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.
83. Charming Hopes of Lies and Tears
Charming Hopes of Lies and Tears
~
Avenues of Shops,
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
~
Nate had a near heart attack when his faux beard and moustache had tickled his nose so much that he had nearly sneezed his disguise off. It could end very scandalously if the two found out that he was the Chief of the Prince Rayzenn's Cavalry, and he was there with ulterior motives.
Just then, he noticed that Amelia had a rather suspicious look when she eyed him from head to foot. "Sir Jacob", she began, as if about to ask him a serious question about his true identity.
"Yes, little one?" he answered, trying to sound as old as possible.
"Are you surely thirty and nine years old?" she frowned, like there was something amiss.
"Of course", he chuckled guiltily. "Where's the doubt?"
"I thought maybe if you were about some age over forty and five, I could have a fair assumption that you are the father of a person I know", she smiled, as though her doubts had been dispensed when he clarified his age.
"Ah, and who is this lovely young man?" Nate asked, inclined and interested.
"He is quite famed, actually. Since he is one of the Crown Prince's men of war. He leads the Cavalry. He looks quite similar and bears a lot of the same mannerisms as you", she pointed out.
"Ah, how lovely. He must be a handsome young lad with daring and wit then", Nate chuckled like an old man.
"No, don't worry, he's not all that handsome. He's alright", she said, flat, killing all his high moods.
"Ah, come on", the man in disguise pleaded, "didn't you say he looked quite like me?"
"That's exactly why", she folded her arms. "But to give you some credit, yes, there are many women that fawn over him for his dashing looks. And they're all glad he is available", she said, giving him his moment of pride.
Nate smiled, realising that he was still hesitant to be married and he didn't want anyone to be led on to believe that he was available. "I see", he nodded, before turning to the road ahead. "You two should be heading home safe. It's late", he said.
"I will buy you some dinner before we part. You can take it with you along your journey", Amelia said, before hurrying off towards a bakery nearby.
Jasper gave the man a smile, before following his sister.
In moments, the company of three was there at a table, waiting for the baker to bring them what Amelia had requested. As they were talking about various things, Nate excused himself and went over to the counter, and settled they payment for all their meal.
Then, without a word of good bye, he left.
The Luna-dynns wouldn't know that he had told the baker to give them more than a single night's supper. But when they knew, he'd already be far gone.
Leaving the place, he hurried to retrieve his horse from the porch of Lady Hildeth's Boutique, and then rode his way to the Imperial Castle.
On the way, he ripped his beard, moustache and sideburns off, for they were tickling his nose far beyond bearable.
Then, once he'd neared the place, he left his horse in the custody of the Royal Stables and hastened to Prince Rayzenn. As he strode into the Castle's West Wing, his eyes looked about to ensure that neither Aaron nor Zebedee was around.
He knew that it was bad to have a split of opinions amongst the team, for they would partake in wars together and such difference was not safe. However, the two men were voices of reason in the Prince's ears and would not take things that were impractical into consideration.
But Nate wasn't ready for that. He wanted to persevere and see how far they could achieve the Prince's dreams. After all, being one amongst those with fears against marriage, obliging to commit one's heart to a woman he loved was the sole way of sustaining a healthy marriage.
Further, Nate knew that if Rayzenn could actually win a wedding with Amelia Luna-dynn, Aaron and Zebedee would be more than happy and would support and protect her in every way as their queen.
As the blond haired Cavalry Chief walked into Crown Prince Rayzenn's office chamber, he found the dark haired man drowning in work.
"Hello", he said, sounding cheerful.
"Ahh, Nate", Rayzenn looked up, seeming pleased.
"How is your day going?" Nate asked, walking over to the desk and looking down at all the documents he was dealing with.
"Please take a seat" the dark haired heir to the throne said, leaning back in his chair and throwing his head back, massaging his temples.
Obliging, Nate settled into a seat and leaned forward. "Finances and weaponry?" he asked.
"Yes", the prince sighed before looking at him, green eyes dim, like he was having a bad day. "Aunt Eliza mentioned that she will be travelling to Reagin Castle with Francis next week, so I will have to stay back and entertain the court room for the period they will be away", he said.
Nate nodded, realising that Prince Francis' wedding was turning into a fast reality as the days passed. Especially so since they were visiting the Kingdom of the first Crown Prince's fiancée in order to potentially finalise dates and such.
It was a threat citing that Prince Rayzenn would soon be demanded to marry as well.
"We'll be about to help you handle the courts. Consider it training for kingship", Nate winked, trying to instil some form of hope.
"I believe so", the dark haired heir nodded. "So, what brings you here? I noticed you weren't at the castle all day. Anything interesting?"
"Fair news, actually", the cavalry captain grinned as he folded his arms against the table.
A smile tugged at a side of Rayzenn's lips as he leaned forward to listen.
"I heard Amelia is only friends with Erion as of now. She isn't in a true relationship. It does not seem like much of a love, but possibly just something at the bud. I was inspecting the knights on patrol and crossed paths with the damsel herself. It seemed like she has talked about 'Lance' with her brother. Your persona seems to be a surreal part of her life. I thought it would be important to inform you that there is still hope", Nate said.
As opposed to the excitement he had expected from his companion, there was a darkening of his expression.
Then, the Prince said, "You don't understand, do you? I don't want to give myself that kind of hope. Please, Nate. I appreciate all the efforts you've taken for my sake, but no more false hopes. I don't want to hear of this Amelia again, I want to recover from her."
~