IN A LAND, FAR AWAY FROM HERE
A/N: Here is the forth chapter of my fairytale. Enjoy!
Time and Place: Another time, another world.
Summary: Scott and Juliet are respectively prince and princess and are forced by their parents to marry each other. But they aren't in love with each other…
Rating: T/M. It depends of the chapters. It will probably have some violence and sexual content in future chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my mind! Also, this story is completely AU.
Characters: All of the cliffhangers and their family, Peter and Sophie, maybe some OC. Elaine is still evil but in another style…means no raping or seducing Scott. Walt is finally appearing in this chapter… Oh, and Susan, Scott's mother was killed several years ago.
---
Reviews answers
Thanks to everybody for the reviews! I am happy to see my story has so much success!
Mary-023: Thanks for your nice review! I'm glad you think I'm a good author. I know that I'm still making lots of grammatical or orthographical errors; but I try my best! I hope to see more of your stories soon. I particularly like your new one: During the Summer. I think that is a very good idea!
FrostySnake: Here, you have Martin's announcement! I love A&J too! But my favourite couple will always stay S&S! They're so cute!
Emer: I don't think David will be that mean towards Scott. Yes, he is a jerk, but Scott is his best friend…the only thing that could make him tell was letting it slip without realising. Let's hoping he will be careful.
Queen of Shadows: Yes that's this announcement! Martin could have done it in private before, don't you think? It would have been wiser. I guess he's not wise enough.
Jean: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you liked the scene between S I did my best! I think there is a problem with your reviews! They're always sent in double…at first I thought I was seeing the same mail when I read it on my address…I almost believed I was crazy!
2008ccampbell: No! Everyone will not know! David can't tell a thing! Martin would not accept his son being in love with trash! And David won't repeat or he's dead! Scott wouldn't forgive him, even if he's his best friend!
ShalBrenfan: I'm glad you think that's sweet and romantic; and amazing! And don't worry I'm having as much fun as I can have! Thank you for saying my work is excellent…I don't think I deserve it but if you think so…that's the best compliment you could write me!
Ghostwriter: Here's more! You see, you could wait finally! Are you going to write another fanfic about Higher Ground? Because I really liked your last one 'Silent Signals'…
Chapter Four: A Promise You Can't Keep
Scott was standing next to his father sitting at the throne, waiting for him to announce his wedding with Elaine. Little things did he know Martin hadn't any intention to announce his own engagement at all.
"People of Horizon (I couldn't find anything better!), I am here to announce you a big new of an engagement between two fabulous people: my beloved son Scott and the Princess Juliet from Agnes." At that, Scott mouth dropped open, while David began giggling uncontrollably. Scott kicked him hard on the foot, but discreetly all the same. I can't believe it! It has to be a nightmare! Please, wake up! Scott thought to himself…what was he going to do now? He absently heard Martin continuing talking but his mind was wandering far away. "And the reasons are multiple. The most important is that nowadays, the security of the castle against the King William III isn't powerful enough. That is the only solution. I am sorry for all the ladies who were hoping on marrying my son." Martin explained and apologized. Some people muttered and whispered to each other and Martin dismissed them after a while. He needed to have a last talk with his son, who seemed surpassed by the events.
Scott sat in Martin's office, waiting for him to come back. It has to be another solution…it has to. He thought, his mind coming back to Shelby. How was he even going to announce the news to her? He had promised not to ever hurt her and leave her. "Scott, I know this has to be shocking news. Believe me, if we had another solution, I will do it without thinking twice."
"Why don't you marry the Queen then?" Scott asked, trying his best not to show his dissatisfaction.
"Because my wedding with Elaine is already settled and it's better because you are young."
"I don't want this engagement Father."
"I know Scott. I am sorry."
"And what I'm supposed to do? Live with a woman I don't love for the rest of my life just because my father is unable to lead his people without losing lands!" Scott couldn't control his emotions anymore. He got up and faced his father, mad.
"Scott; that is enough. I will not tolerate this language! And I am sure that once you will see her, you will fall for her. She is really beautiful…you should feel lucky instead of complaining." Martin tried to calm him and it did work a bit. He sat back and sighed, leaning against the seat.
"I do not love her Father." Scott declared harshly. "I will never do."
"You do not know what love is at your age."
"Like hell, I don't!" He snapped getting up and living the office in a fury. He was sure not going to have a good night sleep.
"Auggie, Auggie, wait!" Juliet yelled as she saw he was about to leave the stables to go back home. He turned around and waited for her to catch him.
"Good evening Mistress." He said cheerfully, bending down in front of her. Juliet giggled and took his face between her hands to give him a kiss.
"I do not think 'Mistress' is really appropriate when you know you already kissed me. A lady does not kiss a gentleman."
"I am not a gentleman; I'm a servant…so I can call you all I want."
"No, because you are my servant. You are supposed to obey me." She pointed with a small smile.
"You know I'll do anything for you."
"Yes, I know." She paused smiling up at him and took his hand. "Come with me, I have something very important I should tell you." Auggie nodded and followed his lover. They walked towards the bench Juliet had spotted and sat down, next to each other.
"I am leaving tomorrow for Horizon."
"Horizon? You mean King Martin's castle?"
"Yes. My mother wants me to meet the son of the King. They apparently decided to marry me to him."
"Oh?" A frown crossed Auggie's face and Juliet noticed it quickly.
"Do not worry, It will never happen, I won't let it happen."
"But how?"
"First of all, you are going to accompany me. I do not want to be apart from you that long."
"How long?"
"Several weeks."
"What did you tell your mother the Queen?"
"I told her the truth: that you were the best rider I knew and that you will help me if I had a concern."
"Why does your mother want you to marry this Prince? I heard he was ugly, not really nice, and pretentious, haughty…everything a gentleman of his condition shouldn't…" Auggie said disgusted. Juliet made a face and laughed at him.
"Do not worry about his appearance. I am sure I will not fall in love with him. You are way better."
"How could you know? Maybe he is the love of your life?"
"I already found the love of my life Auggie."
"And who might it be?"
"You stupid!"
"So…when are we going on vacation together?"
"First of all, we will not be alone. Kat and two guards will be here to assure my security."
"Oh…" He said slightly disappointed. He would have liked to be alone with her. It was hard enough to come from different conditions.
"So, we are going tomorrow already. Be ready at seven sharp. I will send someone to take you."
"Okay then." Auggie looked at the sun and sighed. "I should go now…my parents are probably waiting for me to diner."
"Alright. Good evening." She gave him the sweetest kiss she could give and left discreetly.
"Shelby, I have something I need to tell you." Scott began, looking down guilty at the sheets of his bed, tugging them nervously.
"What is it? What did you do again?" She said with a slight chuckle. She had her back to him and was hanging her coat on the wall so she didn't see his face.
"There is this ball next week. Father wants to introduce Elaine to everybody who lives in the kingdom." She turned around and went to sit down beside him.
"Yes?" Shelby said, not quite seeing the harm in that.
"And he also wants to introduce a fiancé for me." He whispered, hoping it wouldn't hurt her too much. But he knew better…
"Oh…"
"I do not know what to expect from this girl. Father wants me to marry her apparently."
"Scott, if you want, we can stop seeing each other for a while?" She suggested softly, biting her lip.
"What? That is completely out of the question!"
"Scott, listen to me. You father will not leave you alone before you accept marrying the woman. It will be impossible for us to be together, and you will spend all your time with your fiancé. You know we can't continue like that." She explained softly, nervously playing with a strand of her hair.
"I do not even want to envisage the possibility of losing you. I would not be able to live my life without you by my side." Shelby turned around slowly, being careful of not looking him in the eye. She knew she would not be able to resist if she met his gaze.
"Scott, please…do not make this harder than it already is for me. Please." She whispered pleadingly, taking both his hands. "Today was our last time together. I am sorry."
"Shelby, you can not do that! I love you!" He protested, pulling his hands away from her sweet grip.
"I know Scott…I do too…but we both knew we would not be always together from then on our relationship began." She bit her lip nervously again, and sighed closing her eyes as she felt her eyes watering.
"No. I will talk to Father. If he loves me, he will not let it happen."
"Scott…please don't do that! He will just send my family far away from here!"
"No, he will not. I will not let him do this, I promise."
"Do not make promises you can not keep Scott." She said simply, fixing her coil of hair and leaving the bedroom discreetly, completely forgetting her coat.
"Our Highness, the Queen Sharon and her daughter the Princess Juliet!" Martin announced as Sharon and Juliet walked graciously inside the room, feeling all the strangers' eyes on them. Of course they both were used to those introductions and conformities and civilities. His son wasn't there yet, whereas he had sent him a message of appointment in the morning. He hoped he will arrive soon…because if he didn't he would have a lot of problems. He looked behind him when he heard footsteps coming closer: that was him, finally. Always fashionably late, Martin thought smiling inside.
"I am so sorry to be late, sir." Scott apologized with a small smile. He noticed the Queen and her daughter and bent down, first taking Sharon's hand and kissing its knuckles. "It is a pleasure to meet you again, your Highness."
"The pleasure is all mine my dear." She said with a small laugh. Martin stepped between them to introduce Juliet to his son.
"Scott, this is Princess Juliet. I believe you never saw her?" Scott only nodded, showing any feelings. She will be your companion for the ball of tonight." The Princess looked at Scott with sadness in her eyes and knelt down in front of him.
"It is an honor, Prince." Scott took her hand in his and kissed the top slightly.
"I am truthfully happy to finally see you in person my dear." Scott said in a gentleman manner.
Martin seemed pleased by his son's behavior and decided to leave them both alone. "If you will excuse us, the Queen and I have to retire in my own areas, we will see you later. Scott, why don't you make the Princess the tour of the castle, I am pretty sure she would like to see a little more of our proprieties.
"Yes, sir." Scott obeyed, offering his arm to Juliet, who took it gratefully. He led her outside, not even saying a world. Juliet quickly understood he did not want this commitment, just as much as she did not.
"I know you are not pleased with all of this. To tell you the truth, I am not either. I would prefer to live my life like I desire to." She explained, looking over at him. She noticed he was no longer listening to her and followed his eyes. He was looking at a blonde girl who seemed to be a maid. She sighed, they were pretty alike apparently. Scott turned his attention back to her as the girl disappeared into a small depraved house.
"I am sorry. What were you saying?" Juliet could not help but chuckling.
"I think we should try everything to stop our parents from marrying us together."
"Oh, and what could we do about it?" Scott asked curious to know her opinion.
"I do not know, but we will find something, do not worry." She gave him a smile and continued. "So, tell me more about your relationship with the maid, I will not tell anyone." Scott blushed a bit and smiled at her dreamily.
"She is the most wonderful girl I had ever known. She is nice and caring, and is willing to do anything to help a friend. We have been frequenting each other for about a year now, but I know her since we are eight. Sadly, she stopped our relationship when she learned about you coming to be married to me. You see, she does not want me to deal with her when I have another person to deal with."
"The thing is that she is not a problem to deal with for you, is she?"
"Yes. Why do you so understand?" He asked her with a small smile.
"Well, I have the similar story with my groom. We love each other but his family is very poor and Mother would never allow me to marry him. She does not even know he exists."
"I see…I am glad we have the same opinion. But please, do not say any of this to anyone. We are still in the secret."
"Do not worry. I promise I will not tell. I am not that stupid"
"Thank you." He said with a chuckle. They smiled at each other and began walking again, as Scott finished giving her 'the turn'.
Shelby noticed Scott walking with this princess and looking into her direction. That girl, she was stunningly beautiful. She could never compete with her for Scott's love; she had no chance. She ignored his stare and entered the house without sending another glance behind her. She sat at the table not even noticing her little sister sitting in front of her. She brought her hands to her face and closed her eyes, doing everything to blot out the images of Scott and this princess.
"Are you okay Shelby?" Alice asked seeing at once something wasn't right with her oldest daughter.
"I am fine. I was lost in my thoughts, for a moment, that's all." She assured, turning her eyes up to her little sister with a thoughtful smile as she finally saw her sitting at the table, too.
"You look disturbed, Shelby. What is bothering you?"
"I was just thinking about something not really important. Don't worry about me; I'm as fine as I can be."
"You wanna see what I did at school today?" Jess asked smiling up at her sister, trying to cheer her up a bit. Shelby smiled weakly back at her but shook her head 'no'.
"Not now…I still have a lot of things to do at the castle. Don't wait for me at dinner, I'll probably be late." She said to her mother and sister. She took her coat with her and exited to house just as quickly as she had come in a few minutes before.
Some time later, someone knocked at the door as Alice was about to dress the table. She put the dishes on the counter and went to open the door. Walt Blaine, an old friend of her husband was waiting in front of the house, humming quietly. "Good evening Alice! What a nice day it was, wasn't it?"
"Walt! That's a surprise! What are you doing here?"
"Well, I kinda wanted to have some news of you and your little daughters."
"Come on in, I'll add a dish for dinner, if you want?"
"That'll be my pleasure." Walt said following her inside. He took of his hat and coat and put them on the nearest chair. "Is that the little Jess?" Jess smiled shyly and went to see if everything was doing fine in the kitchen. "She's grown, since the last time I saw her. Where is your oldest?"
"Working. So what are you doing here, inside the castle?"
"Some clients own me debts and I'm kinda doing the 'big turn'. Talking about that, did John talk to you about his owns before he died?"
"No, John had debts?" She asked immensely surprised. How come her husband had never talked to her about those?
"Yeah; and since he's dead, they're now yours…"
"How much?"
"Ten thousands. Now, I know you don't have the money."
"Yeah, with Jess going to school and the house to pay…"
"I understand. Look, I have a deal for you."
"What exactly have you in mind?"
"Give me one of your daughters to marry. I'm kinda lonely and I need distraction; and children too."
"Excuse me? Did I hear you well?" She asked indignantly. There was no way she was going to leave her daughter to this man.
"Perfectly. I give you three days. If you don't find the money, I'll take your oldest. Is that clear?" Walt closed the little gap there was between them, looking at her with a fierce look that scared Alice. She nodded fearfully as he pulled out a knife and brought it in front of her. "And don't think I'm joking…I don't like wasting my time." With that last sentence, he got up smiling sickly and pulled back his clothes. "Have a nice evening, Alice." He closed the door winking at her and left humming again.
"Mom?" Jess asked coming back from the kitchen. "Where is Mr. Blaine?"
"He left."
"You okay mom?"
"Yes fine. Is the dinner ready?"
"Almost. Come see it by yourself, I'm not sure through."
"Okay, I'm coming."
TBC…
Next chapter will be up ASAP but don't be too ready…I have two others stories to update…and four others to write…
Linkie.