Follow your heart

I wrote this when I was 15, thought I'd just add it.

Follow Your Heart, or Follow Orders

           

“I really don’t think I can do this.” Lana stared at herself in the mirror and couldn’t recognize the person in the reflection.

            “You don’t have a choice.” Aidan stared at the large crowd that had now formed in front of the castle from the window sill in Lana’s room.

            Lana turned and stared at her room. Her canopy bed stood tall and proud in the middle of her room, the wood worn out from years of usage. There was a walk - in wardrobe to the left of the room’s entrance, now empty from her packing. Her full length mirror stood on the opposite side of the wardrobe. Her dressing table, wide and tall, sat in the back of the room, next to the window. A small balcony was attached to the window, showing her the vast arcs of luscious green land. This was the room that she had grown up in. The room she went into when she wanted to cry. The room that her mother died in. It was her room, but now, she had to leave it.

            She looked over at Aidan standing in front of the window sill, looking out with a disturbing look on his face. She glanced at his full length and smiled. Aidan was handsome. From his chestnut blonde wavy hair, his emerald green eyes, straight nose, wide wanting lips, to his light brown, full muscular, 6’2 body, he was perfect. However, one would think that being this good looking will lead a person to be cocky and proud. But not Aidan. He was kind, honest, loyal, gentle, understanding, but most of all, modest.

            “Aidan, what’s bothering you?” Lana walked over to her best friend and touched his shoulder in a sisterly fashion.

            Aidan turned to stare down at Lana. Oh, beautiful Lana. With her long wild jet black hair that shimmered in the sun and moonlight, her deep sky blue eyes, small petite nose, full voluptuous lips, perfectly curved, light brown 5’6 body, she was a knock out. Her heart was made of pure gold, for she loved and cared for all around her. She was intelligent beyond belief, and creative in so many ways. She was the perfect woman in Aidan’s eyes. Her melodic voice, alone, drove him to the unparallel heights of insanity, making him do and give her anything she desired.

            “I’m fine, Lana. Don’t worry about me. Today is all about you, and your happiness.” Aidan took her hand and kissed it softly.

            “But I’m not happy!” Lana threw her hands into the air, nearly hitting him in the face.

            “I know you’re not happy now, but once it’s over you’ll be the happiest woman in the world.” Aidan grabbed her arms and pinned them to his chest.

            “I won’t be happy! I’ll never be happy after today. I can’t marry that beast! They don’t call him ‘Devin, the Devil’ for nothing!” Lana pried her hands away and walked to the balcony, flinging the glass doors open.

            She stepped into the balcony and breathed in the sweet Irish air as she gazed upon the green land surrounded her centuries old castle. Aidan walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Lana instinctively leaned into him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

            “He will dare not touch you, especially since I’m moving with you.” Aidan whispered into her ear comfortingly.

            Lana heaved a huge sigh and looked down at the white dress she wore. She cursed at it in her mind and stared at Aidan’s attire. Everything he wore was black, except for his inside light blue shirt.

            “I hate this dress.” Lana muttered.

            Aidan pushed her away at arms length and stared at the dress. It was a simple, pure white wedding gown, with a cathedral train. The upper part of the dress was styled in a corset, making her full breasts more appealing. The silver, ruby embedded tiara was perched atop her head, allowing her hair to fall to her waist in wild waves.

            Aidan stepped away from her as he, once again, fought the urge to kiss her. He got aroused by just staring at her. He knew he was in love with her, and was constantly fighting the urge to act upon that love for her. Besides, this was Lana, his best friend since infancy. The girl who saw him cry when he dropped his book in the mud, when he was just four years old. The girl who practiced fighting with him when they were kids. The girl who held him as he cried when his father died. The girl who saw him wrestle with pigs because he had lost a bet to her brothers. This girl would never love him in return. He fought with his feelings for her everyday of his life, but even when he had run off and spent two years in England, the feelings never left him. On the contrary, they intensified. So, he decided to return home, face the wrath of having run off without an excuse or reason, and admit his love for her, only to find out that she was engaged……

            “Lana, you look amazing.” Aidan checked his pocket watch and sighed. “I have to get down there. If I’m seen with you now, there will be gossip, so best I get there before you do.”

            Lana nodded her head and retuned to the room. Aidan lifted her head up to look directly into her eyes and kissed her forehead gently.

            “I’ll be in the front row, cheering you on.” He joked as he walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.

            Lana stared at the spot that Aiden was in and sighed to herself. She was about to make the biggest mistake of her life. Once again, following rules that she was meant to follow. She was following the orders of her father, brother and, according to her father, her deceased mother. She always did what her father told her to do, because, in her mind, her father was never wrong. But……in her heart she knew……this was wrong. She was about to marry someone she never met because he offered her family money and land. But then, she couldn’t marry the person she loved, not even if she tried.

            Aiden, her best friend from birth, was the one man she had fallen in love with. She had fallen in love with him since that fateful day of her 13^th birthday. She was sneaking through the village, trying to get away from her brother, when four drunken men approached her. They had no clue who she was, and in their drunk state, attempted to rape her. She still couldn’t figure out where Aiden had come out from, but he jumped the men, beaten them all to a bloody pulp and saved her innocence. From that day onwards, she was in love with him. They had grown closer since that day, keeping the secret of her attempt to runaway and her attack, between themselves. She cried for days after she heard of his mysterious disappearance, and after a year, she figured he was never coming back. With that thought in her mind, she had agreed to marry Lord Devin. But then, a week before the wedding, Aiden returned, and now, she was caught between marrying an evil viscount or breaking her oath and marrying her best friend and lifetime love, Aiden.

            “God help me!” Lana slammed her fist into wall behind the mirror.

            “Sister, what’s the matter?” Rian walked into her room as soon as she punched the wall.

            “Oh, hello brother.” Lana put on her usual smile that only Aiden could see was a fake, and looked up at her brother.

            She stared at Rian and sighed. Rian was a heartbreaker, and he knew it. With his dark red wavy hair that shone like fire in the sun, his deep violet eyes, 6’3 height, similar light brown skin, and well toned muscular body, he made all the ladies fall to his feet begging him to marry them. However, Rian had vowed to find the one girl he would fall in love with, but unfortunately, he hadn’t found her yet.

            “Are you ready? It’s time.” Rian held out a hand for her to take.

            Lana nodded her head, picked up her trail, took his arm and walked out her room for the last time. They walked down the wide corridor, ignoring the ancestral pictures that littered the hallway’s walls. He helped her down the spiral staircase that led to the Great Hall of the castle. They stopped outside the front of the doors of the hall, and waited for her father, Caleb, to appear to walk her down the aisle.

            At the sound of quiet tapping, she spun around and stared up into her father’s intimidating blue eyes. His dark brown hair, that had a few graying streaks mixed in it, flew around his face. He was dressed in his formal red and black doublet, with his long red and green royal cape.

            “Are you ready, Lana?” he held out a hand to her.

            Lana shivered as she took his hand. Rian opened the doors to the hall and entered before them. Lana took a deep breathe and followed Rian into the hall, gripping her father’s arm. She squinted her eyes from the sudden bright light erupting from ceiling of the hall. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she searched for Aiden’s face. She remembered that he said he would be seated in the front of the hall, but as she looked to the front, he was nowhere in sight. As she made her way to the top of the aisle, she gasped as she saw Lord Devin. Her hand went straight to her throat in fright.

            Lord Devin was 6’5 in height, with jet black straight hair that seemed to have bright blue streaks running through them, and with his piercing lightening gray eyes, broad shoulders, muscular toned body, and light brown skin he intimidated her immediately. He stared at her angrily, gray lightening blots shooting out of his eyes, aimed at her.

            Lana winced from the fierceness of his stare and turned to look at Rian, nervously. Rian gave her an urging nod as Devin grabbed her hand and roughly pulled her up next to him. Lana let out a little whimper as Devin let out a low growl from his throat. Rian gave Devin an angry look, but changed it quickly to a fake warm smile.

            Lana looked up at the priest, trying not to think about the evil man beside her. The priest stared at the two of them and shook his head.

            “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the smart bonding of Lady Lana Kincaid and Lord Devin McCree.” The priest nodded to Lana and Devin to face each other.

            Lana turned to face Devin and made the grave mistake of looking up at his face. She shook slightly from the look in his eyes. He had the same look that the four drunken men had in their eyes as he stared at her. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself, but Devin quickly grabbed them and pulled them away from her breasts. Lana fought back the pool of tears that had formed in her eyes as she looked out into the guests, searching for someone who will stand up and miraculously take her away from this wretched beast.

            She searched the crowd for Aiden, but couldn’t find his face anywhere. She looked at her father and brother, but they couldn’t look into her eyes. Both knew what they had done and both were now ashamed of it. Lana let the tears roll down her pink cheeks.

            “Would you stop your damn crying!” Devin growled lowly to her.

            Lana looked up at him and glanced over at the priest who had been talking the entire time.

            “Now, Devin, will you take . . .” the priest began as he looked at Devin.

            “I will.” Devin grinned maliciously down at Lana.

            “Lana? Will you �"” the priest began.

            Lana tuned him out as she looked around the hall at each person. Everyone had the same pity look on their face. No one thought that sweet Lady Lana was going to be married off to the evil Lord Devin, and now, everyone felt sorry for her.

Lana ignored the tears falling from her eyes, the pitying looks on everyone’s faces, the glare she was getting from Devin, and the voice of the priest, as she saw him. Aiden appeared at the back of the hall, in front of the door, staring into her frightened eyes.

As soon as he saw that obnoxious Lord Devin grab her arm, he wanted to march down the aisle, grab Lana and punch Devin in his face. But it wasn’t his place to do that. He needed to leave again…this time for good. He couldn’t sit back and watch her get abused by this man everyday. He couldn’t even watch this wedding! It was tearing him up inside. He was about to lose his mind.

Lana stared into Devin’s eyes and instantly recognized that look. It was the same look he gave her before he had run off. Lana shook her head slowly as she saw him turn and head towards the door.

“Lady Lana!” the priest tried to get her attention. “Do you?”

Lana stared at the priest and turned to look back at Aiden. He had his hand on the door by now and was about to open it.

“Say yes, princess!” Lord Devin squeezed her hands tightly.

“Don’t leave me!” Lana kept her eyes on Aiden.

The entire hall went silent. The only sound was the door to the back of the hall being shut closed as Aiden turned to look at Lana.

“Please…don’t do this again…” Lana tried to pull her hands away from Devin, but he kept a firm grip on them as he stared down at her angrily.

Aiden stared into Lana’s eyes and saw it. She loved him, and she wanted him. But what could he do? He didn’t even have a title. He couldn’t have her.

“Lana! Stop this nonsense and get back to your vows! You are embarrassing your family!” Rian stood up and growled.

Devin reached up, grabbed her face, turned it towards him, stared at the priest and nodded his head.

“Lana…will you?” the priest cleared his throat and repeated.

“I wi-” she began to say with her continuous tears falling from her eyes.

“She will not!” the doors to the hall burst open and a strikingly handsome man walked in.

He was 6 feet tall, with reddish brown curly hair, and deep mahogany eyes. He was dressed in a black pants and red button up doublet. He walked down the aisle quickly, with Aiden staring after him in complete shock. As he walked down the aisle, every head in the room turned to look at him. Murmurs flew around the room as everyone began to gossip.

“Shawn?” the whisper escaped from Lana’s lips before she even knew it.

Devin moved to stand in front of Lana as he pushed her behind him.

“Who the hell are you?” Devin glared down at Shawn as he stood in front of them.

“Shawn, didn’t father……disown you?” Rian slowly walked over to Shawn.

“Don’t even come near me, Rian. You, of all people, the one who will only marry for love, is making his little sister marry a complete stranger for money!” Shawn looked at Devin up and down and turned back to Rian. “I can’t believe you will let her marry this b*****d!”

Devin smirked at having being called a b*****d. He knew he was a b*****d and he had accepted it. He was selfish, aggressive, cunning, and mean. But he loved it!

“Shawn, you are no longer my son. Leave this hall now, or I will use physical force to kick you out.” Lord Caleb stood up and stared into his son’s eyes.

Aiden had walked down to the scene now, and was only staring at Lana’s frightened eyes. He was tired of hiding his feelings. Leaving the others to argue amongst themselves, he went behind Devin, who was oblivious to him, and stood in front of Lana. He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes.

Lana’s heart was racing as she stared into his pained green eyes. Aiden touched his head with hers and closed his eyes. Lana shut her eyes and inhaled his scent. She blocked out the bickering in the background as she reached up and ran her fingers through Aiden’s head.

“I love you. I’ve always loved you. But…you’re a lady . . . with a title . . . how could I �" ” Aiden murmured to her.

Lana covered his mouth with hers as she leaned into him.

“I want you…” Lana looked up into his eyes again.

Aiden grabbed her hand and they quietly left the hall through the door behind the altar.

“How the hell did you get in here anyway?!” Caleb and Rian asked at the same time.

“I got the invitation from Lana, along with a disturbing letter about this b*****d!” Shawn turned to Devin.

Everyone turned to stare at Lana.

“Where the hell did she go?” Devin walked up to the altar and slammed his fists down on it.

Shawn smiled to himself as he turned around and saw that Aiden was missing as well. He looked over at his father and brother and smirked.

“She left with Aiden.” Caleb whispered to himself.

“Find them! Search the grounds! Search the castle! Find her!” Devin faced the guests, who were already getting up to leave.

“No! Leave her be. She loves him.” Rian said, now understanding.

“If I find him with her, I will kill him! She is mine!” Devin growled as he walked down the aisle and left the hall in search of Lana.

“Well, my work here is done.” Shawn grinned up at his father.

Lord Caleb clenched his fists and punched Shawn in his jaw.

“You just cost me millions of dollars, you b*****d!” Rian tried to pry his father off his brother.

Lana had heard the slamming of a fist on the altar, but she didn’t look back. She kept running with Aiden.

“Aiden, where are we going?” Lana gripped his hand tightly.

They had run to the back of the castle now, and were heading for the stables. Aiden stopped and stared down at her.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

“Yes. I love you Aiden Bristol…” Lana touched his cheek lightly.

“And I love you, Lana Kincaid.” Aiden pulled her against his chest and held her close.

“Now, where are we going?” Lana repeated.

“To hell!” Devin growled as he appeared behind them, his gun aimed at Aiden’s head. “Goodbye.” 

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems

Reviews

[Kasey Jones]

Great ending, very dramatic. One suggestion: when Lana is describing the day she fell in love with Aiden, you should add more details because that day would probably be very vivid in her memory. Just a suggestion, though. Overall, this was a great story.