Week 13 Story: One True Love

She lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling in frustration. The rough sheets scraped across her skin, just barely hiding the fact her mattress was made of straw. The cool night air felt crisp against her exposed skin. The nightgown she wore was tattered and old. The promise of fall lingered in the air and she could almost feel the leaves changing. She should be thankful the heat had finally broke, but she couldn’t quiet her thoughts long enough to notice the change. Sleep escaped her that night. High up in the servant’s tower, it was all she could to but replay the last twelve hours of her life. Over and over and over again.

“Constance! Why don’t you ever listen to me? This is not open for discussion!”

“But mother, I don’t understand WHY you won’t let me marry him”

“Just trust me in this. You cannot and will not marry Elias Fletcher!”

“That is not good enough! You have always said that when my love knows no boundaries and my heart is overfilled with joy, this, this would be the man I am to marry. I have found the one and now you tell me I cannot be wed?”

“Oh my dear, sweet child, I wish that I could impart to you the knowledge of your past. There are things you don’t know. Things that are working against you. I’m sorry my love, but this cannot happen.”

Sorrow filled Constance’s heart as her mother denied her the one thing she had dreamed of since childhood. To marry Elias and honor him with as many children that God see fit they have. She knew the bonds of marriage were not always easy to uphold. But no matter what difficulties awaited them, she knew that their love would conquer all.

She knew that sulking would get her nowhere. Determined to find a way to convince her mother to change her mind, she wandered into the stables to find her true love.

When she rounded the corner, she saw him. Tall and thin. His baggy clothing hid his well chiseled features from his laborious work in the stables. His hair was the color honeyed tea. His skin pale to match her own. But what she loved about him the most were his eyes. They were as brilliant as the sky on a clear spring day. But when he looked at her, he held her in his gaze as if nothing or no one else existed. Her heart skipped a beat and her breaths were shallow. After all this time, she was still a bundle of nerves when she was around him.

He must have felt the electricity that was in the air when they were together because he looked up from his current task. His smile began to spread across his face and it melted her heart.

She hurriedly explained the conversation with her mother over breakfast. Her words spilling out in a tangle of emotions. She was scared and angry and confused. She didn’t understand why her mother wouldn’t want a happy life for her. Elias assured her there must be some kind of mistake. He promised they would speak with her father this evening at dinner and get things sorted out. They would be wed in the center of town during winter festival, surrounded by family and friends, just as they had planned.

As the sun set and the evening was well under way, Constance paced back and forth, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Elias. The sooner they could get this sorted out, the sooner she could relax and bask in the thoughts of being married. She had dreamed of being a wife one day. To raise a house full of children and live out her days honoring her husband as the town elders had promised.

When he finally arrived, he looked as nervous as she felt. The two embraced each other with a sign of relief and entered through the servant’s entrance and down the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of roasted duck and fresh baked bread were enough to tease their minds away from any thoughts of unpleasantry.

They braced themselves for the conversation ahead of them. No matter what, they would love each other until they day they took their last breaths.

After the meal was served and the wine was consumed, Elias thought it a good time to broach the subject.

“Sir. Ma’am. You know that I love your daughter with everything last beat of my heart. Please tell me why then won’t you let us be wed?”

Constance’s parents looked at each other with grave expressions. Her father sighed heavy, almost as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And then explained.

“You see my dear boy, Constance is not of this world we live in here. She is of noble blood. A highborn lady. She was brought here many years ago when she was just a babe. Her father afraid his enemies would seek her out and make an example of him. I’m sorry, but she is promised to another.”

The blood rushed to her head and should could her heart beat in her ears. She couldn’t recall the rest of the story of her arrival in this village. Her birthright was of nobility and she was to leave this place within a fortnights time.

As she lay in bed that night, all she could do was blink in disbelief. For eighteen years, she had lived the life of a ladies maid to the Baroness of the village. Everything she knew was a lie. But worst of all, her knew identity meant losing the one thing good in her life, Elias. Her heart ached. Her chest felt hollow and her grief almost swallowed her hole. For tomorrow, she would forever be known as Constance Everguard, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Her life as she knew it was gone forever.

Author’s Note: This week I chose to retell my own version of The Saviour of Dharma. When Krishna would play his flute, all the girls in the village would dance and flirt with him. But despite all the attention, he only had eyes for one. Radha. He was madly in love with her and wanted to marry her. When he asked his parents, he was told that he couldn’t. They brought him to the high priest in the village and the priest explained to him that he was not of this world. Krishna was a divine being and was an avatar of the God Vishnu. Because of this, his destiny was to save the world and he couldn’t marry Radha. Krishna was crushed but knew that it was his duty to live out his destiny.

In my story, Constance doesn’t know that she was born into a royal family. She was brought to another village and raised by an adopted family to protect her. She falls madly in love with Elias Fletcher and wants to marry him. She begs her parents and they too tell her no. When she asks why, they tell her that she is a highborn princess and that she cannot marry the simple stable boy.

Title: Romeo and Juliet

Source: Flickr