Born to Love You

"Welcome to Windsor Castle." I welcomed Liam into the vast weekend home of my grandparents. He looked up at the high ceiling and then back at me.

"And I thought that Buckingham was grand." He said with a laugh which made me grin and shrug before looping an arm with his and leading him up two flights of stairs that lead to the third floor.

"Here we have our rooms. Your room is right across mine. Though I don't think that you'll be staying in there." I gave Liam a tour of our rooms and then pointed out the different rooms that belonged to the members of the royal family.

And then we ended up outside by the stables after a brief tour of the main castle.

"'Ello, Arie, Liam. Fancy a little game of Polo?" Harry, my cousin, greeted us warmly as he exited the stables with the reigns of a horse in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Uh, I think I live here, too." He answered cheekily which made me roll my eyes.

"Seriously, Haz. What are you doing here? Tell me your real reason or I will tell grandmummy who really stained one of the paintings in the state room." I threatened.

"Fine. I heard that you were bringing Liam along and I promised him a Polo tutorial. Right, mate?" Harry turned to Liam.

"Yep. He did promise to teach me." Liam answered which made me glare at Harry. One way or another, Liam was going to end up getting hurt. If he didn't fall off the horse, his bum and thighs were going to hurt like hell. I prefer the latter, though.

"Alright. Fine. Go and get suited up. I think you and Harry are just about the same size, so you can borrow a pair of his riding boots. I'll just go and get suited up." I bid and kissed Liam's lips before I left which made Harry retch.

When I came back, both of them were suited up and riding horses. One white horse was tied to the posts and I assumed that she was for me. I walked over to the mare and patted her muzzle before untying her reigns from the post and hoisting myself up on her saddle.

"Hand me a mallet, would you." I yelled out as I made my horse canter across the field.

"Show off." Harry stated which made me grin as I stopped beside Liam. I must admit, riding boots on him was... quite a refreshing sight from the normal shoes he wore. He looked silly yet hot, You know what I mean?

"You look gorgeous." He whispered and gently reached his hand out to hold my own; making me blush and bite my bottom lip when he laced his fingers with mine.

"Oi, lovebirds. Are we goin' to play or not?" Harry yelled. I looked up at Liam and pressed a kiss to his cheek before reluctantly letting go of his hand to hold the reins of my horse.

"I'll practice over there while you two play Polo." I stated softly and pointed over to the small obstacle course for the horses. Zara liked to practice here, too.

"Oi, you! Arabella!You're not gonna play with us?" Harry asked.

"You make it sound as if I'm doing something illegal. And, no, I am not going to play with you two. That would be gross." I bid with a laugh and then galloped off to the jumping course. I paused by the first jump and took a deep breath before making my white horse gallop off and jump. My heart raced in my chest as we went air-borne. It's been a very long time since I last did this.

"Whoo! Arie!" Liam and Harry cheered from their side of the field which made me laugh as I waved at them.

For almost five minutes, I did a course around the derby; grinning when I nailed a landing. And then, when I was at the three consecutive jumps... my mind blanked out and all that played in my head was that horrible moment when I was 14. It was at this exact jump that my old horse's hind hoof got caught in one of the bars and we came toppling down. Luckily, I wasn't hurt. But my ego, though, was bruised and battered.

My horse jumped over the first jump, then the second... I took a deep breath and calmed my erratic heartbeat. Finally, my horse jumped over the third bar. But, it jumped so high that it managed to buck me off of its back. I let go of the reins and closed my eyes when I felt my foot get caught in the stirrup and waited for the pain that would surely come from breaking my ankle. But, it never came.

As my back hit the grassy ground, I felt myself get dragged for a few meters before I finally managed to unlatch my foot from the stirrup. I laid there on the ground, trying to hold my tears in when I felt the searing pain in my ankle. My hand flew up to my face and I wiped the traitor tears away.

"Arie! Oh my God! Arie!" Liam yelled frantically. I didn't bother to look up for the pain that I was experiencing was enough to shut anybody up. Once he and Harry reached me, though, he knelt down beside me and removed my helmet before placing my head on his lap and wiping my tears away.

"Can you move your foot?" Harry asked as he crouched down by my foot. I shook my head as more tears rolled down my cheeks. Liam patted my hair down and repeatedly kissed my forehead which comforted me, but didn't do anything for my ankle.

"I'm going to remove your boot, okay?" Harry said frantically before grabbing hold of the leg of my boot and gently pulling at it; making me let out a sob before shaking my head. Liam, from what I can see through my tears, had a devastated look on his face as he looked down at me.

"No, please." I whimpered through tears as another wave of pain washed over my ankle when Harry pulled at my boot one more time.

"We need to get this boot off, mate." Harry said to Liam who bit his bottom lip in contemplation.

"Do you have a pair of scissors or a pocket knife?" Liam asked quietly as he looked at me with pain clearly written in his eyes. What was he going to do?

I heard Harry pat his pockets through my quiet sobs and eventually he spoke up, "I have a Swiss Army pocket knife."

"Cut the boot off. Down the middle." Liam stated and wiped my tears away.

"Alright. Here's my phone, call Zara... William... anyone that can help us." Harry was stuttering now as he leaned over my foot and drew out the scissors from his pocket knife. He inserted half of the scissor to the mouth of my boot and cut my boot down the middle.

Liam fidgeted with Harry's phone before settling for someone to call and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Prince William?" Liam greeted before his eyes dropped down to look at me. "This is Liam Payne, Arie's been in an accident. We're in the riding field right now. Yes, yes. No, she fell from her horse. Alright. Bye."

"What'd he say?" Harry asked as he continued cutting my boot.

"He's on his way down."

Everything after that was a blur. I heard all three of them fuss over me and I felt a pair of familiar arms lift me up as William held my injured ankle up by my leg. Harry, as I've heard, went to the kitchen to get some ice.

***

"Yes. I love her so much." Liam's voice rang in my ears which roused me from my slumber. "She's my everything."

I kept my eyes closed despite my strong urge to open them and see where I was. My ankle felt swollen and I moved my foot a quarter of an inch so that I could feel if it was bandaged up. It was.

I inhaled quietly and recognized the familiar smell strawberry scented potpourri that I kept in my room here at Windsor.

"It's very nice to hear that my little Arabella has found such a gentleman in you, Liam. And, for once, somebody has shown her how to love and be loved." The second voice shocked me. It couldn't be. Grandmummy was talking to Liam. My grandmother. The Queen of England was talking to my boyfriend concerning our relationship... on a first name basis.

"'Love and be loved', your majesty?" Liam asked my grandmother curiously.

"Have I told you the story of how her mother left her when she was 4 years-old?" My grandmummy asked; effectively changing the subject. Curious woman, my grandmother is.

"No, your majesty." Liam answered quietly, as if he was horrified by the fact that my mother left me when I was a child.

"For centuries, every child in the royal family has been entrusted to be taken care of by nannies. The only exceptions to that rule were Harry and William, for their mother wanted to really take care of them. For my other grandchildren, it was another story. Arabella, Zara, and their brother, Peter, or Mark as they like to call him, were raised by nannies. Arabella was the most fortunate, though. She had an HRH title which meant that she could go to royal soirees with her mother. Her siblings, however, could not. When the time came for Anne, her mother, to board the plane to Australia, Arabella tried to latch onto her mother and Anne only gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before briefly hugging Arabella and boarding the plane." My grandmummy narrated solemnly. She was there when that happened. And, up to this moment, that was the most painful thing that has ever happened to me. To be left by my own mother...

"She screamed and begged for her mother but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Anne simply didn't want to mix Arabella into her full schedule for the tour despite the love she felt for her daughter. She put her duties first before her youngest daughter. I took Arabella home to the palace with me since her father was also out of the country at that time. For four months, I took care of her the way her mother should have from the very beginning. I felt that it was my fault why my children became very hands-off with their own kin since I did the very same thing that Anne did to Arabella... to all of my children."

"But what about Zara and Peter? Where were they at that time?"

"They were at boarding school back then."

"And Arie was..."

"She was homeschooled. Hence, her lack of contact with people her own age. To add to that, she had her own duties to fulfill. She was always stressed and needed to vent..."

"That's why..."

"Yes."

That's why I am the way I am.