A/N: Okay, I'm sorry for the delay on this one! My amazing Beta-reader was out of the country and couldn't check my story up until June 2nd, hence why I post it now :D.

I hope you still know what the story is about, if not, re-read the first chapter (only the end) and you'll know it again :D. Thanks for adding this story to your alerts! (15 alerts only for the first chapter, I mean WOW! :D)
It makes me feel like I write this story with a purpose :D.

Thanks again to Donnamour1969 for beta-ing. Check out her stories! :D

Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.

Patrick noticed that the family was almost there, by the way all the servants ran around frantically, trying to get the last things right before the royal presence expanded to seven people.

Patrick saw that his father calmly walked over to his throne in the Throne Hall. He decided to join him, and sat down in the throne next to him.

They had once had three thrones, for his father, for him, and for Angela. But after Angela's death, Patrick couldn't stand seeing the feminine throne on the other side of his father not being occupied, and asked if it could be removed. They removed it, and now, there were only two thrones.

There was a tray with steps at both sides of it. He had liked it as a child, running around, up and down from it. Now, it only meant he had to sit motionless and behave properly.

Patrick wondered what it would be like in the castle of King Minelli. There were five in their family-one King, one princess and three princes. Did they have five thrones?

The head maid, Madeleine, entered the Throne Hall, and motioned to the King that their visitors had arrived.

Then, the guards that stood on each side of the big doors moved to open them.

The other family entered, first King Minelli, then his sons. They reminded Patrick of himself, being forced to stand up straight and walk in the exact way all princes had to walk.

And then, princess Teresa entered the Throne Hall, and Patrick came to his feet.

He had to admit, she was by no means ugly.

She had raven colored hair, braided then tied into a bun, a bit of it hanging down from her head and at her neck. She was wearing a dark red dress, the kind of dress he had always seen on princesses, golden lines punctuating her stomach, the outsides of her breasts and her shoulders. The ends of the sleeves were wider, the fabric of a beautiful gold.

The dress went all the way to the floor, making the princess appear taller than she actually was.

She looked at him, and he looked away. For seven years, he'd avoided people's eyes, afraid that they would get to see how much pain he was in.

"Gale, how great to see you again!" King Minelli exclaimed, and King Bertram laughed, standing up from his throne. They were soon involved in an interesting chat about the lovely old times, when they were still young.

The rest of the group stood there awkwardly, listening to the conversation as if it were interesting.

James, after many minutes, coughed subtly, and the two stopped talking.

"Oh, thank you, James," King Minelli said, and then turned to Patrick.

"You must be Patrick. You've grown a lot since I last saw you, young man," Minelli said, and Patrick nodded, in thanks to the old man.

"Gale, these are my sons, James, Michael and Thomas," Minelli said, pointing to the three as he said their names.

"And this...This is Teresa." Teresa stepped from behind her brothers, reaching out her hand for Bertram to shake, and she bowed.

He smiled at how beautiful she was.

Then, he turned to his son, and motioned to greet Teresa as well. Patrick sighed, and shook Teresa's hand, all the while avoiding eye contact.

He didn't want to grow fond of her; he was afraid he would forget Angela. She was his only wife and always would be.

Teresa frowned when she noticed Patrick was avoiding her gaze.

Not that she liked this, but she was taught proper manners when it came to introducing herself to other people. So she just bowed respectfully, not caring that he didn't bow back.

She returned to her father's side then, and hooked her arm in his.

He patted her arm gently, before smiling at Bertram again.

"Let's eat! I'm hungry!" he said, and rubbed his stomach.

The rest laughed, but Teresa looked at Patrick, noticing how he stood next to his father, clearly not amused by everything that was happening. She brushed it away, and King Bertram, Prince Patrick and their visitors went to the tables to eat.

After a lot of laughter from both kings, a few of King Bertram's knights joined at the table, at a respectful distance from all the nobles.

Teresa was bored. Being the only woman had always annoyed her and she couldn't get used to it. She already was thankful to King Bertram for accepting her at the table with the men, otherwise she had to eat alone. He liked her; she could see that. And she didn't dislike him either. Marrying Patrick would give her a nice father-in-law.

When she finished her meal, she excused herself from the table. She felt Patrick's eyes burning on her back, but she ignored it, deciding to explore the castle.

Teresa knew every bit of her castle; there wasn't a corner where she hadn't been. But here, it felt like she had to explore everything.

The castle wasn't as big as their castle, which wasn't strange since King Bertram and Prince Patrick were the only nobles here, and she lived with five other nobles, but it was still a beautiful castle.

When she reached the chapel, a happy feeling washed over her. She touched the cross on her necklace. Religion was very important to her, for it used to be the only thing she had. In between all the courtly etiquette and dancing lessons, she sneaked into the chapel to pray. Mostly, she prayed for her mother to come back.

Her mother loved to ride a horse outside the castle, in the woods. But after a ride, she became sick, the Black Death, and died within days. It was because of that Teresa and her brothers weren't allowed to ride their horses in the woods.

Teresa entered the chapel, and immediately saw two men sitting in the front row. They looked up, and when they saw the tiara on her head, they bowed.

She approached them.

"You are Princess Teresa of Tara," the taller one stated. She nodded.

"I am."

The two looked at each other.

She sat down on one of the benches, folded her hands, and started the prayer she always did when she was younger.

After a while, she felt the two men were still looking at her, and she sighed.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she asked, and the two looked at each other again.

"We've never seen a princess before," the shorter one deadpanned. Teresa smiled.

"No?"

"No."

"What are your names?"

The shorter one took a step towards her, and reached out his hand.

She took it.

"My name is Kimball, knight of King Bertram, and this is Wayne, he's a knight as well. Not a good one," he said, and the taller one's eyes widened.

Wayne shook his head in annoyance. He walked away, not even excusing himself.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, he's a bit confused," Kimball said, bowing down and leaving Teresa.

She laughed about the two, and continued the prayer she'd started a few moments before, now not to herself but aloud.

"Mary, holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,

into thy hands and those of thy blessed Son now

and forever I commit myself, body, soul and spirit.

Lord deliver me from all evil,

from all sins and from all the temptations of the Devil

and keep me in all perils.

Sweet Lord Jesus defend me,

giving my body strength and my soul health,

enduring me with the will to do what is right,

and to live justly in this world, and not to fail.

Grant me remission of all my sins.

Lord, save me waking, save me sleeping-"

"That I may sleep in peace and awake in Thee in the glory of paradise," somebody added, interrupting her.

She turned around, and saw that Prince Patrick had entered the chapel as well.

She sighed and turned to look at the statue of Mary in front of her.

He sat down beside her.

"I'm sorry I didn't act properly to you back in the Great Hall, but-"

"But what? I don't like this either, I just want to be home with my best friend Grace and not getting married at all. Believe me, I'm not ready for this, and-"

"You wouldn't understand why I'm acting like this."

"No?" Teresa asked, sarcastically.

He sighed. He looked at the statue too. His heart broke every time he saw that damned thing. A beautiful woman, holding her baby in her arms.

He stood and walked away, leaving a confused Teresa.

-YulianaHenderson-

Patrick re-entered the Great Hall, where King Minelli and King Bertram were still talking.

They looked up when they saw him.

"Is something wrong?" Patrick's father asked when he saw his expression. But Patrick waved it away.

He sat down next to James, who looked the oldest of the three young men. Maybe Patrick could have a little chat with him, find out what kind of woman Teresa was.

If he'd wanted to talk, which he really didn't.

After a long, silent, awkward moment (at least for Patrick) Teresa entered the room. She walked over to her father and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Father," she said, then smiled at her brothers and left.

For some reason, Patrick had a strange feeling in his stomach.

-YulianaHenderson-

"Your Highness, my name is Summer and I'll be assisting you with everything you need help with in the next few days," a young woman said when she entered Teresa's room.

Teresa had been lying on her bed for half an hour, thinking about things.

She sat up straight, and looked at Summer. The girl was beautiful, but really young. Teresa estimated her to be around sixteen.

Teresa smiled at her. She knew she would do most of the things she normally did with Grace, like putting on her dress or doing her hair, alone, because she couldn't cope with getting help from such a young girl.

"Summer, I should already warn you that-"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I don't want to hear a thing about it. I signed on with King Bertram myself; it's my only way of surviving. Please, let me help you," Summer said.

Teresa smiled at the determination of this girl, and it was nice to hear a remark from a normal person. So she stood up, and walked towards Summer.

"Are you tired, Your Highness?"

"Yes, I am."

"Let me help you with your clothes," Summer stated, and Teresa turned around. Summer opened her dress, while Teresa stared at the wall.

"Do you know Prince Patrick?" Teresa suddenly asked, and Summer stopped for a moment, before continuing again.

"A bit. I don't have a close relationship with him, but we sometimes chat. He loves children. He is a sad man, really," Summer said, while loosening Teresa's dress and giving her the opportunity to let it slide to the floor.

"How well do you know him, Your Highness?"

"Please, call me Teresa," Teresa said, and Summer smiled faintly, "and I don't know him at all. I have only heard stories."

"Really?" Summer asked, clearly surprised. Well, of course Teresa didn't know him; nobody knew Prince Patrick since he didn't let anyone.

"Really."

"Well, I can tell you some things about him. But let's first get you ready for the night's prayers," Summer said, and enthusiastically continued helping Teresa with her dress.

-YulianaHenderson-

"What did you just say, Tommy?" Michael asked.

Thomas looked up from the book he was reading.

He was the only one who liked reading, though he didn't want to admit it. But he felt as if reading was an important part of one's upbringing. He said he'd heard stories of bishops, even the pope, selling poor people 'tickets to heaven'. They were too stupid to know that everything the church did was bad, wasn't what God had wanted. They couldn't read, and especially not Latin, the language all the Bibles were written in. That had been many years ago, but Thomas didn't want that to happen to them as well.

He wanted to know what stood written in things, instead of letting somebody read it for them.

He shrugged.
"Nothing."

He continued reading, but absent-mindedly.

There were only a few guest rooms, and since their father had to have a room for himself because he was a king, and Teresa had to get one for herself because she was the only woman, that meant that the three boys had to share two rooms. James had one bedroom for his own, so that meant that Thomas and Michael had to share one. Not that they minded, however.

Strong alliances had formed among the four children, leaving duos fighting against each other at times.

James and Teresa were the oldest, and the wisest, so they always worked together as one. James never let anyone hurt Teresa, for she was his "little sister" – even though she was older than him. Teresa, on the other hand, only teamed up with James because he was more mature than Thomas and Michael were, and because he rarely lost a game they played.

And then you had Mike and Tommy, the two immature ones. Not strange considering their age, but still annoying to their elders.

"You said something?"

Thomas shrugged.

"I don't think that this whole predestined marriage is going to end well. I don't believe that our Tessie is going to last that long with Patrick, taking in mind that she hates men with a big ego."

Michael laughed.
"How can she love you then?" Michael teased.

"Not funny! What I'm trying to say is that this isn't going to work."

Michael didn't seem to doubt this.

He nodded.

"True."

"Are we going to do something about it?" Michael asked.

Thomas put down his book.

"What do you want to do?"

"Put them together in a room and let them speak alone," Michael offered, to which Thomas gave a mischievous smile.

"That sounds like an interesting idea, Brother."

-YulianaHenderson-

"Tessie!" Thomas' voice came yelling through the halls, and Teresa stopped.

She had many nicknames; almost everybody she knew had his or her own version of her name.

For Thomas, for example, she was Tessie. He didn't want to call her Teresa because that sounded too old. A nun in the chapel was called Teresa; he didn't want to call his sister, who was barely seven years older than him, that.

For Michael, she was Reese. The name had come from when Michael was younger, and he couldn't pronounce her name properly. It always sounded more like Reese than Teresa.

For James, she was Tess. Just a shorter version of Teresa, with which he teased her quite a lot, because she was short.

But for her father, she was Teresa. Or Lisbon. Now that she thought about it, she hardly ever called her brothers by their actual given names either. Her brothers were not James, Michael and Thomas to her, they were Jamie, Mike and Tommy to her. And she had the feeling it would stay like that forever.

Teresa wasn't in a hurry, though she was walking quite fast. She didn't even know where she was going.

"Yes, Tommy?"

"I... I saw something, in the garden here. I think you might enjoy it," he said. She sighed, and followed him outside.

Much to her surprise, and displeasure, Prince Ignorant himself was there as well. She moved to get back inside immediately, but Thomas was quicker, and before she knew it, she was alone in the garden with the prince.

They stood there awkwardly, before Patrick motioned to the bench placed nearby. It wasn't until she was sitting that he sat down as well.

"We don't seem to like each other very much, do we?" she asked after a long silence. He shook his head.

"I believe we don't, no."

And then they were silent again.

"Tell me about your wife and daughter. Don't fret, I don't own magic powers of some sort; one of the maids told me."

"Summer?" he asked, and when she nodded, he grinned.

"I need to make that girl stop talking. What do you know?" he asked.

She sighed.

"Only that they were murdered," she said, and still, after all these years, the truth hit Patrick just a bit too hard.

She saw, and her eyes immediately showed sympathy. He shook his head.

"Don't...Don't worry... It's just...It still hurts," he said, and stood up. "Walk with me."

He reached out his hand, gently pulling her to her feet, and walked with her inside the castle.

"I met my former wife, Angela, when I was travelling. I met her in town. I took her with me, but, without the permission of my father, we couldn't get married. We just stayed together. My father hoped that I would eventually change my mind and marry whom I was supposed to marry-you. Because we weren't married, Charlotte, our daughter, wasn't being treated like a princess; she was a normal girl just like Angela. They would never become queens, not even princesses. But I loved them very much. Charlotte's future was not bright; she would eventually get killed by people that didn't agree with me. But I hadn't figured it would happen that quickly. When she had only been five years, the evil man Red John killed Angela and Charlotte, out of revenge for not sticking to our beliefs. If Angela and I were married, I wouldn't have to marry you," he said, causing her to shoot him an angry glare. "Nothing personal. It's just... the loss of people you love is heavy to bear, sometimes. But you wouldn't understand."

"No? My mother died when I was twelve-the Black Death. She likely got it from a ride in the woods. My father has forbidden us to go into the woods ever since, and since then, I've never been in the woods again. My father is the perfect example of how losing a loved one can pain you, and it has affected me as well. Because I can remember our mother, I am saddened every time I see little children with their mothers, or women with dark hair. Believe me, I know what you're going through," she stated. He stopped walking.

"That's not very useful, letting two heavily scarred persons marry each other," he said, dryly, and she laughed.

The sound warmed his heart in this alien way, this feeling he hadn't felt in a while.

He smiled, and started walking again.

"This Grace you talked about earlier-what kind of woman is she? Because we have two nitwit knights who can use some proper fun, I believe."

Teresa laughed.

"Ah, you mean Knights Wayne and Kimball?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yes, those two."

"Well, they could come with me and my family when we go back," she said, and he smiled.

"That's settled then." They both laughed and walked into the Great Hall.

-YulianaHenderson-

Summer was just cleaning up when she heard a knock on the door. She immediately ran to open it, and was greeted by Kimball's blank face. He walked inside, closed the door behind him, and pushed Summer against the wall.

When he saw that Summer was dumbfounded at this sudden move of indecent intent, he laughed. He kissed her for a brief moment, before pulling away slightly, and brushed a hand across her cheek.

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded.

"Great," he said, and was about to walk away when Summer grabbed his arm.

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Start something that you're not gonna continue," she said, approaching him seductively.

"But-"

"Shh, my knight in shining armor; don't talk," she said, laying down on the bed and pulling Kimball with her.

A/N: Chummer! :D I know that Summer isn't in the show anymore, but I can dream, right? I loved Chummer so much, I was literally crying when Summer left the show. Really, do they HAVE to destroy our ships every freaking time?
Oh well, next chapter is gonna be M-rated! A bit of it, actually, not the entire chapter, lol :D. I know that it might be a bit fast for them (I have the feeling you already know for who the M-rated part is, right? Our favorite characters :D), but I mean: Come on. This story is AU, I don't care that Jane is scarred in this one :D. Lisbon is really beautiful and sweet and I just don't want her to wait for 8 years in this story as well. She deserves a chance, you know?

Let me know what you think in a REVIEW, thank you! :D