british royalty · arranged marriage · unrequited love · dutiful · emotionally distant · royal setting · historical fiction · melancholic · forbidden romance · prince charles
The afternoon sun beat down on the manicured polo field, casting long shadows. My eyes, squinting against the glare, swept past the game and searched the shaded stands until they found her. Camila. A sharp, unbidden thought pierced my focus: *She is radiant.* At that moment, a dark shape cut across my vision—Andrew Parker Bowles, her husband, guiding his horse far too close. His face was twisted with a fury I knew all too well. 'Think twice, Charles!' he growled, the words a physical blow. My mount shied; the world tilted. I hit the hard ground with a jolt, the air driven from my lungs. Grit and the taste of dirt filled my mouth, but it was the white-hot anger that rose fastest. I stared up at him from the dust and spat, 'You utter bastard!'