The following morning, Maya was awaken by her lady's maids, Gretchen and Sarah. Maya was lucky enough to have grown close enough to her lady's maids for them to call her by her first name. She cringed every time somebody called her "your highness" or "m'lady". It just didn't sound right.

"Good morning, Maya." Gretchen greeted her as she pulled open the curtains to let the sun come in and Sarah placed a silver platter full of food on her lap.

"Good morning." Maya grumbled. Despite her general kindness and respect for her lady's maids, she was not a morning person. Luckily, Gretchen and Sarah were used to it by now.

"Did you sleep well?" Sarah asked.

"I did, but you know me." Maya lied. In all honesty, her upcoming wedding was putting so much stress on her that she barely got any sleep anymore. She hoped once she and Lucas were actually married the stress would go away. She wasn't sure she would live very long if it were to continue after marriage.

"Just a reminder from the Duke and Duchess: Prince Lucas is coming back into town at noon for more wedding decisions." Gretchen reminded her.

"Oh, right." Maya sighed as she remembered her fiancé was coming back into town. Lucas had been overseas dealing with trade with another kingdom. He had invited Maya to come along but she had always been weary of boats and ships since she was a little girl. Maya was happy to get some distance from Lucas so she didn't have to focus on her wedding all of the time. Since Lucas had left, she was being measured and fitted for a dress.

After Maya finished her breakfast, she told her lady's maids she was planning on going for a walk but that was not the truth at all. When Maya knew she was going to be spending a majority of the day working on her wedding, she would take off early in the morning and go to the town's square, wearing a cloak over her head to disguise herself and go to the seamstress. They put a new dress on display every day so Maya always enjoyed looking at what new creation the seamstress had come up with that day. She was pretty sure the seamstress was getting upset with her because she had been caught a few times staring at the display dress but never entered the store.

As usual, Maya came up to the seamstress's shop in the town and saw a beautiful dress on display. The dress was as green as the grass with gold accents and a white center. As usual, Maya wished she could have it but that would mean having to walk into the store and revealing her identity to the seamstress. She liked going to the town in a cape. She was just like everybody else.

"Looking at the dress again?" A male voice said behind her. Maya saw the shadow of a man step beside her. She quickly covered her face with the hood of her cloak so he wouldn't recognize her. The last thing she needed was for somebody to realize the princess was in the village thereby causing a scene.

"I see you come here often," the man continued. "Yet, you haven't gone in the store. Why not?"

"Because I don't have the money to buy a dress as beautiful as that one." Maya stated. She just wished this man would leave her alone.

The man was silent for a while until he spoke again.

"The dress is beautiful, isn't it?" The man asked her.

"Indeed." Maya replied. "The seamstress is very talented."

"That wasn't the seamstress who made that!" The man snapped. "It was my sister, Riley. She works for the seamstress but she takes credit for all of her work."

Maya finally looked the man in the eyes. He was of average height, but still taller than she was. His caramel brown hair was swept across his forehead and looked slightly matted, like it hadn't been brushed or washed in the last few days. His face was covered in dirt but nonetheless, had a beautiful tanned tone. His eyes were a piercing shade of blue that seemed to capture her attention right away. He wasn't the most handsome man she had ever met, in fact, Lucas was probably better looking. But Maya never wanted the best in life. She wanted good but never the best. If she had the best, there was no room for improvement.

The man made eye contact with her when his blue eyes widened and Maya must have realized she was the princess of the town. He was about to kneel in front of her and ask for forgiveness but she stopped him.

"No, please don't do that." Maya said grabbing his shoulders and pulling him up off the ground. "I don't want to cause a scene."

"I'm so sorry, your highness." The man said.

"Call me Maya." She replied as she returned her attention to the dress.

"Okay… Maya." The man said with a scared voice. He was nervous that maybe that was just a test then she would reign down upon him and have him banished to the dungeons. However, that didn't happen. "I'm Farkle."

"Pleasure to meet you." Maya replied, still not tearing her gaze away from the dress and ignoring the oddness of his name.

They were silent for a bit longer. Maya couldn't believe the effect this boy was having on her. She had barely said anything to him and she already felt different around him; much more different than she had any other boy. She had butterflies in her stomach and her heart wasn't beating properly.

Farkle couldn't believe that he was in the presence of royalty. She was beautiful and also made him feel a bit weird inside. He didn't know if he was starting to get ill or if he had feelings for her. Well, of course he had feelings for her! She was a princess and he was a blacksmith. It was the typical poor boy meets rich girl story.

"Your sister makes these dresses you say?" Maya finally asked.

"Yes." Farkle replied. "She's very talented."

"Indeed she is." Maya answered.

"You kind of look like her." Farkle mentioned.

Just as Maya was about to reply, she caught the eye of the seamstress and knew it was time to go. She lowered her cloak over her head once again and began to dash out of the village.

"Wait!" Farkle exclaimed after her. "Where are you going?"

"I have to get back to the castle now." Maya said. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Wait! Wait!" Farkle called again. Once Maya was nearly out of the village she turned around to face him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Would it be possible for you to give my sister the credit she deserves?" Farkle asked.

"Fire the seamstress?" Maya asked.

"Not necessarily," Farkle replied. "Just make sure she gets the credit for her dresses is all."

Maya sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you so much, your highness." Farkle answered.

"Don't call me that." Maya teased as she turned around and ran back to her home, leaving Farkle standing in the cobblestone streets with a smile on his face.

The seamstress came back into the store after chasing the girl in the window in a very unladylike manner. Riley really didn't understand what was so wrong with the girl who was staring up at her dress. Riley knew she would be doing the same thing if she wasn't already working here. The poor girl probably couldn't afford the dress on display. Not many people in the village could. She was probably staring at it in admiration hoping and wishing she could buy a dress like that one day. Riley appreciated that more that a stuck up woman with a rich husband coming in to buy a dress for the grand ball.

"Ugh," Missy groaned as she returned to the parlor, her hair stuck up in various strands from running after the cloaked girl. "Mark my words, I'm going to catch that girl one day."

Riley, as usual, didn't say anything even though she couldn't disagree with her boss more. Missy turned her head and shot daggers at Riley who had stopped sewing for a moment to listen to what the evil seamstress had to say.

"What are you doing?!" Missy screeched. "The grand ball is coming up and ladies from all over the land will be coming here to get a dress and I can not have you taking a break."

"Sorry," Riley muttered as she returned to her handiwork.

"Sorry wouldn't cut it." Missy said. "If I catch you slacking off again, you'll be fired."

"Yes, ma'am." Riley said as she continued to sew the needle through the fabric.

Around noon, Riley was allowed a small lunch break while Missy worked the front counter. Riley noticed Missy selling one of her dresses to a woman who looked far too large to fit into that particular dress.

"That will be twenty- five dollars." Missy said to the plump lady.

Just as the lady was fishing the money out of her bag, Riley appeared beside Missy. The dress she was selling was valued at one hundred dollars, not twenty- five. If Missy sold it for twenty- five, Riley would actually be paying for the dress instead of earning money for it.

"Actually, that dress is one hundred dollars." Riley stated to both Missy and the woman.

"Riley," Missy said in a false sweet tone. "I already told the wonderful customer the dress was twenty- five."

"I know, ma'am." Riley stated. "But if you sell the dress for twenty- five, I'll owe you twenty- five dollars."

"Why one earth would you owe me such money?" Missy asked.

"Because I made the dress." Riley stated.

"Oh, my." Missy stated looking to the customer. "My poor, confused apprentice. Riley I made this dress, don't you remember? You made that one."

Missy pointed to the corner of the store where one of her own less frivolous creations lay.

"No, that's yours." Riley said. "This is mine."

"Can we please have this conversation in private?" Missy asked.

"Sure," Riley said as she threw her arms up in there air and went to the back room.

"That will still be twenty- five dollars." Missy told the lady.

The plump woman handed her the twenty- five dollars and arrogantly snatched the dress.

"No!" Riley exclaimed as she grabbed the hem of the dress and tried to pull it away from the woman.

"Riley!" Missy exclaimed as she pulled Riley away from the dress. The woman rolled the dress up in her arm and walked out of the store but not before giving Riley a dirty look.

Before Missy could say anything about how they were going to lose customers because of her little outburst, Riley flew back to the back room and out the back entrance. She kept running once she was outside. Where she was going, she didn't know, but she needed some time and some air. Hot tears began to stain her eyes and she rubbed those away as she ran. Finally, she looked down to see the hem of her skirt was covered in water and she had reached the ocean. She fell down there because there was no where else to run. She cried for a while until she heard a massive explosion that caught her attention.

Prince Lucas was on a ship on his way back to visit his fiancee and continue planning their wedding. The trade with the foreign land had gone swimmingly and he could not wait to tell his future wife that they had agreed to trade with her land as well.

He had concluded that he would be happy with Maya but a part of him wished for something more. He loved Maya and had known her his whole life but he had always wished for something more. He loved her like a sister. He enjoyed spending time with her, he liked poking fun at her but he never wanted her to be his wife. He knew this was going to happen from the time he was old enough to comprehend the idea of marriage but that didn't really mean he wanted it to happen. He never expressed these feelings to her because he was confused about how she felt. Somedays when they would be picking out details for their wedding, she would seem disconnected and upset, like she didn't want to be here. Other days, she was as happy as ever to see him. He didn't want to break off the wedding when she might think of him as more than a brother.

Lucas looked off the port bow to see a large crowd of people standing on a plateau on Maya's land. He knew he had a while before they could see him and he would have to start waving back. He couldn't make out a single face in the audience so that told him he had a moment.

Off in the distance, Lucas saw another figure on the other side of the land. He could tell it was just one person and they seemed to be sitting in the middle of the sea. They were bent over like they were crying. Luckily, the person seemed to be in a somewhat secluded area; nobody from the plateau could see them. Lucas was about to ask for a telescope to view the person when a loud bang erupted from below and the ship turned drastically to the right.

Lucas turned around to see a large hole the middle of the ship. He looked down to see what had caused the disturbance. In the corner were a few wooden crates that Lucas knew contained gunpowder. He also noticed the torches they used last night and early in the morning to see in the rocky ocean were at the bottom, close to the gunpowder and didn't seem to be blown out quite yet.

Gunpowder + fire…

Lucas was about to shout a warning to abandon ship when a small flame came in contact with a crate of gunpowder and another explosion happened. This time however, Lucas was knocked off his feet, landing in the deep, dark ocean, unconscious.

Riley had witnessed the whole thing. The ship was still far away but from the two explosions that had happened, she could tell it wasn't good. Riley had always possessed a curious soul. Sometimes it got her into trouble and other times it did her some good. This incident could go either way but she had to know what had happened.

Riley ripped the top layer of her dress off as well as the heavy tulle under her skirt and jumped in the water, swimming out to the wreckage. She was a pretty good swimmer and always had been. She knew nothing about saving lives though. She hoped she wouldn't be the difference of life or death for a person.

Finally, she reached the sight of the wreckage when the third explosion went off. It seemed like most of the crew were on the rescue boat and others were swimming back to shore. All except for one man who she only briefly saw on top of a piece of drift wood, then slide under the water. Riley dove down for him, grabbing underneath his shoulder and doing her best to keep him above water. She didn't have a chance to look at him but she could tell when the water would come up past his shoulders.

Riley eventually got to a level she could comfortably walk in and dragged the man on the shore. Before she even looked at his face, she checked for a pulse to see if it was too late. She felt a strong pulse coming from his neck and sighed in relief. Finally, she looked up to see who she had just saved and her eyes widened as soon as she realized who it was.

Riley quickly stood up and began shouting for help when she realized she had rescued Prince Lucas. He, above all people in this village, had to be saved. However, she was too far away from any civilians for them to hear her. She debated leaving the prince right where he was and going to find help or staying with him. Since this was a poorer part of town and Riley knew some of the poor liked to come out here and would possibly ransack the prince of everything in his possession, she decided to stay. She bent down beside him before laying her legs down next to his and propping her upper body up so she could look at him.

He really was very handsome. He had dark blond hair and tanned skin that was now freckled with white sand. His mouth was slightly open, emitting soft breaths. The sun was already beginning to dry the water from his face but his hair still remained wet. He was unconscious but he made Riley feel different. There was just something about him.

Just as Riley moved to touch his face to see if his skin felt as soft as it looked, he started to cough and began to sit up. Riley fell back on her calfs so she could give him enough room to sit up properly. The prince's eyes eventually came into contact with hers. They stared at each other for a while, not saying any words. It was comfortable but it still made her feel funny.

"M-Maya?" He asked softly. Was this his future wife and why was she suddenly making him feel this way?

"Sorry?" The girl asked. Lucas realized this wasn't Maya but instead somebody who looked exactly like her.

"My apologies," Lucas replied. "You just look exactly like somebody I know."

Riley merely nodded this time looking at the ground. She should probably leave him alone. He didn't care about a lowly peasant girl like her.

"Are you feeling all right? Can you walk?" She asked.

"Yes," Lucas said. "I'm fine."

Riley nodded in the same fashion again.

"I best be going." Riley said as she stood up and gathered the rest of her dress.

"Wait!" Lucas exclaimed as he shot up so fast he almost fell over.

Riley turned back around to give him her attention.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"That's not important." Riley said.

"Of course it is," Lucas replied. "How else am I going to be able to recommend you for a prize?"

"I'm not interested in any prize." Riley said.

"Well, maybe I just want to know your name." Lucas replied.

"There's no need." Riley said again. "We won't ever see each other again."

"How do you know that?" Lucas asked.

"I just do." Riley said as she turned back around, heading to the village.

"Wait!" Lucas exclaimed yet again causing Riley to turn back around.

"Thank you for saving my life." He said.

Riley weakly smiled at him. "Anybody that could have done it would have, your highness."

"I'm not so sure of that." Lucas replied. "And please, call me Lucas. If we ever are to meet again."

"But we're not."

"Well, everybody's wrong once in a while."

"I sincerely hope I am."

This time Riley turned away from the prince and walked back to the village and into the seamstress' shop. She hoped she hadn't been fired yet but seeing as the grand ball was going to be coming up soon, she more than likely was not.

"Riley!" Missy exclaimed as she took in the sight of her water drenched employee, holding the fabric that made her dress and the tulle underneath the skirt. "Ugh, we will discuss your outburst tomorrow. I need you to help make the dresses for the grand ball but after that, you're fired."

Riley sighed. She had been expecting this.

"Yes, ma'am." Riley said as she left the shop and retuned home.

If it had been a normal day for Riley and she had been fired, she would probably go home crying. However, today was far from normal and she found herself smiling every time she thought of Prince Lucas and the way he looked at her today.

AN: And there is your Little Mermaid inspired chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

Follow, favorite and review!