I'm Forbidden To Love You

Chapter 7

Elvira Burton….

A crimson flower in the desert.

That was what people of her home country called her, partly because of her beauty and partly because of her hair. As Elvira Shart from the Derran country, a desert where she grew up, had been called crimson flower her entire life, she had been adored, given privileges none would give to a woman normally by her father.

She had many suitors, who all tried to woo her with expensive gifts.

But she wasn’t interested in anyone. Then he came into her life like an oasis in a desert.

He changed her life with his presence. She had fallen for him.

With him, life was more beautiful than ever. It felt like she could achieve anything with life if only he were with her.

Dwain Burton.

He swept her off her feet when he came to her country to find some reason to live as he felt a lack of interest in life where his brother was a crown Prince and his father a ruler. So, he traveled far to search for meaning in life.

And, he found her, as she found him.

Her father was upset with her choice, but he agreed with her choice with how stubborn she could be. Her father was not upset with her husband, just that his country was very far.

But, she put trust in her love and agreed to marry him, braving to step out of the comfort that her home country offered ever since she was born.

And it didn’t let her down.

Dwain, the one person he had allowed to call him by name, the permission was given to her by him.

Dwain kept her happy like none another, and she never for even a second had regretted her choice in marrying him.

Her life was perfect until she came here.

Avera country.

It was breathtaking to see the greeneries, ponds, rivers, and mountains along with the beautiful castle. She grew up in the desert, and they had a very different nature and culture. Seeing it the first time had left her breathless.

Soon it lost its charm as she has gotten used to the surroundings.

She had been the Princess of her country and a queen to her parents. And here, she was just a wife of the King’s second son. It was hard to get adjusted to it. And she loved her husband even more for living through all his life in the shadows.

The King became seriously ill a year after her marriage, leaving her Dwain to drown in sorrow.

Dwain’s elder brother, Rick Burton, was crowned the King after his father fell ill.

Her Dwain and the entire royal family were sad about her father-in-law’s illness. She wanted to help everyone somehow, especially Dwain.

That’s when Ryan was born. His birth brought joy and laughter back to the castle.

Her son, her beautiful son Ryan Burton.

A baby boy that was adorable than any other child of his age.

Ryan had always been an adorable and beautiful baby.

Her baby inherited her crimson hair that had a shade of black in it, and with his hazel eyes, he had been a beautiful boy and now a handsome man.

He had been a good child to them. Their pride and joy. Even though she had a girl later, he always remained the gem of her heart.

He had always been an obedient child, a good one who never caused trouble for her.

Ryan brought happiness, pride, and most of all, peace in her restless heart. She had never been this happy before. Ryan brought content in her life.

Raising him made her busy with her life and not giving in to the boredom brought by being just a royal family member instead of someone who had an important role.

Her daughter Joy came into their life and then Dwain’s father passed away a year after. His husband struggled to find a place in this life amid his fatherly duties and losing his own father. Dwain was actively involved in politics and helped his brother, the majesty to rule the country after the Queen’s death.

Just a few years after Joy's birth, Dwain was appointed as chief minister of the country. All his efforts paid off by becoming someone who could serve this country and be recognized as Dwain instead of the King’s brother.

And they could never be happier with how perfect it seemed.

But, as Ryan grew, her worries grew along with him.

Now, Ryan, just like his father has to spend all his life as a shadow, Ryan was going to end his life as Ivor’s shadow.

It was not as if Ivor was a bad child; he was just like her children. But she didn’t want Ryan to be the future King’s cousin and nothing else. She wanted her son Ryan to be something in his life.

That was why she had asked his husband to send him a letter where he was roaming around the country like a commoner. She wanted him to participate in the courting, an opportunity to gain the favor of various royal families.

She wanted him to shine through so that he could make wonderful political connections and maybe marry a crown princess and might have a chance to be crowned if the Princess’s father didn’t have any heir.

Ryan wasn’t learning about the princesses’ families to check their background. That was why she had sent Ryan to ask about their stay a month before to know about all this and choose a better future for himself.

But, he didn’t use that opportunity at all, and she had let it go, not wanting to get into an argument with him.

Finally, a chance had come to show off in front of the entire foreign guests gathered there, by winning the horse race.

Him falling off the horse had not only been embarrassing but had spoiled his image, but she had remedied that with her numerous tea parties and spreading the stories of his braveness with the gossip network.

The girl interested in Ryan, Stella Preston of Cherryland, was perfect for him. She knew that she was meddling too much in her son’s life. But, she would do anything to ensure his son’s bright future.

She knew it would be hard to convince Ryan to marry a girl of her choice, but she has the ways to convince his son.

Then why was she worried?

Ryan’s behavior.

Ryan’s behavior was worrying her nowadays.

She didn’t know what changed in her son or what had happened that it would affect her son’s behavior.

He had always been an obedient child and, as a teenager too, had never troubled her much. Now, at nineteen years old, she felt like she doesn’t know her son as much as she prided herself to be.

He had never talked back to his father before. He had never crossed a line she had drawn for him. Then what had changed?

She was puzzled about the sudden change in his behavior.

As she looked at the cloudy sky through the window of her chamber, she felt that the climate reflected her mind as she worried about her son’s future.

~~~~~

The pointy head of the arrow met the target again and again as if the archer was angry at it with the way the arrows kept hitting the different target all-around here.

Ryan gritted his teeth and tried to relax his shoulder, but it was of no use.

His posture was perfect even though he was angry. His legs wide enough for the correct stance, his body aligned perpendicularly to the target, his back straight, his grip on the bow was just a tad bit looser, just the way he usually did.

The bow in his left hand was a comfortable weight that had always given a feeling that it belonged with him like another part of his body.

His bow was a recurve bow, unlike Nora, who preferred longbows. It was one of the very few things he was given the freedom to choose, unlike usual, where things were already decided for him.

It was a custom-made one from the maple wood and painted black of his choice. Just like his horse Willa, this bow was one thing he cannot compromise with.

He took another arrow from the quiver, put the nock on the bowstring, and aimed at the target. It hit right on the spot, and he could hear his guards getting excited about his shots from a distance.

Usually, he would glare at them and invite them to an archery competition in which Nora alone braved to participate, knowing that he would lose most of the time.

Ryan was good with swords, but he was very skilled at archery. He preferred a bow and arrow rather than a sword. Sword fighting involved too much movement and waste of energy, while with a bow, you could kill many enemies from a distance.

But, in close combat, it won’t help you much, just the same as when you ran out of arrows.

Ryan preferred this anyway.

Today this wasn’t helping him in managing his anger. No, not much of anger but hurt.

He didn’t know how to deal with this hurt.

Ryan had never felt this way. It was all because of her that he was experiencing different things.

He wished that he never saw her that day.

God!

Nowadays, he couldn’t think about anything but her. He tried to, but he cannot stop thinking about her.

Three days.

It has been three days since he last saw her.

He had been worried sick for the past few days, wanting to see her, to check on her if she was okay.

He had searched the castle like a madman for days, searching for her to find opportunities that will lead him to her. He had gone to that tributary near the forest, the first time he had seen her in search of her often, but she was nowhere to find.

Finally, just three days before, he saw her.

It happened by coincidence. He was walking over to see how his horse Willa was doing as he hadn’t visited her since his leg injury; on the way to the royal stables, he saw a group of maids going towards the well nearby to wash clothes, and amid them, there she was.

Just as he saw her, her eyes met his, making him stumble embarrassingly.

How long had been since he saw those turquoise eyes? He knew that she recognized him, with the way those eyes widened.

Just as he was feeling relieved that she seemed fine, she murmured something to the nearby girl and started hurriedly walking in the opposite direction. He didn’t know what he did that she would run away from him.

He wasn’t that cruel or anything that he would do something to her and that too in front of all the servants. Thankfully, none noticed his presence, and he decided to leave there as the rest of the maids moved to the river. He walked in the direction she went and didn’t find anyone there. He knew that he wouldn’t see her even if he searched for hours. She was deliberately hiding away from him.

Why?

Why would she run away?

Was she afraid of him this much that she would literally run away from him?

Was he a monster in her eyes?

The peace he wanted to feel after seeing her had vanished. The one person he thought would bring some peace to his heart had shattered it and threw him in misery and sorrow.

Ryan didn’t know what to do anymore.

Thinking about it only seemed to depress him even more. He felt that practicing his archery skills will take his mind away from that, but it didn’t help much with how her thoughts seemed to plague him even here.

It was no use thinking about the past events; it was better he focused on the present.

He put his bow and quiver aside, knowing the servants will put it in his room after cleaning it.

He was angry and hurt. He didn’t know how to handle all these emotions.

He threw his archer gloves away, not caring about it, and moved towards the royal stable, ignoring the calls of his guards.

He decided to ride Willa and get outside of the castle.

Ryan knew that going out of the castle will anger his dad, but he was done with everything. He wanted some peace and space.

He had given up on many things he wished his entire life to please his parents and relatives.

But, not anymore.

He cannot live like this anymore, submitting and bowing down to everyone’s wishes.

He doesn’t care anymore.

So what?

So what if his parents failed to understand him?

So what if Zelda ran away from him?

Who was she anyway?

No one…

No one to him anymore.

He wanted to forget about her and focus on his life.

He was done worrying about her uselessly.

He doesn’t care anymore.

He hopped on Willa as she has already been made ready to ride. He ignored the calls of Nora and guided his dear Willa outside the castle.

As he rode out, the castle seemed far away from where he was, as did all his worries.