King Henry

Chapter 36 - A Surprise Visitor

Eleanor looked at Henry with wide eyes. "Who could that be? You said no one else knew about the secret garden," she whispered.

"They don't," he whispered back, standing up and quickly pulling his trousers on.

Eleanor stood up and slipped on the dress, leaving off her undergarments and the ripped corset.

There was another knock at the door right as Henry tied his pants. He walked over to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Arthur. I swear I'm alone. Let me in."

Henry hesitated, before asking, "Why should I trust you?"

"Because if I wanted to do you harm I would 't have come here alone. I would have brought your mother's army here with me."

Henry hesitantly opened the door and Arthur crawled through it, standing up and brushing himself off.

"How did you know about this garden and where I was?" Henry asked, closing and latching the door behind him.

Arthur laughed. "I've known about this garden for years. When we were about eight or nine I got curious about where you were sneaking off to without me, so I followed you one day. I never said anything about it because I figured if you wanted me to know about this place you would've told me. When I heard you and Eleanor were hiding out, I figured this is where you would be."

Eleanor looked at Henry, wondering if he was going to trust him. Arthur looked over at Eleanor, thinking for a second before looking back at Henry.

"So are you two married now?"

"We are," Henry nodded.

Arthur nodded and swallowed hard, rubbing his hands over his face and letting out an exhale.

"I've thought a lot about what happened earlier and I came to the realization that I owe the two of you an apology. You were both honest with me from the start that you were in love with each other but seeing you ask for the council's blessing to get married just caught me off guard and made my jealousy come out."

He took a deep breath in and let out a sigh before looking down at his feet and hesitating. A few seconds passed by before he raised his head and looked at Henry.

"I'm sorry and I want to let you know that I'm happy for you, for both of you."

Henry reached his hand out and said, "It means a lot to hear you say that Arthur. Thank you."

Arthur shook his hand and then stepped back, sitting down on a stone bench. "I just hope one day I'll find someone that looks at me the way Eleanor looks at you."

"I'm sure you will," Eleanor told him with a forced smile. She still felt a little uneasy and wasn't ready to fully trust him yet.

"There's another reason I came here to find both of you. I needed to warn you," Arthur said, shaking his head. "It's your mother, Henry. She's planning something."

"Why do you say that?" Henry asked.

"I saw Lord Viscount walking with Duke Montelbane right after the council meeting, so that means he probably knows everything and then told her. Lord Buxley told me she's got the entire Royal army searching for the two of you."

"That's no surprise. I fully expected it," Henry nodded.

"I have a feeling she's planning something big, but I'm not sure what. You know how your mother is, always plotting, always scheming. That reminds me, I'm ummm, I'm really sorry for comparing you to her earlier when I was angry. You're nothing like her."