Chapter 6 Sanctuary and Secret
Lila discovered the hidden garden by accident.
She'd been wandering the palace, trying to escape her chambers and the suffocating loneliness. A servant's passage led to a small door, half-hidden behind ivy.
Beyond it lay paradise.
The garden was overgrown, forgotten. Wild roses climbed stone walls. A fountain burbled in the center, water green with algae. Herbs grew in tangled patches—lavender, rosemary, mint.
No one had tended this place in years.
It was perfect.
Lila began visiting every morning at dawn, before the palace woke. She brought books from the library, sat on the crumbling fountain edge, and pretended she was anywhere else.
Three weeks into her palace stay, she wasn't alone anymore.
"I wondered who'd been cutting back the roses."
Lila spun to find Adrian in the garden entrance. He wore simple training clothes, hair damp with sweat like he'd been sparring.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know this was private—"
"It's not." Adrian moved closer, studying the garden. "My mother planted this twenty years ago. After she died, my father couldn't bear to look at it. Eventually, everyone forgot it existed."
He touched a rose bloom gently.
"She loved roses. Said they were beautiful because they had thorns."
Lila had never heard Adrian speak about his family. Never seen this soft expression on his face.
"I can leave," she offered.
"No." Adrian sat on the fountain edge. "Stay. Please."
They sat in silence for a long moment. Birds sang overhead. The fountain bubbled. Dawn light turned everything gold.
"I come here sometimes," Adrian admitted. "When the crown gets too heavy. When I need to remember who I was before duty consumed everything."
"Who were you?"
Adrian's smile was sad. "I don't remember anymore."
The vulnerability in his voice made Lila's chest ache.
"Tell me something," she said quietly. "Something real. Not the King, not the Alpha. Just you."
Adrian was quiet for so long she thought he wouldn't answer.
"I wanted to be a healer," he finally said. "When I was young, before I understood what being firstborn meant. I wanted to study medicine, help people." He laughed bitterly. "My father beat that dream out of me. Said kings don't heal. They rule."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was a child's fantasy." Adrian looked at her. "What about you? What did you want before... all this?"
"Freedom." The word slipped out before Lila could stop it. "I wanted to leave home, travel, see the world beyond our estate. But I was the spare daughter. My job was to stay quiet, stay invisible, and marry whoever my parents chose."
"And instead, you got stuck in a palace, watching your sister live the life you never wanted."
"Yes." Lila met his eyes. "Except there's one thing here I do want."
The air between them changed. Charged.
"Lila…"
"I know. I'm not supposed to say it." She stood, needing distance. "But every morning I come to this garden and pretend that somewhere, in some other life, things are different. That I met you first. That the Moon Goddess wasn't cruel."
Adrian was on his feet, crossing to her in three strides.
"You think I don't do the same?" His voice was rough. "Every night I lie beside your sister and imagine it's you. Every council meeting, every state dinner, every moment of every day, part of me is with you."
His hand lifted to her face, hovering inches away.
"If I touch you, I won't stop," he breathed. "I'll claim you right here, in this garden, and damn the consequences."
Lila's wolf was howling. The bond screamed for completion.
"Then don't touch me," she whispered. "Don't make this harder."
Adrian's hand dropped. He stepped back, and the loss of his proximity felt like losing a limb.
"This garden," he said after a moment. "It can be ours. Neutral ground. A place where we can talk without pretending."
"That's dangerous."
"Everything about this is dangerous." Adrian's eyes were fierce. "But I need this. One place where I don't have to lie about what you are to me."
It was a terrible idea.
Lila agreed anyway.
"Every morning. Dawn. No one else knows about this place."
Adrian nodded. "Our secret."
\---
The arrangement lasted four days before someone noticed.
Lila was leaving the garden at sunrise when she nearly collided with Lady Margot.
Celeste's lady-in-waiting studied her with calculating eyes.
"Lady Lila. How unusual to find you awake so early."
"I like morning walks."
"Through forgotten gardens?" Margot's smile was sharp. "How... rustic."
She swept past, leaving Lila's heart racing.
At breakfast, Margot whispered something in Celeste's ear. The Queen's eyes snapped to Lila.
"Where were you this morning?" Celeste demanded.
"Walking. In the gardens."
"Which gardens?"
"Does it matter?"
Celeste's expression darkened. "Everything you do reflects on me. I won't have you sneaking around the palace like a thief."
"I wasn't sneaking…"
"Then what were you doing?" Celeste leaned forward. "And don't lie to me, Lila. I'm tired of your secrets."
Across the table, Adrian's fork clattered against his plate.
"Lady Lila is entitled to walk wherever she pleases," he said. "She's family, not a prisoner."
"Family." Celeste's laugh was cold. "Is that what we're calling it?"
The tension crackled.
"Celeste," Adrian's voice held warning. "Enough."
"No, not enough!" The Queen stood. "I'm tired of pretending everything is fine when it clearly isn't. I'm tired of watching you defend her. I'm tired of feeling like a stranger in my own marriage!"
She swept from the room, leaving shocked silence behind.
Adrian met Lila's eyes across the table. Devastation written clearly on his face.
"I'm sorry," he mouthed.
Lila fled before anyone could see her cry.
\---
That night, Lila sat at her window, staring at the north tower.
The hidden garden was ruined now. Margot knew about it. Celeste suspected something.
Their one safe place was gone.
Through the bond, Lila felt Adrian's misery. He was in his study, drowning in whiskey and self-hatred.
She wanted to go to him. To comfort him. To tell him this wasn't his fault.
But that would only make everything worse.
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
Maya slipped inside, face pale.
"My lady, you need to be careful."
"What do you mean?"
"The Queen's lady-in-waiting is spreading rumors. Saying you've been meeting someone in secret. That you're trying to seduce a married man."
Ice flooded Lila's veins. "That's not—"
"I know, my lady. But others don't." Maya wrung her hands. "Please, be careful. Lady Margot is dangerous. She wants to be the next Queen if anything happens to Queen Celeste."
"Nothing's going to happen to Celeste."
Maya's expression was strange. "I hope you're right."
After she left, Lila sat in the darkness, mind racing.
Lady Margot was watching them. Spreading poison. Building a case.
And Lila had no idea how to stop her.
Below her window, in the forgotten garden, a single rose bloomed in moonlight.
Their sanctuary.
Now their greatest danger.