girl was here early, and I would make the most of the extra time we've been granted.