on, in fact with the way he's been acting since he got here it seems like he still does."
Valto's desire to reconcile was quite clear to anyone, and Cat couldn't understand why he was so insistent on it. Then again, he had always been very family orientated, and she couldn't imagine him accepting anything less than some sort of happy families with the traditional loving parents and happy children. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to give him that.
"I can't love him." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You mean you won't love him," said Lowri.
"Either way it has the same outcome." Cat ran her fingers through her hair. "So what difference does it make?"
"A very lonely life." Lowri removed her hand from Cat's shoulder, and folded her arms across her chest. "You told me that you love him, so why don't you let yourself feel that?"
What did Lowri know about it? She had lived a happy single life until she had married Cat's father well into her fifties. She had no idea what it was like to marry a man who was bound to wreck her, to break her heart over and over again until she was nothing more than a shell. Until she was nothing more than her own father.
"Because there is no future there." She couldn't keep the frustration and anger from her voice, knowing that she shouldn't take it out on Lowri. But yelling at Valto had already proved fruitless. "Better to just remain friends than to risk everything I've gained in the last five years."
***
Valto wasn't difficult to find in Caerdydd castle; it was clear that he didn't exactly feel comfortable in its empty halls and rooms. He was from a much larger family, and a palace that was always bustling with activity and guests. Caerdydd was a different world to the one that he had grown up in.
As per usual he was in the gardens, in one of the small walled ones surrounded by Lowri's beloved vegetables and herbs. He was sat on the small patch of grass in the centre, flipping through one of the thousands of novels in the library. She couldn't help but stand in the open gateway, leaning against the rough cut limestone and smiling at the sight that he made.
He had always been a bookworm. When Johann and Kai had been running around getting dirty and making mischief, Valto had always just been seen as 'Kai's brother'. Sweet, quiet and charming he had never really left much of an impression on anyone, until on his twelfth birthday he had started coming with Johann to Caerdydd. It was during those summers that she had fallen for him, liking that he was happy to sit by the lake and talk about Shakespeare and poetry.
"What are you reading?" She pushed away from the wall and walked into the patch of sunshine that was bathing the grass, and shining off of Valto's tousled blonde hair.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Pride and Prejudice."
She laughed and shook her head, settling beside him on the grass and stretching her legs out in front of her. "Hoping that Mr. Darcy will run away with you?"
Bumping her with his shoulder, he placed the book on the grass beside him. "Who doesn't want Mr. Darcy to run away with them?"
They both shared a soft chuckle at that, and she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"So Lowri has decided that we need to show you off to the Welsh public," she said, folding her hands in her lap. "Which means we will be embarking on a pre-coronation tour."
He didn't look surprised in the slightest, and she was glad that he had the common sense to know that his life as Prince Consort was going to be nothing more than a string of these kind of events. It was an overwhelming fact about Royal life, especially those within the monarchy, and even though she had been groomed for this role there were times when she felt like the walls were closing in. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like for someone as far away from succession as Valto; who, for the most part, had been granted his freedom up until now.
"When do
Valto's desire to reconcile was quite clear to anyone, and Cat couldn't understand why he was so insistent on it. Then again, he had always been very family orientated, and she couldn't imagine him accepting anything less than some sort of happy families with the traditional loving parents and happy children. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to give him that.
"I can't love him." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You mean you won't love him," said Lowri.
"Either way it has the same outcome." Cat ran her fingers through her hair. "So what difference does it make?"
"A very lonely life." Lowri removed her hand from Cat's shoulder, and folded her arms across her chest. "You told me that you love him, so why don't you let yourself feel that?"
What did Lowri know about it? She had lived a happy single life until she had married Cat's father well into her fifties. She had no idea what it was like to marry a man who was bound to wreck her, to break her heart over and over again until she was nothing more than a shell. Until she was nothing more than her own father.
"Because there is no future there." She couldn't keep the frustration and anger from her voice, knowing that she shouldn't take it out on Lowri. But yelling at Valto had already proved fruitless. "Better to just remain friends than to risk everything I've gained in the last five years."
***
Valto wasn't difficult to find in Caerdydd castle; it was clear that he didn't exactly feel comfortable in its empty halls and rooms. He was from a much larger family, and a palace that was always bustling with activity and guests. Caerdydd was a different world to the one that he had grown up in.
As per usual he was in the gardens, in one of the small walled ones surrounded by Lowri's beloved vegetables and herbs. He was sat on the small patch of grass in the centre, flipping through one of the thousands of novels in the library. She couldn't help but stand in the open gateway, leaning against the rough cut limestone and smiling at the sight that he made.
He had always been a bookworm. When Johann and Kai had been running around getting dirty and making mischief, Valto had always just been seen as 'Kai's brother'. Sweet, quiet and charming he had never really left much of an impression on anyone, until on his twelfth birthday he had started coming with Johann to Caerdydd. It was during those summers that she had fallen for him, liking that he was happy to sit by the lake and talk about Shakespeare and poetry.
"What are you reading?" She pushed away from the wall and walked into the patch of sunshine that was bathing the grass, and shining off of Valto's tousled blonde hair.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Pride and Prejudice."
She laughed and shook her head, settling beside him on the grass and stretching her legs out in front of her. "Hoping that Mr. Darcy will run away with you?"
Bumping her with his shoulder, he placed the book on the grass beside him. "Who doesn't want Mr. Darcy to run away with them?"
They both shared a soft chuckle at that, and she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"So Lowri has decided that we need to show you off to the Welsh public," she said, folding her hands in her lap. "Which means we will be embarking on a pre-coronation tour."
He didn't look surprised in the slightest, and she was glad that he had the common sense to know that his life as Prince Consort was going to be nothing more than a string of these kind of events. It was an overwhelming fact about Royal life, especially those within the monarchy, and even though she had been groomed for this role there were times when she felt like the walls were closing in. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like for someone as far away from succession as Valto; who, for the most part, had been granted his freedom up until now.
"When do
Similar Books
