Jasper's PoV

"No!"

"Well, I'm not doing nothing. We have to find some way for us to be together, Jasper. I'm not leaving her to that bastard." Emmett shouted at me.

"So, you don't care about the fact that your plan would cause a war and subsequently the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people?" I retorted. I couldn't believe that he was even seriously entertaining the idea. It was insane.

"Do you have a better idea then?" my brother snapped back at me. I just turned away. I didn't have an alternative and I could see that that would be unacceptable to Emmett. But I couldn't bring myself to give him false hope. It wasn't like there would ever be any chance for them to be together properly. The sooner he got over it the better.

"I'm not giving up." He said resolutely. And I knew he wouldn't.

"We'll think of something," I said quietly. Not that I believed it just then.

We finally rode through the high walls back into the capital a little while before sunset. It was such a relief to be home. I would get to see Alice soon. I just had to talk to my father first and tell him what had happened in Port Angeles.

It seemed to take an age to ride through the city up to the palace. We finally arrived and were told that our parents were in my father's study so we went straight to them although Emmett muttered all the way up that he was hungry and would rather go eat first and leave the reporting to me. Typical Emmett.

As soon as we stepped into the library we were attacked my our mother's embrace as she squealed things like "oh, thank god that you're both alright" and "I've been so worried, it was a stupid idea for you to go to Port Angeles." That was typical Esme.

When she finally calmed down and satisfied herself that we were both all right Carlisle stepped forwards to embrace us too.

"So," he said softly, "How went it with King Royce?" and so I set forth into a detailed account of everything that had happened while we were away. Everything that is except what occurred between Emmett and Rosalie. That was best left unsaid before Esme made things worse by fussing over him.

Fortunately I was soon finished with my account and we were free to go. Emmett to go eat and mope and me to go see Alice. Finally.

I went straight down to the Swan household, which was conveniently quite close to the palace. The sun was setting now and the sky was a brilliant orange. It was a beautiful evening although my view might have been slightly tainted by my good mood.

I stepped quietly through the main entrance to their house and glanced around. I couldn't hear any sounds of life from within and I paused listening out for any sounds and was rewarded with the soft patter of light footfalls. I turned my head just in time to see Bella enter the hallway through a side door.

"Oh thank god you're back," she said in a relieved voice, "I didn't know how much longer we would be able to contain Alice for."

I laughed at that and bent down to kiss her cheek.

"I take it then that she missed me." I asked her with a grin. Bella rolled her eyes in response.

"You know what she's like. And she said all along that it was a waste of time you going."

I sighed thinking of Emmett and said heavily "I fear it actually may have been worse than a waste of time."

Bella raised her eyebrows in surprise "Why what happened?" she asked looking a little alarmed.

"Nothing really." I reassured her, "I expect you'll hear about it soon enough. But where is the rest of your family?"

She smiled at this seeing that she would be unable to get anything out of me until I had seen Alice. "Oh alright," she said, "they're in the garden."

I smiled once more at her and set off in the direction of the garden. I could almost hear Bella roll her eyes again as she began to follow me.

As I stepped outside my eyes instantly went to the small figure pacing up and down on the lawns. At the best of times Alice was full of a restless energy and judging by Bella's comments she had been worse in my absence. I paused for a moment to watch her progress about the grass. She was so beautiful. She was dressed all in a simple white dress that perfectly complimented her ivory skin that was just now given a delicate pinky flush from the light of the setting sun. Her long black hair fell loose down her shoulders in soft waves stopping just a little above her waist. It fluttered slightly on a gentle breeze. I could have stood there for quite a while watching her but my presence was given away by Bella and Alice's mother, Renee.

"Highness, you're back!"

Alice's PoV

I was pacing up and down on the grass of our lawns as if I was going to wear a path down on it. Surely they should be back by now. It had been days since they went on this pointless trip. I glanced up towards the house but there was only Renee and Charlie sat there watching me pace. Bella was sick of me and so had wandered off inside a while ago. She wasn't being very sympathetic towards me anymore; I was driving her insane.

The sun was beginning to set now. But I wasn't ready to go inside yet. I didn't feel up to spending another night sat there pretending to be composed when inside I was really going mad. It was completely pointless for Jasper and Emmett to have gone to Port Angeles. But not only was it pointless it was dangerous too. Who could say what the mad Angelian king might decide to do. I wish they would just hurry up and return.

I had wanted to go with him but everyone had sided against me on that one. Even Jasper who knew that I was capable of taking care of myself and wouldn't have been in anymore danger than him. But he had point blank refused on letting me come to Port Angeles with him. As I paced I couldn't help my mind from wandering back to the day we first met. I couldn't restrain a grin at the memory.

Flashback

It had been two years ago and I had been 17 and he was 18.

Bella and I had never actually met the royal family at this point being of a family that was just a little to low in standing to have regular meetings with the monarch. Also, I knew that my father Charlie had wanted to keep me away from the big public events that are the only way that young women like Bella and me would have been able to be in the presence of the Cullens.

You see, Charlie was not my real father and Renee was not my real mother. They were the biological parents of Bella alone. I had been born into a very different family. We lived a nomadic life in the wilderness forestlands that lay to the north of Forks. My people didn't acknowledge the Cullens as the royal family. We had our own royal family of which I was a part. I was a kind of cousin to the ruler. Not that I had ever told anyone this, except for Bella and Jasper.

But when I was nine a tragedy had occurred. My parents and I had been travelling at the very south of the wilderness lands when they had all been killed. Attacked by a bear.

I ran for it and after several days until I finally collapsed from exhaustion. Fortunately I collapsed in the grounds of the Swan's summer residence and was subsequently found and taken in by them. Before I knew it I had been adopted and we all lived happily ever after together.

I still occasionally showed some of my more wild characteristics so my father kept me out of society for the most part, and Bella too just to be fair. But I was allowed to continue learning swordsmanship. I had been training in this since I was a baby and he let me continue it much to my joy. Bella never liked sword fighting (she was too clumsy and always lost her balance) so she elected to learn archery when I trained with my sword. We were a very unusual pair of young Forksian maidens!

So this brings me to the day when I was 17 and I went to the training yards.

I normally trained indoors by myself without anyone to see me but I was sick of hiding away so I persuaded my sister to accompany me to the training yards where we could hone our skills even more. It didn't take much to persuade her, she was so keen to practice her favourite pastime. Her archery.

So we went. At first all the young men there were stunned to see two slight girls wielding sword and bow but once they got a good luck at our abilities they were all clamouring to have a try against us. I was sparring against Tyler Crowley when the sounds of all the men around us quieted. I was focussing too much to notice and it was only when I had successfully disarmed Tyler that I heard a booming laugh, which caught my attention.

I looked up straight into the eyes of the two princes: the 17-year-old Emmett and the 18-year-old Jasper. Emmett was the one laughing. Jasper was just looking at me intensely that I thought that he could see right into my soul.

I think that Emmett started mocking Tyler at this point but I didn't really hear him. I couldn't draw my gaze from Jasper. I suppose it was love at first sight. Of course I had heard all about the heir to the throne but being face to face with him left me completely speechless. Which was a first for me.

He grinned at me then and that smile made my heart flutter as if I had turned into one of those silly girls that I previously despised. The kind of girls that went weak-kneed at the mere sight of the beautiful prince.

He drew his sword then and simply said: "My turn."

I raised my own sword and fell back into the guard position just as he did. For the first time in my life I actually felt like a defenceless young girl. I didn't have a chance in hell of winning this fight or even putting up a good defence. Not against the greatest swordsman in the kingdom. I glanced at Bella but she was just staring at me with wide eyes and an open mouth, as stunned as I was.

And so we sparred. I was right about not standing a chance. But I determined not to humiliate myself. I put up the best fight I could. I used all the skill I had and I had the slight advantage of being the fastest opponent he had ever had. I tried to dodge rather than parry mostly but I still began to tire quickly. I had been fighting all afternoon whereas he was fresh and he was simply so much stringer than I was.

It ended when I failed to leap out of the way fast enough. I stumbled and raised my blade to block the blow but when it hit my legs finally gave out and I fell towards the ground. But before my knees collided with the earth I felt his arms catch me about the waste. In that split second I realised that he had dropped his sword to catch me and I held mine still. So I spun quickly away from his grasp and held my blade to his throat, therefore technically winning the match.

At that point my mind caught up with me and I realised that I was holding my sword against the prince's throat. I dropped it instantly and lowered my gaze too as I felt myself blush. I muttered an apology.

I stood there feeling extremely nervous about what he was going to do next when I was yet again surprised. He laughed. A softer, quieter laugh than his brother's. Then I felt his fingers beneath my chin as he raised my head until I had to meet his eyes. He was smiling.

"That was some of the best skills I have seen in some time, my lady. I can't find it in myself to feel at all ashamed at being beaten by you." He said to me with his eyes never wavering from mine.

I wanted to look away but couldn't. "But I cheated." I whispered back at him.

Emmett laughed again. "No," Jasper reassured me, "you just used took advantage of every opportunity you could, as I fighter should. You deserved that win."

I found myself blushing again and looked down. The only thought in my head was that I was starting to behave like Bella. I couldn't think of anything to say to him, I was completely tongue-tied.

"Tell me your name." He commanded in a voice so soft that I don't think anyone else heard him.

"Alice Swan, your Highness." I whispered.

I felt his hand take mine. And I looked up into his smiling eyes again. And with that he led me out of the yards. We walked together for the rest of that whole day. Talking about anything and everything. By sunset we were completely in love with one another. Within the year Jasper had approached my father with the intention of marrying me and I had never been happier.

End Flashback

Until now that is and I had to stay here while he was sent off to try and talk sense to that idiot that is King Royce.

I heard footsteps coming outside but I ignored them thinking it was only Bella and carried on pacing. I could feel frown lines forming on my brow. But then my musings were abruptly interrupted my mother's squeal of: "Highness, you're back!"

I spun around so fast I would have lost my balance if I were Bella. There he was, looking as if he had never been away. It felt like my heart exploded inside me from relief and happiness. In two seconds I had raced across the distance between us and thrown myself into his arms. I felt him lift me off my feet and I laughed with delight.

"I've missed you so much." I breathed as I clung to him tightly. I felt him squeeze me tighter.

"I know, my love. I've missed you too." He whispered back and I could hear how deeply he meant it.

He then gently set me on my feet again and looked down into my smiling face for only a moment before he kissed me. Oh, how I had missed the feel of his lips! We kissed deeply for what seemed like forever but probably wasn't really all the long. Either way it was over too soon.

When we finally broke apart we were alone. My family had obviously decided to give us some privacy. Which was just what I wanted. "Tell me everything." I demanded. And he obliged.

We walked together hand in hand until the sun had definitely set as he recounted everything. Eventually we ended up sat on a bench together as the stars started to come out.

"And you won't believe what has happened to Emmett." Jasper added.

"This is Emmett we're talking about, of course I'll believe it." I laughed back.

"Not this you won't. He's fallen in love."

I felt my jaw drop. "Emmett? In love? You mean proper love, like your and my love? We are talking about the same Emmett here? Your brother who's never had an interest in a woman that's lasted more than 20 minutes."

Jasper laughed too, but it didn't sound like he really found it funny. "Yes he is. But it gets worse."

"Worse?"

"You haven't heard who he's in love with yet."

I felt a shiver pass down my spine as if I had some premonition of something bad coming. I couldn't repress a visible shiver and Jasper put his arm around my shoulders. I leant in towards him. "Go on, tell me."

"Queen Rosalie."

There was a long silence. "You're joking, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "No, it's true," he said heavily, "he's madly in love with her. It's like he's a different person. And it seems that she loves him too."

I just shook my head in shock. Jasper went on,

"He has this ridiculous idea of going back to Port Angeles and spiriting her away. It hadn't even entered his head that that would cause a war. He's determined to see her again and I'm not sure we'll be able to persuade him that it's not possible."

Poor Emmett, I thought, it must be terrible to be in love and not be able to be with that person. Surely there must be some way for them to see each other again even if it's only for a short time.

We sat there in silence for a long time as I tried to come up with some alternative to Emmett's plan. Then it hit me. And I knew that it would work.

"I've got a plan, Jasper. Listen to this. What we need to do is to invite the king and queen of Port Angeles to our wedding. We can pass it off as another attempt to improve relations. That's what King Royce will see it as anyway. And then when they get the invitation Rosalie will know what it means. So she'll make sure that she comes. Then once she's here we'll be able to find some way to allow Emmett to see her. Isn't that a good plan?"

Jasper was silent for a long moment as he thought it over. "It could work." He said slowly.

"It will. I know it will." I insisted. Jasper finally sighed and I knew he would agree to it. He never held out against me for long.

"Ok we can try it." He said finally.

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily, "I promise it will work out, you know I'm never wrong."

He chuckled at that. "That is true." He said softly and he lowered his head to kiss me once more. I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

It would be worth it of we could make Jasper's brother as happy as we were.

Next chapter we will see what Royce does about the invitation and we'll also see what has happened with the evil, spying Jessica!

Reviews…? Go on they make me happy and happy people type faster!!