The King's Servant

Chapter Twenty Four

Emilia awoke with a shake. Her eyes fluttered open and it took a moment for them to adjust to the light. She rubbed the sleep from them and stretched with a yawn. Then she looked up to see who had disturbed her. Matthew. Emilia scrambled to her feet and stepped away from him. His eyes were red as if he'd been up all night and cried all day and he wobbled a little as he stepped forward. His cloths were disheveled and torn. he looked only at Emilia's shoes as shame clouded his eyes.
"I-I-wanted to apologize again... and to explain..." he almost whispered, as he played with the hem of his shirt. "I was jealous, and- and the thought of him just..." he trailed off. "I tried pull you back to apologize.. I wanted to run after you to apologize... and I waited all day by our tree and- Emilia, I-" he stepped forward to continue but collapsed on the ground. Emilia wanted to take her chance and run but he was hurt. She slowly got on her knees in front of him.
"What happened?" She asked, trying to figure out what hurt him. He tugged at his sleeves instinctively and tried to hide his arms so Emilia grabbed his hand and pushed his sleeve up. She gasped and scooted closer to inspect his wrist and pulled at the other sleeve to see the same thing. Rope burns.
Her eyes darted up towards his, "what happened?" She asked again. This time more sternly. Matthew kept his eyes fixed on the grass as tears began to well up again. Sitting closer she began to notice other things... the bags under his eyes, his cut lip, and a welt on his head.
"He wants you... you know?" He whispered.
Emilia was confused. "Matthew. What happened?"
Matthew shrugged, "he did what I would have done if I had thought someone had... touched you."
The pieces began to whirl into place and Emilia's stomach dropped.
"The king?" Her heart raced and she held her breath as she waited for him to say no... to say anyone but him. Matthew only nodded....
After a long silent moment he spoke again.
"I'm going to go live with my cousin." He held her hand gently. "I'm going to work with his horses." Emilia sat there broken. He kissed her hand and slowly stood. "Goodbye Emilia." He shakily walked away and with each step Emilia wanted shout 'stop!', to get up and run after him but all she could do was sit there as her heart felt like it was exploding. After a few hours Emilia finally broke from her trance. She stood to her feet shakily. She was torn. She had loved Matthew.. she had wanted to marry him but somehow her feelings had shifted toward the king. But he could never marry her. She would be alone all her life... unless....
Emilia's heart pounded as she began to run toward the castle as fast as she could. She didn't know what she was going to say but she wasn't going to loose. She wasn't going to miss out on love.

James stood pacing in his bed chamber. Where was she? He had asked Grendich to send for Emilia hours ago but she hadn't returned and Emilia hadn't come. He was missing her after a long day of meeting with Morgan, but they had come to an agreement and he was relieved he didn't have to marry Victoria. He went to his window and stared out at the trees. She was probably sitting under one of them hiding away from the world. He thought with a smile. She never liked being indoors. After a few minutes of looking out over the Forrest he decided to for another walk along the tree line.
As James walked, he breathed in the fresh air. Something had changed in him and for the first time in a while, he felt content. James had almost made it back to the castle when he saw someone running from the tree line. As he watched, a smile slowly grew on his face. It was Emilia. But it soon faded when he noticed she wasn't running towards the castle doors but to the stables. He watched as she ran to man packing a horse, ready to leave. Why would she.... James straightened as he remembered Matthew.
He felt his heart drop as she lunged forward and embraced the man. They talked for a minute before she pulled him into a kiss. James looked away angry- hurt- confused. He didn't understand what he was feeling. He stood in the garden unable to move, feet fixed where they were. He brought himself to look up again to see the man mounting his horse and riding away. Emilia watched him leave with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked defeated and James' anger turned to sadness. She didn't love him in return. He was a king to her, and she had been just doing her duty.

Emilia ran from the trees to see Matthew still packing his horse. He hadn't left! She ran to him and hugged him tightly afraid to let go because she still hadn't found the words to say.
"Stay." Was all she could muster. She felt him hug her tightly in return for a moment before pulling her away to look at her.
"I can't." He sad sadly. "I can't work here anymore. I can't see you around here knowing I love you but can't have you." Her heart ached as she thought of a reason, a plan, a word that would bring them back together.
"Take me with you then."
His eyes darted up toward hers, shocked at her reply. He wanted to take her hand and to ride away her but he couldn't. She no longer loved him like before and he couldn't live like that... knowing she loved another man but settled for him instead. Emilia knew his answer before he even said it.
"Emilia, I ca-"
"I love you..." she pleaded with him. Again shocked Matthew looked into her eyes. She couldn't help herself. She felt like her world was falling apart. She pulled herself to him quickly and kissed him before he even knew what hit him. He was about to push her away but he wanted to savor the moment.  After a moment he did pull away and held Emilia's shoulders. They looked into each other's eyes for what felt like forever before he smiled sadly trying to appear controlled.
"Goodbye Emilia" he choked the words out as he kissed her head. And before Emilia could plea with him anymore he turned, mounted his horse, and rode away. Emilia suddenly felt cold. She had lost. All she wanted to do now was to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head. She turned to walk back to the castle but she stopped immediately as she saw King James standing in the garden, watching. She didn't know how long he'd been there or what he'd seen but as he starred at her unmoving and silent she had a pretty good idea of what he  saw.