I just wanted to tell you this at the beginning because I'm super lazy and didn't want to describe the settings or how they traveled. In Sofia The First, the royalty gets together for an annual sports competition in Tri-Kingdom Picnic. They travel similarly in this fic, but without the magic horses. I'm picturing them in the exact field, so, you know. If you haven't watched the episode go watch it now to get a sense of the setting. (And yes, I watch Sofia The First. Don't judge me.)

Simon shifted on his feet impatiently.

"Stop that," Rebecca snapped at him. "Mother will be here any minute."

Simon scowled at her, but it was George who defended him. "Go easy on him, Rebecca. Isabelle Lightwood's going to be there, and you know how easily our Simon gets crushes."

Or not.

Thankfully, Elaine Lovelace swept into the room before Simon's siblings could insult him further. "Kids, are you ready?" Without bothering to wait for an answer, she swept them into the carriage.

Simon watched glumly as George and Rebecca wandered off cheerfully, wishing Clary was there with him. She was supposed to have been there, as the Morgenstern princess, but she had run away nearly a year ago. Word was that she had taken off because of her arranged marriage to either Simon or Jace? - it hadn't been decided yet. She had kept in touch with him and her parents, but they had never been able to pinpoint her exact location and bring her home.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder - his mother - and she muttered through her teeth, "Simon, I'm taking you to meet the Lightwoods and Herondales. Your absolute best behaviour, you understand?

Simon nodded, having no choice in the matter, and he was whisked off to a piece of flat ground by an oak tree he remembered. Clary and he had come here a lot of times; then it had been just the two of them. Now it was occupied by two women and three children that looked the same age as him.

Elaine inclined her head. "Queen Lightwood. Queen Herondale."

The other queens did the same. Like his mother, they didn't need crowns to mark them as royalty - they were that powerful and well known. Simon observed the children - a boy and a girl standing by Queen Lightwood, and a boy standing by Queen Herondale. The Lightwood prince had black hair and blue eyes like his mother, but his sister was black haired and black eyed, and dressed in a dress that looked somewhere between white and really, really light yellow. Clary would have said she looked living ink and paper - but Clary wasn't here. A pang of sadness overtook him. I miss you, Clary, he thought. Come back home.

Now that the formalities were over, the three women embraced each other, laughing and catching up. Then Maryse Lightwood turned to the children and said, "Oh! Of course. My children, Alexander and Isabelle Lightwood."

Céline - Queen Herondale- stepped forward. "And my son, Jonathan Herondale."

The boy looked like one of those paintings Clary was always rambling about. Perfectly combed blond hair, immaculate suit, angelic smile, and eyes a startling shade of gold.

His mother nudged him, and Simon stepped forward, suddenly nervous. He bowed deeply to the queens before saying, "Simon Lovelace. Nice to meet you."

Elaine nodded approvingly, and Céline said, "We have business to attend to. I trust you all to make friends and take care of yourself?"

"Yes, Mother," Jonathan said, still smiling politely. Céline raised her eyebrows, but said nothing, instead choosing to leave.

The moment the queens were gone, Jonathan flopped down on the grass, looking relieved. Alexander and Isabelle followed suit. "Don't believe anything she says on the first meeting," he told Simon. "My name is not Jonathan, and his name is most certainly not Alexander. Call us Jace and Alec."

Isabelle said, "I only have one name, don't worry. It's still Isabelle."

Jace and Alec shot her evil looks.

Isabelle ignored them and asked eagerly, "So, the Morgenstern princess, what's she like?"

Simon was taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

"The Morgenstern princess," Isabelle said. "Mom said you knew her. Is she smart? Does she like to ride on horseback? Does she - "

"Leave him alone, Isabelle," Jace said. "The poor weasel already looks so jumpy. He doesn't need to answer questions about the runaway princess on top of that. You yourself said they were best friends - do you really think Alec would want to talk about it if I ran away?"

Isabelle considered the question. "I suppose not."

"Why can't I run away?" Alec demanded. "Why do you always get to go scot-free?"

"Because you're the responsible one," Jace said with the air explaining something very complicated to a child. "Isabelle and I would tear each other to pieces without you and then the Herondales would be heirless and the Highsmiths would attack."

Alec looked unamused. "I am not essential to preventing war."

"Yes, you are," Isabelle said just as firmly.

Alec opened his mouth to say something, but shut it, eyes widening at the sight of Clary rounded the corner, dressed in Herondale colours.

Jace watched as Simon opened his mouth, and then shut it at the glare the servant gave him.

She had fiery red hair, and looked young - about their age. Her eyes were dark green and sparkled when she looked around at all of them, before settling back on Simon.

"I," she said through her teeth, still glaring at Simon, "am Clary Fray, Queen Herondale's new handmaid."

Clary. Like the herb, clary sage.

"Ah," Simon said. Then, after a pause, "What are you doing here?"

Clary put her hands on her hips; Jace wondered how a servant was able to look so imposing. "I've been with the queen for the past few months. I've learned a lot, too, Simon Shoelace."

Jace raised his eyebrows. A servant girl, mocking a prince? To his surprise, Simon only looked indignant. "Rebecca said she'll tell on you the next time you call me that, and it is the next time - "

Clary's answering smile was practically diabolical. "You do realize you just gave all your new royal friends a form of blackmail." She tapped her chin, pretending to be deep in thought. "Or rather, I did."

Simon paled.

This was odd. Simon and Clary were speaking as if they'd known each other forever, yet they had just met.

Somebody shouted, "Edelina!" and Clary winced before turning to face them all.

"One last thing. I'd like all of you to keep a secret for me, please," she said and Simon sighed.

"Let me guess," he said, sounding resigned. "You're going by Edelina Fray, Queen Herondale's handmaid."

Clary shrugged. "Only this year. I'll pretend the queen hired a new one to anyone who asks, and she knows, by the way. She's really excited to have a pr - real lady -in the castle and promises all sorts of things to Mama." She suddenly reached forward and hugged Simon quickly, knocking his glasses askew. "Thanks, Si. I'll catch you later bye!"

And with that, she was gone.

Isabelle stared after her, looking shocked. "Did that servant just hug you?"

Simon scowled. "First of all, she's not just any servant. Second of all, she's my best friend - " His eyes widened and he promptly changed tracks. "I mean, psh, she's a servant girl. Can't believe I let her hug me. Oops."

Jace, Alec, and Isabelle traded wry looks. "Really," Isabelle.

Simon nodded and adjusted his glasses.

"Simon Shoelace," Jace said thoughtfully, trying it out. It fit. "Simon Shoelace. Prince Shoelace. It does sound nice, doesn't it?"

Simon glared at him. "Stop it."

Alec was looking in the direction Clary had gone, looking thoughtful. Then he said to Simon, "Can I have a word?"

Simon looked wary, but stood up. "Of course."

"I know it's the princess," Alec said quietly.

Simon blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "It's Clary's evil twin."

"I'm friends with her older brother. If she had a twin, not to mention an evil one, I didn't see her anywhere around the palace. And I really doubt they named two children Clarissa."

Simon sighed. He was doomed. "Just don't out her. This is important to her."

Alec raised an eyebrow, inviting explanation.

"It's a long story."

Alec spread his hands. "Then shorten it."

"Clary is... a free spirit. She learned that her parents had arranged for an alliance with my family and the Herondales. The thing is, Jonathan is already engaged to Rebecca, so her parents were considering a marriage between her and Jace. And... she never liked being royalty anyway. She preferred to spend time with the servants, and the cooks, and the stable boys, and loathed etiquette lessons. Even if she was good at them. So she decided that if she was going to marry into royalty, she would spend the few free years she had with the servants, who she deemed 'her people'. And..." Simon winced. This was going to sound so weird. "She... kind of wanted to make sure Jace was a good person and... you know..."

"No, I don't know," Alec said, looking more and more mystified.

"See if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him."

Alec blinked. "That's..." He shook his head and smiled faintly, to Simon's surprise. "She's Jonathan's sister. Of course she would do that." After a pause, he said, "Do her parents know?"

"They do," Simon admitted. "She got in touch with all of us a week after she disappeared to let us know that she was safe, and told us why she ran away."

Alec looked thoughtful. "You said she was going to be staying with Queen Herondale?" Simon nodded and Alec sighed. "Jace is definitely going to become best friends with her, and they're going to wreak all sorts of havoc." He rubbed his temples. "The Angel save us."

Simon asked cautiously, "So you won't tell?"

Alec smiled. "I won't tell. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, anyway."

Jace sat quietly in the carriage, listening to his parents talk. Clary sat opposite him, looking out the window.

"It's not a bad idea, Stephen," Céline said in response to whatever they had been talking about. "She might turn up. We can just hold out - "

"We don't know," Stephen snapped. "We can't afford to lose any other chances at making alliances with the kingdoms - I bet Valentine hid his daughter away so that the alliance could be called off."

"That's ridiculous. Why would he do that? He wants this alliance just as much as you do."

"How do you know?"

"Oh, I don't know, possibly because those were his exact words under the Sword's Oath?" Stephen glared at her and she glared right back. "Men," she muttered under her breath. To Jace's surprise, Clary let out a muffled giggle.

"Here, Edelina," Céline said. "Switch seats with me, Stephen and I have other things to talk about."

Clary obeyed, sitting next to Jace. Céline put her head on Stephen's shoulder and began murmuring something.

Jace looked away. He knew what his parents had been arguing about, and he also knew, with a queasy certainty, that the princess had run away because she didn't want to marry him. Was he really so bad that a ten-year-old would leave the comforts of family and friends to avoid marrying him? How would she even know what she was like? And Alec had told him anyway that she would have been fine with marrying Simon Shoelace. Hmph.

Someone tapped his shoulder and he started. Clary looked concerned. "Are you all right?"

Jace groaned. "Why do people keep asking me that? I am perfectly fine!"

"No, you're not," Clary said. "You're sulking." -

"I am not." He sat up. "I'm just - I don't know. I guess I'm upset that the princess ran away."

Clary blinked. "Why would you be upset?"

Jace looked away. "I know she doesn't want to marry me. I'm not that bad a person a princess would leave her life and disappear."

Clary said slowly, "Well, maybe she wanted to see if you were a good person. I don't think she assumed you were a bad one outright."

Jace glanced at her. Her eyes were lit by a ray of sunlight and they sparkled; they looked beautiful. "How would you know that?"

She smiled a little. "My mother served the Morgenstern princess before she ran away; the princess and I were... very close. I don't think she had any other female friends. She confided a lot of things in me."

Jace considered this. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Stephen straightened suddenly, looking at Clary with a measure of alarm. "By the Angel, Céline, you're right. She is - "

Céline clapped a hand over her husband's mouth. "Don't. Just don't."

Stephen relented, though his eyes were sparkling with a humour that hadn't been there before. "By the Angel," he said again. "I suppose Valentine trusts me after all."

Céline leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Stephen looked at Clary warily.

"So, uh, Edelina - "

"Clary, please, Your Majesty." She grinned, and it struck Jace how perfect a portrait of a princess she was. Even in her simple dress, she radiated power and beauty.

Stephen shook his head. "I can't believe you're still bothering with titles. The Morgenstern princess had no small bit of pluck, running away like that."

Clary inclined her head. "I will relay the message, Your Majesty."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Céline, tell her to stop calling me that." When Céline didn't stir, he poked her. "Céline."

Céline blinked her eyes open. "What? Oh, yes, Clary. Do call him Stephen." Then she closed her eyes.

Jace gaped, unable to control his surprise. While he knew he wasn't supposed to be stuck up or elitist because he was a prince, his father was king. Nobody called him anything other than Your Majesty except his friends and family.

His royal friends and family.

He looked at Clary again. Her hair was astonishingly well-kept; it tumbled down her back in soft curls and lit up red in the sunlight. He wanted to write poetry about the curve of her mouth when she smiled at him, and try to capture the exact green of her eyes in paint -

Clary looked sideways at him, a smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth. Jace realized he'd been staring. "Like what you see?"

Stephen started laughing; Jace flushed and looked away. "Don't worry," he heard his father saying. "Jace hasn't learned how to woo women properly yet, but he'll blow you away when he does, I assure you."

Clary laughed.

When Jace was younger, he had developed an interest in science and tagged after Alastair, one of his father's main physicists and lab workers. One day, Alastair had shown him a stoppered vial half full of mercury, and Jace had watched, fascinated, as it rose and filled the tube when held over the flame. Clary's laugh was like that: light and silvery and expanding, filling his heart with wonder.

Oh dear.

Jace was pretty sure he had a crush on her. His father's comments about the romantic capability of the Herondale men didn't make it any better; the more Clary giggled, the more he wanted to stammer and cover his face so that she wouldn't see him blushing every time she laughed.

The rest of the ride home was agony. Stephen cracked joke after joke after joke, and Clary kept laughing. Céline woke up after a while and smiled knowingly at Clary when she thought Jace wasn't looking. To his surprise, Clary blushed and looked away.

Even her blush was beautiful.

This was seriously unfair.

One of the guards helped Céline down from the carriage. Clary hopped down nimbly from the carriage and curtsied to the king and queen before she slipped away. Jace watched her go gloomily.

Céline put a hand on his shoulder. "Jace, are you all right?"

He blurted out, "She has a pretty laugh." Then he wanted to shake himself; people wouldn't approve a prince talking to a servant.

Céline and Stephen, however, exchanged looks. "You like her laugh, do you?" Céline said knowingly.

Jace folded his arms and looked away.

Stephen put a hand on his other shoulder. "Let's discuss this over dinner."

There was a dining room in the castle for just the three of them. The table had already been laid, and they were well into their food before Stephen said something to Céline in French and she muttered something back.

"Et alors?" Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Il est prince, et elle est princesse. Ils sont parfaits pour l'un l'autre."

"Stephen, Jace est peux entendre nous," his mother said. "Besides, we don't know if Valentine will agree."

Stephen crossed his arms and sat back; there was a glint in his blue eyes that indicated some crafty planning was happening. But all he said was, "Of course, Céline darling."

Céline tutted. "I know you're already planning something. Do whatever you like, dear. You always do." Then she decided to focus on Jace. "So, Jace." Intense gold eyes observed him. "You like her laugh."

Jace was already wishing for the sweet release of death. "No, I don't."

"So you think her laugh is pretty, but you don't like it?" Stephen asked shrewdly. "No, don't give me that look, I saw you staring at her out of the corner of your eye the whole ride."

Céline perked up. "He was?"

Jace begged his father to leave the topic alone with his eyes. Stephen ignored him and cheerfully said, "Yes, he was."

Céline looked ecstatic. "You know, Stephen, I'm beginning to see your point of view. Jace, what flowers do you want at the wedding?"

Jace prayed desperately for the ground to open up and swallow him. Stephen laughed. "Look at him, he's mortified!"

"I don't like her," Jace protested.

"No, you don't," Céline agreed. "You love her."

"Mama, please!"

His parents exchanged gleeful looks. "How about hyacinths?" Céline suggested, taking a bite of her food.

Jace crossed his arms. "I can't believe you're planning my wedding when I'm eleven."

"You didn't say anything about not wanting to marry her," Stephen noted. Jace tried not to scowl.

"I didn't say anything about not wanting to marry her because I assumed it was implied."

"Jace, focus. Hyacinths?"

Jace glared at his mother, hoping he was the picture of embarassment and hatred. Stephen laughed.

And it begins. Much thanks to Aditi (yes, "nerve endings") for motivating me to finish this. You owe me the goddamn drawing, by the way. I decided to have Céline and Stephen know who Clary was because to me, there is nothing funnier than them being in the know and teasing Jace about his crush. As a result of this, I will not be writing Jace's proposal, but instead their first kiss. It should be up in hours, as I have already written a lot of it. Love, Miss Math Dork.