Hey guys, it's been a while. Almost a week. This chapter is pretty short, I mainly just wanted to get something out there. I haven't been very motivated to work on this much lately and I had my girlfriend over for the weekend so I didn't work on it at all.

I'd be more motivated with more reviews! Just a thought~

Chapter 6

Back at the castle Queen Elizaveta was marveling at the beauty of the king's crown for her kingdom. Roderich stood by her side with a frown on his face.

"Beautiful...simply beautiful! Soon Alfred will be married, and the kingdom will have a king again!"

"I doubt it...Alfred still refuses to be king unless he finds Arthur. And you know how he is once he gets an idea in his head."

As if on queue Feliks the chamberlain came in with two servants behind him, both of them holding huge bags filled with envelopes.

"They're, like, all coming to the ball!" Feliks said excitedly before he was buried in RSVP letters. Yes, Elizaveta was throwing a ball and inviting every royal bachelor and bachelorette in the world. It totally wasn't a plan to get Alfred to finally marry someone and get over Arthur, no, it was just a fun little party.

"Ah wonderful! See Roderich, one of these is bound to change Alfred's mind!"

Ok maybe it was a plot to find Alfred love. But is it so wrong to want your son to find happiness? Like most everyone else in the kingdom Elizaveta believed that Arthur was dead and she wanted Alfred to move on. Though that's easier said than done it was worth a try, and it would be nice to have a party and lighten the mood. But Roderich wasn't as optimistic as his queen.

"Oh absolutely. Not."

But she just ignored her counselor and turned her attention back to the chamberlain.

"Do not. Lose. One," Elizaveta said as she poked Feliks' nose with an envelope with every word she spoke.

"Oh no way, Your Majesty, I would never." Oh but he would. He still remembered the last ball the queen threw. He had made a mistake with the guest list and at least a dozen guests went without an introduction. Never again would he make such a mistake.

"Speaking of Alfred, where is he? Oh nevermind, I know where he is. In the library working on the mystery of the Fat Animal."

"The Great Animal, Your Majesty," Roderich corrected.

"Fat, great, same difference. It's large and has fur."

Just as Elizaveta said, in the castle library was Prince Alfred looking through more books trying to find anything on a 'Great Animal' or something that is 'not what it seems'. But just like the many other times he searched, he wasn't having any luck. He could still hear King Scott's words in his head as if he had just heard them.

"Alfred, you have to listen to me...It's not..what it seems..It's not what it seems..."

Alfred just sighed frustrated as he closed the book he was currently looking through. "What did King Scott mean...?"

What could he have meant? What animal is not what it seems? If it looks like a bear, it must be a bear. If it looks like a tiger, it must be a tiger. King Scott's words make it seem like he'll see a lion and think it's a house cat. But that's just ridiculous, he's not that stupid and neither were Scott's men.

Walking down the isle he noticed a fairytale book out of place. Though most books were out of place now, Alfred had a tendency to not put things back where he found them. He doesn't know why he decided to pick it up and look through it. What could he have possibly found that could've helped him? Maybe he just wanted a temporary distraction. But what he found proved to be useful after all.

His face lit up in realization as he read the words on the page and stared at the pictures provided, a wide grin gracing his features.

"Of course! It's not what it seems! Now I'll find you, Arthur."

He tore two pages out of the book and stuffed them in his pocket. He raced down the isle and slid down the staircase banister to the first floor of the library. Just as he was headed to the doors, Queen Elizaveta burst through them with Feliks behind her, a smile on her face. They both had several letters in their hands.

"They're coming, Alfred!"

But Alfred wasn't listening, he was too excited about his recent discovery. He just picked her up and moved her out of the doorway. He was on his way out when she stopped him.

"Alfred? Where are you going?"

"To find the Great Animal!"

She just brushed it off, not knowing that he had actually finally found real evidence on the horrific beast that killed their friend Scott.

"Oh wonderful, just make sure you're here tomorrow night."

Alfred stopped walking again and looked back at his mother confused.

"Tomorrow night?"

And just like that Elizaveta's smile dropped.

"The ball."

"Oh. That. I...I'm sorry mother, I can't, I-"

Oh hell no, it's not going down like that. Elizaveta would not take that as an answer. First he had forgotten about the ball and now he was trying to get out of going. The entire party was to find him a queen and everything would be ruined if he did not attend. So she mustered up some tears and stuck out her lip in a wobbly pout.

Oh no. Alfred knew what this meant. His mother always did this when she wasn't getting her way. Of course nobody liked seeing their mother cry. Even if they knew she might be faking it, it wasn't a pleasant sight.

"Mother..no..don't do the lip thing...If I leave now..maybe I can be back in time."

Good enough. She threw the letters up in the air and whooped with joy. "Thank you, Alfred!" Feliks sighed annoyed, knowing he'd have to be the one to pick up the now scattered envelopes.

"But please mother, don't make this another one of your beauty pageants."

"Ohhh no no no no, it's just a few friends. And their children," she muttered the last part.

The second Alfred was gone she turned back to her chamberlain, startling him enough he dropped the letters he had begun gathering up.

"I want this to be...BIG. Every Prince and Princess must have their own introduction."

"But...you just said-"

"Forget what I said, listen to what I'm saying to you now. Send for the cooks, and tell the band to start rehearsing. I want four footmen for every carriage. Hmm..maybe five!"

Next is the No Fear song but there's a good chance that I'll just use some of the lyrics as dialog instead of them singing it. Anyways, I hope you liked this short chapter.

Review please!