A King's Tale

Encounters

Aurora tried to calm herself before heading to the great hall to dine with King Henry for breakfast. Their earlier encounter was something beyond her expectations.

To think she was planning on telling him about her intentions of staying. She was about to ask if she can work in the castle, as one of the maids, or anything, in exchange for a place to stay.

She needed the money. It can help her get out of the country. But for now, she needed a safe place where she could hide. And Dunnottar Castle is one of the safest places to be in for her.

But how could she open up about that idea now? Just right after seeing King Henry naked, jumping from cliffs, and walking butt naked going inside the castle. Just the thought of his naked body sent shivers down her spine. It made her blush.

Good thing Diana was not talking at all. She was smiling most of the time and helping her out with her dress. If she did, she could only imagine the things that she would say if she shared this encounter that she had with the King.

She picked a more casual dress for today. Aurora was planning to get around the castle if it was possible. At Least meet the people inside or find things to do. She might as well be productive during her stay.

Although she didn’t have a corset on, Diana insisted that she would still help her in getting dressed. Aurora didn’t know how to communicate with her properly so she gave in. There was no point in discussing knowing that she is not capable of a discussion with Diana.

When she was dressed, Diana escorted her to the Great Hall. Henry was just about to take his usual chair when he saw her walking towards the table.

Instead of sitting, Henry walked towards her.

He offered his arm, escorting her to her seat. Which made him confused and blushing again. Henry was fully clothed but she could still imagine his alabaster skin glistening under the morning sun. King Henry was not making it easy for her to forget about the incident earlier.

Henry pulled her chair and helped her to sit. He whispered to her ear. “Good morning.”

Aurora felt the hair on her neck stand when Henry did that. It was going to be a challenging breakfast for her.

When Henry was seated, Silverio began serving their food. It was on a covered plate. Silverio placed her plate before serving Henry.

She accidentally looked at Henry. She was going to remove the cover on her food only after Henry opened his. Henry saw her looking. “Please help yourself.” He told her.

She decided to take a sip of water before opening, removing the cover of her breakfast. When she opened it, she immediately choked on the water inside her mouth when she saw what was inside.

The breakfast plate had a huge sausage and two boiled eggs on the side. She failed to notice the pieces of bread and cheese on the second plate. Clearly, her imagination was bringing her to places she was not used to being.

“What seems to be the problem?” Henry asked. He was good at hiding it but he was definitely messing with Aurora. He was trying really hard not to laugh at her reaction to the eggs and the sausage. Even Silverio was having a hard time keeping his face serious when he served Aurora.

“Oh, nothing.” Aurora managed to say. She began slicing the sausages so they wouldn’t look like what she was imagining.

“Go gentle with your sausage, or is it still hard?” Henry said. Clearly, she was having a hard time making Aurora blush. If only she could see how red her face is right now. “Do you want Silverio to serve you a different sausage?” Henry saw Silverio turn around, his shoulders moving up and down. He was clearly laughing.

“No, it's fine.” Aurora took a bite. Then another, then another. She needed to finish the meal as fast as she could. Henry was definitely playing with her.

“You seem to like sausages, do you like Silverio to get you another one?” Henry asked. He was so full of himself already. But he still managed to keep a poker face as he slowly ate his sausage and eggs.

“No your highness, this is already more than enough.” Aurora was trying to calm herself. Maybe the King was not playing. Maybe he was just really trying to start a conversation with her.

Henry knew that he was already too much so he focused on the meal instead. Aurora was somehow relieved. She slowly took the time to finish her breakfast.

After the main course, Silverio brought in a bowl of fruit salad. He took a small plate and gave her a hefty serving.

“Oh, this seems too much.” She said, But the salad did look delicious.

“Eat as much as you can. I think a few extra pounds would be good on you.” Henry said, not looking at her.

Aurora touched her cheeks. She felt her bones more prominent than they usually were. She did lose a lot of weight when she ran away from home.

She slowly began eating her salad. It was as delicious as it looked. Henry seemed to be enjoying his serving of fruit salad too.

“Silverio,” Henry said, to which Silverio reacted by walking closer to him. “Please have someone attend to Aurora today. Tour her around the castle, as well as outside. It is a nice day to see the sun today.” He instructed.

“It will keep you entertained before we have lunch.”

Aurora looked at him. She smiled at him although he didn’t smile back. He nodded instead. He removed the napkin from his lap and was about to leave when Aurora called him.

“King Henry.”

“Just call me Henry, it will do.” He stopped but didn’t turn around.

“I was wondering if I could stay here for a few more days. I would not want to take advantage of your generosity but I really need to have a place before I leave the country. I promise I would help around the castle so I would not be a burden to anyone” Aurora finally had the courage to ask.

“No!” Henry’s voice slightly changed. “You are my guest, it will stay that way.” He turned around to look at her. “You can stay as long as you need, as long as you deem necessary.” He then turned his back from him and walked away from the Great Hall.

Aurora looked at Henry while he was walking away from the table. What a strange king he was.

Henry went straight to his room. There he started laughing. Henry could still imagine the shock in Aurora’s face when she saw what was under her breakfast plate. She couldn’t even dare slice the sausages.

Right after their short encounter outside when Aurora thought that he jumped to the cliff to take his own life, he was welcomed by Silverio at the door to the castle. He immediately went to the kitchen and told the servants to include sausages and eggs for their breakfast.

Henry was laughing for a good couple of minutes before he managed to compose himself to stop.

“Whoa, that was fun.” He told himself. It has been quite a long time since he had a good long laugh.

Then he remembered why Aurora was very concerned about him jumping on the cliff. She was worried that he was hurt, or worse, she had thoughts that he was taking his own life. Well, if she only knew.

Aurora was escorted by Magda, another helper inside the castle. According to her, she was in charge of the cleanliness of Dunnottar Castle, inside and out.

“I have been serving the Keith family since I wasn't seven. I was actually born within the castle grounds.” Magda shared. “I must say that I have the most knowledge of the ins and outs of this property. It has been my duty to ensure that every nook and every corner is clean, inside and outside the castle. It would be appropriate for me to tour you around the castle since I am the most familiar with it. “Magda continued to share. She was around 65, Aurora guessed or even older, looking at her. Her hair was completely gray, tied in a bun like her grandmother used to as Aurora recalled. “Even Silverio is not as familiar as I am when it comes to the different corners of this castle.”

“This is a beautiful castle indeed.” Aurora complemented. “I can only imagine the efforts you put into it every day to keep it looking glorious like it was since it was built.” She added.

“Is this your first time here in Dunnottar Castle or not?” Magda asked. She was wondering how Aurora and concluded if this was the very first time she came to the place.

“I saw it in books, paintings.” It was true. Aurora read a few things about Dunnottar Castle in books when she was younger.

“Oh, I see.” Magda let her comment go. “I think we should start outside, while the weather is still adorable. I can tour you around the inside of the castle after lunch. For now, we can enjoy the morning sun and the calm sea breeze of the North Sea.” Magda led her to the side door where she earlier ran to get to Henry.

Aurora could not help but blush. The memory of Henry earlier this morning was still fresh in her mind. She could still see his alabaster and muscular body standing in front of her. She could even feel the coldness of his skin when he held him as she panicked.

Breakfast even made it harder to forget.

Magda told her to stand several feet away from the castle walls. She did. From the spot where she was standing, she could see the entire height of the castle. All its Windows aligned and looking massively impressive. Magda was right. She was doing a good job in keeping the Dunnottar Castle as magnificent as it was since it was first built.

As Aurora recalled, Dunnottar Castle was initially built to be a fortress, thus its location on the headland of the northeastern coast of Scotland. It has always been known for its defensive strength, although its beauty is also beyond comparison. It was once the home of the Scottish Crown Jewels, the Honours of Scotland. But it is believed that these jewels were already gifted by the Keiths to the Queen Mary.

“The castle ground is over 1.4 hectares and mostly surrounded by steep cliffs. If I were you, I wouldn't go near this area during a story day. You might end up being blown away down the North Sea''. Magda candidly shared. “Come, I will let you see the tower house and the century palace.” Magda urged her to follow.

Looking out of the window was Henry. He was observing from afar. Adoring Aurora’s beauty.

The dress she wore today suited her. It was dark emerald in color. If he didn’t see her earlier in her ravaged dress, he could easily mistake her for a royal, a lady of some faraway court who happened to appear on his castle gates.

Aurora was a beauty to behold.

He looked at how she smiled, how her eyes brightened up hearing Magda’s stories about the castle. He too had stories to share. Too many actually. He had more stories to share than any of his servants inside the castle.

Henry was about to walk away from the window when Aurora’s face looked up. Their eyes met. He was about to smile but Aurora smiled at him first. He was about to smile back but she already turned her head to follow Magda.

Henry walked away from the window and headed downstairs.

“Silverio!” His voice traveled from his bedroom door down to the stairs.

Silverio came running to his room after a few seconds.

“Prepare my horse.” He said.

Magda and Aurora were walking towards the Castle Tower when they heard hooves of horses headed their way. It was King Henry. He was riding a white stallion.

When he was close enough, he descended the horse and addressed Magda. “You can go back to the castle, Magda. You shouldn’t be tiring yourself like this. Take a rest and resume touring Aurora inside the palace after our lunch. I will take care of things from here.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your thoughtfulness.” Magda did a curtsy. She turned to Aurora to excuse herself. “I will see you later, my Lady.” She said and started walking back to the castle.

Aurora stood there, waiting for whatever Henry was about to say.

“Come, I’ll have a better way of exploring the castle grounds.” Henry offered her hand to Aurora.

Aurora took his hand and walked closer. Henry held her by the waist and helped her get onto the horse.

“Oh,”. That was all she managed to say, surprised by his gesture.

When she was seated on the saddle, Henry mounted the horse too, he sat on the back where a saddle was also placed. Two saddles. He was planning to ride the horse with her all along.

Aurora felt Henry’s lips on her ear, “Ready?” He asked.