Author's note: Here's a little more detail from Mia's perspective! I hope you are all enjoying it, and thank you to all those reviewers for your kind comments!

The Princess Diaries belongs to Disney and Meg Cabot.

After Viscount Mabrey and his entourage were hauled away, the group had to stay for a little while as the police wanted to conduct interviews. The Von Trokan's ordeal had obviously shaken them up as they chatted pleasantly with Clarisse and Joe as they waited for their turns to be interviewed.

"I think they've finally realised that they are never going to be on the throne," Clarisse murmured under her breath after Joe and Clarisse emerged from the interview room (Mabrey's study) and met up with the younger people.

"Joe? Can I borrow your phone to ring Mom?"

Mia, who had washed her face in their absence, asked and Joe easily tossed his phone to her. Clarisse watched in amazement as Mia easily worked the phone and, seconds later, was talking to Helen.

"I don't understand how young people can work all this technology," Clarisse commented as they walked out to the main hallway- their car was being driven closer to the doors. "I have enough trouble trying to work a CD player!"

"I can see that I'm going to have to introduce you to a lot of gadgets, "Joe teased and she could only laugh at him.

As soon as Shades came in, it was the signal that they could leave, and Joe led the way, followed by Clarisse and the younger generation.

"Why, it's snowing!" Clarisse exclaimed when she stood on the stone steps, and Joe offered her his arm. "It wasn't when we arrived!"

"Yes, but we have been inside for nearly three hours," Joseph said after consulting his watch.

He helped her into the car, and walked around the car to his side, meeting Mia, who was holding out his phone.

"So, we'll see you back at the palace?"

"No, I'd much prefer to come with you two now," Mia said honestly, pulling her jumper tighter around her body. "The further away I am from this place, the happier I'll be."

Joe nodded understandingly, and opened the back seat door for her as she grinned at him.

"You're quite the gentleman, aren't you Joe?" she teased before stepping into the car. Joe was about to close the door when he heard a shout from behind her.

"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" as Lily quickly ran down the stairs and caught up to the car. "I want to come too!"

"And me too," supplied a voice from behind Joe, and he turned to see Nicholas standing there. "That is, if you don't mind," he added tactfully.

"Fine with me- I think Mia would be better with all her loved ones around her," Joe said as Lily slid in the already open door, while Nicholas jogged around the other side and sat on the other side of Mia.

"My, my, my," Mia was saying as Joe got behind the wheel. "I never realised how popular I was!"

For a few kilometres it was a quiet trip, as everyone thought about what had just happened, before Lily asked, rather shyly:

"What happened?"

It was the exact question that had been on Clarisse's lips, but she didn't want to intrude…but now, that Lily had asked the question, she turned awkwardly in her seat to face Mia. She still couldn't believe that they had found her, even as she looked at Mia.

"Did they look after you properly?' she asked anxiously. "You don't have to answer that…."

"Don't worry, Grandma," Mia said calmly, reaching forward and patting her gloved hand. "I've already told the police, and you were all next in line…Okay…."

She took a deep breath. "I'll have to go back to when I actually found out who had kidnapped me. Before then, I was in the dark, and I think I must have been unconscious….."

"Unconscious!" the rest of the car's occupants practically shouted, and Mia smiled weakly.

"Yes, I think they knocked me on the head…but it doesn't hurt anymore, honest," she said as Clarisse and Joe exchanged a look. "Anyway, back to when I found out my hosts…."


"YOU!" Mia gasped in disbelief as the two masked men took off their balaclavas, and she was faced with Viscount Mabrey and an unfamiliar younger man although, judging by the similarity of their looks, he was obviously related to the Viscount.

"Good evening Princess," Mabrey sneered, tossing aside his balaclava and leaning in to smile at her. Mia, repulsed at the sight of him, leaned as far back in her chair as it could allow- she had never thought that she would ever see him again. His estrangement from his nephew had been permanent- Nicholas had made it clear that he didn't want to see him again.

Nicholas had also told her the truth about how they had tried to sabotage her, but she had long since forgiven him, knowing that there had been someone else behind it.

"What's wrong, Your Highness? Aren't you happy to see me?" he smirked as he watched her reaction.

"It's Your Majesty," she said coldly, and he pretended to look contrite.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I can't recognise the current monarch of Genovia. Oh, I believe you haven't met my son, Ronald!"

He stepped aside and the younger man stepped forward with the same unctuous yet venomous smile as his father.

"Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Highness," he said as he bowed mockingly to her, before standing up and looking her directly in the eye.

"What do you want with me?" she asked calmly, trying desperately to maintain a façade of confidence, but she had the feeling that they knew how scared she was.

"That isn't very nice, Princess," Ronald gently chided her. "We went to a great deal of trouble to get you here, and you instantly demand to know what we want with you!"

"Well, what do you want?" Mia repeated as the two men glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Well, "Mabrey began, sitting down in a chair opposite her. "You have caused me an awful lot of trouble- first accepting your title, then deciding you wanted to become Queen, and then bewitching my nephew against fighting for his rightful title.

When my former nephew turned down the title, I was very angry and didn't want anything to do with him or Genovia. But, my son," he waved his hand airily in Ronald's direction. "Convinced me that the people clearly didn't know what they wanted, and it was up to us to fight for them."

"But Nicholas made it very clear that he didn't want to be ruler."

"True," Mabrey acknowledged. "But since that ungrateful brat didn't want the title, I knew I had to think of someone else who could become King if something happened….to you."

Mia suddenly felt more chilled in the cold room- were they really going to kill her?

"The Von Trokans are next in line after me, "she said softly. "But I don't know whether they would willingly give it to you- they want it for themselves too badly."

"Again, good point Your Highness. Who would accept a paltry million dollars in exchange for the crown of Genovia? So, we're going to have a friendly chat with them…and that's all I will say for now."

"What about Nicholas?"

Both father and son's features visibly hardened- clearly Nicholas was still a no go situation.

"He betrayed the man who raised him by falling in love with the Princess- ungrateful brat!" Ronald Mabrey snorted in disgust. "However, he will get his comeuppance after…."

He trailed off, and Mia didn't even want to imagine what they were going to with him.

"Anyway, Your Highness, "Mabrey said after a pause, standing up and stretching. "I just thought we would pop down and say hello….I hope your surroundings will be comfortable for you….Good night!"

Ronald Mabrey only smirked, and then followed his father up the stairs and turning off the light as he disappeared through the door, leaving Mia in complete darkness.


The next three days were nightmarish in quality for Mia- although they gave her food and drink three times a day, the basement was freezing cold most of the day, and they only tossed a few blankest down to her when she complained. She was tied to her chair during the day, but they untied her at night, to allow her to sleep in the bed but, they warned her, if she tried to escape, she would be sleeping in her chair.

They did, however, bring in the television for her to watch the coverage of her disappearance- both father and son took some kind of narcissistic pleasure in seeing everything that was mentioned about the kidnapping. They thought it was hysterically funny when the reporters decided that Clarisse, jealous of her granddaughter's popularity, had engineered the whole thing.

"I don't think that woman ever had an intelligent idea in her head," Mabrey said after they had watched the news- that was another bad thing, they never left her to watch the television alone.

"I guess she thought that, when she married Rupert, that she wouldn't have to do much for the rest of her life! And she didn't…even her reign was rather dull! But she was a stunner though….when she was young!"

"And now look what's happened- she's married way below her on the social scale!" Ronald said, laughing. "We could pin it all on Joseph, you know. Who knows whether he became close to the Queen just for the friendship, or maybe to become King himself?"

Thankfully, they left after that news report and, amazingly, allowed Mia to watch some other shows on her own. It was lucky that they had left- Mia had been ready to explode after hearing what they had said about her grandmother and Joe!

Some of the henchmen, Ronald in particular, had also tried to convince Mia that Nicholas was no good and, when they were married, would try to insist that he was the proper King.

"That's the sort of thing the two faced young man would do! He probably tried to keep me off the scent," Mabrey said huffily on one occasion. "Unfortunately for him, I knew what he was up to…"

He paused for a moment, and then went on in a completely different branch of thought- it seemed that he had a slight grudge against Rupert.

"But I thought I would get more than a lousy position in parliament after many years of friendship with Rupert! He wasn't that good a friend anyway- the only reason I was his friend was to catch a look at that stunning but dumb wife of his…"

On the third day of her imprisonment, she was staring mindlessly at the television screen, secretly beginning to despair whether anyone would find her, when father and son came down and stood in front of the television. Both of them were smiling with glee.

"We're going to have a few more visitors tomorrow, on Christmas Eve…Your beloved Nicholas is coming!" Mia's heart lifted at the mention of Nicholas's name, and she looked up into their faces.

"Does he know that I'm here?"

"I suspect that that annoying bodyguard husband of your grandmother's has helped him out, and is probably insisting on coming. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Her Majesty came too….she always was rather feisty!" The last words were said with a slight tinge of admiration mixed with malice.

"That would be perfect, Father. Because, then, she would have a few moments to say goodbye to her last surviving relative!"

There was a long silence, and then the Viscount looked up with a nasty smile.

"Perfect, my boy! She'll surely crack when she sees Her Highness killed, before we deal with the Von Trokans, Nicholas and Joseph, if necessary, and then….the country is ours!"

As they left, laughing, Mia shrank into her chair- they were going to kill her tomorrow, and there was nothing she could do. Even worse, her grandmother was going to be forced to watch her death!...


"And, of course, you all know what happened this morning!" Mia finished simply, glancing around at her horrified audience. There was a long silence as each of them tried to digest the incredible story that Mia had told them.

Clarisse shifted in her seat, and looked out at the snowy landscape- she had suspected that Mia wouldn't be cared for properly if the Mabrey's had kidnapped her, but she hadn't imagined how psychologically cruel they would attempt to be. She also suspected that Mabrey had only been friendly to Rupert because of her, and his ambitions, but she definitely didn't like the derogatory remarks made about herself and Joseph.

"Thankfully it's all over and done with now," Joe finally said, glancing in the rear view mirror at Mia, and then smiling over at his wife. He had hated hearing about Mia's imprisonment, and had burned with anger at how they had spoken about Clarisse and Nicholas, but Mia was obviously much more resilient than they had given her credit for.

"I'm just sorry that you had to put up with them, " Nicholas said quietly, looking out the window, before Mia took his hand, and made him look at her, the way Clarisse often did with Joseph.

"Nicholas, you are nothing like them. You never were, and I'm grateful for that," Mia said calmly, before leaning over to whisper in his ear as Lily, Clarisse and Joseph pretended to be invisible.


As the car stopped in front of the palace, they all saw Charlotte and Helen waiting in the doorway before rushing down the stairs when the car stopped completely.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Helen half sobbed as she threw her arms around Mia, who winced slightly at Helen's embrace. Helen felt the wince, and pulled back to look at her daughter.

"Did I hurt you?"

"I'm just a little sore on the ribs…I must have fallen out of bed several times during the week- my bed here has spoilt me," Mia joked weakly as she smiled at her mother, and then over at Charlotte.

"It's great to have you back safe and sound, Your Majesty," Charlotte said with a weak smile before Joseph took control of the situation.

"What are we all standing around here for? I think we'd better get in out of the snow!" Joe said briskly as Mia giggled.

"Still the same Joe, always ordering us about!"

"She hasn't lost her sense of humor," Joe muttered under his breath as he and Clarisse followed them into the palace.

"She is a Renaldi, remember?" Clarisse teased before she stopped and turned in the doorway to look out at the winter wonderland- the snow was beginning to fall harder. She squinted slightly at the gates- for once, there were no press corps pressed against the fence.

She turned to Charlotte and was about to ask, but her former personal assistant had anticipated the question.

"Prime Minister Motez has gone straight to his office to make a statement. He told me to tell you both that he will handle everything for the next week or so…although it's the holidays anyway…The statement is going to say that Her Majesty has been found safe and well, and the Palace would appreciate everyone keeping their distance for the next few weeks. Oh, and that you will still be Acting Regent until some time when Her Majesty is ready to take over."

"Good," Clarisse said with a firm nod of the head. No one would be bothering Mia for a little while, and she was more than happy to stay acting regent. She yawned discreetly as she and Joe followed the others up the stairs.

"Tired?" Joe murmured in her ear, and she smiled at him.

"A little."

Joe stopped for a moment, considered the situation, and then made a quick decision.

"Mia?" he called upwards and Mia turned at the top of the stairs with a happy face, and waited as they climbed the stairs towards her. "Your grandmother and I are going to rest for a while, if that's alright."

Mia's already bright smile brightened at his words.

"Fine with me. I never expected you to come all that way just to rescue me…and I will always be grateful for that." She hugged him a little carefully, before turning to her grandmother. She only suspected how much Clarisse herself had suffered in the past week, and it only made her appreciate the fact that Clarisse came to rescue her too.

"Thank you. You didn't have to come with Joe- it could have been just as dangerous for you!"

"I know that, but it was worth it," Clarisse said a little huskily, before Mia hugged her. "You are going to have those ribs seen to, aren't you?"

"The doctor is waiting in Mia's suite, "Helen piped up as they stopped in front of Mia's suite.

"We'll let you go then…see you later, " Clarisse said as they walked past the doors, and headed down towards their own suite.


The whole country celebrated the return of the Queen that night, and people were still celebrating into the next morning, which was Christmas Day, while the Queen recovered at the palace. Viscount Mabrey and his son, on the other hand, spent their Christmas in the cold jail cell in Pyrus, with an emergency hearing scheduled for Boxing Day. Having given their evidence the previous day, neither Clarisse nor Mia were expected to attend.

"But I bet that the press will be there anyway, just in case," Lily said with a wry smile as they watched television after lunch, and everyone had gathered in Mia's suite.

"Of course they will. You don't think that the Mabrey's will allow a perfect publicity opportunity pass them by…although in this case…." Joseph said with a tinge of sarcasm, and everyone laughed.

"I'm so glad I wasn't in that basement today- I checked the temperature, and it's below zero!" Mia said from her favourite chair, where she was bundled in a pile of blankets. She has sustained no serious, permanent injuries from her abduction, apart from a severe lump on the head, several cracked ribs and some bruising. Even more amazingly, she hadn't caught a cold from the cold room she had been in, and the doctor was confident that the emotional trauma would be minimal.

"We're very glad that you aren't in that basement," Clarisse said, leaning over from her nearby chair and patting Mia's hand. Mia smiled over at her, and they shared a look before Nicholas, who was sitting next to Joe, stood up nervously and cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him, before he took a deep breath and got down on one knee in front of Mia.

"I wasn't sure when I was going to ask you this, but I realised that, when you were missing, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Despite the fact that I am, unfortunately, related to criminals…..will you marry me?"

He opened the tiny jewel box in his hand, and Mia gasped- inside was a small, but flawless diamond ring.

"Yes, I will marry you," Mia said softly, throwing aside her blankets and throwing her arms around him. "Only, there's one condition," she added when they broke from their kiss and, for a moment, Nicholas looked worried.

"I don't want to wait. I want to marry you soon- I've already had the glittering wedding, which my grandmother used to her advantage," she threw a teasing look at a teary eyed Clarisse.

"But I just want to marry you, no dramatics and no major celebrations…and definitely no more than 20 guests!"

They all laughed before Helen and Clarisse stood up and moved over towards Mia, who also stood up, looking radiant.

"You don't mind, do you, Grandma that I'm going to have a quiet wedding?" Mia looked at her worriedly after they embraced, and Clarisse only laughed.

"I only care about your happiness, my love. Who cares whether it's in the church in Pyrus, or in the Winter Palace chapel? All that matters is that you are happy!"

"That's a great idea, Grandma! Just so we can get the press off the scent, let's have the wedding at the Winter Palace! I know that there's a small chapel nearby, and we can have a small reception at the palace! Do you think the Archbishop would be willing to do that?"

"Mia," Joe spoke up from behind Clarisse. "If the Archbishop said 'finally' when your grandmother and I were married, I can see no reason for him to turn you down. He is a very reasonable man."

"But when are we going to do it?" Lily spoke up from the floor, and Mia looked pensively at her before her face split into a wide grin.

"New Year's Day. It's the beginning of a whole new year, and I think it's perfect for the beginning of a whole new life!"

"We'd better get some champagne then!" Lily said hurriedly, disappearing outside and reappearing a minute later with the two maids carrying two trays of glasses and a bottle of celebration.

"To Nicholas and Mia!" they all chorused once they had each been handed a glass, toasting the obviously happy couple.

"To the best kept royal secret since…..Grandma and Joe!" Mia added cheekily, laughing at Clarisse's red face.