So, I got a review from the last chapter saying it was rushed...Yeah. I know. I'm sorry you guys. I felt like I had kept you guys waiting for too long. But this one will be better!...I hope. And Also! I got a comment saying that this story was horrible. I'm fine taking criticism but whoever posted that, you didn't have to be so harsh and I'm sorry you didn't like the story.

Well let me shut up! Enjoy! (:

Chapter 4

I walked down the stairs, slowly, leisurely. My heart was soaring and I could barely feel my feet hit the soft carpet of the floor. I ended up in the kitchen find Father and Mark sitting and talking.

"Ah, Clare. We are planning the wedding now. What flowers do you like? Roses, daisies? Maybe lilies?" he asked. I smiled, taking a breath.

"Lilies, definitely lilies" I told them, sitting down. Mark smiled at me and greeted me.

"Good morning Princess" he said, his voice sweet.

"Good morning Mark" I told him, my voice just as sweet. And for that morning I, Father, and Mark planned a wedding, that apparently, wasn't going to happen. At around 1, we called it good for the day and I went outside, walking the paths out to the pastures and through the garden. I found a nice spot right in the middle of a wide, open meadow.

Wildflowers bloomed all around, in every spot. The sun was up and shining brightly, giving the meadow a gorgeous glow. Butterflies flitted around, and birds chirped flying as high as any cloud or star. The breeze blew by me, lifting my hair and the smell of flower wafted into my nostrils. I smiled and sat down, a pen and journal in hand. I crossed my legs and let my journal rest in my lap. I looked up at the blue sky and smiled a little, turning back to my journal. I smoothed my hand over the cover, remembering when I used to carry this thing around everywhere. I wrote in it everyday. Now, I haven't wrote in it in about 2 years. I read through old pages, laughing, crying and smiling to myself. I picked up my pen, and began writing, for old time's sakes.

June 19

Dear Diary,

Wow. It's been a long time since I've written in you. I'm not exactly sure what to say. Well, I'm getting married. Yeah, I know, I just thought I'd break the ice. Thought I'd rip it off quick. Like a band-aid, y'know? Um...yeah...not really fond of the man I'm supposed to be marrying. Mark. Prince Mark, or should I say. It was an arranged marriage. My Father thinks I need someone to take care of me. I don't. Period.

But that's not even the biggest of problems. I don't love him—Well, duh—but I love someone else. Eli. He's a stable boy, and he makes me feel like...like...I can do anything by myself or with him. With just one look, he can make me blush like crazy. And you don't even know what happens when he touches me, or even smiles at me. It's not normal what he can do to me. It's not...

Ugh! I...don't even know what to do. It's just seems like, everything—God, Mother Nature, Father—is trying to break me. They're all trying to make me into something I'm not. I can't run a kingdom! I can barely run my own life! How am I supposed to run, make decision and be in charge of other peoples lives? I just can't do it. I'm not ready. I'm not even ready for my own life. I'm only 17. Can't I have a life? Can't I? Or is my life supposed to be run by everyone else. When will my life start? When will I start living? When will my heart start beating for adventure and adrenaline and not just to stay alive? When?

I stopped writing, tears pouring down my face. I put the pen in the plush grass and I lifted my shaking hand. I stared at it, shaking violently, for a while then I looked back up at the clouds, and the birds. The butterflies, and the bees buzzing. I dried my tears, closing the diary, emotionally too tired to do—to take—anything else God wants to throw at me.

I lay back, my back hitting the soft, inviting grass. I ran my fingers through the green hair, picking flowers up and watching them blow away in the wind. I put my hands behind my head, and began cloud watching. I remember when I and Alli used to do this together. We would take a small blob of nothing and try to convince everyone it was a pirate ship. Or a Princess Bubblegum, Alli's used-to-be imaginary best friend. I smiled at the old memories.

I sighed and after an hour I got up, brushing the loose pieces of grass off my white dress. Yeah...not my best idea. I smiled to myself and walked over to the stables, hoping—praying actually—i would see Eli. As I got closer, I heard giggling. I cocked my head to the side. That's definitely not Drew or Eli... I thought to myself. I bent down and crept closer to the doorway. I peaked my head over the doorway and my heart broke and dropped to my feet. I saw Eli, alright.

His arms were wrapped around Imogen, him pressing her against one of the stable doors. Imogen's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, pressing his lips tighter against hers. His hands moved up her waist, closer and closer to her breast. My breathing stopped and I could barely register anything. So much for I love you. So much for I fucking love you. I stood up, and walked back to the palace, angry now. I went to my room, not sure what to do. I paced back and forth for a while, yelling at myself for being so stupid.

Finally—after about an hour of mental abuse—I sat on the floor by the edge of my bed and cried. The tears flowed out, and I practically drowned myself. Fiona came and checked on me a couple of times but I sent her away. To calm my nerves—and tears—I focused on my handwriting. I sat at my desk, turned on some music and practiced writing. In cursive and everything. At first, I began writing random words like, names or colors, but then it turned into more put together words...lyrics, if you may. I've never really been on for song writing and I really wouldn't call what I was writing 'lyrics' at all.

Soon, my Father knocked on my door and walked in. He sat on my bed, a worried expression on his face.

"Father?" I asked, turning around to face him. "You seemed...bothered" I pointed out.

"I am, sweetie. I am" he whispered, rubbing his forehead. "Prince Mark canceled the wedding" he announced. I smiled widely and fireworks went off in my head. I saw the look my Father was giving me and quickly removed my smile.

"T-that's terrible" I lied. He nodded his head. I sighed. "What are we going to do?" I asked him.

"Well, for now, were putting the marriage on hold. Like you said, your only 17. You should be able to live, first, before settling down" he told me, a smile creeping on his face towards the end. I smiled brightly at him, my eyes wide.

"Really?" I asked. He smiled wider and nodded. He stood up and laughed.

"Really" he confirmed. I jumped up, squealing, and ran to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I yelled gleefully. Father laughed and hugged me back. We pulled away and he cleared his throat.

"But you still must at least meet princes" he said, his eyebrows scrunching together. I nodded my head.

"Of course" I agreed. He nodded again and smiled. He kissed my forehead and left. After he was down the stairs, I squealed loudly and jumped for joy.

"Whoa, there" Ali giggled. "What are you smoking?" She asked. I laughed and pulled her in my room, closing the door.

"I am smoking a marry-prince-free life" I told, her my smile bright.

"No way!" she exclaimed. We hugged and I explained the whole conversation to her, including everything that happened with Eli.

"Are you okay?" she asked after the Eli Story. I nodded slowly.

"Of course. I just really hoped Eli wasn't that kind of guy. But I was wrong" I told her. She frowned at me and I gave her a smile in reassurance. She soon left and I was alone, wallowing in happiness. Someone knocked on my door.

"Come in" I yelled. The door opened, and then closed back shut. I looked and there stood Eli, his hair a wild mess. I turned back to my writing practices.

"Hello Eli" I deadpanned. "How was your morning?" I heard his footsteps walk behind my chair and stop, but I didn't look up from my paper.

"Um...fine" he said, his voice confused. "And yours Princess?" he asked. I hesitated, not answering for a long while.

"Interesting" I finally said. I stood up, brushing by him, and went to my balcony doors. I opened the curtains and the doors, letting in a warm breeze.

"Is everything okay?" Eli asked. I turned to him, a fake smile plastered on my face.

"Of course, everything's okay. Why wouldn't it be?" I asked. He stared at me for a while longer, and it finally hit him that I knew. I. Knew.

"Clare, look, I didn't want to" he rushed out, quickly. "She wouldn't leave me alone" I nodded my head.

"Oh, I'm sure" I droned. He came to me, grabbing my arm. He spun me around to face him and tears came to my eyes.

"It's the truth!" he quietly yelled.

"It doesn't matter what the truth is, you still did it!" I replied. "You still kissed her, and I still saw it!" I ripped my arm away from his and took a step back. He dropped his hand and suddenly became very interested in the floor. "I was really hoping you weren't one of those guys" I whispered. His head snapped up and he looked at me.

"I'm not! And you know that!" he said fiercely.

"Do I?"

"You should!" I scoffed.

"Okay, then tell me, what kind of guy are you?" I asked him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again out of words.

"I don't know" he whispered.

"Well, obviously not an honest one" I whispered back. He didn't respond and the silence was so thick, it began to feel like I was choking, even with the window open. I walked out, my feet padding softly against the carpeted floor. I walked down the stairs and turned into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it with lemonade. I drank it down quickly and leaned against the counter, tired. Eli and Imogen walked down the stairs, hand-in-hand, and went outside, probably to the horse stables. I went out to the back, and laid on the diving board, face up, my hand trailing in the water. Fiona came out and rolled up her jeans, sticking her feet in the water.

"So...I saw Eli and Imogen holding hands just a second ago" she said casually. I nodded my head, too afraid to speak. She didn't speak for a while. "Princess, I know what happened. Ali told me. She was worried about you, so she told me, so I could keep an eye on you" she whispered. "You've seemed down lately, even after you found out Prince Mark canceled. Are you okay?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, Fiona. I'm fine. I just, never knew how hard being a teenager was" I said, with a laugh. She smiled at me, and we stayed out there, talking and laughing. Ali soon came to join us, which added even more to the fun. Our chef, came out and brought us little sandwiches and glasses of lemonade, and we ate outside, enjoying the gorgeous day.

We came back inside and decided to continue our little girl time. We all took showers, shaving and washing hair, and then came back out. We got dressed in comfortable clothes and we each picked out a color for nails. Ali did my hair, while Fiona then Ali's hair then me and Ali both did Fiona's hair. After the hair salon, my hair was soft, yet wavy, like ocean waves. Ali's hair was pencil straight and she let us cut her hair—which honestly sounds like a terrible idea, but it turned out great—so now she has bangs, that stop right at her eyebrows. And Fiona's hair was curly, not exactly super curly but pretty curly. We all giggled and continued to work on our nails. For my nails I picked a really pretty ice blue. Ali wanted a hot pink—of course—and Fiona picked out a bright purple. We painted our nails and toenails, wiggling them around once we were done.

After they were dried, Fiona got called down by Father and me and Ali went downstairs as well. When we reached the end, we turned right and I stopped dead in my tracks.

Eli and Imogen were just walking in through the door, Fiona and Father were walking in from the kitchen, and Ali didn't know what to do. He smirked at me evilly, and bowed.

"Hello Clare. Long time, no see eh?" he announced, his voice thick with amusement.

"W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered. "Who let you in?" He laughed.

"Clare, you should know by now. I'm not exactly a rules-follower" he chuckled again, and my head started to pound.

"Get. Out" Father growled. He chuckled again, darker this time.

"No. I'm not leaving till I get what I want" he said, his eyes drifting towards me. He stepped closer and I watched him closely, analyzing his movements. I trailed back up to his eyes, and he winked at me. I shivered in disgust.

"And what exactly do you want?" I whispered, my confidence shooting up.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I don't come to a palace for no reason. Palaces have Kings, and Kings have, Princes and Princess and I want a Princess" he said, that same damn smirk on his face. I gulped and nodded, understanding. "See, now this isn't so bad is it?" he asked, gleefully. I looked at Ali and she had tears in her eyes. "Now I will be back, in two days to pick you up" he said, talking to me.

"And if she doesn't go?" Father said. He laughed darkly.

"If she doesn't go, this Kingdom will be no more" he said, his voice light. "Good day"

"Good day Reese" I whispered. He waggled his fingers at me and walked out, brushing by Eli an Imogen. Once he was gone, I let out a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. After a long silence, I finally spoke.

"I have to go" I whispered. Everyone's eyes snapped on mine.

"With him?" Father shouted. "I don't think so!"

"Father, you heard what he said! If I don't go, then this Kingdom will be gone and Reese isn't the type of person to bluff!" I shouted back.

"It's your life!" Ali told me.

"And what's one life compared to hundreds of thousands of people!" I shouted at everyone. Everyone was quiet then. The only thing you could hear was the ticking of the clock. "I will not have people die because of me. That's not the kingdom I want to run" I whispered, after the silence became too much for me to handle.

"If you go with him, you will have no kingdom to run" Ali reasoned with me.

"But if I don't go with him, there won't be a kingdom for anyone to run" I snapped. "I have to do what's right" I whispered. I stared at the floor for a while, then finally turned back up the stairs and to my room. I grabbed my suitcase and began packing.

Ha ha, whoa! Um, this was totally not the plan I had in mind for this story, but I realized I haven't really had any good drama with Reese and all so...ta-daw! (: Okay, well, tell me what you think and suggestions are ALWAYS good! (: Thanks you guys!