Wars of the Heart
Amelia Luna-dynn is a young damsel of unassuming character. However, there is a deadly secret she harbors: that she is the daughter of a forbidden race, a tribe despised by the royals of the Kingdom. She is the sole survivor, discreetly living an unseen life as a commoner. But there are scars on her back that betray her origin, requiring her to cleanse herself in order to stay alive and unrecognised. With such reins attached to her race, it is impossible to find someone who would love her despite the dangers of her origin. But one night, when at the verge of being eaten by beasts, she is saved by a mysterious man from the grasp of death. Curiosity drives the damsel to chase love. Despite being downtrodden, she stumbles upon the opportunity meeting with high society by joining a Book Club run by the beautiful daughter of the Duke, Charlene Walterus. Amelia makes friendships with nobles and soon comes close to a romance with a man she suspects to be her secret rescuer, but is hopeless that his heart is far gone in the arms of the duke’s daughter. Will she win a wedding with the man of her dreams? But most importantly, will her fantasies of a perfect marriage come true? Or will she suffer a strained marital relationship, with unrequited feelings, far from the heart of the one she loves? Excerpt: That night, he was exhilarated to have married the woman of his desires. But Charlene had told him a bothersome fact about the origin of his newly wedded wife that he could not shake off his mind, for he knew she would have told him, had it been true. The tall man stepped into Amelia’s chamber and found her seated at the rim of the bed, blushing. The very sight of her innocent disposition had always brought him the insane urge to sweep her up in his arms and protect her. But before they would make love, there was an important question blaring at the edge of his mind. “Y-you’re here”, her soft voice was almost breathless. She rose to her feet, but rested against the wall, shy and nervous. “Amelia”, he tasted her name, drawing close to her. Tenderly placing a finger under her chin and lifting her face to meet his, he gazed into her eyes and asked, “Is it true that you are of the Celeste Clan?” There was silence in response and fear in her eyes. She did not deny it. A strong feeling of hurt enveloped his chest, when he realised that she was no different. Charlene’s words about her were not simply contemptuous lies of jealousy planted to his attention, but the raw truth. ~ Amelia gasped when he rammed his fist against the wall in the absolute pangs of frustration. It was like it burnt his senses to think that she would deliberately hold something as significant as her origin from him, regardless of all things of his secrets that he had shared with her, while they were yet secret lovers. She knew the fault was hers, but she had been too scared to relay, for she had loved him far too much to lose him. “Why did you hide this from me?” he breathed, voice cold and low and deadly, colored by his unpronounced rage. His face was dangerously close to hers, such that she could hear his very breath, seething. Tears began to pierce her eyes, threatening to fall. She had never meant to deceive him. But in that moment, she was afraid. Heart throbbing loud enough to be heard, her lips were quivering and she shivered. When his gaze swept down at her frightened disposition, there was a flicker of tenderness in his eyes. But it lasted not even as long as a moment’s worth. He was cold. He did not confront her for the secrets she was keeping, but silently withdrew himself. There were many things she wished to say in apology, but she could not find her voice. And by the time she could speak, he had left her chambers. Tears flurried down her face. She could not believe that her fears had ruined the very first day of her marriage. It was the day she had wished to divulge her secret to him, but it seemed like it had already been out.
31. The Broken Betrothal
The Broken Betrothal
~
The Estate of Duke Walterus,
The Town of Crimsonton,
Kingdom of Velicia,
Noon,
The Eighth Day of the Month of November,
Thirty Third Year of the Reign of King Jesse Crestings
Charlene Walterus walked out the chambers of her Reading Association, leaving the others of the club to leisurely discuss their thoughts and make friendships with the new members while she attended to her father, who'd bid her to visit him at his office.
She wondered if it had something to do with the meeting they had with the Crown Prince that morning, for there was never much reason he would call her to his office for discussion lest it was some serious matter.
Such would include the times he had called her to discuss things such as the breaking of her engagement the previous year and the prospect of marrying the crown prince and other serious issues that concerned the Hall of Publications. One such interesting conversation over the table, a few months ago, was the identity of the team of vigilantes that destroyed the beastly hounds by night.
The damsel of long golden hair softly tapped the door of her father's office room and stepped inside, a bright smile on her face.
Her father seemed pleasant, reflecting her warm and pleasant expression as she walked in and took a seat comfortably across his table. "What is the matter, papa? I was called?" she began, leaning her elbows on the posh timber desk and moving forward in her seat.
"Yes, my dear", he smiled, lines emerging at the sides of his eyes like whiskers. "I just wanted to ask if you were pleased with meeting the Crown Prince today", the man asked, seeming happy.
"Of course", she giggled, her cheeks assuming the wine colour of the beautiful gown she was dressed in. "I could not be happier."
"Well, I believe the same goes for him. I could see how he was purely smitten by the absolute beauty that you are", the man chuckled largely. "So, then… I was hoping to ask, my dear", he began most tentatively.
"Yes, papa?" Charlene was fairly certain to assume what her old man had in mind.
"Are you still hesitant towards the idea of marriage? Or would you feel comfortable with my arranging you a worthy new mate?", her father asked, seeming most expectant.
"Well", the beautiful blond damsel wet her lips pensively. She knew why there was as much hesitation as there was.
Her betrothal to Duke Lemiron's son had been broken just the previous month in the most heart rending way. Their fathers, the Dukes, had arranged for their engagement to each other when they were both as young as just ten years old, because Duke Lemiron was involved in the business of producing paper and books and scripts and scrolls out of papyrus, in the city that was close to the Town of Crimsonton.
Thus, a marriage between the two families would benefit their business by leaps and bounds since the Kingdom of Velicia's Hall of Publications, run by Duke Walterus, used the material manufactured by the Lemiron business.
Miss Charlene had been courted by the handsome young man, Cryspus Lemiron, when she turned sixteen, and it had been going most wondrously. But there was much strain on their relationship once it had been a couple of years.
The golden haired beauty remembered that the son of the Lemiron family, Cryspus, had begun squabbling with her for the various friends that she had, such as knights and barons and such others. It went to the point where their meetings and exchange of letters had grown slower and fewer.
Charlene had maintained with high society that their relationship was still smooth and had spoken well of him and as his being her fiancé and future husband. But between each other, every time Cryspus reached out to make amends, she reinforced her point of how he was controlling and constantly suspicious of her friendships with the others and strongly mentioned that keeping up the same could lead to a strained marriage in the future.
As it had continued so, they had stopped writing to each other and then, when a festive ball had been held in the Imperial Castle the previous season, her betrothed had, for reason of public courtesy, taken her as his lady, but had not shared with her even a single dance.
Instead, of course, Miss Charlene had won a dance with the crown prince himself and was most mesmerised by his manner and majesty. She had spent a good deal of conversation with him, Prince Rayzenn, before withdrawing to her next dance.
This had somehow invoked some jealousy from her betrothed for she had been speaking, throughout the carriage ride back home, of the Prince and the way he had smooth turns and curtsies and a powerful aura. Cryspus had named his frustrations, but Charlene had lashed back at him, saying, "At least the Prince was kind enough to dance with me and admire my beauty! You were my man for the night, but you acted like a complete stranger with me!"
Then, after months of not speaking with each other, nor meeting, there was a letter to the house of Duke Walterus from the Lemiron family, inviting them to the wedding of their son Cryspus and another baroness of their City.
~