"She was supposed to meet me in the courtyard, but she didn't," Cecily told Margery as they walked towards Annalisa's room.

The woman had grown a little concerned when the girl had told her that she had not seen her daughter since earlier that morning. They made their way to her door and tried to open it, but it was locked, so they knocked.

"Annalisa, are you in there?" Margery called.

She heard her mother's calls from the other side of the door but had no intentions on getting up to go to the door or to answer her. After all, she was the reason that she was in this predicament. She could not open the door if she wanted to because it was locked from the outside.

"Lisa, open up," she heard Cecily call as they continued to knock.

She did not want to talk to her either.

She heard them call out to her and knock on the door for a little longer before they stopped abruptly. She didn't know why they had stopped nor did she care. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep and forget about what had become her life.

"She isn't allowed any visitors," they heard a voice say from behind them.

"Why not?" Margery asked the girl that seemed around the same age as her four girls.

"The prince is upset with her, and he locked her in her room," she simply replied.

"Amelia," Cecily stepped forward, "do you have to key?"

"Yes," she said, "but I am the only one allowed in and I am not allowed to open it for anyone besides the prince himself. I am sorry."

"You have to let me in," Margery said walking up to her. "She is my daughter. I have to see if she is okay."

"I am sorry," the girl simply said.

She was about to walk away when the older woman called out to her again. She turned to face her.

"Can you just go in and make sure she is okay for me? Please?"

The girl looked into the woman's eyes and felt pity for her. She nodded and walked over to the door. She opened the door with the key that hung loosely from her wrist and stepped in, being sure to close and lock the door behind her. The prince was firm with his orders and she did not want to get in trouble for disobeying him.

"Miss?" Lisa heard from behind her and tiredly opened her eyes. She had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard Amelia's voice. "Your mother and the girl you were with yesterday are outside of your door. They wanted to know if you were okay. What should I tell them?"

"I don't care," she said.

Amelia stood staring at her for a moment. "I know you are sad right now Miss," she started, "but it will get better. The other girls like it here. You just have to learn to obey him."

She stood in her spot for a while and turned to leave after not getting a response. She stepped out into the hall and locked the door back.

"She is fine," she told them, "just a little sad, but she'll be fine. Now if you would excuse me. I have to go retrieve her lunch."

With that the girl proceeded down the hall.

Margery knew it was all her fault, but she still thought it was the best thing for the girl. She figured she would get over the initial shock of the situation soon and become lively again. She would maybe even forgive her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, touching Cecily's face.

The girl smiled sweetly, "I'm am fine."

"I guess I better get back home then."

She and Cecily made their way through the castle, headed towards the exit. She was going to leave quietly until she saw the prince coming from the yards with some of his men. She decided to approach him.

"Excuse me your majesty," she said hesitantly.

He turned and gave a small smile when he recognized her.

"Yes, may I help you?"

"May I talk with you about my daughter? I brought her to you yesterday."

"Yes, I remember," he said. He raised his hand and all of the men walked away, except for one.

"Well, you told me I could visit her anytime I choose, but when I went to see her, I was told she was not allowed any visitors. May I ask why?"

He forced a smile, masking the anger and frustration he was starting to feel about the whole situation.

"Your daughter was not cooperating," he started. "I thought she needed some time alone to think about things so I cut off her visitation. You will be able to see her soon, once she starts to cooperate. Now if you will excuse me, I have some business that needs to be taken care off."

With that he walked away not wanting to further the conversation with the woman. Her daughter was a rude girl and needed to be taught some manners. She deserved worst punishment than what he had given to her. She should have been happy that being locked in her room was all that happened to her.

"What exactly happened last night when you visited the girl?" James asked.

He glanced at his friend and turned back to face the direction in which he was walking. He was a little embarrassed to tell him what had happened, but knew that the man would not leave him alone until he got an answer.

"She denied me," he said almost inaudibly.

An amused smirk appeared on James's face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing," James replied. He couldn't believe that one of the girls that his friend had lusted behind the most had been the one to deny him. He could tell he really wanted the girl since he had actually gone to find her mother. He wouldn't say that he liked her as he never allowed himself to have any feelings for any of the girls, though they liked to pretend. He had not known this girl long enough yet anyway. But he found it amusing that a woman had the guts to deny him of something he wanted when most men did not, simply because he was the prince.

He made his way down the corridor with the maid at his side. They stopped in front of a door that was becoming very familiar and she unlocked the door for him. She waited outside as she had been instructed to do so. It had only been one day, but he wanted to see if the girl had changed her mind sooner than expected. He saw her lying on the bed looking like she hadn't move since he had left her there the day before. Her eyes met his with a hard, icy glare. This time she did not look away.

"Have you changed your mind?"

She did not answer, only continued staring at him. He walked closer to her bed and she backed up to the other side of the bed, not wanting to be any closer to him than she had to be.

"I do not understand you," he told her. "Most girls would kill to be in your shoes. You are living in the castle and serving the prince. You do not want for anything, you are fed and clothed, you even have your own maid. You have a better life than you had before you came here so what is the problem? Why do you deny me?"

She still didn't answer him. He went over and sat on the side of the bed that was not occupied by her. He moved to move one of the stray curls out of her face, but she only moved away from him. He looked at her studying her face. She really was a beautiful girl. He had not had time to admire her like this since he had first seen her. He wondered why she was not married yet. Most of the young maidens of the villages that looked half as pretty as her had already been taken.

"I will give you three more days to make a decision," he said standing from the bed. She watched as he walked thoughtfully towards the door. He left and closed the door. She heard the tumblers turn as it was again locked from the outside.

She regretted not responding to him. She hated being locked away like this with hardly any human contact. She dreaded the three days that were to come, but she could not willing give herself to a man that was not her husband. She slowly got up from the bed and made her way over to the bookshelf. She picked the book what she had started reading two nights before and continued where she had left off.

The following three days passed painfully slow and she felt as if she were going to go insane. If it had not been for Amelia, she was sure that she would have. She felt a little out of it and all she wanted to do was get out. She had always loved the outdoors and being confined to one room was like torture. She sat up straight on the bed upon hearing the tumblers turning. She knew that it had to have been him. Three nights had come and gone and Amelia had just left. She would not be returning so soon.

She looked up at him with hopeful eyes having been broken a little, but not enough to give him what he wanted. This time another man was with him. Not the usual man that she saw with him, but the other man she had seen with him the first day they had met. She just stared at him.

"What is wrong with you?" the other man's voice thundered throughout the room as he walked over to her. "You kneel in the presence of royalty."

He roughly grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to the floor. She landed on her knees with a small cry, but did not have the mental energy to fight back. It was clear that this man was much ruder than the prince himself and she honestly feared him more than she did the prince. That was another reason for her silence.

Gregory furrowed his brows as he looked at William. He had always known him to be a harsh man, but sometimes he felt he took it too far. He often let his power over others go to his head. He did not say anything though, after all she was just a servant, that wasn't doing her job. She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and he could tell that she had been crying. He felt a tug at his heart. He had never treated any of his concubines like this mostly because they obey him, but he ignored it.

"Have you changed your mind?"

She did not answer and this sat William off again.

"Do you not hear him talking to you?"

She flinched at the loudness and tone of his voice and Gregory held up his hand. "William, please, wait for me outside."

The man glared at him. That was another thing about William, he loved to abuse his powers over others but hated to take orders from others. They had gotten into it many of times and he would have thrown the man out and stripped him of his title if it had not been for his father. They were first cousins and Gregory did not hold the rink to exile the man just yet. He would have more power when he became king, but knew it would still be hard since the man would have been next in line for the job if anything had to happen to him. They were both the only children of their parents, and he was second in line for the throne if anything had to happen to Gregory before he and his queen to be produced an heir to the throne. This was another reason that Gregory did not trust the man, but he had to put up with him.

The man looked back to the girl as if he was about to hit her.

"William," Gregory said sternly, reading his thoughts. He reluctantly turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

He looked back down at the girl whose face was covered by her curls after having been so harshly thrown to the floor. She looked a little more humbled, but he could tell from her lack of a response that she was not completely broken.

"You are a stubborn girl," he said surprising himself. He was very familiar with the word, it having been used many times to describe him, but he never thought that he would use it to describe someone else.

She didn't respond.

"Maybe you need a little more time to think," he told her. "When should I…," he was disrupted by a knock on the door. He turned to look towards the door as it slowly opened and she kept her head lowered.

"We are about to leave for the archery fields," she heard someone say. The sound of this made her raise her head. She loved archery and was fairly good at it, so she thought. Her father had taught her when he would take Thomas out for lessons.

"I'll be out shortly."

The man closed the door leaving them alone once again. She looked back to him once he turned back to her. He studied her, but did not say anything before he turned to leave.

"May I come with you?" he heard her say in a weak voice. He turned back to look at her.

It was not unusual for him to take his concubines out with him, but he had never taken any of them to archery, nor had any of them ever showed any interest in the matter. Something else about this girl that surprised him. It may have been that she just wanted to get out.

"You want to come out to the archery fields?" he questioned, making sure she understood what she was requesting.

She lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. He studied her a little while longer before turning to leave in silence. Her shoulders sunk even further at the realization that she would again be spending another day locked in what had become her prison. Before she could get off of the floor herself, Amelia appeared in front of her with a huge smile on her face.

"He is taking you out with him Miss," she said before rushing to the armoire to retrieve a dress for her.

Annalisa's face brightened up a little, but not much due to the fact that her emotional energy was a bit drained after having cried every day for the past five days.

"Is this okay Miss?" Amelia said holding up a beautiful blue and cream dress in front of her. It wasn't a plan dress but it was one of the less complicated in the armoire, it was one of the more appropriate for the occasion if there were such a thing. Amelia helped her pin her hair up with some of the accessories that had been supplied in dressing table in her room. Amelia convinced her to let some of her curls hang, though she had objected at first.

After she had gotten dressed, Amelia showed her to the hall where the prince said he would be waiting for her. When she walked into the hall the four men stopped their conversation and all stared at her. Her eyes immediately went to a pair of piercing blue eyes that seemed to have been focused on her a lot lately. She shied away and lowered her eyes after seeing the intense look that he was giving her. Amelia noticed the prince's awestruck stair and smiled at Annalisa before exiting the room.

"Are you sure she is the daughter of a laborer?" Alexander whispered to Gregory.

He only smiled before rising to walk over to her. He held his hand out to her making her raise her head to meet his eyes. She shyly placed her hand in his a little more open towards him for taking her out with him. He escorted her out of the room and the other men followed.

She was a little happy upon seeing that he had gotten a closed carriage to take her. She had learned to do many things in a dress, but mount and ride a horse was not one of them. They arrived to the fields rather quickly, and she was met by the Gregory as the driver opened the door for her. He offered her his hand and she took it then stepped out of the carriage. She was quite surprised when she felt his hand on the small of her back after letting go of her hand. He seemed to be more of a gentleman now than he had ever seemed before, but she still did not forget what had happened in the room.

The field was much bigger than the one her father had taken them to and seemed to be designed for the sole purpose of archery. They were also the only people out there, making her think that it was his own personal field.

"You can stand here and watch if you'd like," he told her before taking his hand from her back and walking over to the bag of equipment they had brought with them.

She watched as they each picked up their on personal bow and began aiming at the targets that seemed to be about 200 yards away. They picked up a conversation with which she quickly grew tired of listening to, not having any interest in the topics and not knowing any of the people they were talking about personally.

She walked over to the bag of equipment that they were not using and picked up a bow and an arrow. Without saying a word she walked up next to Alex who was on the end and shot an arrow, missing the target completely. They all just looked at her.

"Sorry," she said. "I wanted to shoot."

"You would have to learn how to shoot first," William said condescendingly, making the other men laugh.

"I know how to shoot," she told him a little offended at his tone. She did. It was just that the bow was a little large and more complicated than what she was used to shooting with. She scanned her surroundings and her eyes fell on a smaller more worn bow that had been abandoned in one of the bags. By now they had gone back to shooting, dismissing her, and did not pay any attention to her. She walked over and picked up the bow and another arrow. Again she walked up next to Alex and aimed her bow at the target in front of her. She was about to release it when her emotions got the better of her and she aimed it at the target on the other side of Alex's. All four men stopped again more surprised this time by the arrow that had landed dead on the bull's eye of William's target. A little closer to the center than the one he had just shot.

They all looked at her, including the driver who had been standing quietly in the back. She only looked down fearing she would get in trouble for showing him up the way she had. Instead, she heard the very amused voice of the prince.

"A good artist knows how to work with the best of canvases," he told her referring to the used and tattered bow in her hand.

"It takes a better artist to make a masterpiece out of one that is not so good," she replied.

Alex and James shrugged it off and continued shooting, while Gregory and William continued looking at her. William obviously more upset than Gregory. She looked away, not sure what either of them were thinking.

She walked over and grabbed another arrow before walking back up to the line. She aimed and was about to shoot, when she felt two larger hands on her own, his warmth enveloping her as his arms were now wrapped around her as he stood close behind her. She would have panicked and moved away had his touch not been so gentle and calming, the complete opposite of what she was used to feeling from him. He removed the bow from her hands and looked down at her.

"But with the best of artists, the world is his canvas," he told her.

With that he aimed the worn bow that he had taken from her and hit the bull's eye on the target in front of them. He lowered the bow, and admired his work, before turning back to her and handing her the bow. He grabbed an arrow from the bag on his back and handed it to her before resuming his place between James and William. She looked at him, a little surprised with the patience he was showing her after the way he had treated her before. He looked over and saw her looking at him and she quickly turned away, focusing again on the bow and arrow in her hand. He smiled at her before doing the same.

On the way back to the palace, he joined her in the carriage and let Alex take his horse back for him. She was sure that he was going to try and make another move on her, but he only seemed to want to talk to her. He had asked her many questions, which she happily obliged him with the answers to as long as he didn't try to make any advances on her. On occasion, he had answered some of her questions too when her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

They arrived back at the palace just in time to get washed up for dinner. Surprisingly there were no orders given for her to be locked away again, and she joined the rest of the girls for dinner in the hall. Truth be told, these were one of the times that she would have rather stayed in her room. All of the girls were talking and giggling, though not with her since they really didn't seem to like her now. Mary was just staring at her with a condescending smirk on her face that was almost scary, but she ignored her and ate her dinner in silence. That was until the girl spoke up.

"I hope you don't think you are going to take my spot," Mary said in a nasty tone. Lisa looked up hesitantly with wide eyes, not sure the girl was talking to her. The girl rose from her seat and began to slowly make her way around the table to where Lisa sat.

"I saw you coming back with him today," she continued.

"Leave her alone Mary," Gieselle spoke up.

"You shut up and stay out of this," Mary snapped. Gieselle did as she was told, not willing to take on Mary in that state. She could tell the girl was angry, which probably had to do with what was the buzz with the other girls that evening. Mary and a few of the other girls had seen Annalisa and the prince coming back from their little outing. And it had not escaped any of them how she had successfully captured his undivided attention.

"I don't want to take anyone's place," Lisa tried to reassure her. "I don't even want to be here."

"Ha," the girl said, obviously not believing her. "I saw the way you were looking at him."

Lisa furrowed her brow at the accusation. She barely even made eye contact with him. Truth be told, he still scared her a little. She never knew when he was going to turn and get violent with her again.

"I don't know what you are talking ab…,"

"Of course you do," Mary said getting in her face. "You want him, but he is mine. Until he marries, then he will still be mine after his queen, so if you think you are going to take my spot you are going to be sadly disappointed."

She picked up the glass of wine that sat next to Lisa's plate and dumped it on her dress. She backed up from the table and stood up, shocked by what had just happened.

"Hmph," Mary said as she turned her nose in the air and strutted out of the dinning hall.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Also I believe we are going to see the first real match up of the dynamic which is House and Cuddy in the next chapter.