Keira's eyes quickly opened as she sat up in Jack's bed before looking over at Buddy who was angrily barking at the door. In between his barks she could hear the sound of voices arguing coming from outside and sensing there was trouble she quickly hopped out of bed and walked over to the window. Again, she peered out of it being sure not to reveal too much of herself but she quickly let out a gasp and leaned back against the wall beside the window at the sight of two of her guards standing in the middle of the field arguing with Jack. She looked back out the window and tried her hardest to listen in on the conversation going on.

"I told you the princess isn't here!" Jack shouted at the two guards.

"Look peasant, at the festival she was last seen running out to this part of the forest and there's no other people around and no places she could be so she must be here." One of the guards told him.

"So? Just because she was seen running here that doesn't mean she is here." Jack argued.

The other guard examined Jack closely before tapping on the other's arm. "Hey, doesn't this guy look familiar?"

The other guard examined him as well. "You're right. Weren't you that peasant that supposedly saved Princess Keira from a group of thieves?"

"I bet he's the one who captured her in the first place." The other remarked.

"Hey! I thought you were here in search of the princess, not a fight!" Jack said angrily.

The two guards began to laugh a little.

"Don't even try it peasant." One of them advised.

Jack began to bare his teeth as he looked at them angrily. After a moment his eyes wandered towards his house and quickly widened when they made contact with Keira's who stared back at him. His sudden surprise seemed to attract the attention of the guards who quickly looked back at the house as Keira left her position by the window.

"Did you see that?" One of them asked before they both turned to Jack. "Who's in there?"

"No one." Jack answered.

The guards narrowed their eyebrows at him before turning and marching towards his house.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" Jack asked as he ran up and blocked the door in front of them. "You can't just search my house!"

One of the guards grabbed Jack by the arm and pulled him away from the door. "Just watch."

The guard nodded his head at the other who then opened and was greeted by Buddy who ran up to him and began to furiously bark at him.

"Shut up you mutt!" The guard shouted at him as he stomped his spear on the ground in front of him scaring him off a bit.

With Buddy at a distance, the guard stepped into the house and looked around only to find furniture sitting around the room and nothing else while Jack looked into the room confused. He took another step forward and Buddy began to growl as he stared at him and as soon as he took a step towards the bed Bubby barked again before lunging at the guard at biting down on his leg causing him to shout in pain.

"Argh! Get the hell off me you damn mutt!" The guard shouted as he shook his leg throwing Buddy off of it.

"What do you think you're doing to my dog?" Jack asked angrily as he watched Buddy hit the ground and stumble to his feet before continuing to bark at the guard.

"Damn mutt." The guard muttered as he adjusted his helmet before stepping back outside and shutting the door.

"This is an outrage!" Jack shouted as he freed his arm from the guards grip.

"Ah shut up." The guard in front of the door said. "I guess the princess isn't here."

"I told you." Jack remarked.

The guard behind him bashed the wooden end of his spear into his back knocking him down. "We didn't ask for your input."

Jack turned around and leaned back on his arms as he watched the guard by the door approach the other.

"Let's get out of here and search elsewhere." One of them suggested to the other.

Jack slowly got back up to his feet as he watched the two guards turn around and walk off in the direction of the tree line on the other end of his field. Once they were in the shadows of the trees he turned around and walked back into the house to find Keira kneeling in the center of the room as she held Buddy in her arms and petted him.

"Keira?" Jack asked sounding a little surprised. "Where the heck were you?"

"I was hiding under the bed…" She replied as she continued to look down at Buddy and pet him. "I guess that's why Buddy attacked the guard when he started getting close to me."

Jack gave a little smile as he kneeled in front of her and placed his hand on Buddy's head. "Hm, I told you he'd protect you."

Keira smiled and let Buddy crawl out of her hands as she stood back up along with Jack. "Thank you again for protecting me, both of you."

"I told you that I'd help you." He replied as Buddy barked at her in order to try and say the same thing.

"I probably should be getting back home." She told him as she walked over towards the window and looked out it. "Everyone must be worried about me and I wouldn't want to cause you any more trouble."

"That's alright. I understand. But don't you think you should eat something first?" He asked. "It is a quite a ways till town."

"Oh I'd love to stay but I really should return as soon as I can." She replied. "Maybe some other time."

Jack walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a small red apple and handed it to her. "At least take this. I wouldn't want to you to get in any pain from hunger."

She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Jack."

And with that she walked out of the house and headed towards town.

It was only around ten in the morning when Keira tossed the remaining apple core in her hand into some bushes nearby and passed through the town gates. As she walked down the street towards her castle many of the townspeople in the area stared at her curiously. Where she had been since she had ran from the festival was a mystery to them and the fact that a large amount of flowers from her headpiece were missing and that her dress was covered with dirt, dust, and milk stains could concern them more. When she reached the castle the guards positioned at entrance gave her their usual bow before questioning her.

"Princess Keira!" One of them exclaimed. "Where on earth have you been?"

"I was out." She answered.

"You didn't get in any more trouble did you?" The other asked.

She shook her head. "No, not at all. I just need some time alone."

"Well your brief time alone has caused quite a disturbance here." The first on began. "Your mother is worried, all the guards are out looking for you and your father is furious."

She sighed at the mention of her father. "I suspected as much… do you know where my mother is?"

"She's in her chamber I believe. I'm sure she'll be happy to see that you are unharmed." The second guard replied.

She nodded her head. "Thank you."

Keira then proceeded to enter the castle and began to make her way up the main stairs to see her mother. Much like the townspeople, as she walked through the halls of her castle her servants all stopped to stare and examine her unnatural dirty appearance as they murmured their ideas of what happened to her amongst each other. She paid no attention to any of it though, if she truly wanted to become a commoner she'd have to learn how to let everyone's opinions and comments about her simply pass by her without any heed. Just like the guard at the castle entrance had told her, her mother was busy sitting in her room and when she entered she immediately stood up from her seat and embraced her.

"Oh Keira dear, where have you been?" Her mother asked as she held onto her tightly.

"I was out in the forest." Keira replied as she struggled to breath from how tight her mother held her.

"Oh Keira I've been worried sick about you." Her mother said as she released her. "You didn't get hurt or anything did you?"

She shook her head. "No."

Her mother looked down at her dress and let out a gasp. "Keira! What happened to your beautiful dress?" she grabbed onto it and began to examine the stains on it. "It's absolutely filthy now!"

"It's fine mother." Keira replied as she pulled it away from her. "It's just a little dirty that's all."

"What has gotten into you lately?" Her mother asked. "First you start wandering around without telling anyone and now you're running off during festivals and getting dirty without even caring. Don't you remember what you were taught as a child?"

Keira rolled her eyes and grumbled. "A princess is supposed to be respectable, kind, and well kept." They made it sound like she was more of an object and not an actual person.

"And you probably had to walk all throughout town looking like this on your way here." Her mother complained. "Just great. I'm sure your father would like to hear about this."

Keira sighed. "Where is he anyway?"

"Oh he's up in the throne room cursing at all the guards who can't find you. I should probably tell him your back." Her mother replied as Keira started to look out the small window. "You have no idea how upset he is now. You really embarrassed him at the festival by running off like that."

Keira turned back to her mother and stared at her angrily. "I embarrassed him? What about how he embarrassed me? Going and telling the whole town that I finally found the one who will be my husband. He doesn't have that right!"

"Keira calm yourself down at once!" Her mother order. "You have no right to talk about your father like that. Besides what he said at the festival appears to be true, it does seem that you do love Edwin. And you know how romance is for a princess. As soon as you're in love you're to be wed. That's just how it is."

Keira sighed. Her mother was right, to everyone but her and Jack who knew the truth it did seem that she was in love with Edwin.

"Where is Edwin?" Keira asked.

"Oh he volunteered to go out and help search for you." Her mother answered. "I'm sure once everyone gets notified of your return he'll come back here to the castle. He got pretty worried when you ran off after kissing him. He thinks that he did something wrong."

Keira formed a weak smile.

"He didn't do anything wrong did he?" Her mother asked.

Keira shook her head again. "No…"

"Then why did you just run off?" Her mother asked.

"I… I just needed some time to think… that's all…" Keira replied.

"Think about what?" Her mother asked.

"It's… it's not important." Keira replied.

"What are you trying to hide from me?" Her mother asked.

Keira remained silent.

"Keira." Her mother said in an aggressive tone.

Still no response.

"Keira."

"…"

"Keira!"

"It's nothing mother!" Keira finally shouted. "It's nothing! It's…"

Keira felt as her mother slapped her across the face.

"Stop that!" Her mother shouted at her. "You know better than yell at your own mother! Didn't you learn anything when your father and I raised you?"

Keira clenched her hand into a fist as she looked at her mother angrily as tears formed into her eyes. "While you and father raised me? You did nothing at all! It was all those servants and maids that raised me! Not you! Celia's mother was more of a mother to me than you!"

Her mother looked at her furiously. "What do you think you're saying?"

"That she actually cared about me and what I wanted unlike you!" Keira shouted.

"That peasant? You think some peasant can do a better job raising you?" Her mother asked rhetorically. "You think some peasant can care about you? You think one can just know what you want? Peasants don't know anything! They don't understand how valuable life is. They don't know what's right for a princess like you. I can't even begin to understand what that woman was thinking when she let you go outside during your lessons."

The word peasant, especially when being used to describe some she cared about, only worsened Keira's anger.

"Well you know what mother?" Keira rhetorically asked angrily. "At least she was thinking for me!"

Before her mother could reply Keira turned around and stormed out of the room.

Keira continued to keep her hands clenched and her angry expression on as she marched through the castle halls but as she began to near her room the tears in her eyes began to start making their way down her face as she started to run. When she reached her room she opened the door and stepped inside before slamming it behind her and running over to her bed. She jumped on top of it and buried her face into one of her pillows as she began to cry about the argument that had just taken place. She really didn't mean to get that mad at her mother, or maybe she did. Her mother just didn't seem to understand how different she was from her and she knew now that attempting to purse her relationship with Jack would only become harder. She removed her face from her pillow and flipped over onto her back as looked up at the canopy over her bed and took note of how her once soft and cloudlike bed now felt as stiff as Jack's did the first night she slept there. Her mind seemed to be changing the way her body reacted to things as her desire to become a commoner became apparent. Suddenly she heard as the door began to open and she looked up and watched as Celia walked into the room. Finally someone she could trust.

"Keira are you alright?" Celia asked in a concerned tone as she shut the door behind her and walked over to the bed side. "I thought I heard crying."

Keira sat up in her bed and brought her legs up before wrapping her arms around them. "I-I-I'm alright…"

"I heard you and your mother arguing. What happened?" Celia asked.

Keira buried her face in her knees and shook her head. "She just doesn't understand."

"Understand what?" Celia asked as she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"She, she thinks she knows what's best for me and what I want…" Keira replied.

"Well she is your mother." Celia told her.

"No…" Keira uttered. "If she was my mother she'd understand what I want… She'd understand that I don't want this… She'd understand why I appreciated what your mother did for me…"

"My, my mother?" Celia asked.

Keira nodded her head. "When we got to go out in the garden… and be free… she understood why that was important me…"

"Be free…?" Celia asked in a confused tone. "What are you talking about?"

Keira shut her eyes tightly as more tears fell from them. It seemed that not even Celia could understand her now.

"Just please Celia… let me be… I just want to be alone right now…" Keira replied.

"Are you sure?" Celia asked.

Keira nodded her head.

Celia got up from her spot on the bed. "Well alright. If you need anything just ask."

She started to walk over to the door but stopped once she placed her hand on the knob.

"Dinner will be ready soon." She said as she turned back to Keira who still had her head resting on her knees.

"I'm not going…" Keira replied quietly.

Celia simply nodded her head and quietly left the room.

Keira just felt so lost now. She knew returning to her castle that explaining her relationship with Jack and why she's seeking it to her parents, if even possible, would be a difficult task but she had no idea that it would lead to such a fierce argument with her mother. Maybe she had been too a little too harsh with what she told her but she knew in her heart that what she had said was partially true. She had always felt abandoned by her parents growing up when they left their servants to do all the work involved. Why couldn't she have been raised like a commoner's child where they received attention and love from their parents and not another's. Then how Celia couldn't understand what she meant when she briefly spoke of her mother only helped make her feel more alone. It seemed like the only one she could rely on now in understanding her problem was Jack, the cause of it all.

Later early the next morning the sun hadn't even risen when Keira emerged from her room, cleaned and changed into her traditional yellow dress, and began to quietly walk through the halls of the castle. After what had happened to her the previous day she couldn't stand to stay cooped up inside her castle for long and was ready to head out into the forest again. As she walked through the empty hallways of the castle she felt that getting out unnoticed would be a cinch but that belief ended all too quickly when she turned the corner and ran into another person's body.

She closed her eyes as she rubbed her forehead for a moment and when she opened them she was surprised to find that it was Edwin she had run into.

"E-E-Edwin?" She stuttered in a surprised voice. "What are you doing up this early."

"Strange." He remarked as he stood up and extended his arm out to help her up. "I could ask you the same." She grabbed onto his hand and he helped her up to her feet. "I couldn't sleep for some reason and thought a walk would help. Now what are you doing up?"

"I… I was just thinking of going for a walk outside in the town. It… it looks really lovely at this hour." She replied in a hasty manner.

He gave her a curious look. "Alright… would you mind if I accompanied you?"

She quickly shook her head. "Oh no, that's alright. I'd rather go alone this time."

She tried to hurry off and get to the main gate but he walked in front of her to stop her. "Look about the festival the other day. If I did anything wrong that made you uncomfortable…"

"Oh no you didn't do anything wrong." She replied cutting him off. "I just need some time to think about something that's all. It wasn't your fault."

He gave her a little smile. "Well that's a relief. I was a bit worried that I might have offended you some way."

"Then you're welcome." Keira replied before hesitantly giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Well I must be off now. We can talk later."

Before he could say anything back she quickly hurried off down the hall.

Keira's heart once again pounded on her chest while walked through the forest trees as she neared Jack's. She walked over the fallen branches and roots scattered about the ground but she quickly came to a stop when a hand placed itself on her shoulder and a familiar voice asked.

"Keira what are you doing out here?"

A/N: Another cliffhanger. Yayz! :D