Chapter 5: Prince Aiden
972 Words
Five:
Prince Aiden
Lord Killian Walsh had the luxury of not having to go to college. He had a trust fund, and a father who didn’t much care what he did. He was the second son of my uncle, and since he had come out ages ago, my Uncle had had him stripped of his Princely title making him a mere Lord. I’d tried to fight it but my Uncle was able to overrule me, and until Killian “agreed to carry out the family line” his father refused to give him back the title of Prince. Killian had dark hair, hazel eyes, and a rock and roll obsession that was the only thing he cared about. I found him practicing guitar in his favorite Dublin pub, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a pint.
He looked up, a smirk on his face. “Aiden. Long time no see, not since the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last Spring. Are you here to yell at me?”
I frowned. “How do you know?”
“Because, she texted me.”
“You text Lucy?” I asked.
“Yes,” he smirked, “we’re friends, you know. Good friends.”
“Apparently you’ve been more than friends,” I said, “something that I was not told. Which is quite strange to me, considering from the time that she had breasts I made it a rule that no one was to date her. Also, I thought you were gay.”
“Wee bit creepy, mate,” said Lord Killian, “anyway, Lucy is a big girl. She has a mind of her own. Besides, we were just bored kids. That’s it. It wasn’t some great, long lost love or something. She wouldn’t even let me feck her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “She wouldn’t?”
Lord Killian shook his head. “No, she was always concerned that you would beat the shite out of me if you found out.”
“So…she’s a virgin?”
Killian laughed. “She doesn’t live in Ireland full time; she has a life of her own. Also, a mind of her own. You can’t control everything that she does, Aiden. I know you want to keep the ones you love safe but there’s keeping her safe and then there’s keeping her in a cage.”
“It won’t matter soon,” I said, “I’ve declared Anam Cara. She’s going to be mine, one way, or another. Because I’ll declare it over, and over again.”
Killian put the guitar to the side. “Is this your way of markin’ your territory, your highness? Because you don’t have anything to worry about from me. I wouldn’t have come out to my father if I wasn’t serious about who I was. Do you think I wanted to be stripped of my title? ”
“No,” I said, frowning, “I guess not. You know I’m doing whatever I can to get that reinstated, right? I don’t know how the country can approve gay marriage but not accept a gay Prince.”
“I know. Look, don’t get mad at Lucy. All she was doing was helping me figure things out. I was lost, and alone at the time. You and Tommy were both in love with her. So, I figured I should be too. She was also lost, and alone too. And while I do love the Little Bird like family, I’m never going to love her the way you do. Besides, I don’t think it quite matters in the end .”
I tilted my head to the side, and I squinted at him. “What is it that your trying to say, Killian?”
“You know she’s always going to be in love with Cormac,” he answered with a sad look in his eyes. Cormac. Their half brother. The boy I’d sent away because he’d been stupid enough to love the girl I wanted for mine. The boy who’d died in a terrorist attack from The Guillotine on a train.
I blinked. “You don’t think….you don’t think she still loves him, do you?”
He sighed. “I don’t think you realized the damage you did there, Aiden. I know you didn’t break them up. But you did force him to take that job in France so he wouldn’t be near her. Last summer, she called me at one in the morning because she woke up from nightmares about it.”
I sighed. “I was young. I was stupid.”
“Yes,” Killian said, “I was young. I was stupid. Anyway, I’ve been seein’ someone off and on for a while. You really don’t have anythin’ to worry about from me, honest.”
At that, it was my turn to smirk. “Are you actually seein’ Jude Elliot? They talked about it in the papers, because he’s been brokenhearted over Princess Daisy because her family is marrying her off.”
He coughed. “I don’t know to who ye are referrin’.”
“Of course, you do,” I said, “the former member of Sweetheart. You were the opening act for him last year while he was on tour in America. You got drunk when you thought he was dating Cecelia Porter.”
He scowled at me. “Go chase after the bird you’re so worried about, your majesty. Come off it, will you?”
“Alright, Killian.” I patted him on the back. “Whatever you say.”
“Besides, you’ve got bigger problems than me to worry about,” he said.
“Such as?” I asked.
“Cronan Spires,” he answered.
He pulled out his phone and showed it to me. There, on the Irish Weekly website, was a video of Lucy being pulled into a church by a guy in a leather jacket with a neck tattoo of the sun and moon. One I would have known anywhere. Worse, as Lucy ran away from the paps with him into the university cathedral, she looked happy. Happier than I had ever seen her with me.
It didn’t matter.
I’d declared Anam Cara. And I would do whatever it took to make her mine. Even if she didn’t like it.
- Writer
