THE WINTER AND THE CROWN // Harry Styles (#TCTM2)

Old Wounds

I posted the previous chapter again by mistake lol forgive me for the confusion!

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Lance had not slept for days.

He'd tried to. But every time he began to drift off, he would think about Reyna and feel the need to check if the ring was still glowing. What if he woke up to it being black? What if she died when he was sleeping?

The anxiety was too much to bear, so his mind was never at ease.

It'd been over a week. Only one of the men who'd travelled with the Queen had made it back to the castle, with a missing limb. He'd said that he'd lost the Queen and Harry at the foot of the mountain in a blizzard. Lance knew Reyna was still alive, but Harry might have been dead already, and she could be stuck somewhere in those wicked woods and could not make it back.

If only he could leave it all to go rescue her, but he had promised to look after her kingdom and her people. She would never forgive him if he chose her over them.

He'd just finished a meeting with the Queen's advisors about repairing homes for the people whose villages had been destroyed. It had been a tiring day, and Lance could not wait to return to his bed-chamber and tried to get some rest at last.

"Your Majesty."

Lance jumped and would've fallen over if it hadn't been for the door behind him. He stood with his back pressed against it, heart racing as he blinked rapidly to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

A stranger was standing by his bed.

A naked stranger.

A young girl.

She didn't look dangerous. If she were a spy sent to kill him at least she would have some proper clothes on.

"W-Who are you?" he asked, trying not to sound so terrified. His men would laugh if they knew a girl freaked him out this much.

"I'm Joanne, Your Majesty," said the girl. Her gaze fell to the floor as soon as their eyes met. And Lance knew in an instant that she didn't come here willingly.

He sucked in a deep breath and pushed away from the door, standing straighter with his hands behind his back. "Who sent you here?"

"The Queen's Lady-in-waiting, Your Majesty."

Jo.

Lance exhaled sharply and said nothing more to the girl as he opened the door just wide enough to poke his head into the corridor. "Call for Josephine," he told one of his guards, who hurriedly ran off to find the Queen's Lady-in-waiting.

Jo arrived five minutes later, looking more confused than afraid.

Lance stepped aside for her to walk in, and her smile widened as she saw the girl. To Lance, she asked, "Do you like your birthday gift?"

"My–How do you even know it's my birthday?"

Lance didn't even remember it was his birthday. He'd been too busy wondering if it was Reyna's death day.

"The Queen told me," Jo said, still smiling. "You told her when you were drunk, I think."

"I don't remember that..." He cleared his throat, hoping he wasn't blushing already. "Did she tell you to...um...get me a girl?"

Jo squinted her eyes, and Lance believed that was the first time he'd seen her looking genuinely innocent. "No. But Willem and Egon used to request a girl on their birthday so I thought–"

"Nevermind," Lance sighed as he held up a hand to silence Jo. To the girl, he asked, "How old are you?"

"E-Eighteen, Your Majesty," she said, eyes still on her feet.