Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that belong to the lovely Stephanie Meyer, however I do take credit for my OCs and my plot! Without further ado, I give you Chapter 2. Haha, that rhymed. It wasn't planned I swear. (:

Chapter 2

I turned around to see Prince Jasper standing before me, his eyes shining with some unnameable emotion and a barely noticeable smirk on his face.

"Oh…" I couldn't think of much else to say.

His smirk dropped and he smiled kindly at me. "Excuse me, but are you the woman who was accompanying Prince Edward earlier?" His tone of voice was so much kinder now than when he was conversing with the other princes that I was slightly taken aback.

"Yes…" I answered slowly, a little confused.

"You seemed to be well acquainted with him and I find myself curious as to where you are from," he said, his eyes roaming over my face and down the length of my body. I instantly became self-conscious.

"Where I'm from?"

"Yes. Are you by chance of royal blood? Or perhaps the daughter of a nobleman?" he inquired, seeming certain that I must be if I was here at this ball.

"Oh, no I'm not. I'm just here in Charles working for a designer," I said simply, seeing nothing wrong with being honest. Apparently I was wrong, as his face immediately hardened at my response.

"A commoner…?"

"That would be correct, your highness," I replied, becoming agitated at his derogatory term.

"So you met Prince Edward out on the street and he just invited you here?!" he asked, his tone harsh.

"Yes…" I nodded, shrugging my shoulders. Prince Jasper sighed audibly.

"I am sorry, but I do not see any merit in asking you to dance."

"Excuse me?" I asked, shock and slight anger lacing my tone.

"I made a mistake asking you to dance… Excuse me," and with that he left and walked across the room, as far away from me as possible.

I knew it was irrational, for I didn't know him, but I was still insulted by his prejudice. Just because he was royalty did not make him a better person than me. I watched as Prince Jasper approached another lady. That did nothing but make me even angrier.

"He never changes…" a voice beside me said. I looked over and saw Prince Emmett smiling at me. "Since you are free now, would you do me the honor of gracing me with a dance?" He didn't wait for an answer before leading me out on the dance floor. Hard as I tried, I couldn't conceal my laugh.

"Sure I'd love to," I said, smiling.

He grinned at me, his smile reaching his twinkling eyes. "Good because you really didn't have a choice," he said as he grabbed my left hand in his and placed his other around my waist. I was amused at how small I was in his arms, and, because I was so lost in my own thoughts, I didn't notice when he began to step in time to the lilting tune.

As soon as I snapped back to the present, I remembered how bad of a dancer I was. "I can't dance…" I said quietly, trying to step away. He gripped my waist tighter as he spoke softly. "Look at me."

Confused, I looked up at him and he smiled.

"That's right. Now you will be able to dance, just follow me and listen to the music," he stated as if it was obvious.

I followed Prince Emmett's gentle lead as we began to dance. I could feel the jealous stares of those around us and I started to lose my nerve but he smiled kindly at me.

"You need to keep your eyes on me," he said.

"S-sorry…" I managed to say.

"You needn't apologize."

"Thank you. Your Highness is very kind,"

Prince Emmett's eyes crinkled at my statement.

"Are you comparing me to Prince Jasper?"

"What…?" I asked, not understanding where his question came from.

A strange look fell across his face. "He is bound by his training as a prince of Dres Van…"

"His training…?" Now I had no idea where this conversation had gone.

"Maybe you're unaware, but being born royal means having to go through special training from a young age. We have the same kind of thing where I am from," he paused, glancing over at Prince Jasper, and then continued. "But I was never separated from my parents like they do in Dres Van."

"So Prince Jasper was separated from his parents…?"

He smiled again at my question. "That's correct. He has barely ever seen them, even when he was young. Because of that, he doesn't know how to depend on others, and only associates with us as a matter of course while he waits in line for the throne."

"That's so sad…" I stated, feeling my anger towards Prince Jasper dissipate almost immediately.

His eyes widened at my words.

"Sad… I doubt he even really understands the meaning of that word…"

"What…?" I asked. Just then the song ended and Prince Emmett stopped dancing.

"Over already? I wanted to dance a bit longer…" He let go of my hand and bowed elegantly. "Until next time, my dear…"

I was watching him walk away when he suddenly turned back to me.

"Don't tell Prince Jasper anything I told you, okay?" My heart skipped a beat at his meaningful smile and I nodded.

Just then I felt someone's eyes on me, and when I looked around to see who it was, I saw Prince Jasper leaning against the bar, staring at me intently. 'Oh…What reason could he be staring over here for?' I wondered but as soon as I did, he looked away, his expression completely blank as he walked away. 'He really doesn't seem very friendly… not like Prince Emmett or Prince Edward,' I thought as I headed back to the side of the hall where I wouldn't be in anyone's way. I wasn't feeling very comfortable and was contemplating going home. I decided it would be best as I had work tomorrow and as I headed to the back corner of the hall I heard someone call out.

"Excuse me, but am I right in assuming you to be Miss Alice Brandon?"

I turned around to see who it was and saw a rather handsome man I recognized addressing me. I remember him from this afternoon. He was that older man's companion.

"Yes that would be me," I said quickly.

"Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zain, butler to Lord Michel."

Lord Michel was the patron of this castle but I had yet to see him tonight or maybe I did as I don't actually know what he looks like.

"Would you please consent to coming along with me?" Zain asked, his words asking permission, but his eyes demanding my agreement.

"Why do you need me?"

He smiled. "My Lord Michel has expressed his wishes to meet with you."

'Why would he want to meet with me…?' I started to wonder but after a while I noticed Zain was growing slightly impatient.

"Yes, all right." I was utterly bewildered as I followed along behind him.

He led me to a meeting room and I saw an elderly man in the room, dressed in a violet robe with gold embroidery. I recognized the fabric as a rare type of silk, something any designer would be able to identify. I thought he looked familiar but I'd never met someone who was able to afford such tasteful and expensive clothing.

"I hadn't expected to see the girl who saved my life here at this party," the elderly man said, a smile gracing his face. As I looked harder, the memory came back to me. Oh, he is the man I had seen looking so pained out on the street in Charles this afternoon.

"You're the gentleman I met earlier…"

He beamed at me. "Aha, so you remember me then?" He looked better as he stood there, smiling at me, no trace of how he felt earlier on his face.

"Yes I do. Are you feeling better now?" I asked and his smile brightened even more.

"Thanks to you, my dear."

I smiled back automatically, when realization hit me.

"You're Nobel Michel!?"

The old man laughed, amused at my question.

"I am indeed…Although I would prefer it if you were to call me Mike."

Zain bowed deeply as we made our way out into the corridor.

"I ask that you keep Lord Michel's health trouble a secret," he said, never turning to look at me.

"Yes of course," I responded.

"From now on if you ever need anything, please let me know."

"What do you mean?" I asked, rather confused.

"You have done us a great service in saving Lord Michel's life. We hope we can be of service to you in return."

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. "All I did was rub his back some. There is no need to feel obligated towards me. Please give my thanks to Lord Michel." I bowed to Zain and started to walk away when I heard a voice from nearby.

"So you were just pretending to be a commoner. You must be a difficult woman to deal with." I turned to see Prince Jasper leaning against the wall.

"Uh…?"

"There is no way Lord Michel would call a commoner to have an audience with him," he said rather rudely.

"Well that must not be true, since I am a commoner and I am not part of any royal family," I replied briskly, immediately starting to walk away.

"Well I was hoping to speak with you a little longer."

"Oh well, I'm sorry that won't happen. I must leave and return home. I have work tomorrow."

On my way out, I was stopped by a smiling Prince Emmett.

"Hey where are you going so soon?"

"Oh… well I have work tomorrow so I should be going home," I said, feeling slightly awkward.

He looked at me with a sad smile. "Alright then, I would be honored if you allowed me to give you a ride home."

"That's rather nice. Thank you," I said, nodding.

As Prince Emmett and I made our way out, I looked back and saw Prince Jasper looking after us, wearing a sad yet controlled expression. As soon as he saw me looking, he swiftly turned and walked away. I was feeling a little disappointed but was snapped out of my thoughts when Prince Emmett grabbed my hand. I looked up and saw him smiling as he held the door open for me.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded and climbed in, the prince climbing in after me. As we made our way out, I stole a glance back at the castle and saw Prince Jasper talking to Prince Edward. He was wearing a bored expression while secretly watching the car. I felt sort of melancholy as the realization hit me that I was leaving the castle and life of my dreams and heading back to reality.

Comments, Questions, Opinions, Anything? All kinds are lovely for someone new to writing. Hahah. It's greatly appreciated. Also this story wasn't gone over because my beta wasn't available. Sorry if there are any misspellings, grammatical errors, or anything wrong in general. Please be kind to me!

*ducks behind chair* Now, I feel I should address the fact that I haven't updated in a MONTH! What is this blasphemy you speak of? Well as I said before, life can get in the way, and boy did life get in my way. So much has happened and I kind of left my story alone and Fanfiction in general. Also my friend kept bailing on helping to beta this chapter. Oh well, what can I say, she was busy, I was busy. As I have now realized, updating on a schedule is much harder than I anticipated. I hate to change it, but I take back my every week update. It puts way too much stress on me and I feel insanely guilty when I can't. I do however promise to update much sooner and not leave this story unattended. I do love writing and I've missed it so much. Anyway, have a lovely week and I'll see you soon! I love all of you! (^.^) Hugggggsssss!

~Carrie xoxo