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.
38. Alessia’s Heartache
Alessia's Heartache
~
Charlene's Personal Bed Chambers,
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
"It is a peaceful feeling to have a companion to share things to", Alessia Heartrim relaxed to the conversation with Charlene.
"Here is what happened:
As you may know already, we are nobles by birth, only on our father's side. Momma has no royalty in her lineage and my papa, when they were young, fell in love with her and married her, breaking his original engagement with some other woman who was a baroness. It had rendered our family an ill reputation in society, for my momma had been a scullery maid working at the family estate.
The marriage he had made was about to risk his inheritance and birth right, but since he is the only son, his due credit could not be stripped of him. So our family has been enjoying the privileges of noble society on the context of my papa's side alone.
Things had been going quite well, as they always seemed to be, until my papa began treating my momma rather poorly and naming her family and origin to be poor. He's further been saying that my sister and I are following the same blood as her.
Then, about a few months ago, my mother found out that he has been meeting some lady who is from high society itself, who seems to be a young widow. I believe she is noble only by blood, but has no wealth to her name, because her family is overridden by debt.
So now, she is whisking away all the money that my papa earns and he is away with her for the most part of the time. And when he is with us, he is always in such ill tempers!"
At that point, Alessia's eyes were watering and Charlene was crying with her. She could not imagine how frightful it must be to live in a house with a breaking family and no help to lean on. The young guest buried her face in her hands and began sobbing.
"Ana actually couldn't come today because he was home this morning and at the brink of his tempers, he threw a vase that shattered into a million pieces and bruised her leg. I do not know what to do", she cried, tears and feelings spilling down her face that was as beet red as Charlene's dress.
The golden haired damsel felt terrible, but it was news she was anticipating, for Knight Erion had told her that he had seen Alessia's father, Baron Heartrim, in the arms of some widow, feeding her plums at the edge of the woods.
It had been heartrending to hear it the first time, but Charlene had wanted to hear it from the damsels to be sure it was true. She knew her story portraying Amelia akin to the hated woman in Alessia's life would serve its purpose.
"My dear, I am so sorry you have to endure all of this; you don't deserve to go through any of it!" the daughter of the mansion said, leaning close and draping her arms around the crying young girl. Somewhere within, she hoped the tears wouldn't stain the dye on her gown, but she also needed to console the sobs.
"S-so we've been scared if he would ask us to move out or something terrible like that in order to entertain his new fantasies. Of course it will mar his public image in society, which is why he is still having us, but the gripping fear of when he will stop caring is very alarming", Alessia said, voice still quivering under the weight of heavy emotion.
"There, there, take it easy, darling", Charlene cooed quietly to soothe her, before parting from her embrace.
The Heartrim damsel withdrew and wiped her tears away, till her long lashes were wet and curled in bunches and her nose was as ruddy as a strawberry. "I-I am so sorry for being such a mess, I do not know why I quaked so much", she scrambled to apologise.
"No, no, do calm yourself, Alessia. It is no matter; I am like a sister to you after all. I feel your heart and it is very painful that you are undergoing this", Charlene said.
The damsel, in response, nodded quietly and pensively, like she was thinking of all the events she had relayed and was reliving the hurt. Then, as though she had made a firm decision, she spoke, "Ana and I had been debuted to society early. We are only seventeen now, but momma wanted us to be among the daughters of the nobles already. Firstly, we need to be established among the aristocrats as a part thereof, so that it would put my papa in societal reins. Secondly, if either of us gets a chance to win the favours of the Crown Prince and maybe settle in marriage with him, it would erase all of our fears. There is really no others means of winning this battle."
"I understand", Charlene nodded.
It was evident that Alessia and Analise Heartrim were pushed to a need for the Prince's wedding ring, rather than merely the opportunity of queenship and the fairest future. Thus, no efforts to achieve the affair will be spared.
Charlene's concern was not those damsels, though, for she was confident that the man would choose her eventually. After all, the Regent Queen had her heart set on the daughter of the Walterus Estate.
What she feared, however, was the prince's attention straying, for he had not paid as much attention to her as the average man would. Such was a severe indication that he could potentially be in love with some other dame.
It worked her every nerve to consider the outrageous thought.
~