The King's Daughter (High Born Book 1) (4 page)

The next morning my mother pays me a visit and right away, the conversation starts on the dance with Antonio last night.

“Prince Antonio is not my preferred choice of a husband for you Grace,” My mother explains. “The union would not strengthen England. I do not know why your father is considering a marriage between you both.”

“I do not like him mother,” I confess. “I know I should get to know him, but he is too arrogant and I do not like that in a man.”

My mother then laughs, “Unfortunately, a lot of men in high station are arrogant.”

“Let us pray that a stronger and more agreeable suitor arrives,” I grumble and my mother laughs louder.

“Oh my darling, there will be. There are many rumours about you circling the countries.”

My mother’s words are music to my ears, “Well then, I shall patiently wait.”

“As a Princess you will learn how to be loved by your King. You may not love each other at the start, but you will learn along the way. By any means, Grace, you have to make sure your husband loves you,” my mother seems urgent with her words. “A Queen that is unloved by her King, well, that can be a lonely and dangerous life.”

Her words both shock and scare me but what worries me most is that as she speaks about a man loving me, I cannot shake the image of the stranger from the stables.

“I will do everything in my power to bring happiness to your marriage,” she then kisses me and when she breaks away, laughs at herself. “Now, have your Ladies brought here and finish getting dressed.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” I tease her as she leaves me alone and I laugh as I hear her demanding some poor soul to find my Ladies.

Later on, I have a desire to visit the stables. I want to check in on my horse that father gifted me, but I smile to myself when I think of the handsome man and if he’ll be there again. As I sit with my Ladies and we eat breakfast, I think how I can let them know I want to go alone.

“I was just thinking about visiting the stables,” I announce.

“Then we will accompany you,” Catherine prompts.

“Oh no that is fine, I can go alone,” I offer and they look to me like I am mad.

“Absolutely not,” Louisa frowns. “I will come with you, I will not have you wondering alone. Besides. I haven’t had a chance to see Beauty yet.”

Catherine, Jane and Beatrice seem happy enough and once breakfast is finished, Louisa and I leave for the stables, “I bet she is stunning.”

“Who?” I ask, confused with her question.

Louisa pulls a funny face, “Beauty, of course.”

“Oh yes,” I laugh. “You know my father, only the best.”

“Are you ok Grace?” Louisa asks. “Only you seem a little distracted.”

“I’m fine,” I answer. I really wanted to go alone, but Louisa is right and I should not. If word got out that I was making trips to the stables all alone gossips would create their own stories, I am sure. Especially if they learnt of the young handsome man in there too.

Louisa and I walk in silence to the stables, it’s not an awkward kind of silence. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The best thing about my Ladies is that I’m so comfortable around them, that we do not see the need for filling silence with mindless chatter. But it does give me the chance to think about if he will be there again and I secretly hope he is. We enter the stables together and I am shocked by my feeling of disappointment when I see that he is not in sight.

“Is this her?” Louisa asks, walking towards my beautiful horse.

“Yes,” I smile, watching as she pets Beauty. “Lives up to her name doesn’t she?”

“Yes she does,” Louisa gazes at my horse.

I approach and begin to brush her. Letting Beauty’s presence calm my nerves for my future. Louisa and I talk as we brush her and without thinking, I begin to hum a tune and Louisa smiles.

“I have not heard you sing for a long while,” Louisa points out.

“Beauty makes me relax enough to sing,” I watch my hand as I stroke my horse.

“It is lovely,” She compliments and pretty soon, I begin to sing again and Louisa dances along.

“My Lady,” I hear and stop everything I am doing. I quickly turn to see the handsome young man standing behind me and a great big smile spreads across my face. He also grins and a little laugh escapes him. I did start to wonder if I had dreamt him up, nobody can surely be that good looking and kind, but here he is and he makes sure to bow before he speaks again. “Lovely to see you again.”

“And you,” I eagerly answer.

“Have you come to take the horse for a ride?” He asks, a cheeky sparkle in his eye.

“No,” I smile, excitement filling me. “My friend wanted to see Beauty.”

I indicate towards Louisa who is stood frozen beside my horse. I can see that she is shocked that I am speaking to this man. I feel a little bad, but I surprisingly enjoy his company and he does not seem to know that I am the Princess. If I’m not careful though, Louisa could reveal everything.

“Ah,” he nods and I take my gaze away from Louisa. He is still smiling at me, those gorgeous dimples making me melt on the spot. Today he is not wearing a coat and I can see from his body sculpture that he is a fine looking man. “You did not come to see me then.”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” I laugh and he joins me. Louisa steps forward so she is standing level with me. “This is Lady Louisa,” I indicate to my cousin beside me. Of course, I did not introduce her as my cousin because if he knows anything, he will know Louisa is a royal relative.

He takes his eyes from me as he greets her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Louisa. Another beautiful Lady in my presence is an honour.”

Louisa blushes and I can’t help but smile. He seems to be a true charmer and I couldn’t be happier that he has no idea who I am. For some reason, I really like that and I hope if he ever finds out he won’t be too mad. I watch him as he greets Louisa.

“When did you two meet?” Louisa kindly asks, her eyes flickering between the two of us.

“I wanted to check up on the Princess’s horse, and we met here,” I explain, indicating to the very ground we are standing on, and Louisa gives me a certain funny look. She’s a smart girl and will understand what I am trying to tell her.

“Are you one of the Princess’s Ladies as well?” He asks curiously and Louisa lifts and eyebrow, still looking at me, waiting for me to answer him.

“Yes she is,” I smile widely, answering for her. “We both are.”

“Your accent,” Louisa points out.

“Yes,” he smiles. “I’m Scottish.”

“Don’t you think his accent is lovely?” I ask Louisa and with wide eyes I realise what I have just said.

He laughs at me and Louisa looks as shocked as I feel, “Why my Lady, I am truly pleased you think so.” He looks at me with an intensity I’ve not seen before. I feel as if I want to step closer to him, to find out what he smells like and exactly how big his body is. I want to touch his hair for myself instead of watching him thread his fingers through. But of course I don’t.

“Why are you in England?” Louisa suddenly asks and I am just as surprised hearing her question as when I spoke about his lovely accent.

“Louisa,” I gasp, hoping she sees my disapproval through my frown.

“I’m sorry,” Louisa quickly apologises, but keeps her eyes on me.

“No need to be,” he laughs. “I have a small group of family members here.”

“Do you sneak around and look after Princess’s horses?” I ask him now, my question may be serious because I am curious but by the smile on my face, he knows I am not interrogating him as Louisa was. I may be slightly taken with him but he is, after all, a stranger.

He nods his head and smiles at me, crossing his arms over his chest, “You think I have a motive, and you are correct.”

He cocks his head to the side, his eyes fixed on me. Louisa might as well not be here, “I’ve heard that the English Princess is the most beautiful woman and I secretly wanted to tend to her horse, maybe get a sneak peak of her.”

He takes a step closer towards me and I freeze on the spot. Tension fills the area, my body is fully aware of the attractive man in front of me. When he speaks, his voice is low and deep and it brings a shiver to my body, “Between us though my Lady, I think you to be the most beautiful lady I have ever set my eyes on.”

My cheeks burn from his complement, I swallow thickly and my breathing deepens. My heart is beating so fast and I start to feel hot, just like before.

“Thank you,” I whisper back, and I see him watching my mouth as I talk. Without thinking, my tongue sweeps across my bottom lip and his face tenses. I did that. I caused that reaction.

“You are very forward,” Louisa observes, breaking the spell he seems to have on me.

“It seems so,” he laughs. “Remember my offer.”

I nod, “I will come riding with you eventually.”

“Eventually?” He asks in a teasing tone. I cannot help but laugh and he flashes me his bright smile. Should I be here? Is this allowed? My parents would be furious.

“It will be time for dinner soon and we need to be with the Princess,” Louisa announces and I take the excuse the leave.

“Of course,” he steps away, his charming smile still in place. “I will not keep you from the Princess.”

We walk by him and as Louisa walks on, I turn back and see his eyes are fixed on me, “I will see you again.”

“I will look forward to it my Lady,” he nods and as I turn to leave, he asks me a question that makes me stop. “What is your name?”

With a smirk, I turn back, “I will tell you when I next see you.”

He seems to think that funny and not another word is said as I join Louisa by the stable door. When we are at a safe distance, she begins her questioning in whispers, “You kept him quiet!”

“I did not think it an important subject,” I say, trying to make my voice sound calm and collected. I cannot have my cousin suspicious of my friendship.

“I notice you did not call him by his name and neither did he,” she observes.

“I do not know his name and he does not know mine,” I answer her. Louisa frowns and I feel it focused on me until we reach the castle entrance. “Smile Louisa, your scowl isn’t very attractive,”

“Why were you flirting with a Scottish stable boy?” She asks quietly.

“Calm down Louisa. I was not doing anything of the sort,” I reply.

“You were indeed flirting and I suspect you enjoyed it. I have not seen you smile so much as you did back there. What if someone was to find out?” She asks and I immediately stop walking. “You need to keep clear of him Grace.”