Hey everybody!!!!! Happy 4th of July! It's one of my favorite holidays so rich in history and meaning. But enough about that. This is my next chapter of The Swan Princess. Please read and review! You have no idea how much it means to me. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I am just a fan. =)
4. Chapter 3
Casey ran to her room. She threw herself on the bed and cried herself senseless.
'I knew it. I knew it. Why did I let this happen? How could I have let myself fall in love with someone who doesn't really love me?'
She kept asking these questions to herself over and over again.
"Derek why?" She whispered to herself in between sobs.
She heard the door open.
"Casey?" A soft male voice said behind her.
She felt a hand on her back so she turned to see who it was.
"Father." She said softly as she hugged him tightly.
"Casey I'm so sorry." Dennis said consoling her.
"I want to leave. Please, can we just go? I can't stay here any longer."
"Of course, we'll leave right away. Paul? Paul!"
Paul enters and says, "Yes, your highness?"
"We're leaving right away." With that Paul nodded and left.
Derek was pacing back forth; mentally beating himself up. He knew he screwed up and didn't know if he could fix it.
Though he had no clue what he was going to do he started waking to Casey's room.
He heard voices the closer he got. "We're leaving right away." He heard Casey's father say.
Derek's heart stopped he knew it was too late.
'I'm too late. She's leaving.' He was trying very hard not to cry. He does not cry.
Derek walked down to the meeting hall. He knew that if they were leaving like this that's where they would say goodbyes.
He was trying to ignore the dirty looks his mother was giving him but he couldn't; he knew he deserved them.
Within moments of them standing there Dennis and Casey came into the meeting hall.
"We're leaving." Dennis said addressing queen Abby. "There's no point of staying and it's what Casey wants."
Abby nodded her head in understanding. Hugged her old friend goodbye then turned and hugged Casey.
This whole time Derek kept trying to make eye contact with Casey, but she was trying everything to avoid eye contact with him.
"Caseā¦" Derek said at a whisper so low he thought he hadn't said her name at all; only thought it.
The sound of her name on his lips made her heart break. So she did the only thing she could think of.
She looked away from him and tried to pretend that she hadn't heard him.
Derek knew she had. Without thinking he reached out to her. His hand landed on upper arm.
She looked down at his hand and back up at and pooled away.
The look in her eye made took him aback. He now knew there was no fixing this.
He stood there speechless. He knew this was his entire fault and there was nothing he could be.
"Goodbye Abby." King Dennis said giving his old friends a hug. "We did this best we could. No one can't say we didn't try. Casey now say goodbye to Derek."
"Goodbye." She said without looking at him and this anger and hurt in her voice.
"Goodbye Casey." He said with such an apologetic tone.
She still wouldn't look at him and claimed once again into the carriage and drove away.
As she drove away Derek felt like a part of him was leaving with her. He knew would never be whole again without her.
Every time Casey left Derek's castle she had tried not to look behind her as they pooled away.
This time she couldn't help it. As she watched the distance between her and Derek grow, silent tears made their way down her face.
Once she couldn't see the castle anymore she turned back around and sat down.
She leaned into her father. "What did you want him to say?" Her father asked softly.
"I wanted him to say he loves me for just being me." She put her head on her father's lap and cried the rest of the way home.
Back at the castle; Derek was playing chess with Ralph.
"I can't believe this. You finally have the girl you've been brooding over since you were six and you blow it."
"Dude, can you stop? I know. I've been beating myself up about it since it happened."
"What I don't know is why you haven't gone after her."
"She won't listen to me. I don't think I could make her see that I really do love her."
"Wow. Is the great marksman Prince Derek afraid of what a girl thinks?"
"Shut up!" Derek barked.
Ralph just laughed. He had made his point.
Derek was only angry because Ralph was right. He was afraid of Casey rejecting him, again.
Casey had made it safely back home. She got out of the carriage and ran to her room. She didn't wait for her father or anyone.
For the second time that day Casey once again herself onto a bed, but this time she cried herself to sleep.
Over the next week Casey and Derek spent their all time trying to forget each other. But the more they tried the harder it was to forget.
Casey was on her way to the library near the room where all her father's meetings took place.
As she grew nearer she heard her father's voice. Curiosity got the better of her so she stood by the door and peered through the key hole.
"Would you please get to the real reason why you are here sir?" Her father said clearly ticked at whoever it was.
"My apologies sire." Said a young man no older than 21. Casey thought he was quite handsome but to full of himself.
Which of course reminded her of Derek, but she pushed those thoughts aside and listed further.
"I am here sire, to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."
Casey's heart stopped. 'I can't marry him. I love Derek, but wait then what's going to happen to this kingdom. If I'm not marring Derek then how will I ever rule?'
And with that Casey left. She had to think.
Later that day Casey was on the tares outside her bedroom, reading.
She heard a soft knock on her door. Expecting Paul she looked up to see her father standing in the door way.
"Casey? Can we talk?" He said walking over to her.
"Sure. What about?" She said as she put her book away.
"Um, there was this man who came by today his name is Duke Truman. He said he had heard about what happened and wanted to ask me for your hand in marriage. I told him about our custom that it's up to you not me. I told him I would tell you and I would rely the answer."
Casey paused for a long moment, thinking about every possible alternative. She couldn't think of one.
"Tell him no. I know I can't marry Derek, but I won't marry anyone else."
Her father gave her a curious look but then got up and walked out of her room.
She knew she could never love anyone else. She would either be with Derek or no one.
It has been I few days. Her father told her that Duke Truman didn't take the news very well.
He said that they would pay. King Dennis didn't take this threat seriously.
Over the last two weeks Dennis has watched his daughter slowly die from the inside out.
He knew she needed time away. He arranged for her to stay with her best friend young countess Emily.
Dennis informed Casey of this news and she tackled him with a hug.
Casey actually hasn't seen Emily since she was thirteen; when her father and queen Abby started making her and Derek spend Christmas together.
Casey finished packing and was ready to leave.
Her father was going with her. He wasn't staying mind you just going to see her off.
Even though he didn't put much faith in the threats that Duke Truman made; it still made him feel uneasy having Casey travel alone.
The service packed up the carriage and both and her father claimed into the carriage.
Since it would take a few days to get Emily's castle, it was already night time.
There was a terrible rain storm around them. Even so Casey had fallen asleep.
As they went along the carriage bumped and bobbled along the road.
Then suddenly they came to an abrupt alt.
Casey awoke to the sound of her father taking to the driver. Asking him why they had stopped.
"There's a man on the road." The diver told King Dennis.
Dennis turned to Casey and said, "Stay in here I'll take care of this."
Moments later Casey heard men shouting and sword on sword fighting. She stayed in the carriage like her father had told her.
When the noise stopped Casey didn't know whether to stay put or to investigate, but she was never given the chance to make that decision.
All at once she saw a puff of colored smoke blinded her and then everything went black.
That was Chapter 3 please tell me what you think. :)
