Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, my dog ended up having to have back surgury so its been alittle crazy last couple of days. Anyways, thanks for reading my story i hope you enjoy it. Please comment and vote! Thanks for waiting again!

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Someone was shaking me. I fluttered my eyes open, not relatively used to the bright light yet. Alex soon came into view and I felt a smile on my face.

“Please tell me it was all a dream.” I whispered.

He looked down and I could tell by the look on his masculine face that it had not been a dream.

“I woke you to say goodbye before I depart.” He whispered back.

I sighed and got up off of the couch. I was still wearing the same dress as the night before but I didn’t care. He took me in his arms and we started walking towards the stables.

“How long will you be gone?” I asked him as I lay my head on his shoulder.

“I will not be long. As I said last night, I will return as soon as I can to you.” He stopped and lifted my chin to make me look him in the eye. “You don’t need to worry love. I will set them in their proper place in a day or two and then I will return; plenty of time before the ball.” He cracked a smile and I couldn’t help but grin with him.

“The ball…” I muttered.

He chuckled and we resumed walking.

“Oh, it will be fun.” He told me.

“Oh yes; hundreds of girls and their mothers blabbing about how they are going to be the future queen. It must be so fun for you listening to them.” I said sarcastically.

He laughed again but he couldn’t say anything more because we were at the stable doors.

We entered the stables and I continued to hold on to Alex’s arm as we made our way over to his horse that was ready. He grabbed his reigns and I tightened my grip on him not wanting to let him go.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “It’s not time to go yet. You’re fine. We are going to walk to the entrance of the castle to meet up with everyone else who’s coming; ok?”

I nodded my head but did not loosen my grip on his arm. He grabbed the reigns once again and in silence, we walked all the way back up to the castle entrance.

There were many others there and I even noticed wives and children grasping to their husband’s or father’s arms begging them to come home safely. All of the men gathered around Alex and he spoke softly.

“Gentlemen, let us agree to make this trip fast and easy. We wouldn’t want to keep our ladies waiting.” He smiled and everyone cracked a smile in return. All of the men said an, “Aye!”

“Let us depart.” Alex said gravely. My grip tightened once again and he leaned down to comfort me.

“Please don’t cry love.” He whispered soothingly. He kissed a tear off my nose. “Now is the time I must go.”

Alex grabbed my hands and dropped them by my side. He made his way over to his horse and mounted it.

“I will be back soon love.” He said to me.

I don’t even know exactly what happened next. It’s as if my body shut down in defiance. I felt arms wrap around me and I turned to face Amelia.

“Let’s get you some tea.” She muttered as she led me through the doors of the castle to the kitchen. I wasn’t crying or anything; I didn’t want to talk though. I sat down in a chair and Amelia brought me some tea and a biscuit for breakfast. I sipped the tea and slowly ate the biscuit. I couldn’t taste it though; only feel the hot liquid scorching my throat and the flaky biscuit being tossed around in my mouth.

I didn’t shed a tear; merely waited and hoped that no one would get hurt. This was all happening because of me.

“This is my entire fault.” I whispered. Unfortunately, Amelia was standing near me so she heard what I had said. She got down on her knees in front of me and grabbed my hands in my lap.

“This is not any of your fault. There are no faults at hand. This is regular business here at the castle anyways. Someone is mad at the king, they start a rebellion, king or prince goes out and sorts it out. It’s perfectly normal. Now, I’m sure that Alex will be perfectly fine and that he will return in no more than a week. Ok?” She looked at me expectantly. I nodded in return and took a sip of my tea.

“I have no doubt that they will win but this wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t been involved with the prince…”

“Victoria,” Amelia looked at me while she folded linen. “The prince would have fallen for you even if you had shown no interest in him at all. He really loves you.”

I smiled and blushed looking down at my shoes. I stood up and started walking towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Amelia asked.

“My room. I’m going to change and grab a book.”

“Ok.”

I walked off to my room. I realized that without Alex there, I wouldn’t have anybody to do everything with for a few days. I was going to do an awful lot of thinking or reading. Whichever one kept me busy until Alex was back.

When I got to my room, I slipped off my dress from the day before and put on a simple blue dress. I stood in the middle of my room looking around before letting out a huff of disappointment. There was nothing to do. I decided to walk down to the library and get a book.

When I got down to the library, I tried to take my time with picking a book. It was hard but I dragged it out for as long as I could. I ended up having about e different books and I went back up to my room. I opened the window so that I didn’t feel as trapped and sat down. Pulling out the first book on top of my stack, I began reading.

The first two books didn’t hold my attention as much as I had hoped but the third was riveting. It held my attention but soon I was uncomfortable in the chair so I moved to my bed. I continued reading until I fell asleep.

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I woke to a bump and I sat up in my bed looking around for the source of the noise. It seemed to be the middle of the night but I could still see around my room. The noise had come from outside so I lay back down and stared at the ceiling. I had slept all day long and had only had a biscuit and cup of tea. In protest, my stomach let out a grumble. I got up and slipped on some shoes before descending down to the kitchen. I was greeted by the cook, who was always up it seemed like, who gave me a cup of stew and ushered me to sit down. I did so and sipped my soup. I could taste the broth, meat, and vegetables again because I wasn’t as stressed about Alex.

I wonder where he is right now. Is he fighting? Is he sleeping? Is he safe? That was all I really wanted to know: is he safe?

Shrugging the thought off, I finished my cup of stew and the cook brought me another. I downed it once again but refused a third helping from the cook. I wasn’t tired anymore so I walked to the gardens. It was quiet, obviously, because everyone was asleep so I had the whole garden to myself for the time being. I walked around picking flowers and humming to myself. I eventually made my way to the training area and went inside the shed. I found the one that Alex had asked me to pick out for him and I took it off of the hook. As I ran my hands over the smooth wood I smiled to myself. I hung it back up and walked outside. The cool night air felt good against my skin and I kept walking to our meadow. When I was almost to the training area fence, a figure stood up from under the nearby tree. It walked towards me and I could make out the face of Phillip. I turned around and started to walk back to the castle but his voice reached my ears.

“Don’t leave! I won’t hurt you my lady.”

I turned around and he was standing where he was when I had turned away from him.

“Why should I believe you?” I retorted.

“Please.” He walked closer but I did not move. “I want to apologize to you miss. It was not chivalrous of me and I apologize greatly. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I suppose, but it still does not change the fact that you tried to take advantage of me…”

“I know that it doesn’t but I promise not to ever hurt you… I just was wondering if we could be friends…” He trailed off stepping closer. I took a step back and looked at him menacingly.

“A foe of Alex is no friend of mine.”

He let out a sigh. “Well then I shouldn’t bother you anymore my lady. Good evening.” He walked away and I sighed in relief. I walked back to the castle. Maybe I could find a balcony to sit on. I would have to search in the dark though.

I ran all the way up to the castle and was out of breath by the time I got inside. I caught my breath and found a servant on duty.

“Excuse me; do you know where I can find a balcony in the castle?” I asked.

They pointed me in the direction of a staircase and I went up it to find a balcony overlooking the gardens. I found a chair and sat down, feeling the wind whip through my blonde hair. I sat there for a while thinking about different things from what I was going to do all day to Alex (of course). A movement behind me scared me and I looked behind me to see the queen coming to join me.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” She asked me.

“I’m not particularly tired. I slept all day yesterday.”

“Aww, yes. We missed you at lunch and dinner.”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t know that you wanted me to join you since Alex isn’t here…”

“We love it when you join us. Don’t be silly. You’re practically like family.” She said casually.

“Oh well then, I’ll see you at breakfast.” I said.

“Splendid. Now, what are you doing tomorrow all day without Alex?”

“Nothing really…”

“Oh good. You can come have tea with me. Alex’s cousin is coming early for the ball so you’ll be able to meet her!”

“That sounds very fun.” I answered. I stood up and curtseyed. “I should get back to bed. Good night your highness.”

“Good night Victoria.”

I left the balcony and went back to my room where I fell back into bed and fell back asleep.