Forced to Love Another (Prince Arthur Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

I stood by my window, looking down at the courtyard. Arthur and Alexander were down there, probably talking about fighting or something. Then I realised Alexander glanced up at me. He smiled and waved slightly. I flinched slightly, and I waved back. Then Arthur turned around and smiled at me widely. He gave me a small wave as well.

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, then I turned around and moved away from the window, ignoring Arthur. I moved back into my room and looked through my bookshelf. I had already read all of the ones on there, multiple times. I sighed and took a few from the shelf, and left my room, beginning to walk through the castle, towards the library.

I got there and placed the books I had on Geoffrey's desk, seeing as he wasn't here. Then I walked through the shelves, looking for something new to read. I picked a few books, and then prepared to leave, but stopped when I heard the door open and voices from the front of the library.

"Geoffrey, you know Lizzie, um... Lady Elizabeth as good as anyone in this castle, you must have noticed that something is different with her. I arrived back after days away yesterday morning. Normally, she's the first one to greet me when I get back, and I have only managed to catch glimpses of her, and every time I make an attempt to reach out to her, she ignores me. Something is wrong." I heard Arthur's voice say, and tears brimmed in the back of my eyes.

"Sire, I'm not sure I'm the best person to talk to this about." Geoffrey said, and Arthur sighed. I took a deep breath and gathered all my courage together, before turning around the bookshelf. "Geoffrey, I was wondering if I could take these books?" I asked, moving around, and coming into view of the two men. "Of course, my dear, you're always welcome to take whatever you want." Geoffrey said, and I nodded, a weak smile forming on my face.

Geoffrey then moved the books that I had brought with me, and began putting them back where they were meant to go. I took a deep breath, and started to make my way out of the library. "Lizzie!" Arthur said, but I closed my eyes and ignored him, continuing to walk down the corridor. I could tell he was following me. I tensed up as I felt his hand on my shoulder, and he turned me around to face him.

"Lizzie, what's going on, I know something's wrong. Please talk to me." Arthur said, his voice coming out as a whisper, and I could hear from his voice that he was tearing up. I swallowed the lump on my throat, and a few stray tears fell down my cheeks. "I-I'm sorry Arthur, I-I can't." I choked out, before pulling myself out of his grasp. "I'll see you tonight." I whispered, before turning around and running down the hallway, tears flowing down my face.

I raced through the castle, to my room. I heard a few stray shouts from Arthur, but ignored them. However, as I turned a corner I crashed into someone, knocking the books from my hand, but they caught me before I hit the floor. I looked up and through teary eyes saw that it was Alexander. "Hey... Hey, Lizzie, what's going on?" He asked, pulling me upright.

I shook my head, and pulled him into a tight hug, I placed my head on his shoulder and cried into it. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. We stood there for a few minutes, before I calmed myself down slightly. "What happened?" Alex asked in a small voice, not wanting to startle me, or pressure me, which I was grateful for.

The only thing I managed to get out was "A-Arthur...", which caused Alex to hold me closer. "It's okay. Come on, I have an idea." He said, letting me go, and then turning to a servant who was passing by. "Excuse me, take these to Lady Elizabeth's room, just leave them on the table." He instructed and the servant nodded. He then took my hand and he started leading me through the castle.

I didn't pay attention to where we were going, but took a deep breath as we walked through a door, and the cool autumn air hit my skin. Then Alex moved me around, and sat me down. I looked around me, and saw that we had gone to the gardens. I took a deep breath and leant into Alex. "Thank you." I whispered out, and Alex just wrapped his arm around me.