AMOR

2. The Beginning Of The End

North of Hearts

Victoria walked through the palace gardens only to be met with the most innocent sight. Oliver and Isaac playing around with Jasmine and Roy sitting beside the Solitaire fountain.

Legend says, the fountain brings love and protection for those pure of heart.

Maybe the reason why Oliver had survived as a baby boy when Victoria had tried to drown him.

Oliver was now ten of age, still so sweet and innocent. Always looking after his nephew, Isaac. It only made her sad. Had she succeeded in taking the new born prince's life, she could've spared all of them the agony of seeing the person he'd become being hanged to death. For the crime of not being the king's first born.

The North was a place of beauty. The gardens, the sound of windchimes, birds and the smell of honeysuckle ruling the air. The houses, palaces, markets, it was like a dream come true. A beautiful place to live, almost heaven.

Victoria had lived inside the palace walls her entire life. The Palace of Hearts. It was high upon a hill, overlooking the town. Its many pointed towers gave it the look of an eccentric crown.

Victoria had never been out of the palace or its grounds. She had never seen dust in her entire life. Around the palace were the horse pastures and kitchen gardens.

That's where she had first seen him. When she first laid eyes on Sebastian. They were just children back then. He was there with Harrison, the King's hand.

She made her way to Jasmine and Roy and went to sit beside Roy as the maidens bowed to her, Only to be met with Jasmine's raised eyebrows.

"What?" Victoria inquired, knotting her eyebrows together. It was hard to make sense of the things Jasmine said and did.

Jasmine rolled her eyes as she shifted her gaze back to where Isaac and Oliver were playing and replied, "Well, You are in the presence of the future king. You should show some respect."

Before Victoria could answer, Roy spoke up. "Careful, Jasmine. I will speak for myself when I have to and you are in no position to be giving orders to my sister."

Jasmine looked taken aback by the sudden change in the prince's voice. He'd been stressing over everything for a while now. She recovered immediately and turned to Victoria giving her a hateful look and to defend her honour pointed out being the mother of the next king after Roy.

Victoria was the one to interrupt her this time. "You are Isaac's mother, yes. We are aware of that Jasmine. But you are yet to be queen and you're still just a concubine so I suggest you learn to stay quiet."

Seeing Sebastian approach she stood up abruptly without waiting for Jasmine to reply and left the gardens after receiving a nod from her elder brother.

Their mother was making plans for her. Marrying her off to the Coin Master's son. But how could she go through with those plans? She had loved Sebastian all her life. She had no possible way of knowing if he felt the same way. But being bound to someone else for life, she couldn't possibly think of another man like that.

All her life, she had dreamed about living a beautiful life with him. Leaving her title and the royalty behind. They could go to The Village of Clubs? It was the most peaceful place in the whole world. Not that any of them would know. They never left the palace walls.

She wasn't even allowed to read. King Henry believed that books made a woman mad and rebellious. Maybe that was because of the Queen's love for books and Rob, Henry's younger brother. Whom the queen loved so dearly.