Loving the Forbidden Prince
[COMPLETE] Can a royal Romeo and Juliet find their happy ending? Ayleth, Princess of Zenithra, is secretly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and collects swear words she doesn't know how to use. During the Festival of Peace, in which every royal son on the continent will be at the castle for a month, she is instructed by her parents to find a husband. Yet, Ayleth has never even been kissed—until the very first ball, when she meets the man in the Lion mask. Etan is a seasoned warrior, and the Prince of Summitras. He attends the Festival hoping to find a powerful wife who will help him conquer the dark sorcery of their bloodsworn enemies, the Kingdom of Zenithra. But at the very first ball, he discovers the masked woman who captures his heart is the Heir to the evil empire. Ayleth and Etan face an impossible battle. Will their love survive? Or will their parents' dark dealings keep them apart forever? [Mature content. No sexual violence.] ****** “You…” She stepped back. Then back again, her mouth dropped open. “You… You cannot be…” “I am,” Etan said, and his hair raked back as he pushed his mask off his handsome face. So handsome her heart raced. His hair was ebony black, his skin a warm brown that threatened to fade in in the winter months. He stared at her with glittering green eyes, over high cheekbones and a noble nose, his jaw tight and shadowed this late in the day. His chin was high over the pillar of his neck that she’d just touched with its hard lines and steel strength, so different to her own. And his chest... She gasped and covered her eyes. She’d humiliated herself revealing her stupid, childish curiosity. “No, Ayleth. This changes nothing.” “How can you say that? It changes everything!” She was horrified to realize she was crying. “Ayleth, please.” His voice cracked on the plea and she stared at him, shoving her mask up and off, despite how it would pull her hair out of the beautiful twist the maid had managed for her. His eyes locked on hers and she couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She had met her One. And he was the son of her bloodsworn enemy. She stared at him as he stepped forward again, offering both hands, palm up. “Touch me,” he whispered. “Hold my hands. This is real, Ayleth. I don’t know how it happened, but this is real. Please don’t deny it.” She couldn’t resist. She raised a trembling hand to his cheek, letting her palm catch on the scruff of his jaw. He blew out a breath and put his hand over hers, and that jolt that happened whenever they touched shivered through her again. “Please, Ayleth.” “I cannot deny it,” she whispered. [Cover specially commissioned and illustrated image by Same Van Rijn. See more of their amazing art on Instagram: @same.vanrijn]
Stableboy
ETAN
He knew it! He knew they'd be neglecting his animals. After he'd finished refilling his stallion's water bucket and refreshing his hay, Etan walked towards the lights deeper in the stable. He could hear one of the stableboys feeding a different animal—but they couldn't throw some hay to his?
Fuming and determined not to be put down, he stalked through the aisles—noticing as he went that this end of the stables didn't suffer the sagging doors, loose cobbles, or splintered walls of the area where his beast was stabled. He ground his teeth and stalked so quickly through the stable that he almost missed the lad feeding the pale mare in corner where the royal steeds were stabled. Stupid boy didn't have a lantern lit. That was a good way to get himself stood on or kicked by a dozing animal. Did these children know nothing? Or did their King have some stupid rule that forced them to work in dangerous ways?
He stormed up behind the boy, hands clenched to fists. "So, tell me, does the King make you keep the lights off, or—"
There was a gasp and a squeak, and the stableboy whirled around, wide-eyed.
Etan almost didn't recognize her. Her hair was shoved under a cap, and in the dim light and poor clothes, he would have missed it if she hadn't gasped, "Etan?!" and dropped the brushes she was holding with a great clatter.
"Who's there?!" a gruff voice called from three aisles away.
Etan turned, but she grabbed his hand and hissed, "We have to get out of here!" and yanked him toward the back wall. He fought for a moment—the exit was in the other direction—but she was leading him only two stables down to a tall ladder that connected the stable with the hayloft above. She didn't let go of him until she reached the ladder and scrambled up quickly, the leather breeches hugging her thighs and buttocks in a way that dried Etan's mouth as he followed her up.
They made it to the top just as the lantern light from whomever had heard her began to cut across the stable doors where they'd stood. She rolled away from the loft opening to give him room, but as soon as he was on the planks, he lay still, because whoever was down there would likely hear them if they moved. They ended, both laying on their stomachs, watching the stables below through the cracks between planks beneath them.
A tall man with just a ring of short gray hair around his ears, made it to the stable where Ayleth had stood and held his lantern high, scanning the space. He pushed his cap back and scratched his head. "Was someone visiting you again, Beauty?" he said to the mare who nickered to him, chewing on the hay she'd been given. "Well, now, I wonder who would do that?" The man smiled grimly. "Whoever it is, they better remember that if they overfeed you, you're less likely to breed in the spring."
He clucked to the horse who put her head over the lower door and waited to be scratched. He chuckled and patted her neck so hard her mane shivered, then turned to leave. "Goodnight… Beauty, better get your rest for tomorrow," he threw over his shoulder with a grin.
Etan turned to look at Ayleth who wouldn't meet his eyes. They waited for the man's heavy steps to grow distant, then waited even longer as Etan scanned the stable for more lights or movement. But all he could hear was horses stamping and the occasional snort.
When he finally turned to look at her, she was beaming at him. "You found me!" she whispered. And he smiled back.