I hope you enjoy the second chapter. Thank you for the beautiful reviews and the nice reception.

Characters belong to E. L. James, the story to Susan Meier.

Princess Ana looked at the riding crop in her hand, then the back of prince Christian while he walked away from her. Sweat caused his polo t-shirt to stick to his skin, showing unexpectedly toned muscles. He runed his fingers through his splendid, wavy and copper hair.

At least their children will get good genes, she thought.

She shook her head and took Charlie's reins. 'An excellent name for an amazing fast horse like you, sir. 'Free man'.'

The great horse whined.

Ana smiled and continued. 'How did you end up in a palace?'

One of the stables employees hurried when he saw the princess and took the reins from her hands. 'I'm so sorry Princess', he said with a small bow. She sumptuously straighten up, in knowledge of her position, but also smiling. 'This is what I get for walking around when I'm supposed to be getting ready for a party.'

The old man smiled and walked Charlie to the stable.


Ana had heard that the Grey property was different. She guessed that having a baby around was part of it. But she also heard that the woman that married Elliot, the prince Ana had been dreaming of since she was 4 years old, had brought a more relaxed attitude to the royal family.

And now Ana should see Elliot that evening and his princess, the woman who basically stole him from her. In some way, he marrying someone else was good. She was the next in line for the throne and so was he. Their marriage would have been very hard. Though, she had been dreaming about Elliot since she was old enough to watch Cinderella, in love with the idea of getting marry to a handsome prince and ruling their countries together. All her world fitted completely in her head, and now...

Now, adding the lost of Elliot to what her father had done, and everything was over. Bad. Almost unbearable.

With her head up she walked back to the palace. She took the elevator to the fourth floor where the guest apartment was located for her stay. She opened one of the doors of the elegant entrance and walked by the foyer to the living room where her mother was picking a chocolate piece from a tray the King gave them as a welcome present. It looked like she replaced crying by food.

'You're not going to fit in your 'mother of the bride' dress for the wedding if you keep eating like that.'

Her mother, a slim woman with the same hair as her, offered the candy to her.

'They are divine. You should try them.'

'Then both of us will need a bigger size of dress.'

Ana's mother left the chocolate on the tray. 'You're right. I want to look nice. I want your negligent father to feel bad for leaving me. I want to prove that at least some of us do take or duty seriously.'

Ana sat on the sofa. 'I'm happy you're feeling better mom.'

'Running away with a servant', she replied and shook her head.' Really, can he be more cliche?'

'It is not exactly a cliche to give your throne away'. He hadn't officially gave the crown but a royal divorce comes with consequences. Running away with another woman meant that a divorce will occur soon and her father will no longer be the king. Then she will be queen. At twenty five years old, she would have to carry the weight of a country in her shoulders. She couldn't believe what her father had done to her for a mistress.

She thank God that the Grey family insisted on meeting the terms of the treaty that promised her to one of the king Carrick's sons. At least she had this way of presenting herself with good eyes to her submits before taking the crown. Even if she did not obtain the prince, the son that will be king, she would prove that she will do her duty with her country, even when things were falling apart around her by keeping the terms of a treaty that secure oil and a safe trip for the tankers of Grennady.

'I wonder if he is coming to the wedding.'

'Your father?' Said her mother with a painful look on her face. 'Great. Thank you for reminding me that he could come. Now I do have to give up chocolate.' She left the tray in the coffee table. 'While you were away did you hear something about the wedding?'

'Xaviera's employees are incredible discreet' she answered.

'I guess we'll know tonight' said her mother.

'It looks like.'


Ana was looking at herself in the mirror when her mother came in by the door. 'Oh Ana, do you think red is a good idea, and strapless, showing your shoulders when you're meeting the king and your future husband…?'

'I run into Christian when I went out for a walk. He gave me his riding crop and told me to take care of his horse, he confused me by a servant.' her mother grimaced. 'I want to see the look on his face when he realizes who I am.'

'Are you sure is just that and not that you want to make prince Elliot jealous?'

Ana felt her heart beating fast in her chest, she had loved prince Elliot or the idea of him since she saw a photograph of him in the newspaper and her mother told her that she was going to marry him. While other girls had crushes on rock stars or sport players, she would show with proud the picture of her prince. She never felt bad if she was not invited to balls or was ignored by a boy she liked, she had her prince. And her prince got married to another woman. She felt humiliated, of course, but when she looked at her mother to reply, she did it with a smile.

'It would be silly of me to want a man that I never even met.'


A member of the palace guard guided them to the private rooms of the king. The same king and his wife, Grace, greeted them.

King Carrick took her hand and kissed it. 'It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess.'

Ana smiled. 'The honor is mine Your Highness.'

This is my wife, Grace, they kept going with the introduction until they were interrupted by the arrival of Christian that was holding a glass in his hand. Wearing the royal uniform of his country, black trousers with a red jacket filled with medals, he looked completely different from the boy in riding clothes.

His gray eyes met her blues and the glass almost fell to the floor. Ana smiled.

King Carrick was the first to talk. 'I understand that you two met at school.'

Keeping the visual contact with Christian, Ana answered. 'And we met again this afternoon. Accidentally at the stables.'

'That's weird, Christian didn't mention meeting you this afternoon.'

Feeling her pride coming back Ana gave another gaze to Christian before turning to the king. 'I don't think he knew who I was.'