A Secret Love

Chapter One

I was waiting outside in the pitch-black, freezing night for a man. This man is the son of my father's enemy. I know this because when we met for the first time he had told me. My name is Zaylin Silva and the man's name is Xavier Turner. Xavier and I have been secret friends for two years now. I knew everything there is to know about him, or so I thought. I never would've thought Xavier would keep a secret from me.

I suddenly felt arms around my waist and someone's breath on my neck. I wasn't scared because I had a good guess of who it was. I waited for the person to speak to see if I should try to escape or not.

"Did I keep you waiting long?" the person whispered in a voice I could never forget, even if I wanted to. I lifted my pale blue eyes to Xavier's amazing emerald green ones. I couldn't look away from him.

"Of course not, I was only waiting for a couple of seconds, Xavier." I replied, smiling more to myself than him.

"That's good, I wouldn't want a beautiful young lady like yourself to wait. I'm sorry for not being here on time, I got a little caught up." I thought I saw a faint smile on his lips.

"Oh, with what?" I asked, knowing it was a who not a what.

"My father wanted me to meet a bunch of women to see which I wanted to possibly marry. It took me forever to get out of his sight."

"Did any of the women catch your eye?" I asked, trying to hold back my emotions. I was slightly scared by the answer and sad that I wasn't a women who caught his eye that way. I reminded myself I was just a friend to him.

"Not any of those women, no." he said.

"You sound like a woman has already caught your eye."

"That's because one has."

"Oh," I breathed, shocked. "Have you talked to her?"

"I have talked to her, many times actually. I'm just not sure she likes me in the way I like her."

"That must be awful. I wish-" I was cut off by voices coming towards us. I shot a frantic look toward Xavier. If we were caught together, we would be in severe trouble. The people around here don't tolerate Silva's and Turner's together. It causes fighting most of the time.

"Go! I'll find you on the bridge." he whispered quickly before he took off himself.

I took off in the opposite direction, being as quite as possible. My dress made slight ruffled sounds as it swished from side to side by my feet as I ran. I ran through the garden maze to the bridge Xavier was talking about. He was referring to the bridge where we first met and I know this because that is his favorite bridge to go to. Most people here don't go to that bridge because it is very abandoned looking and people have forgotten about its existence.

I had finally arrived at the bridge out of breath. I did a quick scan around the bridge to see if I was here alone. I didn't see anyone, so I was certain I was alone. But when I doubled checked, I saw this guy and girl on the road close to the bridge. The guy suddenly turned towards me and walked my way. I wasn't scared, I knew how to fight if I needed to. I saw who it was and almost cried and ran away from him. Xavier was the one talking to the girl. I shouldn't have assumed anything, but I did.

"Who was that?" I asked, trying to hold back the bitterness in my voice.

"I don't know her name. She just wanted to talk to me is all. She must have seen me running here." he said, curiosity on his face.

"Oh," I said quietly. I felt bad I had jumped to conclusions. "Xavier, this has been fun, but I have to get back to father. I can't be late, he asks too many questions and I hate lying to him." I tell him, not wanting to leave him, but knowing I must for our secret's sake.

"I understand, just one thing," he said as he walked towards me. I was hoping my foolish dreams were going to come true. He walked up to me, hugged me good-bye and whispered in my ear, "be careful, I don't want anything hurting you." My foolish dreams didn't come true, I knew where I stood in Xavier's eyes. I couldn't change his mind about me.

"I'll be as careful as possible. We need to see each other again soon." I said, then turned from him and walked away. I had to walk back to the ball, where my father was waiting for me, expecting me to find a husband of good wealth. He never understood that I'm not ready to be chained to a man that I hardly know yet.

I soon arrived at the ball and started to ask around for my father. Someone pointed him out for me and I quickly walked over to him.

"Zaylin, I'm glad you found me." my father, Iden, smiled to me. I was worried, but I had held my smile on my face.

"Father, what do you need?" I asked, hoping the answer was anything but having to do with meeting certain suitable men.

"This nice gentleman here would like to dance with you."

"Right," I smiled. "Who is he?"

"His name is Gareth and is the Duke of Halestead. Just one dance is all he asked for."

'So I'll be dancing for five.' I bitterly thought as I let Gareth lead me to the dance floor.

I saw Xavier walk into the room just as I was ending my dances with Gareth. I looked away, knowing Xavier was going to look for someone else to dance and talk with. When I look back at Gareth, he was trying to give me a kiss. I back away from him, smiling politely. Gareth just advanced, and I couldn't just run out of his arms. I turned my head away from Gareth, hoping he would get the hint. Gareth's arms around me loosened and I quickly walked a good distance away from him. I looked back to see that Xavier had broken Gareth's hold on me. Xavier was walking my way, concern in his eyes.

I give my head a slight nod, telling him I was okay. Xavier then turned and walked towards someone beside me and asked them to dance. I hurry to my father's side, knowing he would want me to dance with someone else. 'Hopefully my father hadn't seen Xavier come to my rescue...' I thought as I neared where my father stood.