The Royal Wolf (18+)

Chapter 2 - White

Lilianna

The halls of the castle are alive and buzzing with news of an arrival that no one but the King was aware of.

Ser Paul pushes through the stampede of people moving towards the courtyard. The surprise is so exciting for all that they do not see nor care about the young princess and maid trailing behind the knight, her large red gown being shoved and near-ripped.

"What is it?" Lilianna hears one servant, a young girl, ask another.

She huffs and pushes boys and girls alike off her sides, feeling the space close in around her as she tries to keep up with her knight in front of her.

More whispers find her ears. "Back... over there... many years..."

"Let me through!" Ser Paul yells over the commotion.

Some move as much as they can for him, others pretend to not hear him.

"I thought he left years ago," a woman whispers to her daughter as Lilianna passes them.

"Who?" Lili asks the woman, older and with wrinkles that make her look tired and hardened.

The woman pales at the young princess, realizing who overheard her, never having spoken with royalty before. She curtsies and averts her eyes, frustrating Lili.

Lili looks up, trying to peek around Ser Paul, with very little luck. She does see the sunlight, telling her she is close now to the surprise and mystery guest.

"Move for the princess!" Paul shouts and she keeps as close as possible to his back as the bodies finally seem to part. She looks around as she keeps moving, realizing that Gretel must have gotten lost in the mess.

"They say he was banished from his last court," a whisper to her left says and her eyes widen.

More whispers. More shoving. More yells from Ser Paul.

"It is the Trenton boy!" A man exclaims up ahead.

With that, Lili scoops up her skirts and shoves through the crowd, one person at a time, with Ser Paul shouting at her back to be careful. But he is no match for her speed and size. She manoeuvres to the front within seconds, finally breaking through the last row of people to run into her father's personal guard.

"Let me through!" She commands them and they part immediately, closing the gap as soon as she is through.

Her father is first in her sights, but he is not who her eyes land on. Her breathing stills.

"Lilianna, you remember-"

"Ser Edward," she finishes with a deep curtsy.

As she stands up slowly, her eyes take in the man in front of her, six years past the age she saw him last, yet somehow just as recognizable. His jawline may be more defined and his height and build may be taller and stronger, but his light hazel eyes have not altered. And now they are set on her, watching her movements and her own face as if he is also skimming for recognizable features he can place. She smiles meekly under his gaze, straightening her back as she becomes aware once more of her father at their side.

"Princess Lilianna, Your Highness," Edward says in a deep voice that she does not recognize as he bows low.

"Welcome back to court," she says, unable to look elsewhere as he smiles. "It has been too long."

"Thank you, princess," he returns, his tongue oversounding the 'cess' in the title as he used to do, making her lips tug upwards. "I am pleased to be back."

His eyes hold hers as his hands move to cross behind his back, a familiar glint returning behind the hazel. She tries to think of what to say to her old friend in the silence overcoming them.