Disclaimer: I do not own anything written by the fantastic Gail Carson Levine. The only things that are mine are anything that you do not recognise – i.e – most characters and the plot.

Summary: Sarah, Ella's daughter, is kidnapped on the night of her debutante ball. At first she does not know what her captors want from her, but when she does her life is changed forever. What follows is an adventure featuring magic, mayhem, romance, elves, balls and a prince in disguise!

Author's Note: I am very sorry! I know I said that I would update at least a week after Christmas. I hate people who break promises so I am very sorry that I broke mine. Special apologies go to Nora. The holidays have been pretty hectic if that is any excuse! I just got back home yesterday! (Change of holiday plans - don't ask).

I feel even more ashamed since chrisspy told me to keep updating and then I don't update for ages. (Author looks on ashamedly while onlookers hurl rotten tomatoes at her). So, once again, sorry!

Ells: I hope this clears the previous chapter up for you. The Queen did not want Sarah to go home because of the fact that Rapat is trying to kill her. She is worried that something might happen to Sarah while she is on the road (then Linnarch is basically screwed). Basically, the palace is a safer place than out on the road. (I hope that all makes sense!)

Thanks everybody who has reviewed this story! Please keep the reviews rolling in!

Chapter 11:

On The Road Again

(A/N: Don't you just love that song?)

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A tear coursed down the Queen's cheek.

"You're not my mother?" Christian choked out.

"No. It's my entire fault. For nineteen years I've been living a lie. I love my husband and I would never have an affair with somebody else. What passed between John and I is all in the past.

"When I married the King, many women were jealous. Most couldn't do anything about it but one did. She was a witch named Morgana. She wanted me to fail as a wife and placed a curse upon me. I would not be able to have any children. I banished her from Linnarch when we were married and no one knew of my curse. Well, except my sister whom I told everything to.

"Despite what Morgana had said, I still tried to have children. I'd been trying to have a child for years. It was necessary for us to produce an heir. If we didn't, our country would be in great turmoil. I fell pregnant a number of times but the baby was always stillborn. When I became pregnant for about the fifth time, my sister and I concocted a plan. She was pregnant also and our babies were expected to arrive within days of each other. If I was to have another miscarriage, we would pretend that my child was hers. We chose a select few servants who we could trust to tell our plan to.

"My sister went into labour first and her child was fine. She told everybody that she had miscarried, even John. We smuggled the child into the palace and I had my baby a week later. I went into labour and again the child was stillborn. Meanwhile, the selected servants tended to my sister's baby.

"That child was you."

Christian blinked a couple of times.

"My life has been a total lie!" he choked.

"I'm so sorry. Your father has no idea - please do not tell him. It would kill him."

"I can't believe you! You lied to me. You lied to everybody. You can't tell me what to do. You are not even my mother!"

"You are the heir to the throne."

"I have no right to be."

"Maybe, but you are. Linnarchian law does not say a word about an adopted child not being able to take the throne - though it has never been done. In the eyes of the people of Linnarch the only people who have a right to rule are those of royal blood. If I had openly adopted you there would have been a huge rift between our kingdom. People would say that you have not right to the throne."

Christian did not seen to grasp the Queen's words. "I don't!"

The Queen spoke to Sarah. "You try talking to him. Please don't tell anybody about it. I know it is a great shock but you must understand, I had to do something."

"All I understand, is that an actual mother would let somebody else see their own." Sarah bit back. She was still hurt that the Queen would not let her go back to Kyrria to see Ella.

The Queen's posture slackened. "I think I had better leave you two alone."

When she had gone, Sarah comforted Christian.

"Don't cry. It is going to be all right. She does love you."

She knelt down beside the Prince, who was sitting on the floor.

"It's just so much of a shock. I feel so betrayed."

Sarah looked uncertain as to what she should do. He grabbed the sleeves of her dress and buried his face in her chest. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve and Sarah had never seen him do this before. He had never opened up to her. He always wore a mask around her.

She awkwardly put her arms around him.

He leaned further into her and she relaxed.

"There, there. Its okay, I know you feel betrayed that you have been lied to but you must pull yourself together. Your father must not find out about all of this." Sarah instructed.

"I know. I always have to hide my feelings from people. I'm a prince! I wonder what people would say if I actually told them what I really was thinking."

"Why do you always try to hide you feelings? You always seem so distant." Sarah questioned. She pulled back from Christian so she could see his face but he turned his head away from her.

"Well, well. What have we here?" boomed the voice of an intruder, Damon. "You two are getting awfully cosy with each other. The Princess and the Bodyguard. That would make a very nice story."

"What do you want?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

"I just have to tell you that the Queen has decided that it would be okay for you to return to Kyrria. However, Christian must go with you."

"But I thought that she was against it?"

"She told me that this was a way of saying that she was sorry. For what, I do not know. Perhaps you could tell me?" Damon hinted.

"It is none of your business!" Sarah retorted.

"Very well. She told me that she had been foolish and was sorry for acting the way that she had." Then Damon left the room but not after he had flashed Sarah an evil twisted grin that sent shivers down her spine.

"I guess we had better start packing." Christian suggested.

Sarah tried to broach the subject of the Queen a few times but Christian ignored her attempts to do so. He clearly did not want to talk about it.

Sarah and Christian did end up leaving after lunch. Sarah felt a bit guilty for having to miss her lessons with Tom, but he assured her that it did not matter. He had asked her to just keep on practicing with her wand if she had any free time. "We will unlock the magic in you soon. I know it."

The Queen had looked forlorn as they left but she did not try to stop them.

"Just be careful." She urgently pleaded with Sarah and Christian.

The Prince and Princess had decided to dress up as peasants. They would sneak out of Linnarch and into Kyrria that way. They travelled on a weary looking horse that Christian had said was stronger than it looked. "He is much more swifter and stronger than most horses."

They would travel on the one horse together because most peasants only had one - that is if they had a horse at all.

Sarah was wearing a dirty grey dress that would have looked shocking on most people but on Sarah still made her beautiful.

"You still look like a princess? Can't you make yourself less regal or something?" Christian pestered her as they were getting ready.

"How about this?" Sarah put a cloak around her a pulled up the hood so that it covered most of her head. She also hunched forward and tried to make her form as small as possible.

"That is much better."

They snuck out of Linnarch easily and no questions from strangers were asked. Christian decided to walk beside Sarah while she rode the horse.

"But cannot two people ride this horse?" Sarah questioned.

"Yes, but we want the horse to be as strong as possible when we get to more difficult terrain. We do not want to wear him out at the beginning."

"So much for this horse being, swifter and stronger than most other horses." Sarah commented dryly, though she knew that as they were dressed up as peasants, it would look odd if they travelled on a fine looking horse from the Palace's stables.

Sarah and Christian travelled mostly in silence which gave Sarah a lot of time to think.

So many mysterious things had happened. There were so many things that she did not know the answers too. She did not know who that blonde girl that had been with Damon was. She did not know why Christian was so distant most of the time. She did not know what that vision she had had when she first saw Damon meant. She did not even know if she would ever be able to do magic (despite what Tom said). Sarah knew hardly anything.

Sarah liked wearing her hood because it meant that she could study the Prince as much as she wanted and he would never know.

His eyes were fiercely green and looked as if they could see right through you. He had smooth tanned skin and his face was free of blemishes. Sarah bet that he had never had a pimple in his life (pimples were something that Sarah unfortunately had every now and again). He was reasonably tall – Sarah came up to his chin. His hair was a sandy colour but at the moment was hidden by a hat. He had smudged some ashes on his face and was limping as part of his disguise. He also wore a cloak that every now again would strain against his muscular body and Sarah tried to stop herself from staring at his muscles when it did.

Sarah knew he hated the Queen for lying to him, she knew that she would if that had happened to her. She wished that he would open up to her. It must have been the greatest shock for him.

They were approaching a forest and Sarah did not look particularly excited at the thought of going back there again. She was also bored out of her brains from having to stay on the horse whilst Christian walked beside it:

"That is it! I am tired of being so princessy. YOU can ride the horse while I walk." Sarah demanded.

Christian grinned mischievously and did as she said.

On their journey they talked about the upcoming ball.

"It will probably be boring for you. You have to actually act like a princess. Imagine!" Christian jeered.

"Shut up. I do not see you acting very prince-like most of the time."

"However, I do not panic when somebody wants to marry me." Christian threw at Sarah.

"You were there are the ball? Oh my, that was so embarrassing. I had no idea what to do. That man just asked me out of the blue. Hey, that rhymes."

"You should become a poet. I think rhyming really works for you." Christian joked. "I was at the ball. I hid out there and waited for the right moment to kidnap you."

"I do not get why you had to kidnap me the night of the ball."

"We actually had no idea that there was going to be a ball that night until it was too late. Next time we will let a person know the time, date and location that they will be kidnapped before we actually do it." Christian ridiculed.

Most of their conversation went that way. They travelled for a few days until they finally reached Kyrria. They never talked about the Queen but at night Sarah could sometimes hear somebody sniffing. She knew better than to say anything to Christian about it though.

They also encountered no trouble on their journey and Sarah thought that the Queen was foolish for thinking that something would happen to them. They did not face any danger. After all, they were in disguise.

Anyway, as they neared the Kingdom of Kyrria, a sudden feeling of joy rose inside Sarah. Home. She was finally home. Say had not realised how homesick she was until that moment. She smiled at the children playing games along the street. She breathed in deeply the familiar aromas of the markets near the Palace. But she stopped when they finally came to the Palace gates. It seemed like years since she had last been here.

Sarah and Christian went up to the gates but found that the guards would not let them in because of their disguise.

"Who do you think you are? The Princess?" One guard mockingly said.

Sarah frowned. Before Christian could stop her, she pulled back her hood so that the guards could see that yes she actually was the Princess of Kyrria.

"Yes, I am the Princess. And I order you to open these gates at once for my servant and I." She commanded.

The guards looked horror stricken as they recognized who she was - their apologies could still be heard as they opened the palace door and went inside.

Sarah led Christian through the palace, trying to avoid running into anybody she might know.

They shuffled along a series of dark corridors until they came to her mother's room. Sarah anxiously opened the door, frightened of what she might find...

A/N: Once again I apologise for taking so long to update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try to update soon. (I promise. Really. Don't believe me? Well I do not blame you).

A huge thank you to all my reviewers! (A special thank you to Sallie and Naughty Little Munchkin for all you helpful comments.)

Please review!

Luv,

marina eyes