Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait. Both my Beta and I had a lot to get done, mainly midterms and other tests in school, and then both of us were sick, and then my grandfather died and then...ect, ect, ect.....If you want to have more updates closer together, go to our schools and get our teachers to cancel all homework and midterms, and then come up with some magic drink that will keep people from ever getting sick, and then a seperate magic drink that makes people immortal....then we will have much more time to write/edit.

Special Thanks: Special Thanks to my wonderful, perfect, amazing beta SOPROL! This story would not be half as good as it is without her hard work! She has been my beta for this story for the past 21 chapters....wow....

Chapter Thirty-Five: Proposal

The following day, Aly was out in the stables with Jon and Gary.

"Listen you two; not that I am not looking forward to our ride, but remind me again why we just had to go today and not some other day?"

"Because Gary and I were both getting restless in the palace, and we figured that you might like to get out of the palace for a little bit as well." Jon said, "Plus, that way we have someone who can vouch before our parents that we behaved ourselves."

"I can only vouch for you if you do behave," Aly said, "You can't lie to the king and queen."

"Sure, you can," Jon said, "I did it all the time when I was little."

"And how did that work out for you when you got caught?" Aly questioned. Jon was silent.

"Why couldn't Alann....um, Alan come?" Aly asked, "Don't you think your squire would like to get out too, Jon?"

"He had an important errand to take care of." Jon said.

Aly, Jon, and Gary had been gone for about twenty minutes when Alanna knocked on the office door for Duke Gareth.

"Come in," Duke Gareth called. Alanna walked in.

"Alan, do you have it?" Duke Gareth asked.

"Yes, sir." Alanna said, and held out the ring Duke Gareth had given her mother all those years ago. Gareth took it and looked at the ring closely as he smiled. "Thank you Alan. You know where to meet me and when?"

"In the stables in about a half hour." Alanna said, nodding.

Gareth nodded, "I'll see you then."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay out just a little longer?" Jon asked as Aly led the men back to the palace.

"It was fun, but we were out for almost a full hour, and I have some things to attend to. Plus, shouldn't you two check in on your squires?" Aly asked as they rode into the stable, "I know my child, and sh-um…he is probably up to something."

"Thank you so much, mother."

Aly turned to look straight ahead, and saw Alanna there. "Oh! Hello Alan! What are you doing here?"

Alanna smiled, "I'm here with Duke Gareth."

"Gareth?" Aly asked.

Just then, Aly saw Gareth walk into the stable. He was most certainly not dressed for a ride. He looked like he was ready for a state dinner or party or some other big court event.

"Hello, Aly." Gareth said, smiling. He helped Aly down from the saddle.

"Thank you," Aly said, "What are you doing in the stable so dressed up?"

"I...I came here to ask you a question." Gareth asked.

Aly raised her eyebrow. "You didn't need to get fancy for me. I'm in a riding outfit, not the most attractive articles of clothing I own."

"I know, but I felt it would be a good idea...given the question I have for you." Gareth said. "I had written down what I wanted to say, because I didn't want to ruin, but I was so nervous that I left the paper in my office, so I'll just have to-"

"What are you talking about, Gareth?" Aly interrupted.

Gareth took a deep breath, "Aly, when King Jasson said we could not get married nineteen years ago, I was heartbroken. When you left to marry Alan, I was sure I would spend the rest of my life with a broken heart. Then, seven years ago, you came back here. I forced myself to be content with you as a friend, you were still married. When Alan died, and I went up to Trebond, I was hoping to tell you how I really felt then, but I got scared. Then you admitted you had just begun to love Alan when he died, and I was heartbroken for the second time in my life. I thought any chance of what had been was gone."

"Gareth, I-"

"Let me finish, Aly." Gareth said. He took Aly's left hand and got down on one knee. Aly's eyes grew wide, and Gareth reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

"Aly, almost twenty years ago, I bought this ring for you, with the intent of proposing to you. However, that night, you ended up betrothed to Alan, so I turned it into a promise ring, and part of the promise was we would always love each other, and we would be together again."

By this point, Aly's right hand covered her mouth, and her eyes were filled with tears.

"Well, this ring and I have waited a long time for this moment. This ring was meant to tell the whole world that I was the luckiest man in the world because one day you would be my wife...Alianne of Trebond, will you do me the honor and privilege of marrying me?"

Aly opened her mouth, but words would not form. So instead she eagerly nodded her head. After a moment, she found her voice. "Yes" she cried, "Yes! Yes, Gareth, I'll marry you! Yes!"

Gareth stood up. "You will?"

"Yes, I will." Aly said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "I would be honored to be the next Duchess of Naxen."

Gareth bent Aly backwards and kissed her passionately. Aly returned the kiss without even thinking about it. The past twenty years melted away, and Aly felt like she was 19 year old again, and Gareth was 21.

Finally, the two of them broke apart for air, and they heard Alanna, Jon, and Gareth cheering as well as the stable hands that were present as Gareth slipped the engagement ring on Aly's finger.

"Hey Alan, looks like we are going to be brothers!" Gary said.

Aly smiled at the ring on her finger. "How on earth did you get this?"

Gareth nodded to Jon, Gary, and Alanna. "I had some help."

Aly spun to look at Alanna, "So that's why you wanted to know about the ring."

Alanna nodded.

"And that was the motive behind this ride." Aly said, turning to Jon and Gary, "To get me out of my room so Alanna could get the ring."

Gary and Jonathan nodded too.

Aly turned back to Gareth, "Should we go tell Lianne and Roald?"

Gareth smiled and nodded, offering Aly his arm, "My lady?"

Aly laid her hand on his arm, "Lead the way, my lord."

"Lady Alianne of Trebond, Duke Gareth of Naxen, Prince Jonathan of Conté, Sir Gareth, the younger of Naxen, and Squire Alan of Trebond." the royal herald announced when Aly and Gareth arrived at Lianne and Roald's rooms. Roald, Lianne, and Duke Baird were all in the room. Duke Baird was, yet again, working healing magic on Lianne.

"Hello Aly and Gareth, Jonathan, Gary, Squire Alan." Lianne said, smiling, "What brings you all here?" Lianne nodded at Gareth and Aly, "You both look very happy."

"Well...Lianne, you remember when we were nineteen, and I was being courted by Gareth, we always talked about how much fun it would be to be sisters?" Aly asked.

"Yes," Lianne said.

"Well..." Aly held out her hand, wiggling her fingers so the engagement ring sparkled.

"Is that...."

Aly nodded.

"So you and Gareth are...."

Aly nodded harder, "We're engaged!"

Lianne shrieked with excitement, which surprised everyone in the room, with how weak she was "Aly, this is great! Congratulations!" then Lianne spun around to glare at Gareth. "You!" she snapped as she poked him in the chest "How dare you propose to her without me there! You know I wanted to see it happen twenty years ago, why wouldn't I want to see it now?"

Roald smiled, "I see she said yes, Gareth."

"You knew?" Lianne asked Roald.

"Of course," Roald said, "Things aren't that much different from when my parents ruled. Because you are queen and he is your brother, his marriage is a matter of state, so he needs to have my permission."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lianne demanded.

Roald shrugged, "Gareth asked me not to tell you."

"Why not?!?" Lianne asked Gareth.

"Because you couldn't keep a secret if you life depended on it," Gareth said. "I wanted to surprise Aly."

"That you did," Aly said, smiling up at Gareth. Aly looked back at Lianne, "You'll be my maid of honor, right?"

"Of course!" Lianne said, "Let me see the ring again!"

Aly held up her hand, and let Lianne look at the ring. They spent the next thirty minutes making wedding plans while Roald and Gareth talked about other various topics. The two of them talked about both an indoor wedding and an outdoor wedding, what kind of decorations to use, and what the wedding dress should look like. They had tried to get Gareth involved in a few times, but gave up when he smiled at Aly and said, "Whatever Aly wants. If she is happy, I'll be happy."

I am really surprised....very few of you figured out that Duke Gareth's plot was he was going to propose to Aly....or at least, if you had figured it out, you didn't tell me you thought that was what it was....

Review Reply

ES: LOL

DomLuver: I am glad you liked the last chapter, and look at the author's note above to see how you can make it where you won't have to wait a long time to get updates

Anjalit2624: Thanks!

SarcasticLoner: I'm glad you liked the chapter. And you got to see what Duke Gareth was plotting.

Sara: Thank you! And don't worry, I am not an Alanna/Jon fan....Alanna has no tact, and Jon has no patience for her temper. There will not be any more Alanna/Jon romance in the story than in TP's writing....and I won't even really go into that too much.

Mistyrious One: You saw what he was planning...

Soraya the All Speaker: Thanks for the review.

Trisana Sarrasri: LOL...it is fun when teenagers plot....I have done it too...

xXthenextbookwormXx: Thanks!

SeekDreamsAndFindHope: Yes, Gareth proposed to Aly again....and she said yes...looks like your decree is going through.

Dom-Loves-Kel: Thanks for the feedback...I do tend to go a little OOC, I'll try to work on it.

Tishica: The ring was so Gareth could propose to Aly

Silentflier: I am glad you like this, and as to how Aly reacts to Alanna/Jon well....you'll just have to wait.

TearsofMist: There, I updated

LittleMissGiggles'94': Yep, he proposed...and you were dead on about what he was using the ring for....I think you were one of the only few people who managed to figure out what I planned.

............And then thanks to my two anonymous reviewers....I love getting reviews from everyone, whether they let me know who they are or not.