A/N: I hope you liked the prologue. Well here is the first chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

The next day, in the castle of Swan Lake, everyone was setting up for Odette's birthday party. Everyone was so excited for it. Everyone in the kingdom pitched in to have everything set up. The games were being placed, the feast was being prepared, and Odette's gifts were being gathered up in the main hall. The celebrations were going to take place in the same spot as their annual festival days. But everyone was more looking forward to Odette's birthday than any other holiday of the year. Everyone in the kingdom loved Odette very much and wanted to show her that.

Odette watched everyone preparing for the celebrations from her room and smiled at them. She appreciated it very much, but she didn't feel that her birthday was that big of a deal. She heard a knocked on the door and Derek came in.

"Hello birthday girl," he said as he walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "Better get ready for you party. Everything is almost ready, and we will also be holding a Ball for you tonight." Odette smiled at her husband and gave him an affectionate kiss.

"You really don't have to do all this," she said kindly to him. Derek shook his head.

"I know," he replied, "But I want to. You are more than worth it." This earned him another kiss from his angel. A moment later, Derek took Odette by the hand and led her out the door. Odette felt that she was lucky that she married such a wonderful man like Derek. Derek felt the same way. He wanted to show his wife how much he loved her in any way possible. Both thought it to be impossible, but they felt like they were falling even more in love with one another with every passing day.

Downstairs in the main hall, they were greeted by Rogers, who appeared with a letter in his hand. "What is it Rogers?" asked Derek.

"Well Derek," Rogers said, "the king of Lincolnshire wishes Princess Odette a happy birthday and gives a small message." He opened the letter and began to read it aloud. "Ahem… Dear Princess Odette, I want to wish you a very happy birthday. Treat this day as if it were your last. For you never know what may happen. Old age for example. Oh how I wish to be young again, to be wild and free. Well anyway, I wish you a wonderful birthday. And I hope you party will be fantastic because I will be arriving at your castle soon to enjoy the fun. See you and Derek in a little while. Sincerely, Jacob, King of Lincolnshire."

Derek and Odette were quiet surprised by the news. The King of Lincolnshire rarely paid anyone a visit from his kingdom for a long time. But this was a special occasion. For the King of Lincolnshire was a very old and good friend to Queen Uberta and King William. He uses to visit William a lot when Odette was a child. She uses to hear about all the adventures her father use to have when he was about her age. About how her father, Jacob, and Uberta would get in and out of so much trouble together, along with their best friend prince Dmitri, Uberta's betrothed and Derek's father. Dmitri was the third youngest out of the four, Uberta being the youngest. At the time, William was fifteen, Jacob was fourteen, and Dmitri and Uberta being only thirteen; Uberta being younger by five months. The four of them went on many great adventures and became the best of friends.

But now he would rarely visit though, and she never asked why. She was more worried her engagement to Derek than anything else, back when she hated him. But a year after their marriage, the king of Lincolnshire decided to pay them a visit after such a long time. They were very excited to see him, although he did show up a day early when they were on a picnic, but he was willing to wait. When Derek and Odette's picnic was over, they met up with him in the castle library. Derek thought that he was there for business purposes, but really, he wanted to see how much they had grown. When he saw them, King Jacob got a joyous, yet pained look on his face, for Derek looked almost like the spitting image of his father, except Dmitri liked to wear a goatee on his face. Odette looked exactly like her mother, right down to her violet eyes and golden blonde hair.

Both Derek and Odette noticed the pained expression on his face and asked him what's wrong. After a few moments of silence, King Jacob told them why he never visited before. Because he felt that he was the reason Derek's father died so many years ago and couldn't face Uberta, King William, or Derek. And now that Derek was married to Odette, he felt that he let her down too. Derek and Odette asked why he felt like that and he told them of the invasion of William's kingdom. That was a story well known through many kingdoms. And it was always a story that sent chills down both Derek and Odette's spines.

A powerful and evil sorcerer led a large and vast army of barbarians to take over William's kingdom. This sorcerer was so evil and so cruel, that it was said that even the gods feared him. The invasion lasted eight months, and with the help of Jacob and Dmitri, the three kings managed to defeat this dark lord, but not without a price. During the last great battle during the summer, the three kings lead their armies in a last stand against the dark lord. They were outnumbered three to one but somehow won the day. The three kings faced the dark lord head to head during the battle and fought fiercely against him. The dark lord managed to escape, but not without taking one last strike, killing Dmitri. With that, the dark lord retreated to his ships along the beaches and sailed off. Last they heard was that he was lost at sea during a terrible storm. Everyone who was there during that time rejoiced as they felt that the dark lord would never return. But King Jacob never believed it. He always believed that he was still alive, and plotting his revenge.

Not long after the battle, a funeral was held for the noble king. William and Jacob wanted to honor their old friend the best way possible. William had even brought his newborn daughter, who had been born the very next day after the battle, there as well. Derek, being only three at the time, walked up to his father's body and placed a drawing of him and his father that he had drawn for him when he would return. Jacob, seeing the picture on Dmitri's body, felt his heart sink. He felt as though he had failed in protecting his friend in battle, and bringing a father back for his son. He felt that he was responsible for his death and couldn't face both William and Uberta after the battle or Derek after the funeral, nor visit them very often. But now was different and Jacob wanted to make it up to both Derek and Odette for his behavior, though he still rarely visited because he was extremely busy. But he wanted to be with both of them on this very special occasion.

"It's been quite a while since he came for a visit," Derek said as he looked over the letter.

"Well, he has been very busy," said Odette. "But it is nice to see him want to spend time with us."

"Should we prepare for his arrival?" Rogers said. "Give him the red carpet, trumpets to announce his arrival, and something big for the banquet?" Derek and Roger began to plan for Jacob's arrival when Odette took the note and noticed the little writing at the bottom that both Rogers and Derek have seemed to miss.

"I don't think that will be necessary," she said with a smile. Both Derek and Rogers looked at her with a small confused look. "You both seemed to miss the little message at the bottom here." She pointed at the bottom of the letter. Derek and Rogers looked at where she was pointing and finally noticed the small message.

P.S. Odette please make sure that Derek and Rogers don't make my arrival a big deal like last time. This is not my day, it is yours. So make sure they don't overdo things… Except for the Banquet, which I wouldn't mind.

Derek and Rogers looked at each other, and then to Odette, who was giggling. "Better get that banquet prepared, boys," she said with a smirk. "We have my birthday to celebrate and a hungry king to feed."

A/N: I hope this is getting interesting for you guys, it took me a while to come up with a name for the king of Lincolnshire and his background. Please review and tell me what you think :)