"The Thrones of First Love."
Never doubt yourself of who you're to become, life is short to waste!. It's me.
It was the living room of my parents, opulent townhouse. and like all homes of the rich and influential. the Castor house was decorated heavily with furniture and artifacts of the most exotic origin. after all, nothing but the best for my family.
“Where is Leila!,” Leila?
That was the sound of my father. Have I done something wrong again?” I said to myself. yes father I replied. But I never knew he was standing right behind me already. Next, I turned, and a slap resounded on my face. The sound of the slap echoed through the room, but it was the words that cut deeper!
I told you to stay away from that boy, my father said.
" I love him, Father," I said softly, my breath hitched slightly. and I did love Ben Maloney as much as I loved Breath, so giving him up was not an option.
Now for the slap. Well, that was not anything of a surprise. My father had a temper, especially on this topic. the family Maloney.
"Young lady, I'm not sure how well you understand, but you cannot under any circumstances marry into that family. If you do, I'll cut you off" he roared, and I sighed.
" You can cut me off. leave me. I don't care."
" I'll still marry Ben" I retorted. he roared. strode towards me. his arms raised and my mother screamed.
" Richard, stop that now". He paused, feet from me, nostrils flared with temper, arm raised
" This will be the last time I hear of this" he gritted. I opened my mouth, ready to speak.
" Leila shut up " my mother huffed. I sighed, and I did as she asked and ran up the stairs and into my room, locking the door shut behind me.
My room was large, spacious, and decorated to my specific likes. It was a privilege I was aware of, and unlike the rest of the house, it was painted in soft baby pink. I strolled to my dresser, sitting down grinning at the strewn of letters that had caused the argument downstairs or at least part of the reason.
I picked the latest one, gripping it in my palm as a silly grin spread across my face. I, Leila Castor, was in love. I flicked open the letter. Looking over it. I stifled the urge to sigh.
I rose, twirled my bed, and collapsed onto it, my grin widening, my limbs spread out star-fished.
I could understand my father a little bit. In our fair city of Sablo, the Maloney's and the Castor's were bitter enemies.
With feuds that dated back as far as the eighteenth century, when the Castors were a noble house that could trace their lineage to at least one king and a foreign queen. Maloney, though not destitute, Maloney had been of the common class and only became a noble when King August had bestowed on Charles Maloney the title of duke in honor of his service.
There were stories of murdered family members on either side. The Maloney's blamed my family for the death of their firstborn son in eighteen sixty-seven, almost a decade later, my family had gone on to accuse them of the death of their daughter and a famous singer's cousin, which had only deepened the rivalry.
To my ancestors, though they would never be on the same level and so the feud had continued, each family trying to one-up the other in tasteless matches of power.
Only now in the twenty-first century, with the monarch long gone and titles mostly redundant, families compete with one another via their business ventures.
So the thought of even a marriage between these families was unthinkable, and normally I would have adhered to that rule, but I couldn't, not after I'd met Ben and spoken to him, had him confessed his feelings, which mirrored mine. I believed in love and there was no way I could let this get away from me.
I remember the first day we met. It was at a family event. My cousin Ken was opening his new restaurant. Ben had strolled in the middle of his big speech and that was a big screw you!, that is if I ever saw one, and I'd been intrigued.
Ben had stood around for a while, I caught a random glimpse, and then, for a spilled second in time, in what I would forever call the hands of fate our eyes met, he'd smiled at me, a lopsided grin that I'd come to love, picked a drink from the tray and strode towards me. The closer he got the more I realized he was quite handsome, his brown hair was tousled as if he'd just woken up from sleep. His eyes a pale blue, made him look warm and inviting
" I've never seen you before," he said softly, and I grinned in return.
" I can say the same about you" he laughed, and my heart skipped a beat, he looked even more handsome smiling
" I'm Ben Maloney," he said softly. I huffed and leaned on my palm.
" And just what is a Maloney doing at the event of a Castor? "
" Well, I don't confine myself to just people who like me. "
" I see, you like to live dangerously then," I asked, and he shrugged.
" What can I say? It brought me you. I can hardly complain" I couldn't help it. I blushed, my cheeks burned hot. I was twenty years old and while I wasn't a total innocent, I wasn't that experienced with dating.
" That's quite a line. Do you say that to all the girls? I asked, and he grinned.
" Only to those that mean something to me" he replied, and I smiled.
" We haven't known each other long enough for that. "
" What are you doing here Maloney", my cousin's voice gritted behind me. Ben winced and straightened.
" Ken, I heard you were opening" he grinned.
" Hello, Ken. Your place is beautiful", I muttered, and he smiled and pulled me into a hug. His frame towered over mine.
" Thank you, you shouldn't be talking to strangers " he admonished, shooting Ben a hard look.
" Oh come on, you can't seriously mean we should avoid each other forever," Ben grumbled and I smiled. If Ken had his way, Ben would be banished from the face of the earth.
" Besides, I'd love to see her more. You never mentioned you had a gorgeous cousin" he replied, and Ken growled.
" You'll keep my sister out of this if you know what's good for you", I sighed.
" Let's go, Ken, it's your opening. You can't get into fights" I urged, grabbed his arm, and led him away.
" You need to learn to control your temper" I muttered and he growled,
" Stay away from that idiot" he warned, as if he could somehow tell. I ignored him. I glanced towards Ben, shooting him a little smile. He winked as he watched us leave.
That was the beginning of my love story. I rolled over on the bed and folded the letter.
It didn't matter what anyone said, I would marry
Ben Maloney and no one would stop me