Hey, its the weekend again. I am so thrilled to finally be posting this chapter. I split it into two parts because it got a bit long. This is when the story really picks up. I would love to hear of what you guys think of the changes I made. For those of you who have stuck around, thank you!

Any quotes you recognize are owned by Disney. Please review if you can, I would sing and dance for you but alas my coding skills are not good enough to add that part in to my story yet.

Shoutout to my first favorite Casey95 and my first review Wiztine ! You each made my day 3

I hope you all enjoy it.

Ten years later

Kit was now a man of twenty years.
He had grown into his lanky legs and was tall but no longer gawky as he had been as a teenager. His eyes were as blue as ever and when his smile could be found, it was bright and contagious.
He had even filled out a bit with muscle once he found instructors who let him use train with tactics and apply physics and math to his fighting style. He was known for his skills with training horses and for his kindness toward the palace animals.
Edmund had finally convinced him to read books other than "fairy tales" and his knowledge of the kingdom's history and trade was remarkable. His curiosity had also encouraged his knowledge of the surrounding countries.

Alas, his brothers were still favored by the court and most of the advisors.

Kane at the age of 25 was confident of getting the throne and was waiting the day, as the king grew wearier and his age showed more and more.

Kurt, at 24, was a fearsome sight with his bulging muscles and weapons. He had a small following in the army, mostly the new recruits who admired his fighting skills.

Both the brothers made every effort to be treated like kings everywhere they went and the village knew to hide or bow very low if they saw the two princes coming.

Kit's unfortunate nickname "Simpleton" had stuck around and most of the court either ignored him or laughed at his unconventional manners and ideas.
He didn't understand why the rest of the court found it odd to want to take care of your own horse or why getting up early to see the sunrise was crazy or why getting his portrait painted made him feel uncomfortable or why he treated his manservants like friends.

Still, Kit was not entirely alone. He had a few close friends:

Edmund the librarian who continued to help him learn more about his father's kingdom;

Marcus, who taught him archery, fencing, and jousting;

George, who helped him with weapon design;

and Alistair, whom the King had introduced Kit to shortly after the baby swan incident.

Alistair was everything the queen hoped he would be for Kit. He supported Kit and even gave him a hand with the deliveries to the village each month. He did this at first to protect Kit but then saw why Kit enjoyed it so much.

Alistair also was a part of helping Kit to speak his mind to his father about everything but his brothers. Kit refused to discuss their treatment of him with anyone.
He encouraged Kit on the days when Kit felt worthless or weak.
Kit in return trusted Alistair and treated him as an equal. He improved Alistair's fighting skills with his intelligent techniques and gave him his second best trained horse (the first being Kit's own).
Alistair's role had evolved over the years from companion to training partner to personal guard.
He certainly looked the part. Alistair's skin was a rich cocoa color and his eyes were a reassuring brown color and he was almost as big as Kurt in terms of muscle.
He was a little shorter than Kit, but had a soldier's posture while Kit tended to slouch unless he felt confident (which was only among his friends or the horses).

His friends were rooting for him to win the throne but they knew it was pointless to discuss the matter with Kit who insisted that a "simpleton" would never be given the throne and that no one would ever respect him as king.

As Kit's 21st birthday approached, he was given his own hunt to lead by the king for the upcoming celebration.
Kit had ridden away from the group, pulled in by the beauty of the sunset over the hills and by the fact he really didn't want to catch the stag.
He knew if he voiced this objection, he would be told ,as Alistair had told him when he first objected, "that it is what's done."

He then noticed a horse racing through the forest as the last of the sun's rays fell behind it. He turned his horse to see where it was going, both intrigued by how fast the horse was running and how beautiful it was.

The horse was a creamy white with a mane the color of honey. Its fur shone with the last of the sun's rays and it's stride was elegant and graceful. The beauty of it compelled him to ride closer even as the horse continued to race away.

Kit saw the horse disappear into a grove of trees.
As he got closer, instead of seeing a horse, he saw a gorgeous girl gasping for breath and looking around in a panic.

Kit called out, "Miss! Miss! Are you alright?"
His voice must have surprised her, for she looked up with a gasp and tripped backward over a tree root.

"Hold on!" He quickly jumped off his horse to help her up.

The girl responded a little breathlessly, "I'm all right, thank you! That's fine."
Kit let go her go (reluctantly) and she leaned against a tree while catching her breath.

"Are you alright?" he asked, noticing how beautiful she was, kind of a wild beauty but very sweet in its essence, certainly not a beauty of this earth though.

"I'm all right, but you've nearly frightened the life out of him."

"Who? The horse?" Kit asked.

"No, not me...I mean the horse. I meant the stag." She scolded, placing her hands on her hips, "What's he ever done to you that you should chase him about?"

Kit laughed. "I must confess I've never met him before. He is a friend of yours?"
Kit wondered if she had once believed in animals talking as he had when he was younger (and still did though he hid it better now).

She looked a bit startled at the question but soon recovered.

"An acquaintance. We met just now. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine...and I just felt he had a great deal left to do with his life. That's all."
Her sincerity and how the moment touched her were not lost on Kit.

He had to know more about this wonderful, confusing girl. Better to start simple.

"Miss, what do they call you?"

"Never mind what they call me." She said, turning her face away as if ashamed.
He wondered if she had a nickname like he did, that she hadn't chosen for herself.

"You shouldn't be in this forest alone,a lovel- that is to say a beau-that is, it's dangerous to wander the woods alone."
He warned her, suddenly thinking of what his brothers or some of the guard would do to a beautiful girl like her all by herself.
Was that why she was running? Where had she come from? What had happened to that horse, was it hers?

Even as his thoughts wondered about just who she was and why she was alone, Kit remained glad his brothers weren't hunting with the party today.
He knew what they would do if they saw him with such a pretty girl and that was part of the reason he never talked to the ladies at court.
He was honestly surprised at how well he and this country girl (angel? fairy?) were conversing.
He normally couldn't talk to girls at all if he was interested in more than making small talk at a party, even without his brothers trying (and usually succeeding) in embarrassing him.
He had also never been very interested in the ladies at court, with their elaborate makeup and their petty gossip.

But this girl was outdoors by herself, uncaring of the slight traces of dirt on her face and her faded blue dress.
She looked very pretty with her light blonde hair falling down her back in waves and her rich brown eyes sparkling and her angelic features.
A rosy blush had came over her face at his stammered words and she ducked her head.
Modest too then, he thought, another nice change from the girls at court who seemed to demand flattery as their due.

"I'm not alone. I'm with you, Mister…What do they call you?" Her eyes sparked with curiosity.

Kit chuckled at her attempt at humor.
He was dressed in the palace colors on his favorite horse. All that was missing was his crown.
Then he saw in her face with its open and actually seeming like she was waiting on a response from him.

"You don't know who I am?" he questioned, too shocked to think about how strange that would sound if she didn't.
Perhaps there was a girl who hadn't heard of his demeaning nickname and who didn't know what the youngest prince looked like.

"That is…" he wanted her to continue behaving as she had, not to change once she knew him as a prince or worse as the simpleton prince.
"They call me Kit. Well my father does when he's in a good mood."
That was true, Kit's father still called him by that name unless he had gotten in trouble (again), then Kittredge came out.

She accepted his name and asked, "And…where do you live, Mr. Kit?

He didn't want to lie to her…not this maiden in the forest with eyes like the garden soil on the first day of spring and lips as pink as his mother's tulips.

"At the palace. My father's teaching me his trade." There, that was the truth.

"You're an apprentice?" She questioned with a bright smile.

"Of a sort." He answered uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. It was getting a little harder not to lie.

She smiled brightly. "That's very fine. Do they treat you well?"

Kit smiled "Better than I deserve, most likely" thinking of how patient his teachers and friends were and how much he had compared to the villagers he saw when he brought the monthly donations.
"And you?" he queried.

"They treat me as they're able." She answered with a sigh and small smile though her eyes grew sad.

"I'm sorry." It was all he felt comfortable saying, for he didn't want to pry though he hated that she was unhappy.

"It's not your doing." She seemed surprised that he would care about her circumstances, strange as they were.

Kit put his hand over hers, "Nor yours either, I'll bet."

He just knew that this maiden with a heart to save the stag and ask after his treatment couldn't be the reason for her own mistreatment.
Maybe she had sisters like his brothers, he wondered.

"It's not so very bad. Others" she cleared her throat, "Others have it worse, I'm sure."

Kit was amazed at both her caring attitude and how much her sentiment reflected his own about his life with the court mocking him and his brothers bullying him.
He knew he had much more than others and he still had his father, however absent he could be.

She continued. "We must…simply have courage and be kind, mustn't we?" She smiled again, and it was so beautiful Kit felt his heart stop.

"Yes," Kit laughed with amazement at how wonderfully right she was. "You're right. That's exactly how I feel."

They smiled at each other until a hunting horn sounded very close. Kit withdrew his hand quickly.

The moment broken between them, she cried out "Don't let them hurt him." as she edged further into the wooded grove.

Kit hesitated to grant her request though he longed too.
He had the same feelings but he knew if he interfered with tradition without a reason, he would lose his chance to connect with his father and embarrass him yet again.

"But we're hunting, you see, It's what's done." He repeated the argument presented to him.

"Just because it's what's done doesn't mean it's what should be done." She argued back passionately, eyes blazing with justice and fire.

"Right again," Kit conceded, falling in love that very second with this maiden with her angelic looks and fire and astuteness.
He knew he could never get his heart back in one piece unless she gave him hers. It was already beating a love song for her.

How had she bewitched him so quickly? Yet, he was happier under her spell than he had ever been before.

"Then, you'll leave him alone, won't you?" She asked.

"I will." Kit promised though in his heart, he was promising much more than saving the stag.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kit." She smiled at him.

Just then Alistair appeared. "Ah there you are, Your High…

Kit rushed to cut him off, wanting to stay as her Mr. Kit for a while longer.

"It's Kit! Kit! Kit! I'm Kit." He ended feeling very silly. "I'm on my way."

"Well, we'd better get a move on, Mr. Kit" Alistair said with a tone that meant Kit had some explaining to do later.

"As I said, On my way." He laughed at the look Alistair gave him as he hopped back on his horse.

"I hope to see you again, miss." He didn't know what he would do if he didn't.

"And I, you" She replied, blushing prettily.

He smiled once more at her and rode off to save the stag and conquer whatever stood between him seeing her again.

What did you think of their first meeting? Though I didn't give her name, that is Cinderella. That scene was one of my favorite to write thus far.

If you feel thus inclined, write in the review section what you think.

Here's a sneak peak for part 2 where we learn more about her life.

If Kit had returned to the clearing just ten minutes later, he would have seen another supernatural beauty, a witch, stalk toward the girl and backhand her.

Reviews are appreciated as much as fabulous shoes are at a ball.