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.
34. The Threat to a Hope
The Threat to a Hope
~
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
"Papa, I will absolutely not cancel the association. It is very dear to me!", Charlene cried, seeming worked up and anxious. "I would miss all of my friends!"
Duke Walterus looked up at his daughter startled at her sudden outburst. "No, no, my dear, I am not meaning for you to liquidate it. What I mean to say is, I am not fond of the people there, but I have further reason you must continue your meetings or per-haps even make them more frequent", said he, resting his elbows upon the table and knitting his fingers.
"Why? What do you have in mind?" the young damsel asked, feeling suspicious of his intentions.
"Nothing to worry of, my dear. It is not regarding the ones already there, but the new ones. We must keep a close watch on them", her father said, leaning forward.
"You mean Lady Alessia?", Charlene asked. She did not know much about the damsel, save the fact that she was a daughter of a noble family and was recently debuted to high society along with her sister Analise.
"No, the other girl. Amelia Luna-dynn", the elderly man said, holding her gaze relentlessly.
"Ah, yes, some peasant girl I've seen at Hildeth's. I don't recall much, but I remember she made some addition to today's discussion. What is so peculiar about her? Must I send Erion to find out about her background?", the daughter of the house asked, curious.
"No, no, my dear, I know sufficiently about her whereabouts and such; I was the one who sent for Lady Hildeth to specifically send her to bring the order to our estate this morning so we can have some keen attention on her person", the Duke said.
"Oh, alright", the damsel relented. "What is your concern, papa?"
"I heard news that apparently she was lingering about the woods near Drift-Combe village during the vigilantism", her father said.
Charlene almost felt her heart attacked. "D-did she meet the vigilantes then? Do you suspect he might like her?" her voice shimmered with the weight of her anxiety at the thought of the vigilante saving the girl and being close to her. And she hated the idea of his liking some other dame, for she wanted the man to herself.
"Calm, calm, my dear, I am sure there was nothing that should be worrisome, but I simply thought you needed to know so you can be careful", the Duke said, leaning back.
"Yes, papa", the damsel nodded, feeling waves of anxiety. "Would you perhaps like to threaten the prince with the idea of her knowing about vigilantism so he can deal away with her?"
"I did bring that up, but he did not seem to entertain the thought", her father said, seeming serious.
"I see", she responded, voice lost in the shock. "A-alright then", she choked, gathering her thoughts. "I shall be off and see the meeting to its closure."
"Of course, my dear. Be well, now. Remember: there is no reason to be upset", her father smiled, stroking his beard.
"Yes, papa", said she, before leaving his private office chambers.
As she walked towards the club room, fair hair sashaying at her back like outpoured honey, her mind tried to recollect details about the new damsel, Amelia from her previous visits to Lady Hildeth's Boutique. She had known that the maiden was a shy, quiet one usually disregarded by the dressmakers and others and often scolded by Lady Hildeth.
In all, there was nothing fancy about her life that Charlene would covet, or that men would find attractive.
When the damsel returned to the Reading Association room, she noticed that the brown haired maiden who was the subject of her concerns had already left. Head Knight Erion did not seem to be about either. The others were still there, standing about in circles and making jocund conversation.
Charlene decided to greet Alessia, for she was a blooming noble woman and her company would be useful if she could win a marriage with the Crown Prince and exercise queenship.
"Hello there, dearest", the golden haired young lady smiled, receiving Alessia's immediate attention.
"Ah, Miss Charlene", she almost squealed in excitement, causing the blue eyed beauty to laugh in response.
"A pleasure to have you here. It's sad that Ana couldn't make it here with us", Charlene said, sliding a delicate lock of hair behind her ear.
"Apologies; she was far too sick to attend the meeting, but she sends her most fervent regards to everyone", Alessia said, with a smile.
"Of course. You can convey the book to her for next week's. I hope she recovers soon", the damsel of the Manor, dressed in a wine coloured gown said.
"I believe she will", the young noble girl nodded.
Then, Charlene turned to the others and asked, "Where is the new damsel? Was she not here?"
"She had work and so she left", Cylass said.
"And where is Erion?" she asked, turning to Baron Sean. His expression did not seem particularly fond of her enquiry.
Daftly, Roden answered her question, without realising the tension between them, saying, "He left for a breath of fresh air, but I believe he would have returned to the barracks for training. The rest of us knights should probably leave in an hour too."
"Alright", Charlene replied curtly, still annoyed with Roden for having contradicted her opinion uncourteously during the meeting. "Come on, Alessia, let us go", said she, turning to leave to the Balcony, where the copies of the books were assembled.
A couple of them were missing from the stack and she gathered that Amelia and Erion must have collected their pieces and left. She took two and handed them to Alessia, with a smile. "Kindly pass one on to Ana as well", said she.
"I will", the young dame of green eyes nodded cheerfully.
"Now tell me, will you be free to stay here for the after-noon, or do you have other things to tend to today?" Charlene asked her companion, leaning softly on the railing as she cast a gaze down the back yard of the Estate. Her eyes searched for Erion, hoping he wasn't there chatting away with the new girl. But she could not spot him anywhere within eyeshot and assumed he had left.
"Ah, there is no greater business I could be up to than to be spending an eve with you", Alessia smiled.
"That is very kind. Let us go to my bed chamber and converse over sweet tea", Charlene said, sweeping her long fair coloured hair over her shoulder.
She intended to get close with the young girl and win her favours as she always did, although she'd rather spend the day with Baron Sean or Knight Erion.
~