Edward {ManXMan} ✔

Five

Everything. The answer was everything. My head was killing me, my body ached. That next morning I laid in my bed with a cold cloth pressed to my head in horrid pain, my stomach churning at the very thought of moving.

The night had started off well enough. Edward and I had dressed in new clothes that didn't smell of the woods before going out when the sun started to low. It was strange being beyond the walls like someone who lived in the village.

It wasn't that I didn't leave the castle, of course, I did. But it was rare. I only left for meetings, or to go to other castles. I hadn't been on the grounds of the village beyond the castle but still inside the walls in many years. Not since I was a young teen. And back then it was not like now. Mother walked these grounds almost daily with Harlow. She enjoyed buying things fresh and wish her own hands.

Mother wasn't a born royal, her mother married a lord when she was ten, she had lived years living in the villages before becoming somewhat a princess in her own right. Though my grandfather was not of blood, he treated us as if we were. He and my grandmother had many years, and children together. It was just my mother and Harlows who were bore of a different man when grandmother was married the first time. Sadly their father died when both girls were only young of an open wound that got infected.

But I, I enjoyed the safety of my home. The walls were safe. Or the walls are safe for now. I question how safe they will be with the looming threat of King John and his men though.

And with that in mind, I let Edward take me to a bar that he said he frequents twice or so a week. It wasn't anything I had pictured. The tavern was lit with few candles, leaving it dark for the most part. Stools sat around a large long table, but there was only one person behind that table. There were women everywhere, breasts coming from there klieds with tight corsets. There was also an abundance of men, laughing loudly, yelling, cursing. I looked up to Edward with a raised brow wondering why in the name of God he would think of this place to take me.

The room itself smelled gross, I was sure I had seen a man covered in his own urine

"Don't give me that look." He scolded, walking through the tavern before taking a seat at a wooden table near the door.

"Eh! Eddie," A man called out, making his way over to the table. "Whatta doin' ear, thought ya had duties with tha pri- Oh, yer' Majesty." The man fell to one knee bowing his head, and I looked at Edward with pleading eyes to make the man stand up.

"Bodrick, don't be so foolish. Tonight he is not a prince, tonight he is just I-"

"Not a prince? Oh, of course. My apologies my lord. Two pints. Martha 'ill brings it to ya' shortly."

The man hurried off, I sighed looking up towards the man who forced me from my home. "Can we please leave?"

"Oh come now," He said with a light chuckle. "One pint, then we shall leave."

I agreed, and when the pint came I took it in my hand and looked at it, lost on what to do. "Oi, you put it to your lip." The waitress — Martha, had said. "Like this," She took my pint, slowly pressing it to her lips, uncomfortably slow, and her eyes stayed on me, making me squirm.

"Alright, alright, he ain't no toddle. Put the drink down and help Mosby ov'r tear sip 'is drink" Edward muffed, taking the drink from her hands before she could place it on the table.

Martha just giggled, giving me a wink. "I knows you don't get out lots mah lord. If ya' ever wants to see what woman can do. I'll be 'ear" Before strutting off and going to another table, leaning over so her chest was practically in a man's face.

With that out of the way, I looked at my pint and then to Edward and watched as he put it to his lips and drank half of it without a worry. As much as I didn't want to be here, I didn't want Edward to think any lower of me for not partaking in one of his past times. For the last two years, he and I have been friends he has done everything with, and for me. From listening to me play the piano, to playing it with me. And spending hours reading or drawing. He had no issues sitting for hours in the garden while I got my fingers dirty with caracole.

And that's not to say I've been totally selfish when it comes to him and I. Of course, I did things that he enjoyed. I would watch him spar, listen to him tell his stories. From time to time I would pen them for him because Edward himself wasn't the best at reading and writing. Though I had been teaching him and he has gotten much better.

So with the thought of making Edward happy in mind, I pressed the cold metal to my lips and took a quick swig of the contents.

It was horrid, the smell, the taste. But after a few moments, I couldn't help but go back for more. Soon Edward and I were laughing, there was music playing and we were three pints in each. I had even taken a turn on the large organ that sat in the room. Many of people danced, laughed. Edward even sang along to the tune I played, Martha as well.

I could not tell you how I got home. I cannot even say how we left the tavern. All I do know is I woke up in my own bed, aching and dreading the day to come.

"My lord, wake up quickly." I heard the panicked voice of Tsar call before my door swung open and he stood there in his day clothes, his fash an ashey white. "They've just called a dozen knights to the great hall." I started to sit, but my body protested with a pounding in my head.

"And why do I need to be there for that Taz? I am unwell, I need to rest."

"Because my lord, one of those knights was Edward."