AN: This is currently our longest chapter! Enjoy! :)


The ride back to the kingdom was solemn as both Kensi and Deeks worried about what the kingdom, Hetty and worse, Granger, would have to say about the two of them falling for one another. They made occasional stops for resting, eating, or in Deeks's case, peeing.

"Hey Kens?"

"Dear Lord, Deeks. If you say you have to pee one more time, I will not hesitate to shove you off your horse." Deeks shook his head and stopped Monty. Seeing him come to a stop, Kensi followed suit, pulling on Royal's reigns until she halted. Deeks turned to face her.

"Uh.. no. I um.. just wanted to say that after all of this nothing is gonna change between us, right? Nobody, not even Granger, can pull us apart." Kensi's heart melted at his words, and she offered a small, reassuring smile.

"No, Deeks. Nothing will change." He winked at her and she felt her cheeks burn, looking down. She'd never been around anybody who'd made her blush as much as she had in the past few weeks. The rest of the ride back home was spent with jokes, and as they raced each other on their horses she realized how much she loved the competition aspect of their relationship, the constant push and pull, the fact that he wasn't afraid to challenge her just because of her status in the kingdom. As they neared the edge of the forest, Kensi ushered her horse closer to Deeks. Once they crossed the threshold where the forest ended and the castle was insight, they turned towards one another, lips in firm lines, expressions grim. They didn't know what troubles lay ahead, and the uncertainty was enough to chill them both to the bone.


They entered through the stables in the back of the castle to avoid any unwanted attention. Eric was oblivious, whistling as he fed some of the horses. Deeks echoed back the tune of his whistle, and Eric turned around with a grin that was laden with surprise.

"Hey, man. Can you tell Queen Hetty Ken.. Princess Kensi and I are back?" Eric stared at Kensi for a second, not believing Deeks has succeeded and proved Granger wrong before he nodded quickly and walked backwards towards the barn's door, seemingly unable to tear his eyes from the couple. He was speechless, and Deeks realized with some degree of guilt that Eric had probably thought he'd died on his mission.

Kensi and Deeks dismounted their horses and he turned to face her.

"You ready for this?"

"Yeah..no..kinda. I'm nervous about what Granger will say." Deeks took a step closer and gently grabbed Kensi's hands.

"Hey. Everything's gonna be fine. Hetty will understand and she'll take care of Granger for us." He dropped a quick peck onto her lips. As they let go, they heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer towards the stables. Deeks let go of Kensi's hands and they put a comfortable distance between them before they saw Hetty walk in.

Kensi was the first to brake the silence upon Hetty's arrival, swallowing past a lump of nerves in her throat. "Hey, Hetty."

"My dear," she said, smile wide. She closed the distance between herself and Kensi, grabbing each of the princess's hands and squeezing. "It is good to have you back." She turned to Deeks, dropping her hold on Kensi's hands. "Well done, Sir Deeks. Thank you."

Deeks smiled at Kensi, and Kensi smiled back, her anxiety still obvious in her every action, even her grin. "It was an honor."

Hetty nodded, maybe in approval. "The kingdom, as I'm sure you can imagine, has been worried sick about you. But I we have much to discuss before announcing your return to the people. We'll take you to the castle and discuss matters with Granger, then get you settled, okay? Deeks, if you wouldn't mind coming with us. I'm sure Owen would like to speak to you as well."


"Well, well. Look who's finally shown up." Granger grinned. Kensi bit back a grimace. His smile was more of a sneer, definitely insincere. It pissed her off, quite frankly.

"Nice to see you, Owen," she forced out, her teeth clenched, corners of her mouth upturning in a smile just as disingenuous as his.

"Oh, likewise. Now that you're back from your little... vacation, shall we call it, we can finally follow through with the wedding."

Kensi shot Deeks a look and he nodded, understanding the message. She turned back towards Hetty and Granger and took a shaky breath.

"Um, speaking of the wedding... Queen Hetty? Commander Granger? There's something I.. we'd like to tell you." Deeks moved from his spot behind Kensi and Hetty where he'd been watching the exchanging, taking Kensi's hand in his. Granger turned as pale as a sheet at the public display of affection and the tone of her voice, and Hetty bestowed a little smirk. Once again, Deeks thought it might be one of approval.

"What? That you're in love? We'll figure it out. Until then, Kensi? Can you come to my chambers with me?" Hetty asked, smiling before Granger walked out with a huff, leaving Deeks by himself.

"So what do I do? Just stand here? Talk to myself?"

Hetty turned around and replied, "Go to hang out in the stables. Wait in the living room. Relax! Actually, I think somebody might be coming to see you soon."


In the chambers, Hetty closed the door before she made her way towards Kensi.

"My dear. You don't know how worried I've been." Hetty moved to make herself a cup of tea, sitting behind her desk. Kensi shook her head when Hetty offered a cup.

"Hetty. I'm sorry."

"Why? Because you fell in love? I'm actually very pleased. I'd rather have you marry the man you love than a man you're forced to."

"But what about Gran.. I mean Commander Granger?"

"Oh, I'll talk to him and see what we can do about it." Kensi smiled gratefully before getting up and making her way back to her room, planning on changing into something more comfortable than the riding clothes that she'd wore on the journey home before finding Deeks. She had to admit that it was good to be home.


Granger hurried into his quarters where Jack was pacing the floors.

"She's back. But there's trouble."

"I know. I saw her in the stables."

"Wait.. what? When did you see her?"

"I was on the grounds when I saw Beale running to the palace. I went to the stables to see and I saw Deeks and Kensi. But dad, do you know that they..."

"Are in love? That bloody princess said so to our faces and acted like it was no big deal. Damn it."

"Dad, what are we gonna do?" Granger's brow furrowed in concentration, thinking. He needed to successfully separate the two of them, but Hetty would have nothing with forcing her to marry Jack against her will. And there was no way of breaking them up if they had a say in it, unless...

"Okay. This is what we'll do. But remember, until further notice, you're still her fiancé, understand? Act like it."


As soon as Kensi walked into her chambers, a high, girlish squeal emanated through the room, and Kensi refrained from covering her ears in an attempt to protect her ears from the pitch of the sound.

"Oh my God! Kensi, you're back!" Nell screamed, running to hug Kensi. When she pulled away she had a sheen of tears in her eyes, and her laugh was nearly hysteric. "I thought you might be dead and I didn't know what to think and Kens, oh my God. Oh my God."

"I'm okay," Kensi assured, grinning back at her friend. "I'm back."

Nell plopped down on the side of Kensi's bed, and Kensi joined her, not nearly as enthusiastically. "So... what happened? Where did you run? I want details." Grabbing a few pillows and placing them under her head as she fell back against the mattress, legs dangling from the bed, Kensi recounted as many parts of her journey as she could without being too graphic (which was hard and led Kensi to realize how much of their time was really spent having making love), and Nell accompanied the stories with little giggles, hmmms and gasps, having found a comfortable position with her back against the headboard, feet curled away from Kensi's head.

"You had sex?! With Deeks?!" Nell almost screamed, only lowering her voice when Kensi chucked one of her pillows at her, hitting her in the face before falling beside her with a thud.

"Nell! Keep it down! And yes, we did it." Kensi couldn't help but blush, and Nell held the pillow close to her mouth, successfully muffling her scream.

"Oh my God. This is like listening to a slutty fairy tale," Nell teased. Both girls started to giggle before someone knocked on Kensi's door. Kensi tried to tone down her laughter a bit before hoisting herself off of the bed, opening the door to find a smiling Deeks.

"Hey. Hetty wanted me to bring you to the balcony. You too, Lady Jones." Deeks grinned and offered Kensi his arm. She shook her head, smiling, and looped her arm around his. Nell giggled and excused herself with something about having to speak to Hetty before hurrying off.

Deeks and Kensi walked silently down to the main balcony where Hetty was waiting for them. She smiled as the two came into her view.

"Ah, good. Our princess and valiant knight are here. I'll tell the bard to start the announcements." Kensi looked at Deeks with confusion and he shot a grin at her.

"She wanted to brief the town about you coming back and wanted you to hear it. No biggie, right?"

"No biggie."

As Hetty prepared to give a speech, Kensi saw a familiar man come around the corner. She unlinked her arm from Deeks's, launching herself at the guy as soon as she recognized who he was. "Callen!"

He caught her with steady arms, lifting her off her feet. "Never, ever pull anything like that again. Are you hurt?" he asked, concerned but obviously overjoyed, a smile on his face.

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm great, actually," she answered, grin just as wide as his.

"I've missed you. A lot. And I was worried. A lot."

She swallowed past the guilt she felt, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry, G."

Before he could reply to her apology, a trumpet sounded, and Hetty's voice followed it, her words spoken with joy. When she announced that Kensi had returned, Deeks smiled from across the hallway. "I think that's your cue."

As soon as she stepped foot on the balcony, hundreds of thousands of voices cheered, the sound and the crowd below the balcony tremendous. It was exhilarating and on some levels overwhelming, the chaos making her heart race as she waved.

After a few minutes of simply waving, Kensi reentered the castle, trying not to grimace as she was greeted by her fiancé. "Kensi, thank goodness. You're back!" The hug he delivered was nearly bone-crushing, and Kensi noticed Deeks's hands were balled into fists as she saw him watching the exchange over one of Jack's broad shoulders. Jack released her, and she refrained from sighing in relief, realizing that she'd been holding her breath. He went as far as to kiss her forehead, and she realized how strange the interaction really was. It was the first time she had so much as talked to the man, this guy that she was supposed to be marrying. "You had us all worried! Now our wedding preparations can go on schedule!" He winked before walking away with a hop in his step.

Kensi shook her head in disgust, praying that Hetty would in fact find a way out of the prearranged marriage. She placed one hand on Deeks's tense shoulder blade, trying to calm him placed a possessive arm around her waist, holding her close. From her position pressed against Deeks, Kensi could just barely make out Hetty approaching them from her peripheral vision.

"I believe your return calls for a celebration. Who's up for a feast? I've had a bottle of scotch, nearly a decade old. This seems like as good a time as any to crack it open. Deeks, Nell, you're joining us. Oh, and would you also invite Eric? That boy is simply too skinny." Hetty smiled her usual mysterious smile before walking away. Nell immediately appeared by Kensi's side and rushed her into her room, ushering her quickly down the hallway so she could prepare for the feast. Kensi kissed Deeks's cheek before leaving, and he grinned.

"See you soon, Kens."

"See you, Shaggy."


Hetty informed Deeks that he had a visitor, and when Deeks saw who it was he smirked. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"You!" Ray shouted to Deeks, smiling. Deeks grinned and they both high-fived and gave each other a brief hug.

"Back so soon?" Deeks asked, pleasantly surprised. Ray traveled around the outskirts of the kingdom, looking for land to expand the kingdom.

"Yeah! I heard that you rescued that smoking hot princess after she ran away."

"I wouldn't call it rescuing, but yeah, something like that."

"Well, you've always had a thing for brunettes. And who wouldn't have a thing for that one, right? Tell me I'm right. I'm right." When he noticed Deeks wasn't replying, he nudged his friend. "Oooo, Marty got the hots for Princess Kensi!" he teased, and Deeks clasped a hand against his shoulder, laughing.

"Oh, shut up, idiot," Deeks teased playfully.

"Uh huh. Get all defensive. Deflect the situation. I acknowledge what you're playing at and I don't approve of your inability to admit that you're attracted to the princess, but I'm going to go with it because Hetty wants me to help you get ready for tonight's dinner thing."

"I was not defensive-"

"Uh-uh. Zip it."

"Fair enough."


Nell had good taste, Kensi had to admit. The girl had chosen a dark blue dress with a white, draping top. The bottom had a slit in the side and showed a bit of leg. Nell had chosen a strapless ombre dress that faded from purple to orange with a black bow in the back and a floral design strewn across the folds of the dress. Their makeup and hair had been done tastefully, guaranteed to entice the men attending. However, the girls chose flat shoes in order to spare themselves the pain after dancing. Both girls made their way to the ballroom, when suddenly Jack stopped them.

He cleared his throat, a subtle way of telling Nell to basically "get lost". Nell blushed and ran to the ballroom, muttering a simple "I'll see you later," to Kensi. Jack smiled at Kensi, and she returned his smile with a curt nod, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You look beautiful, Kensi." She just nodded her head sharply and tried to continue to the room, but Jack grabbed her arm. She frowned, trying to loosen the grip.

"I may be engaged to you, but that does not mean that I have to be around you all of the time. And that certainly does not give you the right to keep touching me whenever you want, especially forcefully." Kensi glared at him, stalking off angrily towards the room, his grip having loosened enough to escape from his grasp.

"Yell all you want, sweet princess. But we both know this will not end pretty," Jack muttered under his breath before tracing Kensi's path.

Deeks later entered chatting with Ray and his jaw dropped at the sight of Kensi. She was... gorgeous. Her hair fell to the middle of her back in loose curls, and her makeup was light and barely noticeable. Ray nudged Deeks as if to say 'What did I say?' but he verbalized, "Hey, shut your mouth. Flies crawling onto your tongue is a total turn off to chicks." Deeks sealed his lips, clearing his throat before walking towards the woman, tapping her bare shoulder. She turned to face him with a bright smile on her face.

"You look beautiful, Kens." Kensi smiled as he kissed her hand, reveling in the feel of his scruff against her knuckles when pressed his lips against her fingers.

"Thanks, Deeks. You don't look so bad yourself." Before they could say anymore, the feast began. The feast was filled with many of the nobility's favorites and a few made especially for Kensi since the night was about celebrating her return. Everyone ate and drank merrily, and then the dancing started. Of course, Jack was the first to grab Kensi to dance, but he wasn't a good dancer. He spun Kensi around the floor too wildly, jerking her arms around as if she were a rag doll. In the middle of the second song, Deeks tapped Jack's shoulder, distracting him momentarily so he could ask Kensi if she wanted to dance.

Jack grumbled something, then begrudgingly released Kensi, nearly shoving her against Deeks. Deeks glared at Jack, and Kensi led him away, afraid that if he stayed too close to her fiancé he'd do something he couldn't take back. "Deeks," she breathed, and her voice seemed to snap him out of his trance momentarily. He peeled his glower away from Jack, eyes softening considerably when they landed on Kensi. He reminded himself that Kensi didn't want Jack, that she wanted himself. But that alone didn't control the urge he had to beat Jack to the point of unconsciousness when he leered at Kensi or handled her with too much force. It reminded him too much of what his father would do to his mother in public, and God knows what would happen if Jack got her alone for an extended period of time. If it was anything like what his dad did to his mom, then...

He wanted to shake away his dark thoughts, but instead he kissed her forehead, reaching for her hand. "Let's dance, yeah? Get ready for this. I'm actually the best dancer I know."

"Oh, you are, now?"

"Uh, yeah. Watch and learn, sweet cheeks."

He actually was a pretty good dancer, but she wasn't bad either. Yeah, that was an understatement. He watched her sway in perfect tune to the music all night long, moving her hips like she was a gypsy, so rhythmically he was sure that a deaf person would be able to interpret what the tune of the music she was moving to was with perfect clarity by simply watching her dance. Her weight was light under his hands, and it was almost as if she was floating, dancing on air.

By the end of the night her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, her voice hoarse from yelling over the music and laughing until her stomach hurt. She'd convinced him to stay with her at the castle that night but had made it clear that she was exhausted and just wanted to shower and sleep. The truth of the matter was that she just wanted him to be close to her.

He felt the same way, and the bath they shared that night was nice, quiet and peaceful, balancing out the excitement that the dance had created with a special type of serenity that they would both cherish for years to come. Her bed was huge and like sleeping on a cloud compared to the one in the shack, and he spooned against her body, clad in warm pajama pants that Kensi had grabbed for him earlier. He stroked her hair until her breath evened out, and only then did he allow himself to succumb to unconsciousness.


The next morning, Hetty had alerted the members of the court, calling for a meeting, and Kensi and Deeks were passing some time before the meeting began. They wandered outside and walked for a while, his hand intertwined with hers. He led her through some parts of the kingdom she'd never seen before, such as a plaza that contained the place he'd went to school at when he was young, a broken down building that he claimed used to be a library a century or two ago where he took his first shot of whiskey, and even the house where he'd lived as a child. The stroll had been mostly filled with idle talk and a few jokes, and Kensi loved how easy it was to converse with Deeks. His talkativeness was one of the many qualities that made her so attracted to him.

They'd almost circled back to the castle, now only a few paces from the front of the stable. Somehow they'd gotten on the topic of the prearranged marriage, and he'd mostly listened as she rambled about what a bastard Jack was, content to listen to her rant. Eventually, he asked, "What do you think's next for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, where are we gonna go? And I'm talking about us. You know, as a couple."

"I don't know." Deeks' face fell a bit and Kensi hurried to explain. "I didn't mean it like that, I just don't know. You know what I want. I know what you want. Now it's just a matter of if Hetty can work out a different deal with Granger. Then happily ever after, right?" Instead of replying, Deeks's face lost all color, eyes screwing shut. Before she could comprehend what was happening, he fell hard on his knees, nearly face-planting. She caught his shoulder, dropped to his side.

Before she could ask what happened, he was forcing out, "Kens.. my.. back."

Confused and terrified, she looked at his back, finding two arrows lodged into it. "Deeks!" she screamed, before yelling with as much force as she could, "Help! Somebody, please!"