The King's Daughter (High Born Book 1) (12 page)

This afternoon has been a busy one, in fact the whole day has been tiring. From the shock of discovering James is in fact a Prince, to then dealing with mother on Arthur and Bridget’s behalf and then spending the afternoon with Bella and Lizzy. I introduced them to James, and we all played and spent the rest of the day together. Mother has decided Isabella and Elizabeth need to go to bed to prepare for fathers’ birthday tomorrow, and I must admit that I need my rest too.

“I will escort you then,” James insists when I tell my father that I will retire.

“Thank you,” I accept and we begin to walk.

When we get to my bedchamber, I open the door and begin to say goodbye.

“Well then,” I turn to face him. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Princess,” James smiles. “I hope you will allow me to escort you to the King’s birthday banquet tomorrow.”

“I will,” I accept him and the bubble of excitement returns.

“I cannot believe how well today has gone,” James takes my hand in his. “I never thought I would be so happy to meet you Grace,” he leans down to kiss my hand and looks up to me. “Or shall I call you Gigi?”

I begin to laugh but my breath hitches when his lips touch my hand and goose bumps rise all along my body.

“Goodnight Princess,” James declares before leaving me standing alone.

“Goodnight,” I whisper back my reply as I watch him walk away.

When I close the door behind me, I lean against it trying to gather my thoughts and emotions on all that has happened. I’m still standing against the door when there’s a knock and I open to see all four of my Ladies waiting for me. I laugh at their excited little faces, I should have known they would be along to question me. When I let them in, Lady Louisa is he first to say something.

“I cannot believe the stable boy is a Prince!” She gasps.

I quickly quieten her, I don’t want people knowing about James being the stable boy even if he is really a Prince.

“He is so handsome,” Catherine adds dreamily.

“He is,” I smile. “And a true gentleman.”

“Oh Grace, I really hope the King agrees to the marriage,” Jane wishes for me.

“James has to want it,” I laugh, although I am silently wishing the same.

“Oh, he wants you as his wife,” Beatrice announces with certainty. “I saw the look on his face.”

“Whenever we saw the two of you, he was always looking at you. That man loves you Grace,” Jane adds with her hands clutched together.

“He asked to escort me tomorrow,” I tell them and they all squeal but the surprise of my mother bursting through the door stops us. “Mother!” I gasp with my hand over my heart.

“Sorry,” She looks to us all, seeing the fright on all our faces. “I saw Prince James leaving down the hall as I was leaving the girls bedchambers and I knew he had escorted you.”

“Honestly,” I look around at all of them with a slight smile. “You are all getting excited over something that hasn’t even happened.”

“Liar,” Louisa accuses and turns to the Queen. “The Prince is escorting Grace to the Kings banquet tomorrow.”

My mother’s eyes turn so wide I’m afraid they will fall from their sockets. She then rushes towards me and wraps her arms around me, “Oh my darling.”

“It’s father’s birthday, not a wedding,” I point out.

“No, but it’s going to show people how he feels about you,” My mother informs.

Of course. Whenever a man escorts a Lady or in my case, a Princess to a date as important as the Kings birthday it can be shown as a sense of intention to what that certain man wants. Especially as we are royals.

“Come now Ladies, get her ready for bed. She needs plenty of rest for tomorrow,” my mother declares and my Ladies quickly get to it. When I am in just my nightgown and tucked in bed, we say our goodnights and I am left to sleep.

As my eyes become heavy and I begin to dream there’s a scuffling noise.
What was that?

I peal my eyes open and the darkness of my room is a little intimidating. I must have had my eyes closed longer than I thought. A loud bang makes me jump and I sit up in my bed, looking towards the door. I remember that I haven’t locked it, I usually don’t because there’s guards outside my room and maybe that is foolish of me.

I’m thinking about what to do, but then there’s a knock on my door and I’m unsure what I should do about it. However, the door opens and I’m stunned to see Prince Antonio. The candle light from in the hall shines on his body as he dares to walk into my bedchambers, uninvited with no escort. I pull my bed sheets high to cover myself as he stands and stares at me sitting in my bed.

“Why are you here?” I ask him, but he doesn’t answer and continues to look at me. “I demand to know why you are here Antonio!”

“I saw a man stalking by your rooms and when I chased him away I noticed your guards had been killed.” Antonio replies, his voice chillingly calm.

“What? Oh my!” I gasp, clutching at my chest. “Where is everyone? Have you alerted for help?”

“No, that’s why you need to come with me,” Antonio steps closer and holds out his hand to me.

“I think it would be better to stay here,” I begin to feel slightly uncomfortable. “I will stay here while you go to find some more guards. My Ladies can stay with me.”

This option is more appealing to me, but Antonio shakes his head although it is a little hard to see because he has stepped away from the candle light coming in from the outside of my rooms.

“No, you shall come with me Grace and I will take you to safety,” all of a sudden, Antonio is right beside me, peering at me as I sit on my bed. “Now Grace.”

“No,” I whisper. This doesn’t feel right and I know that my subconscious is screaming at me to run away from Antonio rather than go with him.

As soon as I speak though, Antonio shocks me and is on my bed. His hand quickly covers my mouth so I am unable to speak.

“Now, now my little Princess, stay calm. Everything is going to work out perfectly,” Antonio whispers into my ear.

He is much stronger than me and manages to push me down so I am lying on the bed on my back. Antonio then leans into me, “Scream and I will punish you.”

I watch as he reaches into his clothes and flashes a knife. My eyes widen in fright and my breathing deepens.

“Shh,” he hushes me, stroking my hair. “As long as you keep quiet, I won’t have to hurt you.”

As Antonio speaks, one of his hands forces its way up my leg.

“Antonio,” I whimper. “Please.”

“I said be quiet,” he growls. “Otherwise I won’t be able to tell you my plans.”

“What plans?” I ask in whisper.

Antonio pulls my hair and I gasp from the painful shock, “I said be quiet.”

When he releases his grip of my hair, he begins to stroke me and act like my lover. Antonio’s hands continue their way up my leg and onto my thigh, as he goes further up my nightgown begins to rise, “I decided that I no longer want to wait for your father to accept me as your husband. I will take the decision into my own hands.”

His fingers glide over the top of my hips and I begin to squirm. I want to get away from him and I want his hands off me. His touch is making me feel sick and the panic of what is about to happen is setting in.

“Antonio please,” I begin to cry, but I should have learnt my lesson from speaking before and this time Antonio slaps me across the face. I cry out in pain and more tears fall down my cheeks. I can’t believe he is doing this. He pins me back down and places his hand over my mouth.

“You see my darling Grace, I plan on taking what is most precious to you,” he smiles widely and I know I will not like the next words to come from his mouth. “Your virtue.”

Antonio laughs as I cry even more. I shake my head, panicking about what is about to happen.

“No royal would want you after I have taken you, imagine that. The Princess of England, not a virgin anymore and her parents shamed. When I tell your father that we have been lovers ever since I arrived here, he will beg me to marry you and save your families reputation,” Antonio chuckles to himself and kisses my neck some more. “Or better yet, I will plant a baby inside your belly and that will ensure a marriage. You could be the future Queen of Spain within the month my dear.”

I shake my head again, but with his hand still covering my mouth no words are coming out. Antonio glares down at me, “I will hurt you if you do not shut up.”

I remember the blade, so I quieten and have to endure the torture as Antonio’s hand grips my thigh and he groans. He spreads my legs and thrusts into me, I feel disgusted as the evidence of his excitement digs into me. Thankfully our clothes separate us.

“I am going to enjoy you, Grace,” Antonio growls close.

One of his hands comes away from my mouth so he can begin to enjoy my body with both of his greedy hands.
This is my only chance,
I think to myself and I scream at the top of my lungs. I know that Antonio threatened me with his knife, but I would rather take the risk than let him have his way with me.

I scream as loud as I can and Antonio stands back a little, I think I surprised him. By this little distraction I begin to kick and wriggle.

“Help me! Please help me!” I continue to shout, my voice echoes through the halls. I’m guessing Antonio wishes that he had closed the door when he entered my rooms.

Antonio reaches inside his clothes and glares at me, “Shut up!”

With his spare hand, he is able to cover my mouth again but this time he puts much more force behind it and I start to become short of breath. I grip at his hand, trying to remove it and breathe in more oxygen. I start to become a little lightheaded and I’m not sure if I heard footsteps racing towards us but Antonio’s hand is yanked away from me and I gasp in a large amount of air. I begin to cough uncontrollably and arms circle me. Screaming, I jump away but I see that it’s George.

“George!” I gasp.

I then look around and see four guards in my room, two of them have Antonio in their grasp while the other two hold their swords raised and pointed at him. Arthur stands beside them all, looking angrily at my Spanish cousin and I’m shocked to see James here, standing a little away from George as he captures me in his arms.

“Oh God! Grace, are you ok?” He asks, sounding afraid.

“I am,” I breathe. “Now that you are here.”

“Lock him in the underground cells,” George demands, looking the part of the powerful future King.

He lets me go and when he does, I notice James take a step closer to me. I watch as George strides over to Antonio, still held by two of the guards.

“How dare you put your hands on my sister,” he spits in his face.

“I will do everything I can to get what I want,” Antonio grinds out, looking over to me. “And I will keep trying.”

James stands in front of me, blocking Antonio’s line of vision and I couldn’t adore him anymore in the moment.

“Don’t you dare look at her!” He shouts as he storms over, punching him square in the face. Even in the guards hold Antonio falls to the floor. James then comes back to me, surrounding me in his safety. “Are you ok Gigi?” He whispers. I drop my nightgown back down my legs and quickly cover myself with the bed sheets.

“Better now, thank you,” I whisper.

Arthur helps the guards remove Antonio from my room. George looks over to me as I am still in bed, with James standing not too far away. I feel safe with James standing so close.