Childhood Stories

The second day was relatively smooth sailing after the heavy admissions from both Maria and Arthur at the beginning of their carriage ride.

They alternated between daydreaming, napping, and getting to know each other better through fun little questions such as each other's favorite colors and favorite holiday traditions.

In fact, the rest of the trip to France had the same flow from day to day.

When the sun was getting low, the valets would stop them at a local bed and breakfast, they would spend the night, and get up early the next day to leave.

Maria did not ask Arthur to stay with her until she fell asleep like she had the first night, and he had not offered, but part of her hoped every night that he would stay with her for just a little bit longer.

Every night she was saddened to be alone.

By the third travel day, Arthur had pulled out one of his favorite books, "The Death of Arthur", that his mother used to read to him when he was younger.

He read it out loud to Maria while they were in the carriage during the last couple days, and she became enraptured by the stories of the sword in the stone, the Knights of the Round Table, and the star-crossed love story of Guinevere.

She paid attention to every last word, and got so caught up in the world of the characters that she felt like she had to mourn them when the book was finished.

After the final words were uttered, Arthur closed the book and looked up at Maria who was completely silent in thought.

"Well?" he asked her, wanting to know if she loved it as much as he always had.

She looked forward to face him and let out a breath full of giggles. "Wow. That was the most incredible story. I can't believe that I had never read that book before!"

Arthur, who had been looking at her with anticipation, exhaled quickly and said, "I knew you would love it".

"You'll have to share all of the other books your mother used to read to you because if they are even half as good at this one, I need to have them all," she said, still amazed. She suddenly stiffened and stuttered as she added, "I mean...if you want to share them with me. If you don't mind".

"I would love to," Arthur said as he smiled at her.

She smiled back before she loosened up again and said, "You know I was concerned at first when you told me the name of the book. "The Death of Arthur" sounds so ominous. Especially since you share your name with the title character".

Arthur let out a small chuckle. "We share a name because my mother named me after him. It was always her favorite book, and she was able to get father to agree to it because Arthur means "the noble one", and of course he was prideful enough to want his heir to have a name that reflected his status".

Maria noticed that when he spoke of his father, Arthur's face stiffened and twisted in disgust. He practically spat the words out as he shook his head in disapproval.

"You seem to have some strong feelings about your father, Mr. Noble One," she joked to somewhat lighten the heaviness of her observation.

His emerald eyes shot up to meet hers, and he sat up straight as a board. "I haven't been a fan of my father for a long time. Not after how he treated my mother," he trailed off. His signature deadpan expression crossed his face, but he couldn't bring the emptiness to his eyes that still held plenty of emotion.

Knowing how sensitive Arthur was about his mother, paired with the fact that he was trying to push down his obviously strong feelings, concerned Maria, so she moved across the carriage to sit next to him and offer support.

She grabbed his left hand with both of hers and held tightly to it; he looked down at their hands, and he sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she gently asked.

"Not particularly, but we'll be arriving at the castle soon and I'd rather you hear the story from me than from a gossiping maid," he said with venom in his voice.

Whatever his father had done had clearly been enough to poison the father and son relationship they should have had.

Maria turned her body in the seat so that she could face him better when he told his story, but she continued to hold onto his hand as a grounding anchor for him.

Arthur continued to look down at their hands as he struggled to find the words. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity before he began his story.

"My father and mother had an arranged marriage like most future kings and queens do. My mother married my father when she was seventeen, and her age was definitely a reflection of her naïve hope that they could live happily ever after together. She fell in love with him quite quickly, and she had figured that he loved her too."

He blinked hard and took a couple of deep breaths before he continued.

"I was born before they even reached their first wedding anniversary, and both of them were thrilled. She had always wanted to be a mother, and he had secured an heir for France. Shortly after I was born, my mother noticed how he would come late to their room, if he came at all. He had no desire to help take care of me, and loved to use the excuse of being a busy king with duties to avoid the duty of his own family."

Maria squeezed his hand to comfort him as he started to become slightly shaky.

"One night, my mother decided to go out and find him because he should have been with her, and she found him in bed with one of the princesses who was visiting for the season. She was completely heartbroken, and when she confronted him about it, he told her that he was in love with his princess mistress. My mother did everything she could to show her love to him and to fix their already broken marriage, but nothing was ever good enough for him."

Arthur paused and his eyes remained looking down at their hands.

"He became more and more distant until he had the audacity to move my mother out of the royal room and into a separate wing of the castle so that he could move his mistress in with him. He brought her into their bed and threw my mother, the Queen, to the side. After a couple of years, his mistress became pregnant, and it shattered my mother. They named the baby Julien, which means "child born of love", and my mother started to lose her sanity. Unlike how he was with me and my mother, he was a doting father to Julien, and was there taking care of him at every opportunity. My mother watched as she and I had been thrown away and replaced, and since she was a woman in a country that wasn't hers, there was nothing she could do about it."

He swallowed hard, and Maria noticed that he kept a hardened countenance as he spoke. He seemed to really be making an effort to choke down his emotions.

"She wasn't allowed to interact with my father or his mistress, and I wasn't allowed near Julien. We were ostracized in our own home, and even the servants mocked us. Eventually, it became too much for my mom to handle. The stress had broken down her body so much that it made her sick, and I had to watch as she slowly lost her life."

The sadness finally had become too much, and Maria watched as tears started to stream down Arthur's face. He didn't even look like he knew that he was crying.

It was obvious that he had reached a point in his memories that was too painful to relive, and he became totally still as he was trapped in the past.

Maria brought one of her hands up to his face, and she wiped the tears away before she cupped his cheek and held him gently.

"I'm so sorry that she had to endure all of that pain. And I'm sorry for you too. No child should have to go through what you went through. No child should have to lose their mother that young," she said in a shaky voice.

She wanted to be strong for him, but his past was so heartbreaking, and she hated to see him in pain.

Arthur remained frozen as a statue, so Maria wrapped her hands around his head and shoulders so that she could bring him to rest against her chest.

She held him tightly, and after a while, he brought his arms up to wrap around her waist.

They sat in silence until Arthur said in a soft voice, "I was so scared that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life after she died."

Maria's heart tugged and her own tears started to spill down her face. "You're never going to be alone again, I promise."