By posting this chapter, I'm officially beating all my fanfiction records. I've never posted anything more than a one-shot on here before. Let's see if I actually go through with ten whole chapters of this madness.

The original scene from The Crown, where Eadlyn was going to propose to Kile and she suddenly CHANGED HER MIND RANDOMLY, really bothered me. It just didn't seem like something our determined, stubborn, Eadlyn would do, so please excuse the overall poor writing of this chapter. I'm still upset. Probably will always be upset. #TeamKile.

Chapter Two

"Whoa! Eadlyn, slow down!" Kile exclaimed, grabbing my hands in his. Had it been anyone else, I might have smacked him away, but really, this was Kile. He could get away with just about anything as far as I was concerned. "Banish me? Are you crazy?"

"I'm trying to do what's best for you!" I said defensively, pulling my hands away. I'd come into Kile's room planning to propose to him and end the Selection, yes, but seeing his beautiful sketches all laid out had made me doubt my choice. "It wouldn't be fair to tie you down! Look at you, you've got all these dreams and plans and I don't see how any of them involve being my Prince Consort and living in the palace!"

He sighed deeply. "Eady, please don't have me hung for this, but you're being ridiculous. Every dream and plan I have involves you, whether it's in this palace or at the northernmost point of Whites or a little town in Carolina. Do you really think I haven't thought this through?"

I tilted my head, not quite seeing where he was going. "Thought what through?"

"How my life would change when we got married." He caught himself just a little too late. "Excuse me, um, if we got married. As soon as I realized I liked you, I started thinking about it, and when it comes down to it, really, what would I even be losing?"

"Your architecture," I said softly. "You'd have to spend nearly all your time in this palace. You wouldn't be able to do any of that."

"Well, why not?" he asked indignantly. "Maybe I couldn't be as involved in the construction, sure, but if anything, my architecture would be thriving, since I'd actually have the spotlight and the funding for it. Besides, isn't it tradition for The One to do some kind of service project for the country, like, for example, simple and affordable housing for the homeless?"

I had heard my mother mention that once or twice. She'd possibly suggested it as an activity for my suitors. I pursed my lips. "But…you've always said the palace is a cage. I don't want to be the one responsible for confining you."

"You're not confining me!" he said indignantly. "Eadlyn, since you and I started…doing things…I've never enjoyed my life here more. It was never this castle I hated; it was the loneliness, the isolation. Things are different now. I can do everything I've ever dreamed of right from this palace, as long as I've got you by my side!"

"That makes a lot of sense, actually," I commented. "Gosh, Kile, I'm sure glad I listened to you instead of just, like, banishing you or something!"

"That would've been ridiculous," he agreed. "I'm really glad we had this talk, Eady."

"Me too," I said. "Besides, if you feel like we're rushing things or something, we don't even have to get married right away. You could go to college before officially becoming Prince Consort!"

He gasped. "That's allowed?!"

I shrugged. "Well, I mean, I'm the Queen. I kind of get to say what's allowed or not."

"Fair point," he conceded.

"Kile Woodwork, would you like to marry me?"

"We've already established that, haven't we?"

"Oh, yeah, you did say that," I remembered absently, fishing through my dress to find the ring box I'd stashed away. The problem with being obligated to wear big poofy dresses all the time was that it was very difficult to find the pockets. Many of them actually didn't even come with pockets, and I had to send Neena back to add them in later. "Found it!"

Kile and I picked the engagement rings out and slid them on. It felt so right, like this had been meant to be all along. At this point, really, it wouldn't surprise me.

This isn't that great, is it? And be warned, these chapters are only going to get weirder as we go along. –Liz