A/N: Hey all, thanks for the reviews. I was asked when Edward was going to show up. It will be a few more chapters. Something important still has to happen with the prince that's going to affect the whole rest of the story, including Edward and Bella's relationship. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer:

Me: (sitting in the grass, hands wrapped around my knees, looking so sad)

Edward: Hey Capella, why are you looking so sad?

Me: (a little bitter) Boy troubles.

Edward: Capella, you knew when you started coming after me it wasn't going to be easy. I belong to Stephanie.

Me: I wasn't talking about you. (sniffles)

Edward: (shocked) Really? Have you moved on already? (searches my mind) Oh, what an idiot.

Me: (starts crying uncontrollably) I know, right?

Edward: (wraps a comforting arm around me)

Me: (surprised at the gesture. and then thinks, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, edward's touching me!")

Edward: (laughs at my inner monolouge) You recover fast. Can I ask you a question? Why'd you give up on me?

Me: I'm tired of being so assertive. Is it so wrong I want to be pursued?

Edward: Do you want me to give him a paper cut and lock him in a room with Jasper?

Me: (chuckles) Tempting, but no. (thinks in head, "second date?")

Edward: (another cliffhanger... we'll find out next chapter)

Me: I disclaim all of Stephenie Meyer's characters, although sometimes I try to borrow Edward for a date.

Edward: She ain't lyin'.

Chapter 4: The Walk

The warmth of the sun kissed my cheek, delicately drawing me out of my fading dreams. I smiled and stretched out my body. What had I dreamed? Something good. An unfamiliar and breathtaking smile. A kiss? Something that left a pleasant feeling lingering in the air, but then the agenda for the day hit me like a mound of falling rocks and all things agreeable scattered away.

I was certain that somewhere, lurking in the shadows, impending doom was waiting to meet me, and his name, was Jacob.

"Ugh." I groaned as I pulled my thick feather pillow over my head. "Go away." I muttered under the bedding towards the sun, who only moments ago had held me in a sweet caress. "I'm not ready for this day."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it darling," came the sweetest voice, with the most unwelcoming offer. "You'll have to face it sooner or later."

"Mother?" I exclaimed as I pulled the pillow off my head and faced her. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet your queen? Let alone your mother," she replied with a smirk.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just…"

"I know. I'm not your usual wake up assembly." She poured a pitcher of water, (which I just now noticed she was holding) into the basin that rested on a little table by my fireplace.

"What are you doing?" I asked horrified.

"I thought you could use a little motherly encouragement this morning."

I wanted to stop and bask in the loving emotions that were beginning to swell in my heart, but I was still a little mystified at the sight of my mother in the position of a servant. "Mother, stop. Let me call for Lara."

"I've already spoken with Lara." She was now wringing a white cloth in the water and beckoned for me to join her. "No one will be bothering you this morning besides me."

"Not that I'm not pleased, but why? This is degrading mother."

"One, it is never degrading for a mother to serve her child. That is a mother's privilege. Two, a good king or queen knows that the best way to lead is to serve."

She was now standing directly in front of me, looking down at my face with one hand placed on my cheek. She softly continued, "And thirdly, a good woman has excellent intuition into the hearts of those she loves. And mine is telling me that you are as thrilled about your encounter with the prince this morning as you would be to come face to face with an agitated and hungry bear in an open field."

I couldn't help it. I fell into her arms and she allowed the tears to soak her beautiful forest green dress. For a moment, I was a child safe in my mother's arms. I knew that she would kiss away my tears, and all would be right with the world. But as she carefully pushed me back, and firmly, yet lovingly told me it was enough, I was a princess again. A princess with an obligation to my country, and nothing would ever be right with the world.

She allowed the last couple sobs as I composed myself, and awarded me with her dazzling smile, that for a moment, once again, made me forget all my troubles.

My mother took my hand and led me to the water basin. After pulling off my night dress, she picked up the cloth, rang it out again, and began to wash my tear stained cheeks. I held up my hair while she wiped my shoulders, and I had to bite back the tears that were fighting to surface.

"You really don't have to mother."

"I wasn't always a queen remember. I didn't grow up with someone to bathe me."

"Right." I chuckled. I had never known her when she had been poor, and it seemed foreign to think of her so. It had always been her and her sister. They once had a younger brother, but he had died at a very young age, their mother following soon after, and the two girls were all their father had to run their farm. Even he had passed just before she and her sister had come to the palace. I watched her hands as she ran the cloth down my arms. I imagined they had once been calloused, but years of palace life had restored their delicate beauty, although thinking of my mother in this new light gave me an alternate perspective on the word "delicate" in reference to her.

"There's nothing wrong with this Bella." I smiled. My mother knew my preference for the nickname, and was one of the few that consented to call me by it. "You are fortunate. I wouldn't wish the life I lived on you, but you must understand the character it yields in a person, to grow up with very little, and to work hard just to have that little. Sometimes I wish…" She paused.

"What?" I asked encouraging her.

"I wish…" She paused again, carefully considering her words. "That you knew what it was like. I tried to keep you grounded, balanced. But it's not easy to give you all the attention I wanted to when duty calls at every corner. You've been given everything."

"Not everything." I countered. Not the thing I wanted most; Freedom.

"You know what I mean." She was using a dry towel to soak up the water that was now chilling my skin. "I think it would have been beneficial for you. For anyone."

"Do you think I'm rotten?" I asked in a low voice, slightly offended.

She stopped her work and stared in my eyes. "No love, I think you're wonderful. But you are a bit blinded."

"Blinded by what?" I asked, my tone raising.

"By your prejudice toward the prince, for one." I growled a little, surprising myself. She ignored that and continued. "It's not your fault. You've heard them spoke of with darkness tainting every word. But really Bella, they're just like us."

I crossed my arms and "humphed" while she continued drying.

"They're fighting for their country with the same love and pride we fight with for ours." She stopped drying and went to pull my dress off the chair it was draped over. "Somewhere in Weidinhun exists two sisters brokenhearted over the loss of their mother and brother, and struggling to keep their father's farm alive so they can have a hot meal on their table.

"Somewhere in Weidinhun, a mother is dawdling her child on her knees, praying the war doesn't come too close to her home bringing danger to her baby."

The dress was now fastened tight and my mother was once again piercing me with her fierce and lovely eyes.

"And in a palace, in a country very similar to ours, a king lies awake at night, unable to sleep from the pressures of an entire kingdom that weigh heavily on his shoulders, and his conscience. So great are these fears that they are enough to drive him to send his only son into enemy territory, with very little protection, in hopes that the first attempt at peace in over a few hundred years will be made."

I stared wide eyed at my mother. I'd always known she'd been a woman of compassion, but I'd never thought it drove that far. Compassion for our enemies? I knew complaining was no longer going to gain sympathy, and despite her speech, the most passionate I'd ever heard from her, I couldn't bring myself to fathom her words. They sounded as foreign to me as her being poor had.

Instead of the answer I knew she was expecting, I just looked down. Even though I disagreed with her feelings on the subject, I still felt ashamed looking in her eyes, like I truly was the one in the wrong. She was all things good, (I believed that wholly,) but she was deceived in this matter.

She lifted my chin and forced me to look at her. Her expression had softened, and I could see her love for me once more, as well as the disappointment hidden behind it. "Listen to me Isabella." I shuddered. Whenever she used my full name, she was my queen. "Your father needs… I need… Your country needs for your meeting to go well this morning." Of course she pulled the country card. No pressure there. "I know you bear some animosity to this life you had no choice in, but you were born for greatness, and who knows, perhaps this is the greatness that was planned from the beginning. Perhaps you are the key to bringing peace between two kingdoms.

"It's time to serve Isabella. It's time to fill the water basin, and clean the old wounds of our people. It's time to hold them when they cry and let their anguished tears fall into your neck, and then push them back a little, and reassure them that they are strong, and that everything is going to be okay."

She paused and once more let her gaze hold me. "You can do this. Everything is going to be okay."

With that, she kissed my forehead, squeezed my hand, and led me out my bedroom door.

I could feel her courage seeping through me. What strength had my mother possessed to make it in our country all those years before she came here? Strength that had helped her endure through the loss of her family? That had helped her to reign good and strong at my father's side, in this life that she too had not chosen?

Perhaps I could find that strength too. I'd need it now more than ever.

I stopped her as I remembered the most important piece of my outfit. "One moment." I turned and fled back to my room, and when I returned, I caught my mother skeptically eyeing the colossal jewel that rested a few inches below my neck. It may not have offered the same type of strength my mother had, but the thought of irritating the prince was enough to brighten my day considerably.

So I took my place by mother's side, noting the curious look on her face, and on we marched, step by agonizing step, towards that impending doom.

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The queen made sure I was perfectly on time for breakfast. The dining hall was always full during night time meals. Dinners were more like a large party than "family time," but breakfast was generally a small gathering. By small of course I mean; the king, the king's advisor, six of the king's most trusted friends from court and their wives, the king's general and three captains under him, my mother, my mother's sister, my mother's sister's husband, Angela and myself.

That's all if you don't include the four guards, the six members of the kitchen staff and my mother's four ladies in waiting as well as my four ladies in waiting that stood in various positions around the rather large dining room. Yes, this was our small party. Small compared to our festive dinner parties.

My father: always the socialite.

Today there were a few additions to the table. There was prince Jacob of course, the two gentlemen and three ladies that had accompanied him as his companions and only two of his guards that stood a short distance behind him, still wearing nervous expressions. I allowed myself a small smirk at their faces.

I was determined to avoid all eye contact with the prince, but I was beyond curious at how he would react to the diamond on my neck. I had the pleasure of watching his features twist in confusion for a small moment as his eyes dropped to my neck, but just as quickly he composed himself and then nodded his head towards me. I saw my father eyeing me with warning on his face, so I swiftly nodded back and followed my mother.

The table, the smallest one of four that circled the room, was a long, rectangular set made with a dark oak wood. Before my father's rule, the royal family had their own separate table at the head of the room overlooking their guests, but the king enjoyed company more than any person I'd ever known, and ordered the set made.

To my relief, they had seated Jacob by my father at one of the table. The women sat at the opposite end with my mother. The other's and their chatter kept me from seeing or hearing him, but I could see my father's face laughing gaily as he conversed with the prince. How he could even stand breathing the same air as that disgusting Weidinhun was beyond me, and I wondered how I would survive our early afternoon trek through the palace gardens. I had planned on speaking as little as possible, and when I did have to make some sort of input, to keep my tone quick and sharp.

Breakfast went on with an unusual quietness for our party. You could hear spoons scraping against plates, and liquids being slurped from their cups. Every once in a while, my father would throw out a comment or a joke, trying his best to lighten the mood, but it was hard to conquer the atmosphere.

The prince was perfectly amiable, answering all my father's questions with pleasantness, but he never smiled. His companions whispered amongst themselves all morning, doing their best to stifle their giggles, not wanting to upset the already solemn air. Every once in a while they'd look at me then whisper to each other, and I tried not to feel offended as they quietly laughed. I shouldn't care really, they were all Weidinhun. No one really cared what they thought.

I distracted myself by turning to Angela, and found her obliviously staring dreamily at the prince. I snorted to myself, and then stared at my soup.

A bell rang, and breakfast was over. My father stood up, and the prince, looking confused, followed his actions. My father smiled at him and nodded to the rest of us who were sitting down. The nod was the symbol that we were now allowed to rise.

"Thank you for a wonderful morning," my father cheered. "I have some business to attend to, but the children are excused to take their walk."

I noticed the prince stiffen at the word 'children' and then I looked to my father who was sending me such a warning glare I could feel it hit me from all the way across the table.

The prince nodded to my father, and then slowly and confidently walked the distance to my side, all eyes watching his every step, the silence even thicker now than before. All you could hear was the thud of each of his steps on the floor.

I didn't take my eyes off his face, trying my best not to scowl, (for my father's sake) and then he'd finally approached me and held out his arm.

I stared at that arm for a moment, trying to find my will. I took a deep breath and finally consented. I reached out, wrapped my hand around his arm just below his elbow and after another nod from the prince, we exited the quietly tense room, went down the long hall, and ended outside in to the unpolluted open air. I took a deep breath. This was as close to freedom as I was ever going to get.

The touch of my skin on his arm burned through my hand, and I wanted to scream, but I bit my tongue and followed his lead, refusing to be the first one to speak. We walked around the palace gardens, but he wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings. He didn't even really seem to be staring at anything in particular. His mind appeared to be somewhere else, although every once in a while, I'd catch him take a quick peek at the diamond, a strange look of confusion spreading across his face, though he didn't bring it up.

Two guards followed behind us; one of his and one of mine. They had been just as quiet as us for a while, but soon one of the guards commented on how he admired the other's sword, and then the two were whispering up a storm like a couple of old gossiping women, and it appeared there were two new best friends in Belai. I scowled. Weidinhun was already spreading its' poison amongst my people.

Jacob found a stone bench and motioned for me to sit with him. I obliged and sat, but didn't look at his face. I could feel my frustration building the longer I was in his presence. It wasn't just that he was the son of my father's greatest enemy. It wasn't just that he was the son of the country that had stolen countless lives from my people. The longer I felt my hand wrapped around his arm, the more I realized that this was to be my life, the more I felt my prison doors thickening.

I always knew I would never escape palace life, but I still dreamed, even if it meant running my fingers though the ugly-beautiful world just beyond palace walls. I could see myself running a farm just as my mother and aunt had done. I could see my hands dirty and calloused, and it was the most wonderful thought.

In just a week's time, my life would be ensnared with the man sitting next to me. All hope, every dream, it was all being snatched away from me like a thief in the night. I closed my eyes and fought the angry tears that threatened to fall.

"Bella," came his voice sending a jolt of shock through my body.

I looked over at him. It was just like the necklace. How did he know?

"Or do you prefer Isabella?" He was looking right at me, and I could find none of the agitation in his eyes that I felt in mine. I couldn't answer, so he just continued, his voice soft and careful. "Well, anyway, I was just wondering if you liked horses?"

"What?" I asked, eternally confused.

"I had a horse prepared for you in Weidinhun. It's one of our finest, and I thought you might enjoy riding."

"I've never ridden." I said quickly, unable to hide the shock in my voice.

"Oh." He was quiet again and looked forward rubbing his hands nervously against his knees.

"You don't have to talk to me." I offered.

"I'm sorry?"

"Look, I know you don't want this anymore than I do. You hate me, I hate you, there's no reason to make this anymore painful than it needs to be."

"Wait, what?" He looked genuinely confused, and even a little hurt. I tried to fight back my surprise and hold onto the determination I'd found. I stood up and looked down at him as I spoke.

"There's no escape from this union, so we may as well just get it over with and be done. I'll go with you to Weidinhun, I won't complain, I won't even fight you, but it would probably be immensely easier for both of us if we just didn't speak to each other. Our fathers will be appeased, maybe the whole peace thing will actually happen, but there's no rule that says we have to be friends right? So don't worry. I don't expect you to make small talk with me."

There was no denying the bewilderment on his face now. It took him a moment to speak. "Don't you want peace?"

"Of course I do. That's what we're going for right?"

"I'm… lost. Why are you angry with me?"

Was he joking? "Are you trying to infuriate me more?"

He was now standing, a foot and a half taller than me, a bit intimidating as he stared down. His voice was still calm. "Why do you hate me? What have I done?"

I could feel my body beginning to tremble, the fury building, and I fought it back. I didn't want him to see me weak. "Why do you say these things? Why are you making this harder? I've already consented to go with you quietly. Can't you just leave me in peace? Honestly, do you not see how that would be easier for you as well?"

He didn't answer, just asked a new question. "Do you like the diamond? I was under the impression you liked simpler jewelry."

I could no longer find my voice. This outing was making as much sense to me as my mother's speech this morning at the water basin. I felt my mouth drop as I stared at him dumbfounded.

His face contorted into a strange and painful one as he studied me. We were so close now I could feel his breath on my face. It was making me exceptionally uncomfortable.

When it was clear I wasn't going to answer the question, he looked up at the sky and said, "Your father expects us back soon." He offered his arm again, and I stood there stupidly for a moment, unable to move.

Finally I found my strength, linked my hand on his arm again and let him lead me back to the palace. He didn't say anything else the whole way back, but behind us I could still hear our guards excitedly whispering about some sort of weapon technology, infinitely enjoying this walk more than me.

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I lay in my bed that night unable to sleep. I was replaying our walk over and over again in my head. I had tried to forget it, tried with all my strength to push the prince from my memory, but something about the way his face had twisted into genuine confusion as I bit my angry words at him bothered me.

His voice echoed in my mind, lingering like the chill of the night in the early morning. "Why do you hate me? What have I done?" Why would he ask me such things? Wasn't it obvious? Hadn't our people hated each other for centuries? Of course they had.

I felt my anger building more. I shouldn't have let him catch me off guard. I shouldn't be up into the late hours of the night thinking about the man I was sworn to loath. Curse father and his ludicrous plan. If this war didn't kill me, this marriage would.

I was startled by a knock at my door. I sat up and subconsciously started clutching at my blankets. A cold breeze blew in from the window, causing the fire in the fire pit to flicker. I shivered.

"Princess?"

Even greater chills coursed through my blood at the sound of his voice than the cold caused by the midnight wind.

"Are you awake?" He knocked again.

I squeezed my eyes shut willing him to go away, but he was relentless, so I grudgingly pushed aside my covers, jumped off my high mattress and landed into my slippers, grabbed my throw from off the chair by my bed and wrapped it over my shoulders, then headed to the door.

I put my hand on the latch and paused for a moment. I took a deep breath before opening it, and found myself face to face with my future husband.

"What?" I asked with all the agitation I felt.

He flinched, but didn't back away. He was so close I could feel this breath on my face. He kept his piercing blue eyes locked on mine, and somehow they managed to burn right through me. Something about them was so honest, so genuine, I almost wanted to reach up and touch his face, but I let the anger and fire inside me take control.

"Something you said," he began, "has been bothering me all day. I couldn't sleep."

I wanted to turn from his intense gaze, but I couldn't pull away, and neither would my pride let me back down. I tapped my toes, making a show of my impatience, (though the slippers didn't do such a great job of voicing my agitation) until he continued.

"You said you hated me. Why? We've only just met." He looked at me expectantly, awaiting my answer, and for the life of me I couldn't understand his expression. Whatever he was feeling, he was obviously feeling it deep inside and it showed all over his pain-struck face.

"How can you be serious?" His expression didn't falter as he silently urged me to go on. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath until I felt the burn in my throat, so I released it, let out a quiet, frustrated groan and continued. "You're really going to make me explain? Fine." I continued my speech as if I were speaking to an unintelligent child. "For years your people have attacked mycountry. You Weidinhuns are responsible for countless deaths amongst my people."

He interrupted me there. "Are not Belai's guilty of the same treason? Have we not lost our share of lives as well?"

"Exactly! So you're not as clueless as I thought." He raised an eyebrow at that. "We were born to be enemies, and no marriage is going to change that."

"But why shouldn't it? Bella," I gasped again at the nick name, still unaware of how he knew. "We don't have to hate each other. I don't hate you."

He was almost pleading now, and it took me a moment to find my voice. When I did, it took some work to muster up the anger and fierceness I wanted in my tone. "I don't think that would be possible."

"Why not?"

"Your highness," I knew he caught the sting as I spoke the title, "I've spent my whole life angry at your people, and you and your father have always been counted as the highest of my enemies. It's not just something I think I could let go, nor do I understand why I should have to explain this to you. Do you not feel the same?"

"Up until recently I didn't even know you existed."

This took me aback more than any other thing. How could he have not known? I'd known about him my whole life.

He finally dropped his eyes to the floor, almost appearing ashamed. "I'll admit my life has been pretty sheltered. My mother lost her life because of this war, and after that my father did his best to keep me as disconnected from it as possible." I surprisingly found myself curious about his mother, but he didn't bring it up again, and I didn't press him. "About a year ago I got stubborn, and I continued to press until my father involved me in the affairs of the war. When he mentioned King Charles had a daughter, well…" It took him a moment to speak, and I realized I was holding my breath again, curious for his answer. He brought his gaze back to mine. "Bella, this union wasn't our father's idea. It was mine."

I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped. Silence flowed between us, and I could feel my heart beat pounding all the way up to my ears. I wasn't sure what to think, except that it wasn't my father who was ruining my happiness forever, it was this prince, this despicable, loathsome man standing in front of me.

"Why?" I stammered, barely able to stand now. I clutched at my door for support.

His voice grew undeniably passionate as he spoke. "Because I want peace between our countries. Because I don't want my children to grow up facing the life we've had to endure. I may have been sheltered from the war, but I wasn't completely unaffected by it." His face contorted into greater pain then than I had ever seen, and I thought his mind may have wandered for a moment. "Because as soon as I learned of your existence I aimed to find everything I could about you, and with all that has been reported to me, I have come love you, by God Bella, I love you.

"Even just observing you since I've been here, the fire inside you, it's true. It's exactly as I was told. You have so much life, it's undeniable. I'm drawn to you. Before we even met, since the moment I heard your name, I've always been drawn to you."

There were no words, but he didn't give me much time to contemplate his own. "I know you don't love me now, and I guess I can understand your prejudice, but you must know that I don't feel any of that, quite the opposite actually, and I promise that our life doesn't have to be a miserable one. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.

"I want to be a good king. And with the peace and freedom this union will bring to our people, think of all the good we could do… together."

He wasn't smiling, but I could see the excitement and anticipation on his face. My face however, was frozen into an expression of shock and horror, at least, that's what I imagined it looked like, since that was exactly what I was feeling. Whatever the prince saw there though must not have been encouraging, because he sighed and looked down as he shook his head.

"Just think about it, please." He leaned down then and kissed my cheek and I was still too stunned to move away. He took one last long look at me and then disappeared down the corridor to his quarters.

I'm not sure how long I stood there, but eventually I pulled out of my stupor and shut my bedroom door. Even with my slippers on, my feet felt exceptionally cold as I walked the stone floor to the fireplace. The fire was dieing down so I threw another log on it and sat on a wooden chair.

I spent hours in that chair, collecting my thoughts, mulling over the impossible things the prince had said to me. Was it even possible? I just couldn't believe his words were true.

I tried to search past my hatred, past the prejudice that had been my companion all my life, but it was so thick it was blinding. How would I, how could I ever come to love this man who'd been at the very core of the people who'd murdered mine?

At the end of my queries I'd officially decided that loving the prince would be unlikely. Not just because he was a prince, but he was a Weidinhun, and loving any Weidinhun was going to be unremarkably unfeasible. How I was going to be their princess, and one day their queen, was incomprehensible. Escaping this union, would be utterly impossible. The king of Belai was for it, the king of Weidinhun was for it, and the prince, my future husband, was its' biggest supporter.

In just a few days time, the prince would be leaving on a ship back to Weidinhun, and only a few days later I would follow, and his country would no longer just be his, it would be ours.

I felt a few silent tears fall down my cheeks as I accepted my fate, and then finally, as the fire completely diminished, not leaving any trace of even a gentle warmth, I resigned myself back to my bed, where my dreams were full of the prince.