A/N: I'm back with something short and bittersweet. Sorry for the very long absence, a lot has happened over the months and just when I was about to come back I lost all will to write. My grandma died a few months ago which has cause a lot of change to happen in my life. She practically was my mother and raised me for most of my life so losing her has been hard.
I am happy to be back though and hope I can get myself to write more for you guys soon.
I've also been watching a lot of House of the Dragon, thus the inspo for this.
Love could be so cruel. The heart seems to have such a funny little way of picking who to want affection from; or at least, your heart did.
Your heart made it especially hard. It loved hard and fiercely. It didn't help that her heart did the same in return.
You had tried many times to let go of these feelings; to cut the ties that bound you. Everytime, without fail, you were pulled right back to her.
You often wondered if a love like this could kill you. A love so strong that it nearly tore you in half. A love that filled your mind with constant visions of her no matter if you were near or far from her.
Thoughts of how her long red curls cascaded over your lap as you two sat under the large red oak; reading stories of the past to one another.
Thoughts of how perfectly her hand would slip into yours. She often found herself reaching out for you, simply to have that contact. You were already happy to oblige.
You had thoughts of times where the light would catch her eyes just right, making them sparkle as she listened to you babble on about whatever came to mind.
The Princess ruled your heart and soul. She consumed your very being and no matter how hard you tried to crawl free and push your feelings down, you always failed miserably.
When King Alexei announced the betrothal of his eldest daughter to Ser James Barnes, your knees nearly gave out beneath you. You knew this day would come.
She was the heir to the throne. If she were to be Queen someday then she would be expected to produce heirs. She would have to marry.
She would have to marry a man.
Fate was often just as cruel as love. Had you been a man yourself then it would be no question that the Princess would be yours. Your family was one of the strongest in the realm and had always been the Crown's number one ally.
Had fate been kind, this would have been your engagement announcement; not theirs. Not his.
You did your best to put on a brave face and cheer for the "happy" couple along with the rest of the court. You owed her that much.
She was being so brave.
You raised your head to find her eyes had singled in on you in the crowd. There was a large smile plastered on her face.
Fake.
Her eyes told you all you needed to know. And just like that, while everything in your being was screaming at you to let this be the end and flee; flee before it was too late to truly come back from, you couldn't.
Looking into her sorrow filled eyes, you could see her calling out to you. She was begging you to save her from this. You couldn't do that either.
And so instead, you swallowed your resolve and upheld the happy persona.
You would go to her after this, when you could be alone. You would do her best to make her forget about the world, to forget about her duty.
To forget about him.
Love could be so cruel.
