Forbidde to Love You

Chapter Twenty-two - The Royals I

And so, without ever truly being consulted about the decision, Serena found herself on the road to the King's Palace, accompanied by her father and Alexander.

She sat inside the carriage, watching the countryside pass through the window, while Alexander rode nearby with the guards. James traveled in the carriage ahead of them, already preparing himself for the meetings waiting at court.

Serena knew the King personally. The Harringtons had spent enough time at court over the years that the royal family was hardly unfamiliar to her.

But when she thought about the palace, her memories were rarely of the King himself. They were of his twin sons.

Princes Adrian and Lucien.

The twins had always been impossible to separate in Serena's childhood memories, despite being almost complete opposites.

Adrian, the elder by only a few minutes, had always carried himself like someone who had been born knowing he would one day wear the crown. Even as a boy, there was a seriousness about him. He was intelligent, disciplined, and already deeply aware of the responsibilities that came with being the heir.

Serena remembered him as the boy who would interrupt their games to remind everyone of the rules, the one who always knew when their parents were looking for them, and the one who somehow managed to make even their childhood arguments sound like matters of state.

He had grown into a handsome young man, tall and composed, with an effortless authority that followed him wherever he went. Adrian was not cruel or cold, but there was always a distance around him. He had been raised to understand that his choices belonged not entirely to himself, but to the kingdom.

But her true friend were always Lucien, who had never seemed particularly interested in duty when there was something more entertaining available.

He had spent much of their childhood finding reasons to be wherever Serena was. He was charming even as a boy, always smiling, always talking, always certain that whatever trouble he had caused could be solved with enough confidence.

Unlike Adrian, Lucien seemed to move through the world without worrying about what anyone expected of him. He was confident, playful, dreamy, and effortlessly self-assured. He had a way of saying the most outrageous things with such calm certainty that people sometimes found themselves agreeing before realizing what he had said.

Serena remembered one particular summer when they were children. Lucien had declared, in front of half the court, that he was going to marry her.

Adrian had immediately told him that he couldn't simply decide such a thing.

Lucien had shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because you're a prince."

"Exactly."

Serena had laughed at the time. She didn't know that Lucien had never entirely changed his mind. As they grew older, his childhood affection became something more deliberate. His teasing became flirting. His excuses to seek Serena's company became less subtle. At feasts, he would somehow end up beside her. At tournaments, he looked for her in the stands. Whenever the Harringtons visited the palace, Lucien always seemed to find her before anyone else.

And he had never been particularly shy about letting her know that he was interested.

Serena had always considered it harmless. Lucien was a prince. She was a Harrington. Their families had known each other for years, and the royal family had always been close to hers.

There had never seemed to be anything dangerous about his attention.

Until now.

Serena rested her head against the carriage window and watched the distant hills disappear behind them. She was no longer a girl who could laugh when Lucien declared that she would one day be his princess.

She was eighteen now.

Old enough for her parents to discuss her future.

Old enough for the King to invite her to court.

Old enough for Lucien to stop treating his feelings like a childhood game.

And, perhaps most inconveniently, old enough to know that her heart was already beginning to belong to someone else.

William.

The thought came so naturally that Serena immediately closed her eyes.

She didn't want to think about him.

Unfortunately, her heart had never been particularly good at obeying her.