Chapter 40 - No Tears Left To Cry

From that moment on, Eleanor Louis lived in the Tudor castle. She wasn’t even allowed to leave and get her things.

“I will provide everything that you need to live.” The Prince had promised her.

He had led her to the section of the castle where she would take up residence in. In section. There was already a room prepared for her with an abundance of clothes and products for any high-class woman. It was creepy, but Eleanor should have expected that. The royal family had been confident enough to host a rematch between Rowan and Arthur, of course, they had a room prepared for her.

From one cage into another. Eleanor was again trapped in a place that she could not escape. Only this cage was bigger and didn’t have people she was familiar with.

Eleanor spent that night in a trance. Thinking about everything that happened leading up to her being cornered by the Prince. All that she did and all that she learned was going to be erased, snatched, and swallowed within the walls of the Tudor castle. The place was so big that Eleanor felt like she could simply be forgotten. She was sure if she ran away, she would never have to leave the compound to fully go into hiding.

Arthur had promised to give her a “tour of her new home” but the castle was so big that she was sure it would take days to complete.

Eleanor didn’t have any tears left to cry. The well was already dry. So many things have happened in her life. Getting trapped inside of a castle was not something surprising to her. At least she had more space and things to do. The only way to survive this was to think of all the positives. The castle was so big that she was sure she would not have to see Arthur that much, and if Eleanor really began to hate it that much, then she would always jump over the side of the castle to end her misery early.

Since it was built on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean, she was sure she would have enough elevation.

But the next day, her dream of not seeing the Prince often was crushed. She got a knock at her door, first thing in the morning.

A team of maids entered her room after she gave the all-clear to enter. They were all dressed in traditional black and white maid outfits. Their hands rested one on top of the other on their stomachs and their heads were lowered.

“Good morning, Miss Eleanor, the Prince has requested that we get you ready to have breakfast with him this morning.” the maid in the front told her.

Eleanor was still sitting in bed, her brain foggy from sleep. The sun had barely come up and he wanted to have breakfast? Arthur was either mad or torturing her.

Everything about the Tudor castle was grand, and so when the maids drew a bath for her, she experienced the massiveness of the bathroom for the first time. Eleanor was a sucker for fancy things, so she had to keep her composure when she saw it. It was definitely way bigger than hers back at home, and probably bigger than the first floor of Rowan’s home.

At the thought of Rowan’s Eleanor’s mood dampened, and she spent the entire time quiet while the maids got her ready. They left her hair down and put her in an airy floral dress and some low heels.

The Prince was waiting outside her door when she opened it. The pleased expression on his face pulled a scowl from hers.

“Do you always have breakfast this early or are you trying to seem like you have your life together?” Eleanor walked past him and began down the hallway.

“Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.” He fell into step beside her. “But this breakfast isn't about me. We’re having breakfast with my parents.”

Crap.

And what happened next was probably the most painful two hours of her life. In an enclosed room with just her, the Prince, and his parents. They acted like the Coming of Age Trials never happened, nor the rematch, nor Arthur using Rowan to get his way. It was like Eleanor was always supposed to be there and she just accepted the Prince as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

They were the only people in the country that Eleanor had to be respectful to. So she could not express how she really was feeling.

“I’m so glad that you and Arthur have finally decided to get married. The news was so wonderful I almost could not believe it.” Queen Angelina let out an airy laugh.

“Yes, yes, this is all quite pleasing.” King Richard hummed. “We should have the wedding soon. Instilling that the next ruler of our country is already married would be a smart idea.”

And who exactly would care? It’s not like the nobles really cared what the royals were doing, and it wasn’t like they actually did anything for the commoners. So who exactly were they trying to reassure?

But all Eleanor could do was agree and eat. She did not want to involve herself any more than she already was.

The news reached her parents later that day, they were in the castle before the end of it.

“Are you seriously getting married to the Prince?!” Kathrine demanded. “What happened to Rowan? What did you do Eleanor? Did you get yourself in some kind of trouble?”

Eleanor buried her head in her pillow. She did not want to have her parents hounding her for answers and assuming that she did something when it was the Prince who orchestrated the entire thing. And to think that Eleanor would give up her freedom for a commoner. The thought made her laugh.

“No…” She dragged out the last syllable as she rolled over on her back. “It just happened ok? I don’t want to talk about it.”

Caine sat on the edge of her bed, looking around her room. “Did something happen to Rowan? Where is he?”

Eleanor sighed. “I don’t know where he is. But he’s fine. Things just happened to end up like this. The Prince found a way to get what he wanted and I don’t really have a way out of this.”

“Eleanor, you can’t be vague with us right now. Tell us what happened.” Kathrine demanded.

If she did then she would have to think about Rowan and the last time they were together. She did not want to miss him. She honestly wanted to be like the King and Queen and pretend like it was always like this. That she’d never met the gladiator who was able to show her the world and change hers at the same time. That she’d never met the person who spoiled her with just the right amount of attention and pastries. That she’s never met the person who she actually might have wanted to marry.

At that thought, Eleanor’s lip quivered and she turned back over on her bed. Damn it. She was so close to grasping freedom, to getting something that she wanted that actually mattered. Damn that rotten Prince for playing dirty.

Her parents seemed to get that she didn’t want to talk anymore and so they left her alone after that. Eleanor did not want to cry. She could not cry. Doing so would open a floodgate. It would be like admitting that she had in fact lost and was not getting what she wanted after all.

But she wanted to forget Rowan Kennedy. He felt like a dream. Eleanor wanted to keep him that way.