"Competitors, ready?" The caller yells. Isabella and her opponent both nod their heads.

The horn sounds, a soaring echo into the air. My hand grips the wooden armrest beneath, so hard I would not be surprised if it cracked under my grip.

The world moves slowly now. I blink. Isabella's horse rears up, ready for the charge. I blink. The dust billows behind them. I blink. Her lance begins to drop into place. I blink. And then, all at once, everything speeds up again, so fast that I can barely keep up.

The opponents roar toward one another, lances ready, crowd in applause. Just before they come within reach of each other, Isabella drops her lance, and my heart drops along with it.

"No!" I start to jump from my seat, but I keep myself grounded, holding onto my chair with everything I have. I look to my left, wondering if my father has caught my slip, but the noise from the crowd and the action before him has him distracted.

Alice, on the other hand, stares right at me with wide eyes. "Just breathe," she mouths.

The sound of wood against metal breaks my thoughts, pulling my attention back to the grounds. Isabella hunches over her horse, in obvious distress. Part of me thinks it is better that I did not see the blow. I do not know that I could have bared it.

Jasper's aide rushes to her side as she reaches the end of the run, and a tournament hand runs to the court to get her fallen lance.

I want nothing more than to go to her now, my Father be damned. Jasper catches my attention and shakes his head before attending to her. He's keeping his promise. He's keeping her safe. I hope.

"That was quite a hit, I fear," Victoria murmurs, touch my arm. "I do hope the man is alright."

"As do I," I say, biting on my cheek so hard that I taste the bitter tinge of blood.

Isabella takes a few moments to compose herself and then straightens up, seemingly ready to ride again. Jasper hands her the lance, and she turns again, preparing for the horn.

"One point has been awarded to Sir Arthur. Competitors ready?" The caller announces.

Isabella and Arthur nod. The horn sounds, and this time I force myself to watch.

As the riders converse, Isabella's lance drops into place just in time, hitting Arthur square in the chest. He falls back, tumbling off the back of his horse as his lance falls to the ground. Unhorsed.

"Dear God, she's done it," I whisper. The shrill screams of the crowd erupt around me, cheering for Isabella's win.

"Bravo, Sir Charles!" Father claps, laughing with Mother as Isabella rides gallantly in front of our seats. She nods to my father, and even though I cannot see her eyes behind the armor, I know she looks my way. I cannot help but smirk, no matter how much I try to hide it. Bravo, indeed.

The remaining knights do a lap in front of the cheering crowd before retiring behind the grounds. Unfortunately, not all were so lucky. As we leave our seats and pass by one of the tents, the scream of a man in absolute pain echo in my ear. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported, but I would imagine some men are very hurt. At least one was carted away with the tip of their opponents lance sticking out of their shoulder. I shiver at the thought.

Once we're back at the castle, I keep myself occupied until the gathering later that evening. Knights and their guests only. Jasper was kind enough to bring Isabella as his guest so I may see her without raising suspicion.

I am able to break free of Victoria as the guests arrive, but I do not see Isabella right away.

I find myself alone in a corner, hiding and drinking ale as the others talk amongst themselves.

"Your Highness," a soft sweet voice calls from beside me. I smile.

"Milady." I nod to Isabella, as she attempts a curtsey. She winces halfway down and my smile drops. She is hurt.

I grab her gently by the arm and lead her down a small passageway to the side of the hall.

"Are you hurt badly?" I ask.

"No." She grimaces as I touch her side. I narrow my eyes at her. Liar.

"It is really not that bad, Edward, I promise."

I take her face in my hands. "I nearly jumped out of my seat when the lance hit you."

"He didn't do it as hard as I asked him to."

I pull back. "What?"

"Sir Arthur and I, see we had an arrangement."

"What kind of arrangement?"

"He has no interest in winning this tournament, for he loves another. His parents forced him into it, merely trying to advance their station if he were to marry Alice. He is an old friend of Jasper's, and approached me saying he was going to throw the competition. I could not let him do that without getting a hit in, Edward...his parents, it would be an embarrassment, especially after..."

"It's discovered that Sir Charles isn't a Sir at all?"

"That is well and noble of you, Isabella, although I do wish you would be more careful." I kiss her forehead. "You could have told me."

"You would have protested."

"Of course I would have. But you still could have told me. Will you be alright to ride tomorrow?"

"With rest, yes. The local healer suggested I take a warm bath, but I fear all we have is the cauldron we use for our metal."

"I can remedy that." I lean down and kiss her lips, missing the taste of her.

"I like the sound of that," she murmurs, nibbling on my lower lip.

"But I fear that must wait until later. We must make an appearance before someone comes looking for us."

We separate as we emerge back into the hall, and go our own ways...for now.

I mingle among the crowd, drinking more ale as I keep a wandering eye on the beautiful lady across the room. She follows Jasper mostly, as his guest. I see Sir Arthur, looking quite worse for the wear, speaking to them both.

I am distracted for awhile, talking to Alice, my mother, and a dear friend of hers, when Jasper taps my shoulder.

"Prince Edward." He bows.

"Sir Jasper." I smile. "Great showing today at the tournament, congratulations on your advancement." I eye his silent exchange with Alice and take another sip of ale.

"I trust Sir Charles has informed you of the arrangement from today," Jasper says.

"Indeed." I glance over and see Isabella is still talking to Arthur and another gentleman. "That man there looks familiar."

"Prince George, Sire. From a small kingdom west of France."

"Ah, yes." Sir Arthur grazes Prince George's arm and smiles. I know that kind of smile. It's the same way I look at Isabella. "He and Arthur are friends?"

"Yes." Jasper gives me a knowing look and takes a drink of his ale.

He loves another, Isabella had said.

The party goes well into the night, but I retire before everyone leaves. I find Isabella perched at a table talking to Jasper.

"Wait here," I whisper, in passing, as I head to my quarters. I find two servants along the way. One, I ask to prepare the baths. The other, to fetch Isabella so we may discuss her tournament pieces. Neither know any better.

The first comes to me in the hall and tells me the baths are ready.

"I will wait outside the room for you, my Lord," he says. It is customary, but tonight unnecessary.

"No," I say. "I need privacy please, stand down the hallway at the entrance to this part of the castle. No one is to enter, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sire." He nods and quickly disappears.

Moments later, the second servant appears with Isabella in tow.

"Leave us. I will escort the lady out when we have finished our conversation."

Once he is gone, I take her hand. "I will lead you back out. Turn down the corridor to the left, behind a red tapestry, there is a door. Make sure you are not seen. Understood?"

"Yes, my Lord."

We walk back up the corridor, so the first servant at the entrance will see her leave.

"Good Evening, Isabella," I say. She bows, nods to the servant, and continues down the corridor as I instructed. "Remember, no one is to enter," I say to the servant. He nods.

I return down the corridor until I come to the door of the baths. I do not come here often, no one does, but it is beautiful.

I open the door to a blanket of warm, humid air. In front of me, a large stone edge, sinking into a steaming pool of water nearly half the size of the room. Above the bath, a magnificent stained glass window, floor to ceiling. Torches surround the bath, reflecting the blues, yellows, and reds of the stained glass back into the room.

A creak in the corner catches my attention, and Isabella appears from behind the twin tapestry.

"This is amazing," she says, captivated by the atmosphere.

I slowly undress, leaving my clothes in a pile on the floor. By the time she reaches me, her cheeks are damp, glistening in the heat of the room.

My fingers brush against her corset, eager to see what's underneath. I smile. "You said you needed a bath, did you not?"

She blushes. "I did."

"Well, then. Shall we get started?"

A/N: So sorry about the delay with this chapter, I really have no excuse other than I got into a funk and didn't do any writing, editing, drafting, nothing for about a month. It's not something that happens very often, but it's really frustrating when it does. Every time I sat down to do anything with this or my original work, I just blanked out. I really appreciate your patience and hope it was worth the wait.

I will probably not be back with another update until at least after Christmas just because of my busy schedule the next couple of weeks. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, whichever you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate at all I hope the end of 2015 is amazing!

XOXO

M