When I woke up, I was a bit sore. Although it was the most comfortable carriage I had ever taken, it was still quite different than waking up in my own bed. I slowly sat up on one of the benches and glanced out the window, enjoying the passing scenery.

A few minutes later, the carriage stopped, and a man opened the door. He seemed delighted that I was already awake.

"Who are you?" I queried. "Have you been sleeping on the roof of the carriage all night?"

He laughed and explained that it would be unfair of King Geoffrey to expect one man to drive his carriage for days at a time, so the king had a system of drivers throughout the country.

"Your driver will have breakfast and a few hours of rest; then he will be taken back to the king's palace," the man explained. "Meanwhile, I'll get fresh horses and take you the next part of the way, but first, I imagine you need to stretch your legs a bit."

I could only imagine what my parents would say. Surely they knew of my absence by now. Would they send their own servants to try to stop me?

Breakfast was hot tea and scones. I wondered what Louis was having. Adam's servants often claimed that Louis usually ate only once a day, but every time I had visited Adam's castle, Louis had eaten porridge with treacle for breakfast, a bit of fruit as a light lunch, and various dishes for a heartier supper.

I could never blame Louis for what he did to Adam. Even before he angered an enchantress, my spoiled cousin had always been a beast. He had treated his household servants like they were nothing more than furniture and his forest caretakers as if they were simply wild animals.

Things were better now. After meeting Belle, Adam had become a good man, and now he was a good king. However, he had been thoroughly punished during the spell for a lifetime of giving Louis reasons to despise him. Even now that Adam and Louis were friends, or something close to it, Adam still bore the scars on his right arm.

Louis! How much I loved the name! It was far better than that dreadful title that had plagued him for years!

On the day Louis was born, the midwife announced the arrival of a second baby, his twin sister. The mother decided to call them Louis and Louvre. However, during the christening, the r was left out of the sister's name, so everyone assumed the twin brother would be called Loup in order to match Louve.

In recent attempts to make my parents see my suitor as a worthy man, Adam had legally restored the name to Louis Desbois. My cousin further granted him a duchy, more specifically, several hundred acres of the most pristine forest in Europe to do as he wished.

Among his other impressive talents, Louis could speak to almost any animal in the forest. He was especially fluent in Lupine, although he usually avoided wolves. However, once he spoke to an alpha male and female, actually convincing them to let me approach their den and lift a pup into my arms!

The baby wolf was soft and fuzzy. In fact, it was so fluffy that if all its fur had been shaved, I believe the creature would have been no larger than a mouse. It snuggled into my arms as I cuddled it under my chin.

Louis and I trusted each other completely. I was one of only two people who knew he had once had another sister. The poor child had died in infancy.

"It's a man's duty to protect those he loves," Louis had remarked when he told me the story. "My father couldn't do it. Maybe I can't either."

I had taken my hands in his. "People are only granted enough time in this world to fulfill a purpose. When they have done so, they must take their leave."

"What was the purpose of a life taken so early?" he queried.

I lightly touched his cheek, one of the only parts of his face that remained clean-shaven. "I'm not going to pretend I have the answers."

He sighed deeply. "I can't pretend either. I know I'm not the man you want. I have nothing to offer you. I have no money. I have no land. I have no noble heritage. I have no handsome appearance or charisma or courtly etiquette. I have no formal education. Most people believe I don't even have a soul."

I moved closer to him.

"What do you see in a man who could never be Prince Charming?"

"You forget my cousin is a prince," I replied. "I know far too many nobles. I have long since tired of men who speak beautiful poems but have no depth to their conversations, men who believe signing documents is the only way to fight injustice. It's a good start, to be sure, but ideals are nothing without men ready to die to defend them."

Louis brushed back a strand of hair from my face, tucking it behind my ears. "Does the Fairest in the Land truly have no fear of the Big Bad Wolf?"

I lightly slapped him on the shoulder as a way of scolding him for unjustly insulting himself.

He smiled at me tenderly. "What bright eyes you have! They gleam like the myriads of stars on a cloudless night!"

"Mine?!" I asked in disbelief. "What about your eyes?!" I fluttered my eyelashes. "Amber as flames, and just as warm."

"What soft hands you have! Delicate as rose petals!" He placed his hand under my chin, gently tilting my head. "What full lips you have!"

He leaned toward me, and if my parents hadn't entered the room at that exact moment, we might have shared our first kiss.