Forced to Love Another (Prince Arthur Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

The next day was just as busy as the previous one. Servants were running around everywhere trying to get things sorted in time for tomorrow, as well as accommodate guests who were arriving from outside Camelot.I tried my best to welcome guests, but Alex and I were constantly being carted around, servants making sure that we were okay with everything.

By midday I was absolutely exhausted, so I was glad that we had a chance to break for lunch. While we were eating I noticed that Alex's knee was bouncing up and down, and he kept glancing outside. "Is everything okay?" I asked him, and he nodded slightly. "My mother's arriving this afternoon." He said, making me choke slightly on my drink.

"And you're only just telling me this now?" I asked, making the prince look at me in shock. "Yeah, because I didn't want you to worry, because my mother will love you." He said, but that didn't give me much comfort. I had always wondered about the other people who were close to Alex in his kingdom. I knew that his family would probably come to the wedding, but surely he had friends who weren't coming, and I had no idea if I would get along with them.

I was honestly scared to leave Camelot. I had never left the kingdom, and had only left the city to go out for rides. I hadn't seen Alex's kingdom, and I only knew what Alex had told me, and a few things I'd read in a book. But it was completely unknown terrain to me, and that terrified me entirely. There would be no one there for me to lean on, other than Alex, and he said that his father was thinking of stepping down, making him king, and extremely busy.

Alex and I finished our lunch in silence, before I said that I was going to my room, and for him to send someone to come and get me when his mother was here. Once I got back to my room I opened the door and smiled as I saw Alice, Morgana, and Gwen were in there. Gwen was the first to notice me, and got up from her chair, and came over, wrapping her arms around me.

"Thank you, we all had our fittings for our dresses today. You didn't have include Alice and I so prominently." Gwen said, and I pulled away from her, looking at her with a smile. "Of course I did. You three mean the world to me, and I want this special day before I have to leave." I said, and the other two girls came over.

"Well at least you'll have Alice, it'll be good for you to have a familiar face there." Morgana said, making me look at the ground. "Actually Alice is staying here, I'm not taking her with me." I said in a whisper, scared of what their reactions would be. "What?" I heard Alice say loudy, and I looked up to see her looking at me sadly.

"Your whole life is in Camelot, I can't tear you away from that, it's not fair to you. You'll stay here in Camelot. Maybe father will let you work alongside Gwen, and I'll get a new maidservant once I get to Alex's home who knows the place better. I wish that you could come, but I can't just throw you under that much pressure." I explained, and Alice still looked confused.

"It's basically the same job as before, just you have the title Princess, not Lady." Alice said, making me sigh slightly. I moved away from the girls and sat on my bed. "What is it?" Morgana asked, and I looked up at them. "Alex's father is thinking of stepping down soon after we're married. That would make me... Queen." I said, my head trying to wrap around the thought for the first time.

"Lizzie." Was all Morgana said, before the girls pulled me up into a group hug, feeling comfort in each other. However, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. "I'll get it." I said, and I went over to the door, opening it slightly to see a servant there. "My Lady, Prince Alexander sent me to tell you that his mothers arriving." They said, making me nod.

I closed the door and looked back at the girls. "I have to go, I promise to have dinner with you all. Arthur too." I said, and they all nodded. I left my room and walked through the castle to the main doors. I saw that Alex was already there, and he smiled at me from where he was. He came over and held his arm out. "She'll love you." Was all head said, before the doors opened and I took a deep breath.

We walked out and I smiled at the blue carriage that was in the courtyard. I watched as a man went over to the door and opened, letting a woman out, who was quickly followed by a younger girl, who I presumed was her maidservant due to what she was wearing. Alex let go of my arm and went over to his mother, kissing her cheeks and coming over to me.

"Mother, this is my fiance, Lady Elizabeth." He said, holding his hand out to me, which I took. "Your majesty." I said, bowing my head in respect. The Queen smiled at me. "There's no need for the titles dear, we'll be family soon after all. It's wonderful to meet you, you really are as beautiful as Alexander described you." She said, making me look at Alex in shock.

The Prince next to me just chuckled awkwardly before turning to his mother. "Father said he'll meet you in your room, he had a few things to attend to. You'll be shown to your room by a servant, Elizabeth and I have something to attend to." Alex said, before grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the castle.

"So, you've told your mother about me?" I asked, giving him a pointed look. "I may have mentioned you a few times. I'm sorry, that was really awkward." He said, groaning slightly. "It's alright, she seemed nice." I said. I was about to say something else but was distracted by Alice coming over. "We're in your room, ready for dinner." She said, before walking away again.

I sighed and looked up at Alex. "I'll see you tomorrow." I said in a small voice, and Alex stepped closer to me, wrapping his arms around me. I leant into the hug, before pulling away and pressing a light kiss to his cheek. "Everything will be alright." he said, before walking away down the hall, in the direction of his own room.

I sighed again, knowing that the next time I saw him would be when I was marrying him. I turned around and walked towards my own room, trying to keep myself together, knowing that tomorrow would change my life completely.

I opened the door to my room and smiled as I saw that Alice, Gwen, Morgana, and Arthur were sitting around my table, dinner already in there. All heads turned towards me as I opened the door and I smiled weakly at them, going over and sitting down. We all started to eat, making light conversation, all of us avoiding saying anything about tomorrow.

While we were eating we reminisced about good times, and recounted stories to Gwen and Alice about when the three of us were children. It was so much fun, I didn't even realise how long we were taking to eat, because we were all laughing, and just enjoying our time together, knowing that it may be the last time we'd be able to do this.

By the time we'd finished eating everything, servants came over and took everything down to the kitchen. "Promise me that when I visit we do this at least once, just the five of us." I said, in a small voice, breaking the comfortable silence we had been sitting in. "Of course we will." Morgana said, looking over at me.

We went back into silence and I sighed. "We have a big day tomorrow, we should all go to bed." Gwen said, and she and Morgana left. "Alice I'll be fine, you can go home tonight." I said, and my maidservant gave me a hug before walking out as well, leaving just me and Arthur.

I went over to him, grabbing one of his hands. "I love you, always." I said, leaning up and kissing his cheek. Arthur nodded, before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "Love you." He said, before walking out, leaving me there. I closed all the curtains and got changed, before getting into bed, falling asleep with only thoughts of tomorrow on my mind.