I stared in awe, while unknowingly leaning closer to Char's side of the carriage. "It's amazing" I said, looking out at the huge light grey stoned castle which now stood before us. "You'd get lost in there…"

"It takes a bit of getting used to" Char said, causing me to jump a little.

I hadn't realised that our faces had gotten that close. Every little freckle on his face was visible; I never noticed that he had that many. My hand longed to touch his cheek, and I could see in his eyes that he was also deep in thought. All of a sudden, the carriage ran over a rock and my body involuntarily pressed up against his. I quickly apologized and returned back to my side of the carriage.

We sat in silence after that, and watched as the carriage approached the main gates to the castle. There were seven guards keeping watch around the entrance. They opened the huge steel gates for us and we made our way up the pathway. Eric jumped off the carriage and opened the door for us. He then informed Char that he was to see his father in the main dining room at once. Char nodded and asked me to come with him so he could introduce me to his parents. He held my hand tightly as we rushed through the corridors, up the staircase and into the main dining area, where Char came to a complete stop.

The King and Queen were seated at a large table, accompanied by an older lady and what looked like her daughter. The young woman, who looked about my age, had long blonde hair and looked rather well off if her dress had anything to say about her. Everyone stopped talking and looked in our direction.

"Well it's about time young man! I thought I sent word for you to come in here immediately" The King spoke rather rudely, given that he had quests with him. He suddenly realised this and apologized to the lady and her daughter, saying that Char isn't normally late like this.

"I'm sorry Father, we were held up because of the storm". He let go of my hand and motioned for me to come further into the room with him. "This is Ella, she's from the town of Frell and I thought that…"

"I didn't know you were hosting any of the tour guides" His mother, Queen of Kyrria suddenly spoke up.

"Mother, she's a guest!" Char informed her.

At that moment, the mother of the young blonde girl coughed to gain attention.

"Lady Margaret, I'm terribly sorry. Please forgive us" The Queen said. "Char, this is Lady Margaret of Bast and her lovely young daughter, Isabelle".

"Pleased to finally meet you, Prince Charmont" Lady Margaret smiled.

"Likewise" Char answered, sounding a little annoyed.

Isabelle just sat there smiling at Char, checking him out from head to toe. I apparently was invisible. This is extremely awkward I thought to myself, should I just leave?

"Char, take a seat. We would like to discuss a couple of matters with you" The King sternly demanded.

"I better go" I whispered to Char. By the look on his face, he was clearly not impressed with the whole situation.

"No, you only just got here!" He said, turning to face me and taking hold of my hands.

I wriggled my hands free from his grip and apologized to everyone in the room before quickly making an exit. I heard Char call my name, but I ignored him and walked down the hallway, a little upset that his parents clearly were not interested in knowing me. Just as I turned one of the corners rather swiftly, I accidentally bumped into someone carrying pillows.

"Oh, forgive me. I'm so sorry" I said, bending down to help pick some of the pillows up from the floor.

"That's ok. Lucky I was only carrying pillows and not crockery" A middle aged woman said, as she looked over at me. "You're the girl I saw arrive with the Prince, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah" I said a little awkwardly, handing her back the pillows.

"Hi, my name is Kathy. I'm one of the castle maids"

"I'm Ella" I smiled politely.

"You came all the way from Frell?" She asked.

"Yes. It was quite a long journey"

"Oh, you must be starving! Come with me, I'll make you something and you can tell me all about it".

I followed Kathy into the kitchen and took a seat on a nearby stool. She made me a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich and handed me a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you very much"

"That's no problem at all my dear, I have to make sure Char's guests are well looked after" She smiled, taking a seat on the stool opposite me. "Especially seeing as though you're the first lady he's actually invited into the castle"

I swallowed what was in my mouth and looked over at her. "I thought Char would've had many girls…"

"Well, yes. Daughters of rich mothers are constantly begging to meet him, but he's never actually -"

"Kathy!" A man in a chef's hat rushed over with a silver platter full of food. "Can you attend to our real quests, this platter needs to be taken to the dining room immediately!" The man left it on the table and rushed back into the kitchen.

"I'm dreadfully sorry" Kathy said to me. "I hope I get the chance to talk with you again, Ella". And with that, she picked up the platter and rushed out the room.

After I had finished eating, I decided to check out the castle on my own. So I made my way down a long corridor until I came to a huge open floored room. This must be the ballroom, I thought to myself as I admired its grandeur. Over to the far left I noticed a huge balcony, so I made my way through the room to go have a look. I rested against the balcony rail and admired the wonderful view of Lemeah. I could see outside the walls of the castle and down at the people selling goods at the local market place. I took it all in and sighed heavily.

At least an hour must have passed by before I heard someone yelling my name from the courtyard below. I looked down and saw Char frantically searching around for me.

"I'm up here" I called out to him.

"Ella!" He called out in relief, as he looked up and saw me. "Wait right there!"

I nodded and looked out at the horizon. Before I knew it, Char had rushed through the castle, reached my side and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh thank heavens!" He breathed heavily. "I've been looking all over for you; I thought you'd left the castle"

As I continued to stare at the horizon I let out a short laugh. "I'm not going to travel for five hours, just to stay here for five minutes"

Char let out a quick laugh before turning completely serious. He leant his back against the railing, and looked down at his shoes. "I can't believe the way my parents treated you! I'm so sorry Ella, that was totally unexpected…."

After a couple of minutes of complete silence, he turned to face me. "My parents are trying to set me up with Isabelle… They want me to spend time with her at the ball".

I turned to face him; he looked so depressed and outraged at the idea.

"She looked beautiful" I stated simply.

Char looked into my eyes and then gently placed one of his hands over mine, which was resting on the balcony rail.

"I'm not interested in her" He said seriously. "She's just like all the others!"

I looked away to avoid his intense gaze, his eyes made me melt. "Do you get this a lot?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Girls being thrust upon you" I elaborated.

Char sighed, let go of my hand and rubbed the side of his head. "Ella, I'm a Prince. Many girls are going to be 'thrust' upon me… I don't go looking for them, I don't ask them to join me for dinner, and I most certainly don't enjoy the fact that I never get any say in the matter!"

I watched him as he spoke with such frustration, and noticed that he had firmly clenched the top of the railing.

"I'm sorry…" I said quietly, placing a hand on his back. "… I didn't mean to make you angry"

Char slowly relaxed his body and turned to face me. "Forgive me. It's just so stressful around here sometimes…" He sighed and took a deep breath. "Sometimes I wish I was a normal person like you"

"Char, you are a normal person. You just have responsibilities that others don't. If you're tired of having your parents constantly set you up with girls, you should talk to them about it. Tell them how you feel. You should be free to make your own choices!"

"I will. I want to! Tomorrow, before the ball I want to properly introduce you to them. Show them how amazing you are…"

"Maybe you should keep me out of this Char… I can keep a low profile. I'm pretty good at blending in –"

"I don't want you to blend in!" He interrupted. "I want you to stand out!"

I smiled and let out a quick laugh.

"Now, how would you like a tour of the castle?" He asked, outstretching his hand.

I smiled and placed my hand in his. "Yes, that would be lovely"