This is coming to a close. Only 4 more chapters. :)

Enjoy!

"Alfie, are you okay?" Willow asked, cocking her head to the side. "What are you doing?" Her eyes lit up happily. "Is Amber back?"

Alfie finished tying the saddle on Amber's horse and shook his head. "No, I'm going to Legayn."

Willow bounced on her heels. "Can I come as well?"

"No, Willow, I need you to stay here."

"Why?"

Alfie met her pale green eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here and be with you when I'm in love with Amber. I may never see her again after she's married. I need to see her one last time."

Willow wilted and bit down her lower lip. "I see."

Alfie strapped a bag over his back and mounted the horse.

"Good luck, Alfie." Willow said, tilting her head up to look at him, eyes watering.

"I'm going to need a lot of that. I'm stealing the princess' horse." He mumbled.

Willow smiled. "I'll distract anyone that tries to stop you."

Alfie returned her smile. "Thank you, Willow."

She nodded silently and watched him steer the steed out of the stables and gallop down the road.

"Can I make a confession?" Dante spoke as he and Poppy were passing through a gazebo in the palace garden.

Poppy turned and smiled brilliantly. "Of course."

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise."

Dante took a deep breath. "I don't know how to dance."

Poppy covered her mouth to quiet a giggle.

"You laughed anyway!" Dante accused teasingly.

Poppy shook her head. "No, no, I'm sorry, it's just that…. You're a prince. You kind of have to know how to dance."

"My mother made me take dancing lessons when I was a child and I hated them. I just wanted to play. I wanted to be a kid, you know? So I skipped all of my lessons." Dante shrugged a shoulder.

Poppy smiled at him fondly.

"That's why I kept stepping on your feet when we danced at that ball." He chuckled. "But now I want to know how to dance. I want to know how to dance so I can dance with you."

Poppy blushed. She took his hand and pulled him to the middle of the gazebo. "Here, let me teach you."

Eric Sweet went rigid when he opened the door to the room he was renting at the inn near the peer. He opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't seem to form the words.

"Eric Sweet?" Jerome asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Eric, who's at the door?" His wife asked wearily, pushing a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear.

"The prince and princess," Eric murmured. "I-I'm so sorry. Please, please, come in."

Mara smiled gently, following Jerome in. Diana led them to the table in the room and offered them the two chairs there.

"We don't have much food, but would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Sweet," Mara replied.

"We're honored to have you as guests," Eric began, "But if you don't mind me asking, and I mean no disrespect, but what are you doing here?"

"We've been looking for you for a while," Jerome replied, meeting the man's blue eyes.

"For us?"

"Or rather, we've been helping someone look for you." Mara added.

"Who would be looking for us?"

Jerome took a deep breath. "You and your wife were involved in a boating accident about fifteen years ago, is that correct?"

"Yes," Eric nodded. He hesitated, eyeing his wife's tensed form. "We took our daughter out on the river, and left our son home with a sitter—a really nice young lady—and our boat was overturned by a strong wave during a storm."

Diana brought Jerome and Mara their tea and left the room quietly.

Jerome and Mara remained silent, patiently waiting for Eric to continue his story.

"Lily, she... We couldn't…," he took a deep breath, "Diana and I were rescued by a fisherman after the storm cleared. We immediately went home, but our son was gone. Joy wasn't there either."

Jerome and Mara exchanged a knowing glance at the mention of the witch's name.

Mara swallowed. "We're so sorry for your loss, Mr. Sweet."

"Thank you, Your Highness" Eric whispered.

"But you son," Jerome spoke up, "You never found him?"

"No," Eric shook his head, "We've been searching for Edison ever since he went missing."

"Have you ever tried looking for him at the palace?" Jerome asked.

Eric blinked. "Could he be one of your servants? A stable boy, maybe? He loved horses as a child."

"He still does," Mara smiled.

Diana reappeared with a hopeful look on her face. "You know him? Is he okay?"

"He's great—" Mara replied.

"Except for the fact that he's betrothed to Amber but he's in love with Patricia," Jerome interrupted under his breath.

Eric and Diana shared a look.

"Our son is royalty?" Eric asked.

Jerome carefully sipped from his tea. "Yes, sir."

"But how…?" Diana murmured.

"He was brought to the castle after the accident and the Duke and Duchess decided to adopt him because they couldn't have any children of their own. He's been living in the palace ever since." Jerome explained. "He'll be Duke after Mara and I become King and Queen."

"Would you like to see him?" Mara inquired.

"And I told you to be patient, and I told you to be fine. And I told you to be balanced, and I told you to be kind. And now all your love is wasted, then who the hell was I? 'Cause now I'm breaking at the bridges and at the end of all your lies." -Skinny Love, Birdy

-Rachel