King Henry

Chapter 12 - Henry the Matchmaker

*Two Hours Later - Henry's Point of View *

Henry and Eleanor walked through the gardens on the castle grounds and talked for hours. He had never met anyone like her before. Her life was so much different than his that he was curious about everything and he asked her what seemed like a million questions. He found himself wanting to know everything about her. 

Some of her answers surprised him, but it was refreshing how brutally honest and open she was. The courtiers and princesses only told him what they thought he wanted to hear, but Eleanor actually told him the truth, even if it was embarrassing. Probably because she knew marrying him wasn't an option so she wasn't pretending to be someone she wasn't to win him over.

He had been with plenty of beautiful women throughout his lifetime but he couldn't remember ever being so interested in just talking to one and not trying to get her in his bed. She was genuine, funny, sweet and intelligent in a way that had him captivated. He hung on her every word.

It was well into the night by the time they finally made their way back up to the castle. He led the way inside and said, "I'm not ready for our night to be over yet. Will you come with me somewhere?"

She looked at him with curiosity and said, "Yes?"

He laughed and said, "That sounded more like a question than an answer."

"That's because it was," she laughed, following after him.

He led the way down a couple long corridors and then up a couple flights of stairs until they were standing outside of the heavy wooden doors of his private chambers. They were guarded by two knights, one on each side of the doors and they were wearing a full set of iron armor, one holding a longsword and the other a large double-headed axe.

As he walked between the guards and unlocked the door, he looked over and saw Eleanor's curious face.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around.

"You'll see," he told her with a smile, pushing the door open. 

He stepped inside to the main room of his private chamber that had a sitting area with a table and chairs, a desk for writing letters, a large locked chest, an ornate carved wooden clothing armoire, a separate cabinet for shoes and a hutch for serving wine to guests. There was a hand woven rug on the floor and elaborate tapestries hung on the walls. His bed was in a separate room beyond this one through another set of doors.

As Eleanor walked inside, she looked around the sitting room in awe, taking everything in. Henry closed the door behind them and locked it.

"This room is so beautiful," she said, running her hand over a tapestry and then over the ornate design carved into the wooden armoire.

"Thank you. This is actually my private chamber."

Her eyes widened and she turned to him. "Is it alright for me to be in here?"

"Of course. You're my guest," he said, walking over and opening the hutch and grabbing two metal goblets, filling them both with a dark red wine.

"Have a seat," he said as he walked back over and handed one to Eleanor as she sat down on the sofa and he sat down beside her leaving a large space between them. When she took the goblet from him he noticed her hand was trembling slightly.

"Does being in here with me make you uncomfortable?" he asked.

She looked down at her hands and didn't answer, transforming back into the shy timid girl she was the first time he met her. She obviously misunderstood why he had brought her here.