CHAPTER ONE
six months before season one,
her arrival.

THE PRINCESS of devlin, france, looks nervously out of her window as she sees the busy streets of camelot making room for her carriage as they arrive at the courtyard. she glances at the people, who are now starting to gather around, before giving her the space after the orders from her coachman.

her handmaiden, estella, smiles at her, as she watches isabella looks around nervously. "tout ira bien, votre majesté." everything will be fine, your majesty. she tells her with a kind smile.

"je ne suis pas si sûr, estella." i'm not so sure, estella. she shakes her head, letting out a nervous sigh. estella simply shakes her head with a small smile.

the many shocked and excited whispers fills her ears as she looks up at the large castle, and then her eyes land on the knights, and then a tall man in the front, who she assumes was the king, and next to him, was a boy almost as tall, with a small frown. she guesses he was the prince.

isabella valour left her kingdom, devlin, in france, after her father had accepted the marriage proposal of prince arthur, from king uther. isabella had never any interest in arranged marriage, she wanted to find love for herself, and marry who she wanted. however, growing up in royalty never allowed her to have this freedom.

she remembers meeting prince arthur many years ago, when they were both seven years old. the two kings, uther and henry, have been discussing their marriage from a very young age, but it would only happen the day arthur pendragon becomes king.

she lets out a nervous breath as the carriage doors opened, and estella steps out first, one of the guards of camelot holding their hand out for isabella to take.

she thanks him with a smile, and takes his hand, stepping down onto the cobblestone. since her hair is shielding her face, she raises her head to meet the stares of the king, the prince, a lady on the other side of uther, and some of the knights.

she hears a few cheers from the villagers of camelot who are waving excitedly, calling her name which makes her smile lightly at them, sending them polite smiles and waves.

uther pendragon smiles as she walks towards him. "princess isabella." he greets as she curtsies slightly, to which he returns in a bow.

"it's a pleasure to see you again, my lord." she straightens up from her curtsy and he smiles.

"the pleasures all mine. how was the journey?" he asks gently, watching as she looks up at the castle.

"it took a while, but it was beautiful to see the views." she speaks, her french accent lacing her tone as he smiles.

prince arthur steps forward as uther turns to him, so he could re introduce them. "i assume you remember prince arthur?" he speaks as she curtsies once again, and he bows.

"your grace." he smiles, taking in her beauty with subtly widened eyes. she has grown up majorly since he last saw her, and but he never imagined her to be this beautiful.

she shakes her head gently. "please, call me isabella." she orders as he smiles .

"arthur." he tells her as she nods. "i know...you've grown very much." she smiles up at him, a chuckle left his lips.

"and this is my ward, the lady morgana." uther introduces to the beautiful woman next to her. isabella's lips turns up into a smile as she bows her head slightly.

morgana curtsies as she smiles up at isabella. "hello." morgana greets, isabella smiles softly. "hello, morgana. your dress is beautiful."

"oh, please. it's nothing compared to yours." morgana smiles, which isabella returns, chuckling slightly. "thank you." maybe being at camelot wouldn't be so bad.

"this is your handmaiden, i assume?" uther nods over at estella who was watching with a small smile.

"correct. this is estella." she gestures for estella to come over. the three pendragons sent her a polite smile, which estella returns with a deep curtsy.

"well, arthur will show you to your chambers. there shall be a feast tonight to celebrate your arrival." uther announces before turning around and walking back inside.

arthur looks back at his father, looking slightly annoyed as he shakes his head before morgana curtsies once more before leaving with uther.

"he seems pretty...tense." isabella tries to find the right word. a laugh escapes arthur's lips. "i don't think you should talk about the king badly, your grace." he smiles arrogantly.

she simply shrugs her shoulders slightly as he begins to walk inside, gesturing her to follow, which she does, estella following behind.

they make small conversation until they reach isabella's chambers, which happens to be opposite the lady morgana's, thankfully. morgana's maid sends them a smile and bows her head slightly as she walks past.

"i'll leave you to settle in, i suppose...i do hope you will enjoy it here, isabella." he tells her as she stands by the door.

"as do i, arthur. i'm sure i will." she bows slightly as he does the same and she shuts the door.

"i told you, it's not so bad, princess." estella smiles, her english not being perfect, since she still has a few more lessons from isabella left.

isabella chuckles, shaking her head. "we have only been here ten minutes, stella."

just an introduction before we get into the first episode :)

it's obvs gonna be a slight slow burn since they won't get married and she won't become queen until uther dies, but however since their marriage is arranged there will always be hints to their relationship, and they will fall in love through the seasons.