Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Well, maybe except some characters and parts of the plot. But most of it isn't mine.

I'm back with another chapter. I know that I said that this one would be longer - which it is - but I thought that I would start the Annual King's Ball as a separate chapter and so end this one just before it starts. I hope you like it – it features the lead up to the ball as well as a few new characters. Please R&R!

Chapter 14:

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Vivien William

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Sarah blinked and waited as her surroundings came back into focus.

She could have sworn that somebody had knocked her unconscious, but she was still sitting upright on her horse with Christian looking strangely at her. Sarah concluded that she must have had a vision.

"What is the matter with you?" he hissed.

Sarah was tempted to tell him that she had just had a vision but she was too angry with him. She had no idea what the vision meant anyway, or if it would actually happen.

Sarah just made up an excuse, "I am just feeling tired."

"So am I but you don't see me complaining." Christian griped again.

Sarah had no idea what Christian's problem was. He was being such a creep to her lately and their relationship, or what was left of it, was deteriorating by the second. Sarah knew that only a few days ago he had found out that his parents were not his parents and that he had been lied to, but that did not give him the right to treat her that way. And then there was the kiss…Sarah did not know whether she was angrier with him for treating her that way or because she had actually responded to his kiss. He always hid his emotions from her and she would certainly never show her own again.

Most of their journey was uneventful and silent. Sarah thought about her mother. She knew that Ella would be alright, and that her family would increase security in Kyrria and so should be safe. Sarah hoped that it really was not Rapat who had attacked her but she knew that it was more than likely that he was the culprit. That then meant that he suspected something. Sarah was seriously worried.

The silence seemed to strain between Sarah and Christian until she could not take it anymore, she had to say something.

"So, the Annual King's Ball. Are you looking forward to it?" Sarah piped up.

Christian did not seem to want to answer her question but eventually ended up replying, "Why should I be looking forward to it - you will be there?"

Sarah's chest heaved. She would not say anything. She would not let him know that he had hurt her.

"I think it will be fun." Sarah continued. "We have to go with a partner. Who are you taking?"

"Don't know."

Sarah gave up. What had happened to the Christian she used to know? It had only been a few weeks ago that they were laughing together. Sarah remembered her astonishment when he had shown her the library.

There were so many unexplained things. Who was that blonde girl who had given her the wrong directions to the palace when she was lost? (See chapter 7) And then later she saw her with what she thought was Christian but turned out to be Damon.

Why was Christian the way he was? What had happened in his past to make him like he is? Sarah knew that there was a reason behind it and she desperately wanted to find out so that she could begin to understand him.

The rest of their journey back was quite uneventful. Sarah attempted to make conversation several times but he always cut her off.

Sarah was relieved when they did arrive back at the palace and for once was glad that Lydia was there to help her get undressed and tidy herself up. Christian was there of course, still being her bodyguard but he soon fell asleep. Sarah secretly thought that he looked adorable when he was asleep but she would never tell anybody that.

Lydia was combing Sarah's hair when there was a knock on the door. A messenger stepped inside the room and announced that the King and Queen were glad that they had arrived back at Linnarch safe. The messenger also said that tonight they would be having dinner with the Williams.

When the messenger had gone, Sarah asked Lydia, "Who are the Williams?"

Lydia tucked a strand of Sarah's hair behind her ear before saying, "They are an important and wealthy family in Linnarch and are great friends of the King and Queen. Sir William is nice enough – some say that he is a bit too soft. That wife of his though, is another story. She has airs, that woman. She acts like she's the queen and has ambitions for her daughter, let me tell you."

"Her daughter?"

"Yes, she has a daughter. She's about your age but she is nothing like you at all. She's called Vivien and she is just like her mother. Just between you and me, both mother and daughter are hoping that Vivien will marry Prince Christian." There was a sly gleam in Lydia's eyes.

"Does the Prince want to marry her?" Sarah asked, starting to feel a strange sense of foreboding.

"I don't think anybody knows what is going on in the Prince's mind."

For the rest of the day, Sarah spent her time mostly sleeping and eating – something that Sarah felt that she could get used to.

Then in the late afternoon, Lydia came again and helped her get dressed. A red dress had been laid out for Sarah to wear. Lydia decided to pile Sarah's hair high on her head and Sarah looked, and felt for the first time in days, like a Princess.

She made her way down to the dining room with Christian.

She could see Sir William who looked a like a merry fellow with a bright red face and large stomach. His wife looked stern by contrast with her blonde hair tied back into a bun. Sarah could tell that she must have been a beautiful woman when she was younger.

Sarah smiled pleasantly and greeted all but her smile faltered when she saw the daughter, Vivien.

Vivien had blonde hair like her mother as well as blue eyes. She was extremely beautiful but what was disconcerting was the fact that it was the same girl who had given her the wrong directions to the palace and who she had later seen talking to Damon.

"Uh, hello. I'm Sarah." Sarah tried to smile weakly.

Vivien sniffed the air snobbishly. "Really?" and turned away.

Sarah was furious. Who was this Vivien to think that she was better than her?

She could see Christian approach Vivien and they began to talk. Sarah narrowed her eyes when she saw Vivien raise her hand and clasp his.

Sarah walked over and interrupted their conversation.

"I'm sorry, but I believe that I did not get a chance to properly introduce myself. I'm Princess Sarah of Kyrria." Only a fool would have missed the emphasis that Sarah placed on the word 'princess'.

Vivien looked surprised and embarrassed that she had snubbed one of her 'betters'. She hastily apologised and introduced herself, but Sarah was not buying it.

Vivien then turned and asked Christian, "So what exactly is a foreigner doing in Linnarch?"

Christian stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse – nobody except the King, Queen, Tom, a few trusted servants, as well as Scarlet, Damon and their family were supposed to know the real reason Sarah was in Linnarch.

A voice then broke into the conversation.

"That will be revealed at the Annual King's Ball." It was indeed the King himself who had spoken.

Sarah looked confused, as did Christian. Vivien looked suspicious. "Oh?" was all she said and she raised an eyebrow.

They soon all sat down at the table. Sarah was sitting next to Vivien, who was sitting next to Christian. Sarah was sitting opposite Sir William, who was sitting next to Lady William. The King and Queen sat opposite each other at the two ends of the table.

Most of the conversation that night centred on the ball, which was supposed to occur in less than a week.

The Queen told Sarah, "You will have a splendid time."

"I'm not too sure I will." Christian interrupted. "Every single female there will be trying to throw themselves at me."

Everybody laughed except Vivien.

"That happens at the Ball each year – ever since he turned sixteen." The King told them.

Vivien asked Christian, "So, who are you taking to the Ball?"

Before Christian could reply, the King said, "Sarah, of course. As our guest it would be appropriate for him to take her, for who else is she to go with?" he joked, but not many people at the table were laughing along with him.

Christian looked murderous at having to be forced to go to the ball with Sarah, who blinked away a tear when she saw the expression on his face. Lady William looked dangerous, as did her daughter, who looked like any minute now she might attack Sarah. For the rest of the evening, the tension in the atmosphere was high.

When it was time for the Williams to go, Sarah was exhausted. Vivien and Lady William had ignored her all night. Not even the kindness of Sir William cheered her up.

Sarah wondered what Vivien's problem was. Why had she given her the wrong directions on that day that she was lost? Sarah assumed that it was just because she was a nasty person.

When they did leave, Christian clenched his fists.

"Since when was I going to the Ball with Sarah?" he demanded.

"Since now. And what is wrong with taking Sarah? Who else would you go with – that scheming Vivien?" The Queen defended the King's decision.

Sarah would have been amused in different circumstances to hear the Queen talk so about Vivien.

"Christian," Sarah started to say, "I do not want to be forced to go with anybody anymore than you do but it will not be so bad."

Christian ignored her. The King then spoke up, "You two must go together, for the Ball is when I will be announcing-" The King then stopped, realizing what he was about to say.

Everybody turned to look at him.

"For I will be announcing…the reason why Sarah is here." The King finished.

"And that is…?" Christian asked.

"You will find out then." The King answered.

"Come, lets all go to bed. Sarah has a big day tomorrow as she must start getting fitted for the ball." The Queen informed them.

"I'm not tired, mother." Christian retorted. It was evident to Sarah and the Queen that the last word was meant sarcastically.

"Don't speak to your mother that way." The King scolded.

"Mother? She's not my-" Christian began but Sarah blurted out,

"Ahh!" and started flapping her arms wildly about.

They all turned to look at her, as if she was insane.

"I thought I saw a bee." She said innocently. She had done the first thing that had come to her mind to stop Christian from telling the King that the Queen was not his mother.

Christian glared at Sarah and all four people in the room went up to their bedrooms. Christian and Sarah went to Christian's room. Sarah quickly changed and got into bed.

There was a stony silence between the two and they did not even mutter goodnight to each other.

The next morning Sarah was woken up by Lydia. "Come on! We have to go in and get you fitted for a dress for the ball."

Christian was also woken up and he stared moodily about him. "What exactly am I doing awake at this godforsaken hour?"

"You have to accompany Sarah to get her fitted for a ball dress." Lydia told him.

"Can't she go by herself?" he asked but he already knew the answer.

"You are her bodyguard." Lydia replied and that was the end of the matter.

An hour later, three people left the room – two of them grumpy. Lydia led the other two to the room in which the dressmakers were.

"We have asked the Royal Dressmakers to make your dress for you." She informed them.

They eventually entered a fairly bare room in comparison to the others in the palace. Sarah was introduced to two very formidable looking old women. They immediately set off to work and were there for a while. Christian sat there in silence for most part, though every so often he would make some aggravating comment to Sarah or say that he was bored.

When they were finally done and Lydia had left them, Christian then led Sarah to the Library where Tom was.

"You are to begin your lessons again." He said and then he quickly left her.

Tom Lastrange and Sarah spent most of the time chattering away. Tom towards the end of her lesson nervously asked her, "So…whom are you going to the ball with?"

Sarah sighed. "I have to go with Christian." She then told him about what had happened the previous night.

"Christian's a fool." Tom said. "Any man would love to go with you."

There was suddenly an awkward silence and Sarah could feel her heart pounding. Did he just say what she thought he said?

Just at that moment though, Christian entered the Library to come and take Sarah away from her lesson.

"Goodbye." She said called back to Tom as she got up to leave.

And Tom said goodbye wistfully back to her.

It was soon the night of the ball and Sarah looked at herself in the mirror for the zillionth time. Christian was waiting outside the door, as she would not let him see her till she was ready. Her dark hair was worn out loose and had been styled so that it cascaded in waves down her back. She had set a white gold tiara in her hair and had put on a matching white gold necklace which had a diamond pendant attached to it. She also wore some diamond earrings as well as a diamond bracelet.

Her dress was white with a pattern of diamonds sewn onto it. It fitted her down to her waist, and then billowed out. It was a sleeveless dress and so her neck and shoulders were shown off beautifully.

Lydia had done Sarah's make-up – though she did not really need any. Sarah had just the right amount on so that her blue eyes sparkled, her cheeks were a rosy red and her lips looked like those of an angel. Sarah had never looked more beautiful in her life.

She opened the door to let Christian inside. He looked handsome as usual with his sun-streaked hair spiked. He was wearing a plain black suit that for some reason, made him look very distinguished and suited him perfectly.

Sarah did not notice him surveying her, as she was too busy looking at him. If she did, he would have seen how stunned he was. Christian pulled himself together.

"So the princess has finally emerged. Could you have taken any longer?"

"If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all." She lectured.

Christian snorted as they made their way down to the ballroom.

All that previous week, Sarah had fretted over the Ball. What was the King going to say about her being in Linnarch to everybody? How was she supposed to act? During her first ball she had been kidnapped – who knows what could happen at this one?

They waited in a separate room outside the Ballroom, waiting to be announced. Sarah was surprised to find that they did things differently in Linnarch than they did at Kyrria – they never bothered with announcing the Royal family and their partners back at home.

The King and Queen were announced first. They walked out amidst rapid applause followed by the announcer's voice booming, "King Malcolm and Queen Amanda of Linnarch."

Then it was Christian and Sarah's turn. They stepped out and Sarah saw that they were at the top of a set of stairs. She could see everybody studying both of them. The women were trying to see whether Sarah was prettier than them but the men were just content with admiring her. Christian seemed unfazed by all of this.

"Prince Christian of Linnarch and his fiancé, Princess Sarah of Kyrria." The announcer spoke calmly.

Everybody began to whisper.

"Fiancé? What the hell?" she muttered to Christian, who told her that her language was very unladylike.

"Screw unladylike. What is the idea of us being engaged?" Sarah wanted to know.

"I am as upset by all this as you are." Christian raised his voice in anger and then checked himself so that nobody else could hear them.

Just then the King came up to them. "Surprised you, didn't I?" he winked. "I can see you had no idea."

"No idea about what?" Christian asked.

"The excuse that I was going to use for Sarah coming to Linnarch."

A/N: Sorry to leave it there but more will be explained in the next chapter. Thanks to everyone for reviewing my last chapter! The next chapter will obviously be about the ball and will feature a very jealous Vivien, Philip (the boy who has a crush on Sarah), and a little bit of romance.

Oh, by the way, if you have the time can you guys take a look at the first chapter of another Ella Enchanted fic I have just written – Once Upon An Arranged Marriage – and give me any advice and constructive criticism? (Don't worry, Sarah Enchanted is still going to be my first priority).

naughty little munchkin: I am posting my chapters as I go, which is bad because it then takes me forever to update! Christian is a bit weird – but he is supposed to be like that and you will find out the reason for it – promise! Morgana was that witch who was jealous of the Queen of Linnarch and so placed a spell on her that meant she could not have children. She will most likely appear again later in my fic. Thanks so much for reviewing. I really appreciate it. By the way, I just started reading 'A Cinderella Tale: Lady Shadowdancer and the Raven' and I have got to say that from what I have read so far it is fab! So get writing : )

Mizz Monkey: I had writer's block so that is why I did not write in a while. Thanks for reviewing and I am glad that you still like my fic!

Who Really Cares?: Yeah, I can e-mail you. What is your e-mail address? I will make this fic at least 25 chapters long if not longer! Thanks for your lovely review!

And also thanks go to:

carebear-janiney, Lisbleu, babyjayy, Swishy Willow Wand, Shima and Tempis, awaiting impatient person, Sugaricing, Princess of Rivendell, BoredxPerson, supergirljen, sumwun, Shards of Dawn, AnimeGirl, Cailin Sheary, Paisley, bBy jUjUbee, colorguard06, PrettyGal1212, baby blue gal and emtec.