A/N: Wow, it seems that I've been away a while. A long while (over two months?) Yeah, sorry about that. Something called life came and bit me in my butt. I guess if you've read my profile then you know. If not then don't worry, it's all better now. Let's get on with it

Katlin Dragoon: So do I. Sorry I kept you waiting. I know how it feels when you desperately want more of a fanfic but there are no chapters left. Hope you haven't lost interest :'(

Mellie E: Ikr, so cute. And lol yeah, I figured it would be funny for you guys to read about him acting like a child reacting to a horror movie.

Overwhelmed was an understatement to describe Princess Shayla's state of mind now. There were so many things running through her head that she didn't know what to worry about more. First of all, there were going to be more suitors. That was just a nuisance. Sure, Jarrod was well beyond decent but he seemed to be hiding something which didn't make her feel any better. Then there was the fact that King Animus was smiling again, after the past few weeks. That was just scary. It was like he couldn't wait to get rid of her. And last but not least, there was HIM. She felt that she should be happy that Merrick loved her (so it seemed) but she wasn't. It just made the situation more heartbreaking. Now, she knew for certain that he loved her but Merrick had no idea that she returned those feelings. In fact, he had given up all hope. Everything just got worse for the pair of them.

"Princess?" someone interrupted her thoughts, for the third time that day.

"Yes?" she replied to Cole, sitting up and brushing the grass off her hair.

"As your protector, I must escort you to the... suitor gathering..." he told her gently, with a hint of sadness in his voice. It was clear that he didn't like what was happening any more than she did.

"Of course," she agreed, taking his hand when he offered it to her.

For a moment, she remembered how her wolf warrior used to take her hand, especially during the arrival of the Mystics. However, she cleared the memory out of her mind as soon as it had entered. Reminiscing about the past was painful like hell; not being able to talk to him and only being able to find him in her memories made it seem like he was dead. Her eyes glazed over just thinking about it.

"Princess?" Cole repeated for what seemed like the millionth time, snapping her out of her stupor. Shayla started smoothing out her dress before nodding at her protector, giving him permission to proceed. In complete and utter silence, the two made their way to the banquet hall in the castle.

"I wonder what is taking her so long," Max mumbled to his cousin and his teammate as they waited, in the banquet hall, for the lead lady of the event. The trio were uncomfortable - there were disgusting suitors left, right and centre. As the Princess had thought, the only decent gentleman there was Jarrod. The rest were either drunkards or ridiculously old, power-hungry men.

"She probably wanted to escape. I would too," Taylor spat furiously. She was having none of it. Why marry your only daughter off to some random old fool when she was clearly in love with another? She didn't understand it at all.

"Hey, Cole has gone to find her, they will be here soon," Alyssa informed them. Eric walked over to them to find his lady love seething in anger.

"What is wrong Taylor?" he asked. She didn't reply but only clenched her fists. The gold warrior wasn't one to openly display her emotions (besides anger), so Eric decided to take her somewhere else for a private talk.

A few minutes later, the beating of drums were heard and the doors were thrown open. An official called Trip (dramatically) announced the arrival of 'Her Highness Princess Shayla and her honourable protector, Sir Coleton Evans' to the guests and residents.

The pair dispersed as Cole went to join Alyssa and Max whilst the Princess went straight to her father who rose from his chair. King Animus took her hand and gestured for her to sit down. As father and daughter sat down together, the latter subconsciously scanned the room for her not-so-secret love. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight. However, one thing she could see was that there were a lot more suitors than her father had said there would be.

"I thank all of you respectable and noble men for attending my daughter's suitor gathering. I hope you all enjoy your time here and that one of you has the honour of being chosen as the royal son in law," the King stated, wishing the men well.

In an instant, the suitors began to line up like a bunch of immature boys fighting over a sword. Jarrod calmly joined the line at the back, seemingly uninterested. The King and Princess grimaced at the noise and commotion that the idiots were making. Animus was already regretting ever inviting them over. But then he remembered his reason for doing so.

On the other hand, Princess Shayla was extremely bored. She just wanted to get out of the hell-hole and elope with Merrick. After telling him how she felt of course. What would it be like? Romantic? Would he kiss her again? She really hoped so. And this time, she'd kiss him back. The Princess blushed at the mere thought of it.

"Now, before you introduce yourselves to my daughter, the Mystics will perform some tricks for you," the King's voice boomed, immediately silencing the other men in the room and snapping his daughter out of her daydream.

On cue, the Mystics began working their wonders. Nick created a fire dragon, scaring some of the suitors. Eric and Max started snickering at the cowards. How could any of them be trusted with the Princess? During a fight, she'd be the one doing all the fighting and protecting whilst they'd desperately cry for their mothers.

Chip zapped the suitors (minus Jarrod) with weak jolts of lightning, claiming it was 'an accident.' Vida openly laughed at her husband's antics, receiving glares from the fuming suitors. But she didn't care. The King visibly stiffened in his seat, hoping this wouldn't drive the suitors away.

Madison made a waterfall appear for a few seconds and despite it obviously being artificial, some of the suitors whispered amongst themselves, fearfully admitting that they couldn't swim. By now, even Jarrod couldn't hold his amusement in.

Vida attacked the suitors with a tornado, using the same excuse as Chip. "Oh my! I apologise, it was not my intention to hurt all of you... chivalrous gentlemen." Her man adorably encouraged her by jerking his thumbs up whilst her sister shot her warning looks.

Xander decided to do something for the ladies instead, even though all the guests were obviously men. He hoped this would calm them down. The flower embroidery on the ladies' gowns burst to life, eliciting gasps from the women, especially Alyssa and Kendall. Even Taylor was impressed.

Niella made the moon shine brighter and Udonna made it snow in the room for a while. Leanbow and Daggeron didn't participate, which intrigued the warriors and suitors alike. Nevertheless, Princess Shayla brushed it off, assuming that the men had come along to accompany the rest of their family.

Clare made butterflies appear. Suddenly, she shot forward, towards Shayla who was confused at the blonde woman's behaviour. "Oooh," she cooed, reaching into the brunette's silky hair. Everyone, including the Mystics, wondered what she was doing. When she retracted her hand, they were answered. Resting on her fingers was a purple butterfly. "It appears that this little butterfly has mistaken Princess Shayla for a beautiful viola flower," Clare declared, making said Princess smile at her. She gave her a cheerful and warm grin in return.

The Mystics bowed and the audience clapped, the loudest applause coming from the warriors, the royals and Jarrod. Most of the suitors were still pissed but they were forced to clap anyway, not wanting to seem ungrateful in Animus' eyes. Princess Shayla appreciated the Mystics being there, especially Clare, as they had made her feel a whole lot better. Without them, she wouldn't even be smiling.

As the suitors lined up again and introduced themselves, Princess Shayla only had eyes for one man. Merrick Baliton.

A/N: Kill me. That was a crappy chapter. My writing skills have gone a bit... poopy (is that a word? lolz) because I haven't written in a while. I hope it's not too bad and that people are still reading XD