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.
40. Exciting Flirtations
Exciting Flirtations
~
The Estate of Duke Walterus,
The Town of Crimsonton,
Kingdom of Velicia,
The hours after Noon,
The Eighth Day of the Month of November,
Thirty Third Year of the Reign of King Jesse Crestings
Amelia Luna-dynn sat there at the at the lounge, waiting for the maid who had called her to bring the payment due to the Hildeth Boutique so she could take her leave. She removed her shoes and lifted her legs to sit with her upon the comfortable sofa.
It seemed like the butlers maidens and lads working in the house were busy cleaning away after the Crown Prince had left and were further awaiting orders from the Duke regarding the payment to be given to her.
And the man of the estate was busy holding some private conversation with his daughter and did not seem to be entertaining any expected instructions he was supposed to give.
While waiting for the situation to clear up, the brown haired damsel decided to quietly sit there in the lounge and read the book for the next week's meeting, 'The Cry of Plague and War". It was a novel that Amelia absolutely detested, but she could not disregard. After all, Miss Charlene's Reading Association was an opportunity to elevate her fortune and possibly bloom as an author.
She needed to read the assigned book and forge a mesmerising review on it, in order to be submitted to the Imperial Castle.
The damsel opened the novel to the front page and found the dedication made to the sons of the Imperial family, who had lost their loving mother to the cruel vices of the Celeste Clan. She felt her heart wring with pain, for it was true and most unforgiveable. But it was also constantly rousing the hurt of the past and creating more hatred towards the deceased tribe of healers.
As Amelia thought on such frightful things, she heard the approaching footsteps of someone. When she looked up, she saw the tall and handsome Knight Erion walking into the lounge with a smile.
For a heartbeat, Amelia's breath hitched in her throat, before she quickly slid her feet down to the floor and arranged her skirts to cover her legs. "S-Sir Erion", she greeted, bowing lightly, as she rose up from her seat.
The man chuckled in response and waved the gesture away pleasantly, saying, "No, it is alright. Please have a seat. And, you can simply address me as 'Erion'".
"O-of course", she stuttered, with a little nod of her head, before sitting down at the edge of her seat daintily and looking all the way up to meet his blue eyes.
The man of dark curling hair took a seat upon the sofa beside her. The damsel felt chills when his legs brushed against her skirt and knees as he casually leaned back and spread his arms across the backrest behind her.
He was a silent man, with only few words spared in conversation, she had observed. But Amelia herself was a dame who could not help but endlessly talk. And she hoped she wouldn't make him regret meeting her, by talking too much.
And so, she sat there, dangerously close to him, tightly gripping her novel and hoping her thundering breathing wasn't heard.
"Relax, I won't hurt you", the man chuckled and she gave him a tight, frozen smile in response, before leaning back into the sofa. His arms were behind her head, probably touching the waves of her hair.
"So", she began, instantly regretting it and scolding herself inwardly for starting something of a conversation with no idea of what she was about to say. She looked up to see him looking at her expectantly, like his attention was entirely devoted to her.
His intense gaze was beginning to make her feel like scrambling eggs and engaged her fingers by playing with the loose locks of her hair as she stuttered over and over, "Well, you know… uh, um, like,… what I meant to way is…". When it was obvious to the beholder and herself that she was a complete mess, she held her breath and put both hands over her plump lips and looked up at his blue eyes helplessly.
The man chuckled, like he was quite amused by her honest and dramatic disposition. "Take it easy", he said, drawing a long, curling lock of her hair and tucking it behind her ear. That made the damsel feel her cheeks heating up.
"Okay", she breathed, before taking a deep breath. "Have you read this week's book before?" she asked, sounding more like a sane woman than she earlier had.
"Well, no I have not. But I do know it is extensively a classic, set in the time when the Celeste Clan had perished? I was looking forward to reading it, but found no circumstance. I am glad it has been recommended by the Association", said he with a smile, holding his copy of the book on his lap.
"I see", Amelia nodded, hoping he would not also completely hate her race. In truth, she felt like her people were not all wrong, just her father and the chief men who were his union. The others were ardently still involved in charity to the sick and healing and such, but the blood shed by her father was spread to every one of the clan and they all had to face the flame for his murderous actions. And the same was her fate as well, causing her to be a curse for surviving the gruesome ravage that night.
While these things coursed through her mind, she noticed that Knight Erion lifted the novel from his lap. She looked up, phasing out of her thoughts and realised that he was smiling at her curiously. "Do you want to sit on it?" he tapped his lap, jocundly and she realised that she had been staring at his lap.
"N-no no!" she leaned away from him, blushing, for the thought of what suggested flashed across her mind.
The man laughed in response to her abashed repulse, before saying, "Well I wouldn't mind."
~