Thanks for all the awesome reviews! I love reading them, but I just HAVE to highlight the fact that kingdom-keepers-rule said "you write like a professional." Ha! If only my English teachers could see that! I'm extremely flattered by that comment in particular, but I love all of them! Y'all are just too nice! :)

This chapter's more of a fill-in-the-holes...not as much action, so it won't be as good (cue: awwww from the crowd). But not to worry, we're getting into the good stuff! I do have to admit, some of this might seem familiar to fans of Aladdin. I can't help it! It's so good! I was inspired! Plus, without realizing it, I had set myself up perfectly for this.

Oh and for fans of Charlene & Maybeck...don't worry! They're in this story too, but they won't come in until later. You can't have an epic Kingdom Keepers story without all of the keepers!

Wow, two chapters in a day! I doubt this'll happen again. But I couldn't resist! Y'all seemed so eager to read more, so I caved!

Anyway, enough ranting and more story! I hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 4: Shirtless Ex-Soldiers

Two Days Before Amanda's Trial

Isabel had been walking in the woods all night and into the morning. She hadn't rested for a second. She knew exactly where she was going, but she needed to get some food. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go without eating.

Somewhere in the afternoon she made it to a village. Great, just great. That wasn't here four years ago! Isabel decided to act as if she belonged.

Walking through the rather large village in a ripped and torn fancy dress was not Isabel's best idea. She realized most of the villagers did double takes upon noticing her, but she refused to look anyone in the eye. She couldn't risk anyone noticing her necklace. She had no doubt that she would be turned in and sent back to Maleficent in a heartbeat.

After walking through what seemed like endless streets, Isabel spotted a vendor selling fruits. She walked up to the man, inspected the apples and grabbed one.

"How much for this apple?" She asked the man.

"Six pennies."

Isabel reached into the small leather pouch and handed the man six pennies, as requested. Before turning to leave, the man reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Where did you get these girl?" He whispered harshly.

"They're not stolen, if that's what you are implying."

"Maybe, but they've got the royal family crest on it. I can't accept these."

"But…but…" Isabel's eyes widened. What am I going to do? The young woman set me up!

"Hugo! Oh good! You found her!" A young man called out as he walked up to the vendor's table. He winked at Isabel. "I've been looking for her all over the place!"

"You…you know her?" Hugo asked the young man.

"She's my sister." Hugo gave the man a skeptical look. "She doesn't get out much. She's not the sharpest knife in the butcher's shop, if you get what I mean." The young man nudged Hugo, winking at Isabel.

"Why does she have royal coins? I can't take these. The Lady Grimhilde will have my head!"

"I'm sure she just found them lying around the house. You know my father's into collecting old antiques. Someday someone will pay good money for these ancient items!" The young man snatched the pennies from Hugo's hand and handed them back to Isabel.

"Get her out of here, Dell." Hugo let go of Isabel's wrist. "I can't have her around. She's bad for business."

"Don't worry about us, Hugo." Dell reached into his pocket and pulled out some more coins. "Here's enough for two apples. One for me," Dell turned to Isabel, "and one for her."

Hugo took the money and Dell pulled Isabel down the street and into a nearby alleyway.

"Where did you get those royal coins?" Dell asked Isabel in hushed tones.

"Why did you save me back there?" Isabel quickly retorted. "I didn't need saving."

"Answer my question first, then I'll answer yours."

"Why should I trust you Dell?"

"Why do you have the royal family crest hanging around your neck?" Isabel was shocked. She looked down to see that the necklace was in fact showing.

"I…uh…" Isabel hurried to take off the necklace and stuff it in the small leather bag.

"You don't have to hide that from me. I'm on your side."

"What do you mean?"

In response, Dell took off his shirt. He turned around, revealing a small tattoo of the royal family crest just below his shoulder blade on his right side. Isabel immediately recognized it: all soldiers for the royal army had that tattoo.

"You're a royal soldier!" Isabel took a step back. "How is that even possible? All of you are supposed to be dead!"

"Who told you that?" Dell turned around with a confused facial expression.

"Uh…I just assumed…" Isabel didn't know how much she could trust Dell yet. She needed to know how much he knew. She might even need him to help her find Finn.

"You were held in the castle by Maleficent, weren't you?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"There were rumors that not all of the royals were killed."

"I'm not the only one. Prince Finnegan's still alive."

"Hmm…so the rumors are true." Dell took a step toward Isabel, still holding his dull blue linen shirt in his hand. "The real question is why you were kept alive this long. The king didn't have any granddaughters. He only had the prince."

"I'm not of royal blood."

"Then why do you have the royal family crest around your neck?"

"It was a gift from Prince Finnegan himself." Isabel was finding herself having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. She couldn't help but sneak a peek at Dell's abs. He's just so attractive. No Isabel! Focus!

"That makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Maleficent must have kept you alive all this time so that she could use you as leverage to lure Prince Finnegan out into the open. If he found out his betrothed was being held captive, he would have to come back and rescue her."

"We weren't betrothed! We were just friends. My parents would have loved it if we were betrothed but –"

Dell had already tuned Isabel out. Realizing that Isabel was not betrothed made him want to jump for joy. He found Isabel to be a beautiful young woman. There was something about her that drew him in. He felt the sudden urge to protect her from Hugo only minutes earlier. His mother had always mentioned love at first sight, but Dell had always thought of it as an illogical concept. How could one simply fall in love with one glance? Seeing Isabel in the marketplace at Hugo's table most definitely proved his earlier perception of love at first sight wrong. He was in love with Isabel—it was official.

"—I need to find Finn. He's got to reclaim the throne. Since you're a soldier of the royal army, can you help me?" Isabel looked up at Dell with pleading eyes.

"You want me to help you find Prince Finnegan?" Dell couldn't help but smile. "Do you know where he is?"

"Of course! So Dell, are you coming with me or not?"

"I will…uh…what's your name?"

"Lady Isabel Angelo, but my friend called me Willa." Isabel said with pride.

"Alright, Lady Isabel—I mean Willa—I will join you under one condition."

"And that is?"

"Call me Philby."

The Day After Amanda's Trial

It had been three days of walking for Willa and Philby. Before leaving the village, she had bought a new, simple, blue dress and shoes that were much better for walking. Philby had traded the royal coins for a good sword to accompany his armor. Philby felt more like himself with the royal armor on, like the old ways were coming back.

The past three days had been the best of Philby's life. With everything Willa said he fell more in love with her. He listened as he talked about her family and how they became royalty. She went on and on about how she never wanted to be queen, but she felt her mother pressuring her to marry Prince Finnegan. Upon realizing that all of her family was most likely dead, there had been tears, and Philby had done his best to comfort her.

Willa could not have been happier walking with Philby. The way he had dropped everything to join her on her quest to find Finn really moved her. She found Philby very attractive and couldn't help herself from falling for him. But her head kept reminding her that she was royalty and he was not. It wasn't right for them to be together. It would never work. The last thing Willa wanted was to get her hopes up, just to be disappointed.

It was somewhere just past noon when Willa saw the hideout. They had reached their destination.

Willa saw three people: two boys and one girl. Upon seeing Philby and herself, one of the boys drew his sword.

"Who are you?" Willa knew that voice too well. She almost started crying just hearing her best friend's voice.

"Prince Finnegan? Is that you?" Willa yelled back. Philby stood beside her, sword drawn as well.

The next few seconds were crucial. They would determine how relations would start in between the five people. Willa wanted nothing more than to start off on the right foot with Finn and his two friends.

"Finn?" Willa tried the only thing she could think of: jogging his memory. She slowly started walking toward Finn as she continued. "Do you remember me? I'm…Isabel Angelo, but you called me Willa. We used to take lessons together before…well you know…"

Finn lowered his sword and stared at her. "Willa?"

Willa smiled, letting a tear fall down her cheek. She ran up to Finn and gave him a hug.

"I'm so glad you're alive! I thought you were dead!" She whispered in his ear. Finn released her and held her at arm's length, looking her over.

"Where have you been for the past four years? Did you get out during the raid? How did you find me?"

"Whoa! Slow down there Finn! Let's sit down and talk."

"Okay." He smiled and hugged her again. "I'm so glad to see you."

Willa heard Philby cough. Willa let go of Finn and walked over to Philby.

"Finn, this is Dell Philby. He was a soldier in the royal army, and he's here to help us."

"Behind me are Dillard and Amanda." Finn stepped forward and extended his hand to Philby, who promptly shook it. "What's he here to help us with?"

"Restoring you back to the throne. You're the rightful king."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dillard walked up and joined the group. "My man Finn here is a king?" Willa nodded. "That's awesome!" Dillard held his hand up for a high-five, which Finn reluctantly returned.

"Who said I wanted to be king?" Finn asked Willa.

"It's your duty, Finn. You were born to be king."

"But what if I don't want to be king? I'm much better at being a nobody."

"Where's the Finn I knew back at the castle? Where is the Finn that claimed he was going to be the best king the kingdom had ever seen? Where's the Finn that had more courage than anyone I know? Where's the Finn that stands up for the weak, even if it requires him to lose something? The Finn I became friends with wouldn't let a scumbag like Maleficent come in, kill his family, and ruin the kingdom! You've got to fight to save all that's good in this kingdom! Her reign of terror needs to end!"

All four stared at Willa as she took a deep breath.

Finn was the first to speak. He spoke quietly, but firmly. Willa only remembered him speaking that way when he was furious. "Did she hurt you in any way, Willa?"

Willa took a few deep breaths before answering in a quiet whisper. "Yes."

"That's it! That's the last straw! I'm going to chop her head off!" Finn walked back to the hideout and started gathering his things.

"Finn! Calm down! Now's not the time to get irrational." Willa yelled to him.

Amanda walked over to Finn, placed a hand on his arm and whispered something in his ear. Willa could only assume it was something to calm him down. After some words were exchanged between the two, Amanda dragged Finn back to the group.

"Let's not get irrational about this, Prince Finnegan." Philby said. "We'll need to come up with a plan. And we can't do this without allies."

Finn took a few deep breaths, staring at the ground, like he did when he was deep in thought.

"Who do you have in mind, soldier?"

"I say we need to try other monarchies. Word has it they are all on the brink of war with Maleficent."

"Okay." Finn took the time to look at each person in the eyes. "We leave in the morning." Finn turned and went back to the makeshift shelter that he called the hideout without another word.

"Can I sit here?" Willa asked Finn. It was in the middle of the night but when Willa saw Finn sitting by the fire, she decided to talk to him.

"Sure." He scooted over to give her have enough room to sit on the log.

"So this is the infamous hideout you raved about back in the day?"

Finn let out a small laugh. "How do you remember that?"

"Honestly, I didn't. The night before I got out, that conversation was in my dream." She grabbed a nearby stick and pushed rocks around with it. "Talk about coincidence."

"How did you even find this place?"

"You told me exactly how to get here."

"Oh, right. I forgot." He paused. "What exactly happened after the raid?"

"I…I was taken by the guards and brought into a cell in the dungeon. I was given food and water and every once in a while Maleficent herself would show up." Willa felt a cold breeze just thinking about her. "It was like that for four years. Until a few nights ago when a young woman let me out and told me to come find you."

"Did you know who the woman was?"

"No. She wouldn't tell me her name."

"Willa…I'm so sorry that all this happened to you. It's all my fault."

"How is all of this your fault? For some reason she thought I would be useful to her, otherwise I'd be dead. I probably should be thanking you. If we weren't as good of friends, I probably wouldn't have been spared."

"So your parents are—"

"Dead." Finn and Willa sat in silence, letting reality set in.

"How did you meet a royal soldier?"

"Ran into him at a nearby village."

"How do I know we can trust him?"

"He's a royal soldier, Finn. Trust me, we can trust him."

Finn studied her face, and then nodded. "Alright."

"What about Amanda and Dillard? How do you know them?"

"Dillard was the one who would get me free food when I would go into the village. Amanda, well I kind of saved her from being burned at the stake."

"And what would compel you to do something so stupid! Maleficent already has it out for you. By doing something like that, you've probably exposed yourself!"

"I couldn't just let her die, Willa."

Willa stared at Finn with her mouth wide open.

Finn shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

"Oh my gosh, you like her!"

Finn looked down at the ground, blushing. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Oh Finn. Have you made a move yet?" She winked at him.

"I tried, she said the moment had to be right."

Willa laughed.

"What's so funny Willa? Me being rejected is funny to you?"

"Yes, yes it is!" Willa said in between laughs. "I guess it never occurred to me that you'd actually start liking girls."

"Whoa there, I've liked girls before."

"Really now?" She looked at him skeptically. "Name one."

"Remember that time we went into the nearby village with my aunt and you dared me to get a kiss from the pretty girl who worked at the tavern when she wasn't looking?"

Willa burst out into laughter. "Yeah! And when you leaned in for a kiss, she slapped you across the face!"

"Yeah…I couldn't stop thinking about how pretty she was for the rest of the month."

"Wow, that's pathetic, Finn." And being a mature nineteen-year-old royal prince, Finn pushed Willa so hard she fell off the log and both laughed.

"You need to do it, Finn." Willa said after composing herself.

"Do what?"

"Take the throne back from Maleficent."

"I don't know Willa. I'm not cut out for being king."

Willa turned to face Finn, placed her hand under his chin and pointed his face toward hers.

"That's the exact reason I know you're going to be a great king."

Willa stood up. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep. I hear we've got some traveling to do."

"Night Willa. I'm glad to have you back in my life. It got kind of lonely out here."

"Well lucky you, you're stuck with me from here on out." She smiled at her best friend. "Night Finn."

Well there you have it! Not as exciting as the past chapters, but it has some cute Finn-Willa friendship moments. I must say, I've got a soft spot for Willa-she's my favorite (after Finn, of course).

That last part probably wasn't necessary to the plot at all, but it's precious, so I'm gonna keep it.

So, hopefully I'll have the next one up soon! I love reading the reviews and I'd love to hear some suggestions! I'll do my best to incorporate suggestions into the story where I can! :) Thanks for reading and please review!