Wow, it's hard to concentrate on writing when you're in love... Yeah, sorry, that really doesn't have anything to do with this chapter. I've just been a little out of it lately =P Never mind me...

I've skipped two years into the future and Sarah is ten now. Hopefully this keeps going where I want it to... As aforementioned, I've got a lot on my mind right now.

When Sarah was ten, she made a friend. Perhaps that is an unnecessary statement, for Sarah was forever making friends with all who crossed her path. The young milkmaid, the stern footman, the gruff old coachman, the elderly seamstress. But this friend was different. It was a little girl, close to her own age, and as full of dreams and laughter as Sarah herself. The friendship was forged immediately and lasted, long after the girls had parted and did not see each other again.

The girl was the doctor's daughter. She came with her father to the palace just three times, while he visited a royal patient. She never went into the palace, but was brought to the servant's entrance, presumably to spend time with a much older cousin who worked in the kitchen. And that was where she and Sarah met. The little visitor had been standing shyly against the wall, having exchanged greetings with the cousin and left to amuse herself while the cousin returned to her work. Sarah had been bent over double, buried from the waist up in an enormous kettle which she had been trying to scrub for the past quarter of an hour. She emerged at last, triumphant, in spite of the smudge on her nose and the sad disarray of her once-neat braid of hair. She had glanced eagerly around the kitchen, then, to see what new things may have transpired since her journey into the kettle, and her eyes met those of the quiet little visitor. With a friendly smile, she went at once to the girl, offering both her hand and her whole-hearted friendship.

"My name is Sarah," she began eagerly. "What's your name?"

"Would you call me Ella?" the newcomer smiled shyly. "I have a longer name, but I prefer that… Papa calls me Ella."

In just ten short minutes, they had exchanged names, ages, and their most cherished of dreams and deepest of secrets. But their childish chatter and unladylike giggles attracted the disapproving glare of the formidable cousin and they were ordered out into the courtyard.

"Someday," Ella told Sarah once, her eyes shining, "I want to be a princess. A real one… and live in a castle like this."

"And marry a handsome prince?" Sarah giggled, entranced by the thought of being a real princess.

"Yes!" Ella giggled back, for she knew that her dreams were really only foolish fancy. But what could it hurt to dream them?

"Have you seen Prince Edward?" Sarah whispered confidentially. "He's very handsome."

"What's he like?" Ella whispered back, leaning close.

"Very tall. And his eyes are sometimes blue and sometimes green. He's really friendly and funny, too."

"You mean you've talked to him?" Incredulous, Ella's eyes grew wide.

"Oh, yes," Sarah drew herself up importantly as she related the very few incidents that she actually had talked to the prince, whom she was very much in awe of. The result of this confidence was that Ella became very much in awe of her. And, even as they were speaking of him, Sarah stopped short with a gasp and grabbed Ella's arm.

"See there, by the stable? That's Prince Edward, right there. And his friend John. John is my friend too," she added, somewhat loftily, although she could barely claim more than acquaintanceship. She had barely seen either since she had joined them a couple years hence in the legendary realm of King Arthur. Both boys were nearly sixteen now, and rather too occupied to spend time with little kitchen maids.

Ella looked accordingly and suddenly grew very, very silent. Sarah continued on, but Ella did not seem to hear her as she watched from a distance while the boys mounted their horses and rode off.

"What's the matter with you, Ella?" Sarah frowned in impatience.

"I…" Ella hesitated. "I think I hear Papa calling me… yes, there he is. I'll have to leave now."

The friends parted reluctantly, cheered by the prospect of another visit the following week. But they met only twice more.

"Papa says we won't be visiting again," Ella had said sorrowfully. "I'm glad, of course, that Lady Susan is recovering, but I'm awfully sorry that I won't be seeing you again… at least not anytime soon."

"I'll miss you terribly!" Sarah cried, and meant it with her whole heart. Will was a good friend, of course, but having another girl to share secrets and dreams with, well… it was different.

And so the friends parted, not knowing it would be many a long year before they met again. And when they did meet, that it would be under much different circumstances than they could ever have foreseen.

oOo

Time passed quickly and Sarah passed her eleventh and then her twelfth birthday. Under her mother's skilled tutelage, she became an expert in the art of baking. The crowning joy of her life was when she made, with the help of her mother, of course, a birthday cake for Queen Elinor herself! Of course, the queen never suspected who had made her birthday cake, but Sarah was just as proud of it as if she had been heralded by trumpets.

Shortly after the queen's birthday came the news of the death of Lady Margaret de Montague, sister-in-law to the king. Although Sarah had never met the Lady Margaret, she joined the kingdom in its mourning with a will. She had, at least, seen the Lady once… it had been at a ball the previous year. She had been allowed to help prepare the food and, as she worked, stole little glimpses of the beautiful occasion. She had seen a tall, middle-aged woman in a lovely silk dress with a coronet of golden braids with a little girl, the perfect image of the older woman, at her side. She had been entranced by this lady for she seemed exactly like the queens of her dreams… regal yet smiling happily, and so sweet and friendly-looking. She had pointed her out to her mother, who had whispered in return.

"That's the Lady Margaret de Montague, wife of the Duke of Montague, the king's brother. That's her daughter, the Lady Caroline de Montague, with her."

The Lady Margaret de Montague and the Lady Caroline de Montague. Such beautiful names… they became names of her dreams. Often did little Sarah remember the two regal ladies and imagined herself one of them… They were better than all her other heroines… Elaine of Astolot, the Lady of Shalott, Lady Marian… they were real, and she had seen them! So when Lady Margaret died, Sarah was devastated.

Shortly afterwards, she was told that the little Lady Caroline would be coming to live in the palace, to be Lady-in-waiting to the elderly dowager queen. Lady Caroline came, in due time, and Sarah, in thrilled excitement, watched secretly as the girl rode through the palace gates accompanied by her entourage.

How grand it would be to ride through the front gates in such a fashion, with the trumpets announcing your arrival, and important-looking soldiers saluting in respect! Funny that, in spite of all her beautiful dreams, Sarah never envied or coveted the royalty all around her. She was content to watch from afar and live it all in her imagination. Why, she could be whomever and do whatever she wanted! Such was the power of a healthy and lively imagination.

John was there to help the Lady Caroline dismount and to take her horse… such a beautiful horse… to the stables. Perhaps Caroline didn't notice or understand the look in John's eyes when first he met her, but Sarah did, even at a distance, and she smiled to herself. The romance of it all! For long afterwards, one of her favorite stories that she dreamed up within herself was that of the secret, hopeless romance between the Lady Caroline and the servant John. Little did she realize how accurately she had guessed… for the very story she had dreamed up was being acted out in reality.

You guys are going to hate me for this... I mean, who wants an invasion of the Roman army when you're reading a fairytale? But I'm really, really, really hoping that someone will be interested enough to check out my new story... the one I mentioned last chapter... I think... The Lion Killer... =P