Mabel's Secret {On Hold}

Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to WeAreAHurricane for the beautiful covers! :)

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Luke, seeing the concerned look on my face, stepped forward carefully. "Mabel? Are you okay?" 

Luke?! How did he find the rock shelf? 

"Um, yeah, I guess I'm alright." I said. "How did you find this place?" 

"I was out for a walk. I wanted to get out of the palace for a little. I happened upon this rock shelf right before you came barreling at me. Why are you here?" 

"I.. well, who's to say I wasn't just on a walk, too?" 

"Well, you were running. And you called this random rock shelf 'this place' as if it meant something to you, if I recall right." He said, smirking slightly. 

"Well.. I.." My voice trailed off and I looked at the ground. "Okay, fine. This random rock shelf is kind of like a hiding spot to me." 

Luke studdied me closely with his deep brown eyes. I tried not to look back at them. "I see," He nodded. "What are you hiding from?" 

"I don't know.. life?" 

"Why would you want to hide from life? For one thing, it's sort of impossible, and another, you have a wonderful life." 

"Do I?" I said. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I forced them away. I refused to cry in front of Luke. He already seemed to notice, though. His shoulders slumped a little, and he took on a more "I'm worried about you" look instead of his usual "Look at me I'm a prince" look. 

"Mabel, why are you really here?" He asked suddenly, after an awkward moment of silence. 

What? Where did that come from? It was like he could see straight through me, or read my mind. I sighed. "I come here every night to meet someone.. but that someone hasn't been showing up for quite some time now." I said. Now I really didn't want to make eye contact with Luke. 

"Who is this someone?" He said. He didn't sound shocked, but maybe a little surprised. 

"The man I love." I said simply. This time, I did look up. Right into Luke's eyes. They were wide, and his eyebrows were raised, but he didn't look angry. But then something registered on his face. Realization. 

"So that's why you don't want to marry me." He said. He smiled. Wait what? He smiled? "It's okay, Mabel. I understand what you're going through." 

"How would you know?" 

"I had someone too. I'm guessing this man in a commoner?" I nodded, stunned a little. "So was Violet. She was the love of my life and I was going to marry her, no matter what people said or how the rules went. Suddenly, though, she passed away. She had caught some sickness because the water she was drinking was poluted. Do you know how horrible I felt? I could have given her clean water. I could have married her the day before and saved her life if I had only been brave enough to stand up to my father." A tear slid down his cheek and I stood there just staring at him.

"We promised each other, though, that we would move on and find happiness if something happened to the either of us," He contiued. "So when I recieved this offer of marriage to you, I thought to myself, this could be my happiness. And if not, well, at least I moved on." He stopped and took a deep breath. "So there you have it. You're not the only one who has secrets." He smiled weakly, but I knew he was in pain from bringing up all of those memories. 

"I.. don't know what to say," I told him. "I had no idea. I'm so sorry." 

"Of course not. No one did, until after Violet passed away." He looked at his feet, then back at me. "Mabel, marry this man you love. Don't follow the rules and marry me. You'll regret it forever, believe me." He smiled, and put an arm around me and gave me a small squeeze. I didn't push him away. 

"Go find him, Mabel. And don't let him go." 

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Hey everyone! So, tons of dialogue in this chapter! 

What do you think of Luke's secret? Do you think Mabel will end up marrying Chris? Leave me a comment letting me know! I love love love getting feedback! :) Also, don't forget to vote, because I also love votes :) 

Note: I'm changing the Teen Fiction genre to Short Story because this story will probably end a lot sooner than I had origianlly planned :)

Thanks for reading! :)