Forbidden Love

Chapter Four: Vows

(Bella’s POV)

The days that followed Clara’s betrayal were heavy on my heart. The palace halls, once familiar and safe, now felt like walls closing in on me. Every corner seemed to hold a whisper, every passing glance felt like suspicion. I knew too well how quickly secrets could spread, and though no one had spoken to me directly, I sensed the change. My mother’s eyes lingered longer on me. The Queen’s voice carried a sharper edge when she called my name.

Yet, despite the fear tightening around my chest, I could not let go of Walter. If anything, Clara’s cruelty only made me crave his presence more.

At night, when the palace grew quiet, I would steal into the gardens. The air there was fresher, untainted by stares and duties. It was the only place where I could breathe. And it was there Walter would find me, always waiting as though he had known my heart would lead me to him.

“Bella,” he whispered the first night after Clara’s deed. His voice was softer than the wind, yet it reached me as if carried by fate itself.

I wanted to cry, but no tears would fall. Instead, I leaned on him, drawing strength from the warmth of his embrace. His arms were strong, not because he was a guard, but because he carried my fears as if they were his own.

“I am so sorry,” I whispered into his chest. “Clara should never have known. I should have hidden us better.”

Walter tilted my face upward until my eyes met his. “Do not blame yourself. Clara made her choice. But hear me, Bella, I will never leave your side. Whatever comes, I will stand with you.”

The vow in his voice shook me. No prince, no lord, no polished suitor had ever spoken with such truth. His words were not gilded, yet they pierced deeper than any jewel ever could.

Still, a shadow lingered over us. Prince Adrien. My betrothed. The name I had grown to dread. The kingdom sang of his virtues, of the alliances his hand would seal, of the strength he carried with his title. But to me, he was a stranger who threatened to erase the one person who truly knew me.

I shivered as the thought crossed my mind. “They say Adrien will come soon.”

Walter’s hand tightened around mine. For a moment he said nothing, but I felt the storm in his silence. Finally, he breathed, “Let him come. It changes nothing.”

I wished I could believe him. I wished love alone was strong enough to silence duty and crown. But the weight of the kingdom sat on my shoulders as much as his oath of service sat on his.

That night, we sat together in silence, the moon our only witness. The fear of discovery, the ache of what lay ahead, the sweetness of being together even if the world stood against us, it all mingled into one unbearable knot inside me.

Days turned into nights, nights into stolen hours, and still we met. Always in the garden, always under the gaze of the stars, as though heaven itself pitied us. Each time, Walter spoke with the same quiet certainty, swearing I would never be alone. And each time, my heart both soared and broke a little more.

I began to write his name in the margins of my books, to sketch the memory of his face when I lay in bed at night. The palace might see me as a princess, as Adrien’s promised bride, but in my heart I was simply Bella. Walter’s Bella.

Yet dread clung to me like a shadow that would not leave. The Queen’s eyes were colder now. And Clara… Clara watched me still, a satisfied gleam in her gaze whenever our paths crossed. She had wounded me, but I refused to let her win.

One evening, as Walter and I lingered by the fountain, he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it with a reverence that made my chest ache. “Bella,” he said, his voice low and steady, “I vow before heaven and earth, I will always be by your side. No crown, no law, no man will take me from you.”

My breath caught. The sincerity in his eyes left no room for doubt. If the world were to crumble, I knew he would still stand with me in the ruins.

I wanted to believe those words could protect us. I wanted to believe love was enough. And for that moment, with his lips pressed to my hand and the moonlight bathing us in silver, I allowed myself to believe.

But deep within, a quiet fear stirred. A whisper that reminded me vows could not stop destiny, and shadows were always watching.

Still, I clung to him. Because in his arms, I felt alive. In his arms, I was not a princess bound by duty. I was a woman who had found her heart.

And though the future loomed like a storm, I would not surrender tonight. Tonight was ours.

(Walter’s POV)

The night air wrapped itself around us, cool and quiet, yet my heart beat with a fire that no wind could quench. Bella’s hand trembled slightly in mine, though she tried to hide it. She was brave, far braver than anyone in the palace gave her credit for. To the world she was a princess, fragile and protected, but I had seen her heart, fierce, tender, and willing to fight for love even when the odds stood tall against us.

Her eyes searched mine, and in that gaze I saw everything I had ever longed for. Not just beauty, but trust. Not just trust, but a soul that had chosen me, even when she had every reason to walk away.

I pressed her hand to my lips and whispered, “Bella, I will always be here. If the world crumbles, I will stand with you in the ruins. If duty chains you, I will be the one to break those chains.”

Her breath caught, and I saw tears glisten in her eyes, though she turned away quickly. The palace might see tears as weakness, but I knew better. They were proof of how deeply she felt, how heavy the burden on her heart was.

It angered me, knowing she carried this weight because of me. I was but a guard, a man born with nothing but the strength in his hands and the courage in his chest. Yet she had chosen me over the crown, over safety, over the life that had been set before her since birth.

The thought both humbled me and filled me with fear. Because I knew, as surely as I knew my own name, that the kingdom would not forgive us if the truth were ever dragged into the light.

“Walter,” she said suddenly, her voice breaking into my thoughts. “Do you ever… do you ever fear what will happen if they find out? I mean truly find out?”

I tightened my hold on her fingers. “Fear?” I paused, not to search for an answer but to steady the storm inside me. “Yes, Bella. I fear every day. But not for myself. For you. For what they might take from you, for what they might force upon you.”

Her lips trembled, and I wanted to erase the sadness from her face. But I could not lie to her. We both knew the truth, the Queen had already given her warnings, and Clara’s betrayal had lit the fire higher.

And then, there was Prince Adrien. His name was like a sword hanging above us, its blade growing sharper with each passing day. They said he was strong, noble, trained in the art of war and rule. To me, he was still only a shadow, yet a shadow large enough to swallow everything we had built.

Still, I held her close, because love had made me stubborn. “They can send men, they can lock you in towers, they can strip me of armor and name, but they cannot make me stop loving you.”

For a moment, she smiled. And in that smile, I found strength.

But even as I said those words, I felt the faint prickle of unease. Something about the silence of the night was different. The garden, usually alive with the chirping of crickets and the rustle of leaves, had grown still as if the very air held its breath.

Bella leaned against me, her head resting on my chest, and I brushed a hand through her hair. I wanted this moment to last, to seal it in eternity. Yet a sound in the distance pulled me back, a faint crunch, like a foot upon gravel. I froze.

Bella noticed the stiffness in me. “Walter?” she whispered.

I said nothing, only turned my head sharply toward the path behind the hedges. The shadows there seemed thicker than usual, heavy with watching eyes.

Another sound, this time clearer.

Not the wind. Not a stray animal. Someone was there.

I rose slowly, shielding Bella behind me, every muscle in my body taut as the string of a bow. My hand itched for the hilt of the sword at my side.

Whoever lurked in the shadows had no right to be here. And if they had seen us, if they had heard the words that had just passed between us, then our secret was no longer ours.

The garden’s silence pressed in around us, broken only by the thudding of my heart.

“Show yourself,” I called, my voice low but sharp.

For a moment, nothing stirred. Then, from the darkness, came the faint glint of eyes. Watching. Waiting.

Bella clutched my arm. Her fear was my own, but my vow was stronger. I would protect her, even if it meant facing the end tonight.

The figure in the shadows shifted, a step closer, then another.

And in that breathless moment, I knew, our lives were about to change forever.