Aisling

'He's in there,' Justin instructed, pointing towards a set of intimidating looking white doors.

'Thank you,' I nodded, looking at them as my heartbeat seemed to increase exponentially.

'You know Aisling, no one wants him to marry Medea. Between you and me I don't think she's who she claims to be.'

'What do you mean?' I asked distractedly as I heard Adam's voice drift through the only barrier separating us. I couldn't make out what he was saying but it didn't matter because that was the voice I had been dreaming of for over a month now and it sounded nothing like the imitation I had concocted in my mind.

'Nothing,' Justin shrugged, a smirk growing on his face as I turned my attention back to him.

'What were you saying?'

'Why don't you just get in there? You clearly have something on your mind.'

'Thanks Justin,' I replied nervously.

'Well?' Justin prompted when I didn't move towards the door.

'I need a minute.'

'You wait too long and he'll be at that altar with another girl walking towards him.' He teased pushing me towards the door.

'What if he doesn't want me? What if he laughs at me? What if-'

'Whoa, you're not going to know until you try,' Justin chuckled.

'When did you get so pushy?' I demanded turning on him but he just smiled and walked away.

'Hey, where are you going?' I hissed, but he continued down the corridor until he was out of sight.

Then I was alone, with only a door separating me from a life I had only just begun to dream of or maybe it was the one I had wanted all along.

I was just about to step closer when the doors burst open causing me to take a few steps back. The men exiting the room barely glanced at me as they hurried past and I waited breathlessly for Adam to emerge but he never did.

When the men were out of sight and I could no longer hear their footsteps on the tiled floors I walked cautiously towards the door. It stood slightly ajar and I felt my chest constrict as if my brain had forgotten how to tell it to expand to allow more air into my lungs.

Hesitantly, I pushed the door open and found Adam hunched over in one of the chairs. His head was resting heavily in his hands and I almost felt like I was intruding on his private thoughts. He looked so sad and lost. Suddenly, I found myself crossing the room towards him, as if my feet only ever had one destination.

At first he didn't notice and remained lost in his own thoughts. Then slowly, he raised his eyes from my toes to my waist, to my mouth and finally to my eyes. We were both silent as we just looked at each other. It seemed as if no words were able to break the silence between the two of us. Nothing could compare to just being near one another.

I don't know how long it lasted and I didn't care because he was there and he wasn't pushing me away. Slowly, he got to his feet, his eyes still locked on mine and his hand came up to gently cup my face. My eyes closed as I felt his skin against mine and I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.

'Is it really you?' He whispered as both his hands moved to my shoulders running down my arms and finally holding my hands in his.

'I've missed you Adam,' I breathed, looking up from our joined hands and into his deep blue eyes. How I had missed those eyes.

'I can't believe you're here.' He answered reverently and seeing him was forcing the words from my mind. I couldn't ignore why I was here and I wanted him to know that he was mine. He couldn't marry another, especially Medea.

'You can't do this Adam,' I blurted needing to focus on why I had come.

'They said you weren't coming,' Adam continued as if he hadn't heard me.

'Please Adam you have to stop this wedding,' I begged and I watched as a pained look fell over his face.

'It's too late,' he mumbled. 'The decision has already been made.'

'No-' but I was cut off as he pulled me in close, wrapping me in a tight embrace.

'I've missed you as well my little dreamer,' he breathed and I felt my arms wrap around him too feeling my chances of changing his mind slipping.

'Don't do this Adam,' I pleaded, bring my hands up to clutch the lapels of his jacket as my eyes burned with tears.

'Aisling, why did you have to come today?' He said regretfully and I felt something inside me snap. 'You shouldn't have come.'

'Why?' I demanded, tugging at his jacket to get his eyes to focus on mine.

'You don't belong here, you belong in Italy with Nicoletta and Tony. Its what's best for you.' He answered flatly before he pulled out of my hold and began walking for the door. I realised in that moment what the most frightening thing in the world could be. Him, walking away from me.

'No,' I said in a low, controlled voice causing Adam to come up short and freeze in the middle of the room.

'Aisling,' he sighed, not turning back to look at me.

'No,' I said again glaring at his turned back, hating that he still wasn't looking at me. He hadn't, truly, since I walked in here. 'You don't get to be weak now Adam. You don't get to decide what's best for me.'

'I'm marrying Medea today,' he answered emotionlessly. 'That's whats best for the country.'

'And you?' I shot back.

'What about me?' He laughed darkly.

'What do you want?' He hesitated for a moment until finally he turned back to face me.

'You,' he breathed, an expression of loss plaguing his features. 'It's always been you.'

'Then why are you doing this? I'm here,' I said gently taking a measured step towards him.

'It's not enough,' he whispered and I felt as if a shard of ice had pieced my heart, ice pumping through my veins as his words stung me. His eyes were downcast, refusing to meet mine and I was terrified. My nightmares were real, he didn't think I was enough.

'I want you Adam,' I choked, feeling my limbs go numb, my voice hoarse. I took a shuddering breath before I continued, his body still frozen across the room from me. 'I know I'm not-'

'I'm not enough,' he shouted, startling me and I looked up to see his blazing eyes baring down on me.

'W-What?' I stuttered, struggling to regain my balance after his outburst. What was he trying to say?

'I'm not enough,' he repeated. 'I can't be enough for you and this country. You deserve a man who will move mountains for you. A man who never allows another to harm you, a man who can give you the world. You deserve a man who can protect you,' he spat, self-loathing seeping from every muscle in his face, filling the room with his own disgust and all I could feel was sadness in me. How could he ever believe he wasn't enough?

'Adam, I don't want a man that can move mountains,' I started reaching out for him but he jerked away from me and instead started for the door again.

'Go back Aisling, you belong in Italy.'

'Stop,' I shouted, running across the room and blocking his exit, feeling my body hum with desperation.

'Move aside Aising,' he said in a low voice looking anywhere but at me.

'You're wrong Adam,' I pleaded, reaching up and holding his face firmly in my hands, forcing him to look at me. Deep in the depths of his eyes I could see what he was trying to keep contained, the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. He looked broken.

'You're what's best for me, because I chose you. My entire life I've never had a choice. My mother was taken from me. My father kept his identity from me. Malvolia controlled me and even you forced me to stay when all I wanted to do was leave. This is my choice Adam. My choice is to love you. You can't take that away from me.' I finished, breathing heavily, adrenaline pumping through my veins. For long silent minutes Adam stood still in my hold, his features blank. My heart was racing as I waited for what he would do next. I needed him to see what I was seeing. I needed him to love me.

Seconds ticked by, feeling like hours and each one grew more painful than the last. My throat began to burn with unshed tears and my chest tightened, afraid of what he would do as we continued to stare at each other.

'Adam please,' I begged, letting my hands fall to my sides, a heavy weight settling over my shoulders. Reality pulling heavily on me, my dreams fraying. It had me wondering if dreams were simply that, make believe and unattainable. A childhood wish that was never meant to be realised.
Taking one last look at a lifeless Adam I turned from him in defeat. I had given him all that I had and still he had rejected me.

Everyone had been wrong. All the words they had spoken only aided to feed my fantasies and now I was suffering the fall back to reality. I reached for the door but drew up short when I heard Adam's quiet voice pulling me back.

'I'm engaged to marry Medea.' I froze, confused by his words. Uncertain how to proceed I nodded weakly, my eyes shutting against the pain that was multiplying in my chest. 'I sent you away Aisling.'

'I know,' I breathed, tears growing dangerously close to spilling from my eyes.

'I had to keep you safe,' he continued regretfully and I heard his footsteps begin to approach behind me.

'I was safe Adam. I love you. I'm safe whenever I'm with you.' I felt his warmth press behind me and I turned slowly so as not to startle him but I couldn't stop the tear that finally escaped before it rolled traitorously down my cheek.

'I didn't know. I thought even after everything that Italy was still where you wanted to be. I love you Aisling, my little dreamer,' he said gently, running a hand soothingly down the side of my face but there was something holding him back and I was wary of what he would say next. 'I thought that if I could keep you safe, even if that wasn't with me, then I might be able to be the leader the country needs me to be. I thought I was selfish for loving you.'

'Love isn't selfish Adam,' I whispered. He had taught me that and his family, who all willing gave their love to me, no questions asked.

'I wanted you to be happy Aisling, I thought you could find that, just not here, not with me.'

'Are you happy Adam?' I asked watching as his other hand came to clasp mine, entwining our fingers and I felt hope rebuilding earnestly in my heart but it was more fragile than before.

'I was happy to know you were safe. I knew I would never love again. You had stolen my heart and I had no way of getting it back. I didn't want it back. It made my decision easy.'

'I'm not an easy choice, am I?' I whispered sadly.

'You were always my choice little dreamer,' he chuckled and I nodded silently, another tear rolling down my cheek as I realised that my love might not be enough for Adam.

'Aisling,' he said softly, placing his fingers under my chin so my eyes met his. 'I do love you. Through everything I will always love you.'

'Then why does it feel like you're letting me go?' Several tears escaped now and I couldn't find the strength in me to hold them any longer, my hope was starting to shatter and I didn't have the strength to put it back together.

My hope was tied to Adam and I didn't have him anymore.

'Nothing has changed,' he smiled sadly and I felt another piercing pain slice through my chest.

'Everything has changed,' I pleaded. 'I love you, you can't marry Medea. You won't be happy.' I could feel a strange anger rising in me and all I knew was I wasn't going to let him push me away this time. He was mine and I was his. It was the way it should be.

'It's too late Aisling,' he answered softly, defeatedly.

'No,' I growled, pushing his hand from my chin. 'I want to be here with you.'

'It can't happen Aisling.' I was tired of his words. Even if he ignored everything else, I knew he couldn't ignore what we shared.

I grabbed his face with both of my hands watching as his eyes went wide in alarm before I brought his head down to mine. Our lips meeting and the world slipping away until it was only the two of us. Excitement and familiarity washed through me but most importantly an overwhelming sense of home, one I had never felt before.

'Marry me,' I gasped, pulling away from his lips and I realised his hands were clasped tightly around my waist and had pulled me closer during our kiss.

'Is that a question Aisling?' He asked through a shaky breath and I shook my head defiantly.

'Adam, tell me you don't love me,' I demanded.

'Aisling' he sighed.

'Tell me you don't want to be with me.'

'You know I can't.'

'Then don't. Tell me the truth,' I begged, keeping my eyes on his.

'I do love you Aisling, and more than anything I want to marry you today.'

'Then what's stopping you?' I asked desperately but he didn't have a chance to answer because at that moment the door behind us swung open.

'Your highness,' the butler bowed hesitating slightly at what he had walked in on.

'Yes?' Adam prompted, prying my hands from where they still clutched his jacket.

'Lady Medea is wondering where you are. They are ready to begin the ceremony.'

'Of course,' he nodded solemnly and I felt my heart drop as the man disappeared from the room. A blankness had fallen across Adam's face and it scared me more than anything I had ever experienced before. Adam still held my wrists keeping me away from him and his expression only stretched the distance between us.

'Adam, you can't,' I breathed as he released me, walking away robotically.

'You should go,' he answered coldly.

'No,' I whispered but he was already gone, taking my heart with him.

Adam

I couldn't believe she had come. It was as if my mind was still trying to process everything she had said to me. It felt like an illusion, but with every passing minute it felt more real and I was already regretting all that I had said.

Standing in front of the wedding guests I felt the pressure of it all start to press down on my chest. It was a pressure that had been growing since I turned my back on her only a few minutes before, and it was becoming unbearable.

Everything felt wrong as I waited for my bride. The music was too loud, the flowers the wrong colour, they were red when I knew they should have been green. It all seemed like too much and all I wanted was for it all to disappear.

I thought when I put her on that plane over a month ago I would never see her again. It only confirmed one thing seeing her today, my heart was still hers. Looking in her bright green eyes was more than I could take. They were more powerful than I remembered or maybe I had simply dulled them in my memory. Maybe a magic like that could never be locked away inside a memory. Never remembered like it should be. You could only experience it in the moment and I mourned the thought that I would spend my life without her magic.

Looking up from where I stood on the podium, I immediately located her mesmerising eyes at the back of the gathered crowd. She stood hidden behind the extravagant flower displays, swiping at the tears falling freely from her eyes. Every tear that fell down her face felt like it took a little piece of me with it. How could I have done this to her? How could I have ever thought turning her away would be the best option for either of us?

I loved her, there was no denying it but all these people that stood before me now were here for a wedding and it was only moments before my bride would walk down the aisle. Moments before I would shut Aisling out of my life forever.

In that second I knew I couldn't do it. All the words I had spoken to her moments before were worthless and I knew everything I had been trying to convince myself of had been nothing but empty words. With her there, standing in front of me I knew I couldn't let her go, not again. She was here, she was fighting for me, to be with me.

'Your highness?' The priest prompted, but I ignored him as I turned from the altar and started to move down the stairs where I was to be married to the wrong woman.

'Adam?' I heard my mother ask as I walked passed them, but I barely spared my family a glance as I moved quickly down the aisle to the soundtrack of confused murmurs and shocked gasps. I ignored it all, only one thing on my mind, getting to Aisling.

She had confusion and unmistakable hope in her eyes as she watch me march down the aisle to her. Heads were turning to watch me, but still not noticing Aisling at the end. I felt a smile tug at my lips as her tears started to slow but she was still wary of my intentions. All I wanted to do was assure her that I would never be so stupid again. Once I had her in my arms, I was never going to let her go.

My smile grew with every step I took but in a single breath I felt the world tip and the air in my lungs rush out of me. One moment she was there, all her focus on me and mine on her and then she was gone, in a flurry of red dresses. I faltered as if an invisible wall had come up, slamming into me and all I could do was stare at where she had been. It was as if the world had stopped spinning when her eyes were torn from mine, fear quickly replacing the hope that had once been there. She was gone, again.

'Aisling!' I heard ring out across the crowd. After a second I realised the guttural call had come from my lips and it was my despair ringing out over the now silent crowd.

Ignoring the confused looks I was receiving from the guests I ran after where she had been dragged away, back inside the palace. In a desperate panic I ran through the hallways frantically searching for her until I caught the flash of a red dress disappear inside a room as a small girl struggled to break their hold on her. I knew in that moment I couldn't let her be hurt again, I wouldn't survive her pain.

Increasing my pace I burst through the doors of the room and stumbled at the sight before me. I never thought I would have to see her in this danger again but I never suspected the person who was putting her in it. I knew this image would haunt me forever.

'Hello Adam,' Medea purred, contradicting the innocence of the white gown she was dressed in. She pressed the barrel of a gun deeper into Aisling temple as I froze with fear and shock stilling the blood that once ran through my veins. No matter how angelic she appeared in her wedding gown her actions assured me that she was capable of devilish acts.

'Medea,' I began trying to keep the terror from my voice. 'What are you doing?' My eyes darted from Medea to Aisling where she knelt beside my would be bride, her body trembling with uncontrollable sobs. The scene felt unreal but when I looked in her eyes I knew her fear was.

'Shut the door Adam,' Medea instructed but I couldn't move knowing Aisling was in such danger. How could Medea be holding a gun to Aisling's head?

'We have much to discuss Adam, now shut the door.' She growled, levelling me with a glare so terrifying, I could have sworn my heart had stuttered to a stop in my chest. I watched as her grip on the gun tightened and I felt my world start to close in on itself. How could I have let this happen to the girl I loved, again?

'Adam,' she prompted for the third time as Aisling winced and I slowly shut the door behind me, never taking my eyes off Medea.

'Good,' she nodded, seeming to relax her hold on the gun but I couldn't do the same. My body tensed further as I glanced at the flow of tears falling from Aisling's eyes. If I had just said yes to her back in that room I could have prevented all of this from happening. 'Now we can talk.'

'Medea,' I choked. ' What are you doing?'

'You know Adam, this would have all worked out perfectly if she had just stayed away. Personally, I preferred her to be dead but I guess it doesn't really matter in the end. Either way you were going to die,' she monologued, flippantly and I couldn't help but thinking she had fallen off the deep end.

'What do you mean?'

'Oh you're so oblivious Adam,' she cackled and I was struggling to see the same girl who had sat with me that day after my fight with Aisling in the music room or the one from last night who was content to just be by my side. 'I'm truly surprised she has lived this long.'

'Why do you want Aisling dead?' I asked, choking on the last word.

'She's actually inconsequential to the plan, it was simply a personal preference,' she shrugged, letting the gun fall to her side but I remained perfectly still. I had no idea what she would do if I tried to move for Aisling, I just hoped Aisling would remain still.

'What do you mean?' I asked distractedly, trying to keep her talking.

'If I had to be married to you I would have preferred that you were madly in love with me, but she always got in the way,' she spat, pointing the gun dangerously at Aisling before releasing her hold on her and starting to pace with slow calculated movements.

'Medea-' I began but she quickly cut across me, waving the gun with every word she spoke. The longer I stood before her the more anxious I became. I could feel the sweat gathering on my upper lip and beads sliding down my back but it was a small irritation, barely registering in my mind as she seemed to lose her composure.

'No, Adam,' she growled. 'You will listen to me because I have wasted my entire life on you.'

I could see a vein on her head throbbing and I wondered if she truly lost herself would the vein burst?

'Why do you think I play the piano Adam?' She demanded but she answered before I could even manage a shake of my head. 'Because you play the piano Adam. Why do you think I know almost all there is to know about foreign affairs, trade agreements and all that other useless information? Because of you.' She yelled harshly as her pace began to increase. 'From the time I was born I have been in training to be the perfect princess. Your interests were my interests, everything I have ever done has been to make me more attractive for you. I was trained to be your bride.'

'Medea, I know this is hard and I understand you have feelings-'

'I don't love you,' she scoffed. 'I don't feel anything for you but resentment and hatred. If you only knew how many times I wanted to end your life and I had so many opportunities, but no, I had to bide my time. This plan has been twenty-five years in the making and they kept saying all I had to be was patient but you were so stupid, mooning over a worthless maid.' She laughed, pointing the gun at Aislnig again, who was now being held by Poppy and Corabella, Medea's bridesmaids. Their wide red dresses almost concealing Aisling from my view.

'Do you know how insulting it is that you chose that over me?' She breathed, swiping at stray hairs that had started to escape the intricate up-do the stylists had created for her wedding day. 'But it doesn't matter now, because finally the time has come. Once we are married our mission will finally be accomplished.'

'Are you insane?' I blurted. 'You honestly think after everything you have just told me that I could marry you? You said you will kill me.'

'Oh you'll marry me Adam,' she answered knowingly before rounding on Aisling again and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realised her plan. A malicious smile spread across her once docile face and my eyes quickly flashed to Aisling's as Medea continued, 'because if you don't, your beloved Aisling will lose her life, and it will be all your fault.'

And here is my peace offering for all you loyal readers, two updates within hours of one another :) Enjoy my beautiful readers, you deserve it for putting up with an author like me :)