Chapter three
When Lord Arthur arrived home he was not greeted, as usual, by a smile that was a little too wide and a brief kiss on the cheek, followed with a "What did you buy for me, darling?"
No, this particular day he was greeted by a vase he'd brought home last time he travelled to the Treasure Chest flying by his left ear and smashing on the wall behind him. His wife, furious, waited for him to react, arm poised to throw a rather expensive brass statue.
"Now, my dear." He said, used to her fits of rage in private. "This won't break, it'll just break the wall."
"I don't care, Arthur. Frankly I wish I could bring this whole house down!" Persephone yelled at him.
"Ah, so you hate the house? Did that bring on the need to throw around expensive home decorating?"
"Don't be sarcastic with me you pathetic excuse for a man. Do you know what your insipid daughter has just done?"
"Ginny-bug? Where is she?"
"Oh, she won't be returning to this house as long as I hold the keys. She's just gone and made poor Prince Harry fall madly in love with her. He came to fetch her this morning, and oh what a sad state our kingdom is if that silly boy is to be king and she queen! Queen, Arthur, queen! After all my careful preparation with Padma and…where do you thing you're going?"
Lord Arthur was tugging on his riding boots as fast as he could.
"I'm going to the castle, my dear." He replied.
"If you so much as put a toe outside this house our marriage is over!"
Arthur paused to think about this.
"Well, alright my dear. Be gone by the time I get back." He finally said.
The final scream of frustration followed him out the door, along with the sound of a brass cherub forcing it's way through a window.
He rode swiftly to the castle, not stopping to the rest horse so it was drenched with sweat when he arrived.
He was greeted in the courtyard by Queen Lily. He fell to one knee and bowed before his Queen.
"Don't be silly Arthur." She said quickly. "Stand up and talk to me. Let's take a walk in the gardens."
Queen Lily's gardens were known throughout the world for their beauty and Lily collected the rarest flowers and planted them with the same gentle care she showed to every one of her people, from the lowest beggar to her own son. But what was less known was that the whole garden hummed with hidden magic. The trees listened to people's conversations, the flowers remembered their faces. The grass could spot lies and they all reported back to Lily.
"Arthur, I warned you when you married Persephone that marrying someone from her country you'd be marrying into more than you could imagine. They're bred to enforce their will. She's used to get whatever she wants and doesn't hesitate to do anything to achieve it. She's so furiously jealous of Ginevra, because she's far more powerful than you could imagine. Arthur, have you ever tried to feel her magic? She's so powerful she could've blown the entire castle away if she hadn't found a way to channel it. You made a big mistake when you left that girl in the care of that woman. I'm surprised she even tolerated her in the house."
"Well, she doesn't now. She threw a vase at my head." Arthur admitted. "I've been looking for a reason to divorce her for quite some time now."
"If you think that's the right thing to do, I support you, you know that." Lily said gently.
"I do, but now I want to see my daughter. Where is she? I have so many things I need to apologize for."
"She's taking a bath. Apparently she was cleaning out the cellar to avoid her stepmother when Harry arrived. It appears Persephone used the poor girl as a maid for her and her daughters. I trust you didn't know about that?"
"I certainly did not! I need to talk to her the moment she's done."
"Arthur, calm down. You've been a good friend of mine for a long time and when darling Molly died I lost one of my most trusted friends. I see a lot of her in Ginevra, you know. And that goes further than that head of hair she has." Lily added in jest.
"Mother." They heard someone say behind them. They turned around and saw Harry standing on the path behind them. "I need to talk to Lord Arthur, alone, please?"
"Of course darling." His mother smiled. "I'll go and see that our girl is well tended to."
The two men walked a bit further without saying anything. It was Arthur that broke the silence.
"Why aren't you with Ginny?" He asked.
"The maids threw me out." Harry replied. Arthur allowed himself a brief chuckle before turning serious again.
"I've been a terrible father to my daughter, Harry. I've travelled too much and been completely ignorant of her situation. I thought the best thing I could do for her when her dear mother passed away was to give her another mother. I married the first woman I met. I thought I'd gotten lucky. She had two daughters the same age as Ginny, she'd finally get sisters and someone to learn from and play with. Instead she was driven out of her father's house, turned into a servant. She didn't want to hurt me, I see that now. But it is not the place of daughters to protect their fathers, it should be the other way around. She gave me every chance to rectify this situation, but I was blinded, ignorant and in some way, I didn't want to see. Harry, she's a wonderful girl, the sweetest you can find, but never, ever underestimate her. She's clearly got a will of iron, not to let herself be driven to the ground. Protect her like I couldn't."
"So, I have your permission to marry her?" Harry asked.
"My dear boy, you never had to ask."
So it came around that the engagement of Prince Harry and Ginevra was announced. They were to be married three months later, on All Hallows Eve. The whole kingdom was in a state about the young, practically unknown noblewoman engaged to their prince. Granted, the family in St. Ottery was well-respected, dealing fairly in all their matters and well-liked by the royal family. However, no-one knew much about Ginevra. She'd never been seen at court, none of the young ladies could remember seeing her at parties or cotillions. She was an unknown figure to everyone, but they soon fell in love with her easy charm and brilliant mind. Out from her stepmother's reign of terror, Ginevra blossomed into a wholesome, lovely girl. She adored Harry but never let him get away with coddling her or overprotecting. She rode out with him on Moonstream, joined his lessons with Sir Dumbledore and even secretly convinced her brother Ronald to teach her the basics of fencing and archery. He protested at first, thinking such was not for the future Queen, but Ginevra didn't let up until he agreed.
She also made friends for the first time since she was a little girl. Many of the young nobles stayed at the castle and she was soon overcrowded with young ladies that desperately wanted to befriend her. She could soon see through the falsest of them, and pursued further encounters with the others. One of her dearest friends was her brother Ronald's betrothed, Lady Hermione. She was slightly older than the two siblings, two years older than Ginevra, a year older than Ronald. She was a very likable young woman, not concerned with fashion and the latest gossip but very academically minded, her nose often deep in a book. She was very straightforward and taught Ginevra most of what she needed to know about life in the castle, without glamourizing it. Another young lady Ginevra soon began to love was Lady Luna. Although she was the same age as Ginevra she was already married for over a year. Her husband, Lord Neville of The Forest, was one of the finest botanists in the kingdom and surrounding countries so when not travelling he resided at Queen Lily's side, helping her develop her gardens even further. He did have a mansion in the country, near the wild forests that grew all around the southern border of King James's kingdom but preferred to live at court, mostly for Lady Luna's sake.
Some of the meaner ladies would have described Lady Luna as having her head in the sky but Ginevra soon found out Luna was in fact very grounded, she just experienced things differently. She had a way of explaining things and looking at things from another perspective. Although her questions sometimes sounded naïve they had a deep ring of truth to them. Who but Luna would've looked at the apple trees in the orchard and asked the head gardener if the apples hurt when they were picked off the tree or if it was like neglecting to milk a cow, soon it was about to burst with it's milk and fruit, respectively?
Ginevra soon found out there was more than she expected to be married to Harry. Queen Lily took her under her wing to teach her the proper conduct and mannerism. A good foundation had been laid by late Lady Molly so it was easy to build upon it.
"I just wished it wasn't so terribly dull and unimportant." Ginevra secretly complained to her companions. "Even Lily admits it. Not in so many words but I can see she just aches to teach me about politics and espionage, but no, that is to be left to our kings."
"Oh, Ginny." Lady Hermione said, for Ginevra had taken to be called Ginny, the former name reminding her too much of her stepmother. "Unfortunately it is just our position in this world to know anything about it except how charming the Spring Islands can be this time of year. However, in just two short months, you're going to be our future queen so I trust you to change that."
"Oh, don't remind me!" Ginny moaned. "Half of me just wants to be married to Harry so we can spend the rest of our lives together but then the other half of me is terrified of all the duties that follow."
"Well," Luna added. "Just close your eyes and think of the kingdom then."
"Luna!" Both Ginevra and Hermione gasped, horrified but then started giggling.
"I wasn't talking about that!" Ginevra said between laughs. "I actually look forward to that, I'm worried about appearing publicly, hosting parties and such. I hope you don't just close your eyes when with Neville?"
"Not now," Luna replied smugly. "I did at first, until I saw he was just as nervous, then it became a game for us. We could laugh at it together and enjoy it together. I really miss him. " She sighed.
Neville had been taken along with Arthur to search for the mythical sunflower, said to keep the essence of the sun in its juice. It only grew on the top of the world's tallest mountain, making it extremely difficult to reach. What Luna didn't voice was her concern of him not returning. He wasn't like Arthur, a seasoned adventurer, used to harsh conditions and unfriendly nations. He was handsome, no doubt, but he was a scholar, preferring to spend his time in the greenhouses or the Royal College, where he taught. This journey would take the men through unchartered lands, where more savage tribes lived. There were tropical diseases and even with Lord Arthur's magic and Neville's own medicines no-one knew what could occur.
Luna and Neville had been married over a year but still had no children. Ginevra suspected that was both of their doing, not wanting to have children just yet. She'd only had the chance of knowing Neville for a week before he left but she could see a deep passion between the two. The day before Neville left neither had left their communal quarters all day and Ginevra had heard the maids gossiping about how they wouldn't even let them in to change the sheets, doubtless because they were still using them.
Lady Hermione was more reserved about these things. She loved her brother deeply, Ginevra could tell. The problem was, however, that Ronald didn't feel worthy to be married, wanting to travel the world and collect his wealth first.
"What he doesn't understand is that I would gladly live with him in a tent in the Royal Forest, just as long as we're together. But, no, he must be rich first, buy us the largest mansion in the whole wide world, sometimes I feel as if he wouldn't be happy unless we lived in a bigger castle than this." Hermione said, desperately. "And I don't want to do that. I just want a house, with him in it, our bed and my books. That's all."
"Oh, Hermione, don't worry, I know my brother. He'll start completely resolved but when he starts to see it doesn't matter to you, he'll stop caring so much as well. Please, stop worrying about this and help me with this idiotic curtsy." Ginerva handed her her book on court mannerism. "Is this the proper curtsy for an earl or a duke?"