A/N: New chapter, hooray

Another one that puts more focus on someone other than Mike, but she's had very little 'screen time' in comparison so its fine.

Fun fact about the fic for ya: I keep deleted scenes in a seperate doc from the story and that document is now sitting pretty at over 10000 words that didn't make it into the fic.

Thank you once again to Kitkatkatester for reviewing the last chapter. :)

Enjoy!

The freedom to leave being taken away made Mike only want to go outside more.

The matter of his slightly prolonged stay in the attic the morning after was resolved quickly with a few choice words from Scott that could have been avoided, but it was too late for that now.

He decided that he would do as many of his usual tasks outside as he could those couple days after. Since he wasn't technically leaving the property, no one could stop him from doing so.

He was hanging up laundry in the backyard when he heard Noah's voice reverberate faintly inside the house: "I'm going to town for a meeting, I'll be back in a few hours," followed by silence.

It had been eerie, this quiet that engulfed the house despite the two brothers who were still inside. Mike had only heard faint bits of yelling that night the two had argued.

He couldn't focus on that, though. He had more pressing matters to worry over. Their status with each other wasn't his responsibility; why should he care if they're fighting?

No, what was important was the fact that Princess Ella was coming here. Wouldn't it be his luck for her to find her way to the house and see him scrubbing some odd stain off some clothing while dressed in the tatters he was currently wearing.

I still don't understand why she wants to see me enough to come here, he'd thought to himself many times since reading the note. Beyond seeing that he was indeed alive and that Jo wasn't lying to her, he didn't see any logical reason for her to make the trip. Was she not busy being the beautiful princess that she was and doing whatever it is they do?

What made him different from everyone else?

Sighing as all this thinking started to give him a bit of a headache, he hung the last bit of laundry and headed back inside. Always so many questions surrounding his current existence, yet none were ever answered...it was starting to get old.

Hopefully some of them, at least, would be answered soon...

Ella had not anticipated how bumpy of a ride it would be.

She held her gloved hands tight to the cushioned seat of the carriage as the road grew more and more uneven and cobbled.

"We should be there in about an hour, Your Highness," the guard who was solely there to hand Ella off to DJ when they arrived told her.

"Wonderful!" Ella replied with a smile before gasping slightly as they hit an exceptionally bad bump in the road. "Thank you for the update, Sanders."

Sanders nodded, crossing her arms comfortably in front of her and keeping a blank expression on her face. She was a bit newer to being a guard but was good friends with DJ and he'd trusted her to keep the princess safe until they arrived at their destination. She didn't know exactly why Ella wanted to go to this place but she wasn't one to question her superiors too much.

"I'm really quite nervous about this," Ella admitted quietly once the ride felt a bit smoother and she placed her hands back in her lap. "I might not even see him…" That was the worst outcome of this trip.

"I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for, Princess," Sanders said with some level of confidence. "DJ will be there to help."

"Oh, I do hope so!" Ella said with a nod.

The last hour was quiet, and they arrived in the evening to DJ's house. Sanders got our first, making sure the coast was clear, then knocked on the door to the house.

"Sanders! Good to see you," DJ greeted her at the door with a friendly smile. He looked behind her at the carriage. "I hope everything was alright on the way here?"

After a quick salute that was customary-despite DJ not being in full uniform he was still her senior/superior-Sanders replied, "Oh yeah, it was great. Super bumpy, but I've got a thick skin."

DJ nodded. "My momma'll insist you stay for dinner, so come on in," he said welcomingly. "I'll take it from here with Her Majesty."

Sanders nodded, stepping inside and changing positions with DJ.

Ella looked out of the open carriage as DJ approached. He bowed briefly as per custom-he would have done a deeper one but he couldn't risk someone looking their way-and offered to help her out. She took his outstretched hand and stepped out, putting up the hood she'd been advised to wear beforehand. Her feet touched the ground and DJ led the way in, saying a few words to the coachman as they did so.

Almost immediately an older but by no means fragile woman appeared in front of the two. She and DJ bore a striking resemblance, though she was nearly half his height without the elaborate hat she wore. Ella was a bit startled by her suddenness but recovered quickly. "Now we're getting some meat on those bones pronto," Momma decided after giving Ella a once over following a formal introduction.

Dinner was absolutely sublime; Sanders ate quickly and helped the guys outside with the small luggage Ella had brought with her. Once she was outside, Momma turned and looked at her son. "You sure your captain is okay with all this?" she asked him, a serious tone in her voice.

"Do not worry about Jo; she is well aware of what is going on," Ella tried to assure Momma. In reality, Jo didn't know everything that was going on.

"Hmph, well I'll be sure to pull the old sword out in case something goes wrong," Momma said with a small nod.

"Momma, I don't think that would be necessary…" DJ claimed.

Ella wasn't sure if Momma meant an actual sword or something else...probably an actual sword though.

When they finished with dinner DJ showed Ella to the guest room. It was much different from what she was used to, but the bed was comfy enough. She wouldn't complain, oh no; she adored this place with all its little quirks. If she wasn't on her own personal mission she would certainly love to spend time in the morning getting more of a tour, but now was not the time.

She sat on the bed while DJ sat down across from her, in a chair that sat against the wall. She clasped her hands in her lap. "So...tomorrow," she started, her voice quiet and a bit tired from the long journey there. "Tell me, DJ, what are the odds of me seeing him tomorrow?" There was hope in the way she spoke.

"I'm not entirely sure, Your Majesty. I personally haven't seen him since I gave him your message a few days ago. He hasn't been in town or come near here since then."

"...how was he then?" Ella asked. "Was he okay?"

"Being perfectly honest, I couldn't tell. He seemed kinda tired, and was in a rush to get home," DJ described. "We share a mutual friend, that's how I ran into him." He didn't bring up the part he'd heard about Mike potentially being in trouble for being out later than he was supposed to.

"Would your friend know?"

"It's likely he does."

"Then we'll start there!" Ella decided.

She was so eager to see her mystery man that she didn't think too far ahead, or consider her own position in this situation. She didn't consider how Mike might be feeling or thinking, because she knew so little about him that she couldn't predict that. DJ knew more about him than she did. That's why she was here in the first place, beyond her earlier but still slightly present guilt over what happened to him at the ball and the fluttery feelings she'd felt after their very first meeting a year ago.

She wanted to know for herself exactly who he was.

They move ever so closer together...

While I have your attention, this fic is inching closer to 10000 views(80-ish to go) so now would be a great time to get in a good old reread if you have the time and/or want to.

Please tell me how I did with Ella and Sanders(never written her before-also first TDRR rep in the fic) or just the chapter in general.

Stay safe out there, folks, and I'll see ya in the next one :)