A/N

I finally got it finished!

Enjoy.

When we broke through the edge of the forest I realized with a groan that we had come in through the South district, and were now standing in the poorest part of Rhenia.

The North district was the most wealthy section of Rhenia. Then there was the East and the West districts. They were somewhere between wealthy and poor. It was where people with normal paychecks lived. It was all in a circle, and in the middle stood the castle.

We needed to get to the East district. But I would rather not go through the part of the kingdom where lots of people got robbed, and sometimes badly beaten to get there.

We walked for a short distance before I felt someone watching me. I turned around quickly, only to find a man with cold eyes and dirty clothes watching me in a way that made me feel sick to my stomach. He flashed teeth that made his gross shirt look almost white in comparison, then he licked his lips, making me want to gag. He slowly stood, and I saw a flash of a gruesome looking knife strapped to the side of his belt

I grabbed Jeremy's arm, "We're in the wrong part of town, we need to get out of here quickly!" I whispered in a slightly frantic voice. I glanced at the man out of the corner of my eye, he was working his way towards us. I tightened my grip on Jeremy's arm.

Jeremy only glanced at the man, grinned, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a protective way.

I shivered as I felt his fingers brush my hair away from my ear, he leaned down and whispered, "I won't let him hurt you." He took both of my shoulders in his hands, turned me away from the man, and gently pushed me forward. It felt so strange, Jeremy had just made my heart stop in my chest, and yet he didn't seem like he was affected by me at all.

Prince Damian suddenly flashed into my mind for reasons I'll never be able to explain.

*~H~*

Jeremy's POV;

My chest tightened as I watched her walk away, something about her made me hurt even when I was just looking at her. It was a good pain, but it hurt nonetheless.

I had gone on an impulse and had gotten very close to her, it was an impulse most men would have ignored. Most men would be good and keep their distance, I'm not a normal man. The way she was standing there with a scared look corrupting her delicate features twisted at my heart and made me want to pull her small frame to my chest and kiss her. I had settled for the less bold move, as I whispered in her ear.

I hurried to catch up to her and the children.

I wasn't sure if Brietta realized how closely the kids watched her. We all would have thought she was some kind of angel if she hadn't gone and gotten herself stuck in a measly branch. She was pretty enough to be one, and she was certainly graceful enough. One couldn't help but to watch her.

We all made it to the East district without further incident, but once we went from dirt to brick road, all chaos seemed to break loose.

*~H~*

Brietta's POV;

We had been walking in the middle of the road, because there were no carriages or horses on the South district's streets.

I had momentarily forgotten how drastic the differences between the South and East districts were.

"WHOA!" A man's shout came from behind us. Snapping my head around, I saw four large horses barreling towards us. Suddenly, everything slowed, except for my brain.

I looked to see who was in the way of the oncoming carriage. Jeremy was walking off more to the side of the road than I was and he had three kids on the other side of him, so they were safe, I was the only one that would get hurt. I gasped as I realized there were supposed to be four kids.

Stephen walked beside me.

He looked so small compared to the horses. He would be flattened.

"Get out of the way!" Someone yelled. "I'm trying!" My brain screamed.

There was a sickening snap of wood, and the clacking of hooves seemed to be getting much closer, at a much faster pace.

"The brakes! I can't stop!"

Let me tell you, those were the five scariest words I have ever heard in my entire life.

*~H~*

Prince Damian's POV;

It was early in the morning, the kingdom was barely even moving around. I sat on my window sill, letting one leg dangle carelessly out the window. The kingdom had a golden glow to it from the sun that was slowly peaking over the hills to the East. Little flower petals floated past me on the wind, making the world seem more serene and quiet.

The past weeks I had gone between locking myself in my room, wandering through the tent market, and sitting on the bench in the hidden garden. I generally avoided people who wanted to know what was wrong, I couldn't speak about it without my throat closing up.

I yanked a rose off the trellis outside my window, "I didn't slowly drift into love like a normal person. I tripped on love, and fell onto my face." I slammed my hand into a fist, crushing the delicate rose. What I'd done slowly washed over me, I tenderly opened my hand again, and stared brokenly down at the mess I had made of the crimson petals.

I sighed; something I had caught myself doing a lot since I had found out about Brietta being married. I couldn't help it though, I felt as if I could maybe lighten the heaviness that loomed over me if I let my breath out. It never worked, but I still did it often.

I was not exactly something people wanted to be around. I wasn't sure what I was going to do next. I couldn't seem to get over her, it was like a brick wall that surrounded me, I couldn't go around it, I had to face it.

A knock came on my door.

"Who's there?"

A female voice drifted through the door, "Your mother wants to see you, she said to meet her in the library."

"Thank you, Mrs. Fauna, tell her I'll be down in a moment."

"Yes sir." A pause, "Do you need anything else Damian?"

"No that will be all… Thank you."

Sometimes I had to remind myself that other people saw the castle as a place to go sight seeing. It had always been just a normal home for me. The servants weren't just the ones who bowed to my every beck and call. They were my friends, playmates, brothers, wrestling partners, sisters, shoulders to cry on. They were the ones I would turn to if I ever needed anything, and not just because that was there job, it was because I trusted them.

The staff was worried for me, I could tell by the way they made my favorite foods, or the way the younger kids would quiet down the minute I entered the room whereas they used to pile on top of me and shout and carry on.

Pulling my leg inside, I grabbed an old shirt from a chair by my bed, I wasn't sure if it was clean, but I didn't really care, its not like anyone would notice. I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows, it was a warm day.

I grabbed the window ledge, and swung over it. I dropped down and landed in a crouch. It had only been a two story drop, but the lady I had landed beside still screamed like I was trying to kill myself. I winced as I realized everyone around was watching me like I might do something drastic.

I stretched my legs from my crouched position, "I'm not suicidal. Don't worry." They didn't look convinced.

I rolled my eyes and headed in the direction of the library. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm not though."I mumbled.

I pushed open the oversized double doors that hid the massive collection of books. My eyes skimmed the room before landing on my mother. She was the very characterization of beautiful. She had black hair, and dark eyes, but her skin was creamier than most Rhenians, making her hair and eyes look all the more dark.

She was sitting at the furthest side of the large room, her eyes turned down at a book she held in her lap. Strange. She could still be sitting up gracefully even when she was bent over a book.

I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping it wasn't to messed up by sleep. I strode over to her, she looked up and smiled brightly at me before I stooped and placed a kiss on her smooth cheek.

"Sit down Damian." She said, gesturing to the seat across from her.

"How are you mother?" I asked.

"I'm well dear… But I'm concerned about you."

I sighed again, and waved my hand for her to continue.

"What happened? You seemed so happy, then one day, you suddenly…" She faded off.

I shifted my head into my hands, I couldn't look at her.

"I met a girl at my ball."

"Yes! Your father told me about that… Oh… she rejected you? I'm so sorry honey, I didn't…"

"No, she didn't reject me." I breathed out again, "I went to the tent market. There was a boy there, who had stolen some kind of fruit from a booth. The owner of the booth raised a hand to beat the boy. I was going to stop him, but I was distracted by a girl throwing herself in front of him. It was her. She said he was her she said that the boys father would be hearing about it…" I trailed off as my throat started closing again.

My mother was silent.

I looked at her. She had her eyes trained on some distant spot in the library, and she was rubbing a piece of her dark hair between her fingers, she was thinking.

"Mother?"

She looked at me, as if suddenly remembering I was still there.

She frowned. "What if she isn't married?" She asked.

Confused, I sputtered, "She was married. I'm sure of it, or she wouldn't have announced it like that in front of that whole crowd."

"I don't know, I think I would have done the same thing. Though it wouldn't have worked as well for me as it did her, since I'm the queen, and everyone already knows who my son is." She said with a smile.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you think she was lying to save that boy?"

"Did she make him give the fruit back?"

"What?"

"Did she make him give the fruit back?"

"I- no, she paid for it, then got more."

"That wasn't her son."

"How do you know?"

"Do you remember when you took that necklace from Margery because you thought it was pretty?"

"Yes, you made me give it back and apologize for stealing it."

"She would not have let that boy get away with stealing something if she were his mother. I'm sure she was just trying to help the boy. Did he look hungry?"

"Yes." I groaned, angry at myself for not realizing all this sooner.

She smiled and pat my back gently.

"Go find her, find out for yourself that she's not married."

"Thank you. You always have the answers" I said as I leant to kiss her cheek once more.

"And I always will." She said laughingly.

A/N

Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took so long! I'm sure you all hate me. (Especially after the cliffhanger ;) I don't usually put cliffy's, but something made me want to torture my poor readers. To make it up to ya'll I'm going to start (for real) thanking my readers on every chapter.

Pokemonchen: Yeah, I probably will tell more about Jeremy and the kids, but it may turn into nothing but a side story, if that's what the readers want :) Thanks for always reviewing! And for being the chapter 'tester' :D

Spongebox: It's here! :) Thank-you so much for reviewing!

NewQueen2012: Thanks for all your reviews! I'm glad you love my story!

(Visitor) Tori Faye: Thank you so much! I got so excited when I saw your review! I promise I won't give up on this story. I love my characters too much :) I'm immensely happy you think I'm a good writer!

Bucket loads of thanks to; DaughterOfNoOne, FLESH E-TIN DOLFIN (I love your name!), katiewilliams, kiki61802, klusch, Annabelle Graceton,Crazy4urlove, Hope E. Kay, lilycullen1997, Pokemonchen, silentscreams149, spongebox1, and superblossom1.For faving and/or following this story!

I love you all! I'll try my best to update soon!

Have an amazingly awesome weekend!