Saving Royalty: England X Reader 4

You spent the majority of your time in the library now a days. But your wound was slowly healing, meaning you would start training by Monday, according to the doctor. You barely saw the queen unless it was for breakfast, which most of the time you skipped because the nobles were exchanging important business information and didn't want a commoner 'snooping around'.  Arthur would occasionally greet you and the two of you would engage in a bit of small talk, but he always acted rather awkward and rude.  Nevertheless, you could tell his fury towards you was dying out slowly….very, very slowly.  Oh, and then there was Frederick.  Sure, he was awkward to you that day, but the next he was completely normal, childishly giddy, in fact.  He had pretty much become your best friend in the palace after two days (if that’s even possible), aside from Sophie of course.

“Have you ever played?” He asked, sky blue eyes shining like a child.  You shook your head, holding the badminton racket as if it were a foreign object.  Loose strands of (h/c) hair tickled your cheek as you stood in the backyard of Buckingham Palace on a cloudy day.  The queen, some of the other nobles (including Arthur), and a few servants were watching the two of you, seated in leather chairs and sipping tea under a white tarp-like material to serve as shade.
“I’ve never even seen a ball that looks like that.  If it could even be considered as such.” You pointed to the birdy, which resided in Frederick’s hand.  He smiled in delight, clearly finding your cluelessness amusing.
“Right, anyways, the rules are simple.  Just hit it with an underhand swing preferably, and you must get it over the net.” Oh, well that was simple enough.
“And what sort of game is this? There’s hardly any boundaries.” You remarked, causing Frederick’s grin to widen.
“Oh, _______.  Dear, sweet, confused _______.” He teased, readying the the racket and birdy, and then adding, “You’re going down.” Now that was definitely commoner speech, you thought, while watching the birdy fly in the air, over the net and then back down, but far in front of you.  Struggling to not trip over your dress in the process, you managed to hit it over, but it touched the net, which was apparently a point for Lord Hayward.

Time Skip…

You and Frederick collapsed in the grass, laughing with whatever breath your lungs had left.  Your stomach hurt from the amount of running you did in that heavy dress.  Though it was made for sport, and was supposed to be light, it felt like a hundred pounds on your shoulders.  Men’s clothing was so much more comfortable.
“I haven’t done that since I was a child.” Frederick remarked, through pants of laughter.  You turned your head to the right to stare at him, ignoring the itching grass.
“Honestly, you still could be considered a child.  How old are you?”
“Eighteen.” He smiled, meeting your astonished gaze.
“Eighteen? And here I thought you were older than me.  You act like it when you’re in front of that bunch.” You gestured to the lot of nobles, who were deeply engaged in some angry conversation, which the queen obviously had no interest in.
“They most certainly consider me to be a child.  Never taking me seriously, despite my best efforts to change their view.” Frederick muttered, sitting up, his voice turning rather serious in a sad sort of way.  You paused in silence for one moment and sat up as well, hugging your knees to your chest and rocking back and forth as if you were a seven year-old
“Oh, come off it.  Just look at them! They’d consider my own grandmother to be a child when considering how ancient they are.” You joked, causing Frederick to make a choking sound that was almost definitely a suppressed fit of hysteria.
“_______, darling.  Would you mind coming over here for a moment? You too Frederick.” Queen Victoria called, smiling in amusement as if she heard the joke from under the tent.  The two of you looked at each other for a brief moment and proceeded to stand up and dust yourselves off.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” You curtsied before the queen, ignoring the disapproving glares from the other nobles.  She stared at you with kind eyes below her fancy flowered hat, and chuckled.
“My dear, you’re out of breath.  Would you like to sit down?” She offered, but you shook your head with a smile.  She nodded in understanding.
“I’ve asked Sophie to prepare a bath for you.  You are to clean up and head to the library immediately.  I’ve decided that it would be wise to find you a tutor, since...well, judging by your high level of intelligence for an uneducated woman, you could turn out to be a very important asset in my line of rule.” Victoria proposed, ignoring how every noble, besides Arthur and Frederick, had gone slack-jawed.
“Your Majesty.” One of them interjected.  He was definitely one of the elder gentlemen there.  Light grey eyes that could’ve led one to believe that he’d be possessed, hardly any facial hair, other than the bushy mustache and sideburns.  If you remembered correctly, he was Sir Thomas Baine.  A rather infamous person in the slums of London for being cruel to people below him in the social pyramid.  “I must object.  First you’ve taken in this filthy commoner, and then you insist on providing her an education.  If I’m not mistaken, she was a pickpocket before this whole mess had taken place, is that right?” The other nobles nodded and muttered confirmations.
“From the way things are escalating, I’d say this girl might become queen by the end of next year.” He teased with dry humor that the others seemed to find amusing, but the Queen didn’t, neither did you.  And Arthur noticed.  Within the next moment, the young, blonde Brit had grabbed the old bastard by his shirt collar and raised him just high enough to be met with fiery green eyes.
“If that is what Her Majesty wishes, then so be it.  But I will not tolerate any impolite words towards our queen or Lady _______ in my presence or in anyone else’s.  Is that clear?” The words rolled off his tongue so smoothly, but with so much hate and venom, that it caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand up.  Did he just…defend me?, you thought with utter shock.  You were lost for words for a moment, but then remembered that he was ordered by Queen Victoria to be kind to you.
“That should be enough excitement for today, Arthur.  You don’t want to give the poor man a heart attack, do you?” Her Majesty chuckled, slowly rising from her seat, and turning to her maid.
“Come Francine.  I should like to retire for the day.  I’m feeling a bit under the weather.” She said, and without another word or sideways glance to you or anyone else, walked to the palace entrance.

Time Skip…

“He did what?” Sophie expressed the same shock you had felt at that moment when Arthur had defended you earlier.  
“That’s exactly what I thought.” You replied, staring at the lavender and black dress that your maid had just fitted you in, through the mirror.  “I mean, I didn’t even think in a million years he would do something like that.”
“There, all done.” The golden haired girl smiled, admiring her handy work.  “You look absolutely gorgeous, _______.”
“All thanks to you.  I have no idea what I’d do without you, Sophie.  I reckon I’d be positively clueless without your aid.” You sighed in relief and then stared at the grandfather clock in complete dread.
“Oh dear, I’m late, aren’t I?”

~

You hurried down the halls, occasionally passing and greeting servants.  Finally reaching and opening the most familiar door in the whole palace.  The library never ceased to amaze you, with it’s endless shelves of infinite knowledge.  And that didn’t stop it from taking your breath away for what felt like the millionth time you’d been there.
“You’re late.” An all too familiar voice scolding.  Though it was rather monotone.  You saw Arthur leaning against a table, a pair of reading glasses reflecting the lamp light and hiding his brilliant emerald from your view.  He held a book in his hands, well known to you.  Romeo and Juliet.
“O-oh, my apologies, Your Grace.  It won’t happen again.” You stuttered shutting the door behind you and looking around the large room curiously.  There was no one else.  “This might seem like a rather, ridiculous question, but are you acting as my tutor?” You asked.  Oh Lord, no.  I pray to the Almighty God in heaven, not him, please.  The blonde sighed impatiently, closing the book rather harshly, and practically leering at you through his glasses, which he took of in the next moment.
“Pray tell, whatever gave you that idea?” His voice was almost literally dripping with sarcasm.

~

“Your handmaiden informed me that you do a great deal of reading here.  Tell me, what have you read?” Arthur inquired.  It was almost time for supper, and you could’ve jumped with joy because this man’s lessons were thick, long, and boring, much like block of wood that you just couldn’t seem to get through.  This particular question had caught you off guard, however, as you hadn’t expected him to ask any personal questions.
“Um, let’s see, I-”  A hand slammed down on the table, startling you.
“Ah, ah, ah, what had I just told you about the unnecessary pauses?” He scolded, as if you were but a child in grammar school.  You guessed that you’d zoned out during that bit...by that bit, I mean the entire lesson.
“That….they are unnecessary?” You took a stab at answering his question.  Arthur muttered something (that I’d rather not repeat, because it was a bit rude) under his breath, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Try again, without the pauses.” He added the last part a little louder as a harsh reminder.  So you stated all the books you’d read without a single flaw of hesitation.  The Brit looked genuinely surprised for a moment, and then his face went back to it’s impatient frown.
“You read Moby Dick?”
“Indeed, I have.  Though it was a bit slow, and longer than it probably needed to be.” You remarked, sort of going off on your own thoughts.
“And Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet?” Arthur asked, his voice wasn’t able to hide his astonishment.  You internally took that shock as an insult.
“Of course.  It is vitally important for every human to read and understand the works of Shakespeare, seeing as he was a genius with words.” You paused as he soaked in what you were saying, “You thought I was illiterate, didn’t you?” You spoke quietly.  The green eyed man looked at you, finally able to see the slight hurt that escaped into your facial expression.
“My Lady, I-”
“No, it’s quite alright.  I think I’m getting used to noble incompetence.”  You muttered, but Arthur definitely heard you, seeing as the anger he held inside was boiling up.
“Now see here-”
“Oh, don’t deny the truth of the matter.  You know that noble’s base their knowledge of lower class citizens on stereotypes.  I can prove it to you.” You looked at him as coldly as he had to you the first time the two of you had spoken.  He mirrored your look, and after a small moment of silence and stillness, he gave in and sighed.
“There’s no need for that.  I apologize wholeheartedly for my assumption, and I can assure you it won’t happen again.” You looked away, not really in the mood to except his faked apology, though this one sounded a bit more sincere than the last.  Then he did something that made your stomach churn and your heart pound, with what you thought was fear.  Sir Arthur Kirkland genuinely smiled at you.
“Don’t say a word to anyone else, but I rather admire your feisty spirit.  That in itself will be a great asset in your training as the queen’s guard.” His voice was kind and earnest, something that made you involuntarily blush and look away.  You were about to mutter a ‘thank you’, when a bell rang, signifying that it was supper time.
“Looks like dinner’s served.” Arthur murmured, and bowed to you with a now hollow smile, before walking out the door, and leaving you in the library, confused.