Royals and Rebels book 4: The Bad Luck Prince

Chapter 2: Lucy Lark

Two

Lucy Lark

    The Royal University of Ireland was in the heart of Dublin, Ireland about a block from the House of O’ Conner. Or, the home of the Royal Family of Ireland. The House of O’ Conner had existed in one form or another since the eleven hundreds. Conflict between the English and the Irish had meant that for a period of time, the Irish royal family had been banned. They’d lived in hiding in whatever country would offer them asylum while Ireland was forced to deal with conflict from the British. Then in the 1990s, they were able to regain power again after a ceasefire was called.

    During that time, my grandparents, Moira and Dermont Lark, had worked for the Royal family. My grandmother was the cook. My grandfather was the butler. Where the royals went, so did they. When my Dad turned eighteen, he fled to America, where he met my Mom in Boston. By Dad died in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, and since then my Mom would send me off to Ireland in the summer to stay with my grandparents.

    The Royal Family was officially reinstated in Dublin back in 1994. I spent my time growing up with summers being spent in the House of O’ Conner. The castle was called Hillsborough. I grew up right alongside the royal children, Prince Aiden, and Princess Mallory. Because we met each other young, I never thought of them as royals. I only thought of them as friends.

    That all changed the day that Princess Mallory was killed. A group known as The Guillotine had kidnapped her and strung her up a tree. Once that happened, Prince Aiden, who had been like an older brother to me, changed. The boy who used to tease me with mischief in his eyes and put toads in underneath my pillows no longer existed. He became a cold, distant figure who barely talked to me.

    Once upon a time, I thought he might have been in love with me. But then, he became very insistent I date one of his friends. Harkin Redford. Fortunately, Harkin ended up marrying someone else, so it wasn’t even an issue. But my friend Aiden was gone, replaced with future King Aiden who wanted nothing to do with me.

    Now, I was back in Ireland. My grandmother had fallen ill, and I was there to help my grandparents. I’d be going to college at The Royal University and spending the weekends on the palace property helping my family. All I had to do was avoid Prince Aiden for two years and I’d be fine. Because, the minute I saw him, all hope was lost.

    Prince Aiden was at the Royal University too but majoring in a completely different program then me. He also thought I was back in Boston, finishing my culinary degree at Harvard. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

    The trick was, avoiding him.

    “You’re being absolutely ridiculous.” My roommate, Lady Edele Morgan, said. She was tall, with red hair, freckles, and blue eyes. She was Aiden’s cousin, her father being fifth in line for the throne, and Aiden’s uncle.

    I put my suitcase on my bag and started unpacking. “No, I’m not. Look, I accepted a long time ago that I was never going to be the girl Aiden was going to marry. It’s better this way. Besides, just because we spent a few summers together as children doesn’t mean everything.”

    Edele rolled her eyes. “Lucy, you know he’s in love with you.”

    “He was engaged to Penelope Peters to piss off the Prince of Wales. He pushed me towards Harkin Redford. He’s done everything but tell me to f**k off. He’s not in love with me, Edele. I’ve accepted it. It’s time the rest of the world has as well.”

    Edele sighed. “You let Tommy know you were back.”

    “Tommy’s a friend.”

    “Tommy is my cousin, and he’s still a Prince of Ireland. Not first in line to inherit, but still. How do you know Tommy won’t tell Aiden anyway?”

        “Because,” I said, “I promised Tommy I would give him Sinead’s number.”

Edele chuckled. “Sinead’s going to kill you. You know her parents are protestant, and the last thing they’d want is a Catholic sniffing around. Let alone a Prince of Ireland.”

    I shrugged, taking out some clothes and putting them in my dresser drawer. “I can handle Sinead Byron. What I can’t handle is Aiden right now. He’s graduating in a year, anyway, and then he’ll be looking for a bride. I’ve got two years here to finish up, and then hopefully Gran will be well enough I can leave.”

    “I give it one week,” said Edele.

        “Until?”

“Until Aiden finds out that you’re here,” she said, “and then there’s going to be an order sent around campus that no one is allowed to touch you. You’ll be single your entire time here, until you’re the future Queen.”

    I rolled my eyes. “I am not the future Queen.”

    “I’m quite certain you’ve been the future Queen since you shoved Aiden into the pool on his fifteenth birthday when he tried to kiss you when you were thirteen. He wouldn’t stop ranting about it for a month.”

    “I’m just here to help my grandparents. That’s it.”

    “Right.” Edele’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “If that’s the case, it won’t be a big deal if we go out, right? My friend Niall is in town. He invited me out to the club. Just broke up with his girlfriend. You’d be perfect for him. He likes them sweet, innocent. He’s also got a brother, Ronan. They’re footballers.”

    I blushed. “Edele.”

    “What? If you’re truly over Aiden, there’s no point in hanging onto that V card any longer is there?”

    I focused on putting away more things. “It’s not like I haven’t wanted to. But every time I got close; it was like something got in the way.”

    “Right. So why not let a sexy footballer do the job?” Edele held up her cell phone, showing me a picture of a very, very buff guy with full lips and longish, dark hair. I squinted at her.

        “You haven’t f****d him, have you?” I asked.

     "He kept me out of trouble. Helped me get sober. Come on. You’d be perfect together.”

    “Alright, fine. I’ll go. But I swear Edele, if Aiden’s there, I’m leaving.”

    “I promise you; this is a girl’s night. Honest.”

    “Okay, fine. I’ll go.”

    Agreeing to go out with Lady Edele Morgan was a bad idea. First, there was the whole getting ready process. She declared everything in my wardrobe unfit for partying. Then, forced me into a tight, little black dress she owned along with heels that could have been used as weapons they were so high. She did my makeup, and my hair, and I didn’t even look like myself by the time she was done.

    “There,” she said, “you look stunning. Let’s go.”

    We took her private car, a sleek, black sedan. The club that we were at was called Tech Duinn, which was the land of the dead in Irish mythology. The music was pulsing, and all Edele had to do was flash her megawatt smile at the bouncer to get us to be let in. We went directly to the bar, where a dark-haired guy stood with a blond haired one.

    Edele smiled. “Excellent! He brought Ronan. I wasn’t sure he was in town”

    “Whose Ronan again?” I asked.

    “Niall’s younger brother,” Edele exclaimed, “he just got scouted for Manchester. Niall keeps on giving him shite for it. Says he needs to stay and play in the Irish league.”

    “Edie!” the dark-haired footballer exclaimed as we approached, a broad smile on his face. “I’m so happy you came out. Who’s your friend?”

    “This is Lucy Lark,” Edele introduced me. “She’s studying abroad for two years to help out her grandparents.”

    “Well, aren’t you a regular Mother Teresa.” The younger, blond one Ronan said, giving me a wink. “I’m Ronan, and that’s me brother Niall.”

    I smiled and waved. “Hi. Nice to meet you both.”

    “A pleasure,” said the boys in unison.

    “Now, could we get you girls drinks?” Niall asked with a grin.

    I remembered my eighteenth birthday in Ireland, when Edele had taken me out and I’d gotten so drunk I’d puked on Aiden. It was still weird, being able to drink there but not in the states. Still, I was in the mood to have fun, and forget my past. So, I drank. Niall and Edele hit the floor, leaving me with Ronan who had taken a liking to me.

    He grinded up against me on the dance floor, and I let him. It was all in good fun. At one point, he brushed his hands through my brown hair, then stared into my eyes like he was going to kiss me. I jerked away.

    “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

    Ronan raised an eyebrow. “Sorry for what, darlin’?”

    “I can’t do this,” I said, and before anyone could stop me, I rushed from the club. It was a dumb mistake, flirting with Ronan like that. When I was in Ireland, it felt like my whole world revolved around Aiden. I felt like at any minute he might appear and demand that I come with him.

    Outside of the club, it had started raining.

    “You alright?” a low, growly voice asked.

    I turned around, and found a tall guy, with brown hair falling into his eyes, which were an amber shade. “I’m fine.” I wrapped my bare arms around my chest. The rain pitter pattered on the sidewalk.

    The guy let out a laugh, and then he removed the leather jacket that he wore. It smelled like cigarettes. There was a sun and moon tattooed on either side of his neck. He placed it around my shoulders.

    “What was that for?” I asked.

    “You’ll catch a death in that get up,” he warned, “couldn’t have a pretty thing like you getting sick now, could yeh, Miss----”

    “Lucy,” I said, “Lucy Lark.”

    “Lucy Lark,” he said, “sounds like a fairy Princess.”

    I laughed. “I’m anything but.”

    “Yes well,” he said, “I’m  Cronan Spires.”

    “Nice to meet you,” I said.

    “You look like yer running from somethin’,” said Cronan.

    I glanced back at the club. “Maybe I am.”

    “Want to run away with me?” he asked, a twinkle in his amber eyes.

    Cronan Spires was a perfect stranger. The last person that I should have been with. And yet, I didn’t want to go back the club or to my dorm room.

    “Run away on what?” I asked.

    “On that,” he said, pointing to a nearby motorcycle.

    “Yeah,” I said, “I’ll run away with you.”

    He got onto the motorcycle, then helped me on. He gave me his helmet, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. The rain beat down on the two of us as we drove through the streets of Dublin.

    I gripped him tightly, breathing in his cigarette smell. We drove, and drove, until we ended up back at the Royal University. I frowned as he pulled the motorcycle to a stop. “Why are we at the college?”

    “I’m a student here,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous, only I thought we had a vibe…” He looked down at me, sheepish.

    I smiled up at him. “You were right.”

    He parked the motorcycle, and then got off. He took my hand, and the two of us ran in the rain to his    dorm room. He opened up the door, and when he did I could only stare in horror as I saw Prince Aiden, of House O’ Conner.

     “Lucy,” he growled.

        “A-a-aiden,” I stammered.

    Cronan scowled. “You’ve got to be kidding me. The two of you fecking know each other?”

    “We grew up together,” I said, “my grandparents work in the castle.”

    Cronan squinted at me. “Oh, Christ---you’re that Lucy Lark.”

    “Yes, she is,” said Aiden. His blue eyes were staring at me, a regular storm. “I thought you were in Boston. At Harvard.”

    I shook my head. “I’m here to help my grandparents.”

    “You should have told me,” said Aiden, “campus isn’t safe for you. You should be living in the palace.”

    “You don’t live in the palace,” I said, “and I’m not going back and forth from Hillsborough. It’s all the way in Belfast!”

    “I’m the Prince. Besides, you’re forgetting, we’ve got more than one palace. And you’re not me. I can do whatever the feck I want.”  

    I put my hands on my hips. “And what makes you think I can’t do whatever I want?”

    “You can’t do whatever you want. You can’t do whatever you want because----” his voice trailed off.

    “Because of what?” I asked.

    Cronan looked between us, almost downright delighted at the two of us interacting.

    “Because of the Law of Anam Cara,” he replied.

    I stiffened at the words, as did Cronan. “You…you can’t be serious. I’m not royal. The Queen will never approve of it.”

    “My mother, the Queen, loves you,” said Prince Aiden.

    “You are ridiculous! You’re only doing this because you’re jealous that I’m here with Cronan.”

    “And why, exactly, are you here with Cronan?” Aiden asked, furrowing his brows together.

    Cronan coughed. “It’s nothing. I wanted to show her…a CD I had.”

    “It’s 2020. People don’t have CDs,” Aiden said, “so, to stop any nonsense from happening Cronan, I declare the law of Anam Cara.”

    I bristled at the words. The Law of Anam Cara. Or the law of soul mates. When the law was declared, it meant that the Prince could court whoever he wanted for a year. It was an ancient, outdated tradition. Well, maybe not that outdated. Wales had courting season still, that was along the same lines. In Ireland, it only applied to the Prince and the King. The last time it had been used was Aiden’s mother.

    “I’m not your soul mate, Aiden. Besides, you’ve never once been interested in me.”

    Aiden stepped forward, towering over me. He removed the leather jacket from around my shoulders, shoving it towards Cronan.

    Cronan caught it.

    “I declare Anam Cara,” he growled, his accent getting particularly rough. There was nothing in between us. I could smell his aftershave and feel my heart pounding against his chest. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this close to him.

    “You won’t,” I said.

    “I have, and I will, over and over again, Lucy,” he said, “until no man or woman will dare look at ye. Because they’ll know that yer mine.” He reached out, cupped my chin in his hands, and then he kissed me. With one kiss, I sealed my fate. Forever tethered to the Prince of Ireland. Whether I liked it or not.