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.
82. Who is Sir Jacob?
Who is Sir Jacob?
~
Madame Mirie's Flower Shope,
The Town of Crimsonton,
Kingdom of Velicia,
The fall of Night,
The Ninth Day of the Month of November,
Thirty Third Year of the Reign of King Jesse Crestings
~
After having fed Madame Mirie a good meal and some fruits, Amelia Luna-dynn laid her to recline and sleep. Just as the woman was slipping into the arms of slumber, the damsel lulled a quiet song, wondering if she should perform her art.
Amelia placed a hand gently on the woman's hot forehead and closed her. She concentrated on the divine powers God had bestowed upon her race and focused her heart and soul of healing the woman, whispering prayers in hummed songs.
As she continued, a golden light glowed and she could feel the woman's temperature dropping to normalcy.
Amelia opened her eyes and saw that Madame Mirie's fever had completely left.
The previous day, when the damsel who was descendant of the Celeste Clan had visited the florist, she had not been able to use her powers of healing, since she had just had her cleansing at the river of Pristine to remove the scars along her back.
Her ability would usually be highly compromised for a day after the cleansing. Presently, she was regaining the essence and healing again and making her feel wonderful that Madame Mirie's fever was gone.
Before the woman could wake up, Amelia hurried to leave the place, so it could seem like the recover was natural, than mysteriously instigated by a mage.
Once she was outside at the porch, she noticed Knight Roden conversing unpleasantly with Sir Jacob.
"What's the problem?" the damsel asked, sweeping a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear.
The elderly escort looked down at her like he had been frustrated by the knight, and said nothing.
"Oh, Amelia! You're safe. I didn't know that", the olive haired knight replied, scratching his head like he'd made a mistake.
"Of course I am. Since this kind gentleman here gave me company. Is something the matter?" she asked, wondering what the commotion had been.
"Well, a young lad was asking the knights on patrol if there was a maiden by the name Amelia and described you. I was by and mentioned that I had seen you there at the Boutique all day but you were gone. One of my men said they saw you led away here by a suspicious man and I ran all the way to make sure you were okay", Roden said, stepping close to Amelia.
The damsel stepped away slightly, for she was still upset with the way he had belittled her writing, in a disrespectful comment behind her back. But she was touched that he had come all the way to rescue her from potential danger.
"Aw, thank you for the concerns, but I am quite alright", she said.
"There is no need to accuse an innocent passer by for such reason", Sir Jacob pulled his collars forward, heaving a huff, his breath coming as a warm cloud against the cold night ambience. Then, he adjusted his moustache as though it wasn't growing from his face.
"My mistake", the knight said, as though he did not wish to mention an apology.
Just then, she realised who could have been looking for her and gasped, "Ah, was Jasper looking for me then?"
Her movements were quickened with tension and the elderly man who was her companion took her hand protectively and said, "Let's go back to the Boutique before he grows frantic."
Amelia nodded, before giving Roden a quick thank you and hurrying away with Sir Jacob by his side. As they hastened down the streets, she saw Jasper anxiously pacing the whole avenue, as if looking for her.
When he seemed to perk up to the sound of her approaching footsteps, he turned around, expression both astonishment and relief as he ran over towards her. Before she could reach him, he tackled her with an embrace and she noticed that his arms were quivering from tension.
Amelia felt terrible for what she had put him through. "I- I'm so sorry, Jas", she whispered.
"I'm just glad you're safe", he mumbled before breaking away. "What happened? Where did you go?" and just as he was enquiring, he cast a wary look towards the man behind her who was heavily hooded and suspicious looking.
"No, no, don't worry", the damsel answered, knowing exactly what her brother's concerns were. "He did not lead me away, he offered me some chivalrous company so I could take bread to Madame Mirie before getting back here."
Jasper gave a slow nod, as he sized the man down with his gaze. Then he asked, "Is this Lance?"
Sir Jacob perked up to the mention of that name. "You've talked about Lance?"
"So you aren't him?" the young lad asked.
"No, Lance wasn't an old man, Jas", Amelia answered her brother, before turning to the tall companion and asked, "So you know Lance as well?", feeling pleasantly surprised.
"Well yes", Sir Jacob, answered, somewhat hesitantly. "Good friend of mine, that man. Young man, that is, since I'm quite old now."
"Did you and Lance meet during your journeys, Sir Jacob? Coz he mentioned that he is a merchant from afar as well", the damsel said, clasping her hands gleefully.
"It's like you read my mind, that's exactly how we met", the elderly companion chuckled, as he adjusted his facial hair once again. "You smart lassie."
"Aw", Amelia blushed, feeling flattered.
"So who are you?" Jasper asked, looking unamused.
"He's Jacob, a traveller. I helped him with his horse and he accompanied me around in exchange", she said.
"You helped him with a horse?" the young lad asked, scoffing, like he wouldn't even take it for a joke.
"I sewed the saddle, okay?" the damsel huffed, wanting to squeeze her brother's head off for the embarrassing comment in front of a guest.
As they talked, the elderly man among them sneezed so hard he almost lost his moustache. Then, sniffing several times, he held his hand over his nose and mouth blinking.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked, concerned and he nodded, holding a hand up to instigate that he was fine.
Then, after seeming to have recovered he smiled, saying, "Thank you for the concern, I sneeze quite often."
Something about the incident made Amelia think of how much younger he would look if he didn't have the bush of facial hair, since his body was quite trim and lean muscular.
And a frightfully close resemblance occurred to her…
~