Between the woods, the Queen’s guard was spying on them. But unfortunately, Guinevere had an unknown escort too. The King had his talented guard protect his only daughter. Guinevere’s escort saw the Barlow’s guard but remained silent and cautious. They witnessed the proposal. Suddenly, before Guinevere answered Geoffrey’s proposal, an arrow sprang and pierced into the land between Geoffrey and Guinevere. Both of them were shocked and then looked at each other in curiosity. Suddenly, a Barlow’s guard came out between the woods while holding a bow. “Prince Geoffrey, Your Highness got me to follow you and bring you back to the Barlow’s territory.”
Guinevere was surprised, she felt electrified. Geoffrey…Geoffrey was a Barlow? The eternal rival of the Cornford? Geoffrey recognized Guinevere’s surprised emotion. By the time he wanted to open his mouth to apologize, another guard came out. Both of them turned towards the new guest. It was a Cornford’s guard, walked towards Guinevere and stood beside her. Now, it was Geoffrey’s turn to be surprised because of the Cornford’s guard arrival. She’s a Cornford? Geoffrey went numb and Guinevere went pale. Both of them were speechless. The Barlow’s guard took Geoffrey’s hand and leaded him into the woods. He never stopped looking at Guinevere and tried to speak up as there was so much to say, so much to apologize. But the goddess of fortune didn’t stand by his side. He was so surprised that he couldn’t find his voice.
Guinevere looked into Geoffrey’s eyes, even when he was dragged by his guard. She was such in a bad condition that she wished Geoffrey just knew how she felt at that moment. They tried every avenue to talk, but to no avail. Instead, their eyes talked. They understood each other’s thought through the glimmer of the eyes.
After Geoffrey and his guard arrived at the castle, the Queen was standing in the center of the grand ball. It was said that the Queen had waited for her son’s arrival. The guard walked towards the Queen, kneeled on one knee and reported everything. Every single word that guard said made the Queen furious. She looked at Geoffrey with furiousness and a slight of disappointment and sadness. The Queen’s look made him felt like a dagger was stabbing his heart. He felt he had failed as a son and as an heir. The Queen had no choice but to lock her son up in a tower of the Queltin, a kingdom which was abandoned for hundreds of years. Her action was assumed to have been done so that the King wouldn’t know what Geoffrey had done.
Day by day, week by week had passed since the day Geoffrey was locked up in a tower. It was the tallest tower even built since the Queltin’s generation. It was an old tower surrounded with thorny bush, leafless trees and vines climbing the wall. No one was allowed to visit him except for the Queen and her trusted guard to feed him. The King was told that Geoffrey had been abroad to travel around the world so he wouldn’t be suspicious why Geoffrey was missing.
In the tower, he couldn’t think of anything but Guinevere. There was time when he would wonder what she was doing at the moment, what she was thinking, how she felt after the incident. When that thought came up, Guinevere’s startled face came up. He couldn’t get rid of that memory and he blamed himself for that incident, for not being able to speak up, calm her, and hold her. He thought about it over and over again. He realized that Guinevere was special. She was one of a kind. She was mature, knowledgeable, daring, caring and a naturalist. Still, Geoffrey did nothing but writing. He got the papers, the feather and ink prepared through the Queen’s guard. He wrote poems, containing his apology, how he felt about Guinevere and what he had done during the imprisonment in the tower. He got pigeon to send his poems to Guinevere. He hoped that Guinevere would receive his poems, forgave him and replied him.
At noon, Guinevere and her father’s trusted custodian had entered the fortress of the castle. As soon as they got into the royal hall, the custodian reported to His Majesty.
“Your Highness…” He kneeled down on one knee and bowed. The King nodded and asked him to stand up.
“Your Highness, I stand before you to inform you that all this time Princess Guinevere had been meeting Prince Geoffrey Barlow, the heir of the Barlow kingdom in the Calisto Forest.”
“What?! “ He couldn’t believe his ears. He looked at his precious daughter with anger. “How could do this? You know that the Barlow was the Cornford’s eternal enemy. It is in every…”
“Cornford’s blood. I’m aware of that, Father. First of all, I apologize. I do realize that the Barlow is our rival but then, I think I’m in love.” Guinevere stated with a smile. The King got angrier.
“Don’t you dare say the word love! You can love anyone you want except the Barlow. For God’s sake, Guinevere, don’t disappoint me. You are my one and only child. You’ll be the future queen of this kingdom. Be wise. That’s the basic requirement for a leader. You have a lot of time to think about it in your room. You’re forbidden to get out of the castle…” Guinevere wanted to complain but her father added,” And that’s my final decision.” Guinevere was disappointed and she went to her room.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar