Aisling

Adam sat with me until the sun began to set, casting long shadows through the streets of the city. After I scattered Flora's ashes I couldn't bring myself to do anything else but stare off where her ashes once were. Watching them float across the treetops I felt something shift inside of me. It was as if something in my heart was set free. I still had all the memories of my friend but she wasn't trapped inside anymore. She was free and so was I.

I could tell from how Adam held the middle of the tree that he was uncomfortable being so high in the tree, but he stayed. He sat silently by my side as my mind wandered through all the years I had spent with my friend. It was hard to think of her as my sister because every time I did I felt an anger rise in me. He had taken this from me, just like everything else.

'Adam?' I croaked, my voice rough from disuse. He startled beside me at the sudden noise and I felt a small smile cross my face for the first time since coming up here. 'Why don't we head down now, I'm sure it'll be time for dinner soon?'

'Are you sure?' He asked, shifting his stiff body awkwardly on the branch.

'Yeah, wouldn't want the crown prince of Illea, to fall from a tree because he was starved.'

'Maybe they'll think you pushed me,' he replied.

'Maybe,' I mused, pretending to think it over. 'We should probably get down before that happens then. I don't have a very good sense of direction, it could only be worse at night.'

'Aisling,' Adam said with an amused smile. 'You don't have a bad a sense of direction, you have no sense of direction.'

'Well, if you ever wanted to get lost, I would definitely be the person you go to,' I shrugged, tucking the jar that had contained Flora's ashes under my arm.

'Come on then, little dreamer, let's get back,' he announced before moving down the branches gingerly.

'Race you?' I challenged.

'No, that wouldn't be fair. This is the first time I've ever climbed a tree , if you hadn't noticed,' he smirked, looking back up at me.

'You've never climbed a tree before?'

'As surprising as it may be, as prince, I never had the need to learn the art of tree climbing. Most of my time was spent inside with my head buried in books or attending meetings with my father.'

'Nobody needs to climb a tree,' I grumbled.

'Harmonia has been campaigning the very opposite of that. She has been begging our mother to climb the trees in her garden, she will not rest until she has caught her dreams.' He laughed, carefully placing his foot on the next branch, his hands gripping the other tree limb so tightly they had begun to turn white.

'She was a little…enthusiastic about the idea of climbing a tree.' I answered easily catching up to him and then matching his slow pace.

'Sometimes I forget that she's only twelve. She can seem so mature and then do or say something completely unpredictable.'

'You're going to love what we have planned for her party then,' I smiled, thinking of the giant spotted trees Alice had designed to decorate the ball room.

'I don't care what the room looks like as long as you're in the middle of that dance floor with me.'

'Lucky, because I'm almost certain you aren't going to like it,' I laughed. Adam smiled as well and tried to lean across to kiss me but unfortunately he wasn't lying when he said his climbing skills were bad because one minute he was there, and the next minute there was empty space where he used to be. The forest's silence was punctured by his startled cry and then the inevitable impact of his body landing against the forest floor. I heard his groan of pain and moved quickly down the tree.

'Adam?' I asked worriedly, kneeling beside him and placing the jar among the tree roots.

'Why am I always the one that looks like a clumsy fool? I've had years of training and you seem to be better than I am at staying on your feet.' He grumbled, sitting up and trying to dust himself off. He had fallen from some of the lower branches of the tree so he didn't appear to be hurt anywhere noticeable. Apparently, the only part of him which was wounded was his pride.

'Maybe I just intimidate you?' I shrugged getting to my feet and picking up his discarded jacket. 'Huh.'

'What?' He said, getting to his feet and crossing over to me.

'My shoes are gone,' I answered in confusion, looking around the forest floor but only finding more twigs and yellowing leaves.

'They can't have just walked off,' Adam answered looking around the trunk of the tree for my missing footwear.

'Maybe they were magical shoes and they really could just walk off. Who knows what those maids of mine do to my clothes?' I suggested throwing his jacket at him.

'Only in your mind could shoes walk off on their own,' he chuckled, coming back to my side.

'Oh well, I guess the mystery will never be solved,' I shrugged, walking off in the direction I believed the palace to be.

'Aisling, where are you going?' Adam questioned, his amused tone telling me that whichever way I was going was wrong.

'The palace?' I answered hopefully, turning back to see a smirk on his face.

'Useless,' he muttered jokingly, holding his hand out for me. I glared up at him as I took his hand and we started back the way he believed the palace to be.

'Ouch,' I cried, reaching down to rub my stinging foot with my free hand.

'What?' Adam asked worriedly looking down at me.

'The forest attacked me,' I answered scowling at the offending rock.

'Do you want me to carry you?' He offered, with an amused smile.

'No,' I answered emphatically marching ahead of him only to be tugged back by out joint hands.

'How's storming off going for you?' He teased, walking up beside me slowly.

'I would be better if you weren't holding on so tight,' I shot back, walking ahead of him again.

'Come on Aisling, you're going to hurt yourself,' He whined, as I winced on another twig that dug painfully into my bare feet.

'I'm going to hurt you,' I threatened. 'I can walk on-' I was cut short as a stone pierced my foot and I dropped to the ground to dig it out as Adam laughed above me.

'Aisling,' he prompted, crouching beside me, his face inches from mine.

'Fine,' I sighed and he stole a quick kiss before getting to his feet and pulling me with him.

'Hop on,' he said enthusiastically.

'I hate how much you're enjoying this,' I mumbled, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

'Really, I love how much you're enjoying this,' he retorted, lifting one of my hands to place a kiss on my palm.

'Just walk Adam,' I grumbled.

'Yes Ma'am,' Adam mock saluted before continuing through the darkening forest.

Harmonia

'I wonder where those two have been?' I mused, getting down from Nancy's saddle and watching Adam carry Aisling out of the forest.

'That's not really any of our business Nia,' Justin answered, moving to unsaddle Nancy.

'But-' I tried to protest but Justin cut across me.

'Harmonia,' he scolded, shooting me a look.

'Fine,' I sighed.

'Thank you,' he answered, leading Nancy away to her pen.

'You know I really hope Adam picks Aisling, she's my favourite,' I said, walking beside Justin.

'It's not up to you Nia,' Justin sighed, resigned to the fact I would be talking about the selection despite his protests.

'Why, Adam likes her and I know mom and dad like her too, why would he not pick her?' I asked, scrunching my face up at Justin's words.

'Love isn't predictable Nia, we don't decide who we love,' he answered almost sadly and I looked at him in confusion. He had this strange look on his face before it disappeared and had me wondering if I had seen it at all. Silence fell between us as Justin began to brush Nancy and I sat down on the stool watching him.

'Justin?' I asked suddenly and he hummed his reply, still brushing out Nancy. 'Do you think I'll need to marry a prince someday, like Amberly?' I looked up, from my lap at Justin to see his entire body was tense, the brush resting motionless against Nancy.

'Your parents wouldn't make you do that, would they?' He asked in a strained voice, still immobile beside Nancy.

'I don't know,' I answered thinking it over. 'Would it be so bad? I mean how else am I going to meet someone? They don't have selections for Illean princesses.'

'Don't you want to find love?' Justin asked in a small voice still not turning to face me.

'How would I do that? I don't even know what love is,' I shrugged. 'Have you been in love?'

'I…I…' He stammered, dropping his hands and fiddling with the brush he was holding. Was he nervous?

'You have been in love,' I gasped, getting to my feet. 'Who was it? Do I know her? Of course I don't know her, unless she lives in the palace. Wait, does she live in the palace?'

'Nia,' he groaned as all my words started to roll into one.

'Did she love you back?' I prodded, standing beside him eagerly.

'Nia,' he answered uncomfortably.

'What was her name?'

'Please Nia, I don't want to talk about this.'

'Come on Justin, I'm your best friend. I tell you everything, can't you tell me this one thing?' I whined.

'She doesn't know I love her,' he sighed, letting his arms fall to his side, his chin resting on his chest.

'What? Why don't you tell her? Don't you want to know if she loves you back? What does she look like?' I asked rapidly, not giving him a chance to answer.

'Please don't make me talk about this,' he begged, looking over at me pleadingly but my curiosity stopped me from giving in.

'One more question, please?' I pleaded, smiling up at him sweetly. He looked at me for a moment, considering and then sighed defeatedly. He knew I wouldn't give up until I got what I wanted.

'One question,' he agreed, with a resigned sigh. I thought over my options carefully, jutting my hip to the side and tapping my chin thoughtfully.

'How do you know you love her?' I asked softly and he looked back at me surprised by the question. However, he answered quickly and confidently.

'She's beautiful, curious and never takes no for an answer. She is loyal, kind hearted and she doesn't know how special she truly is.' He answered, the intensity of his eyes as he stared at me creating a heavy tension between us.

'She's lucky,' I whispered, a little jealous that there was a girl out there who had captured my best friends heart.

'I'm the lucky one,' Justin answered looking away from me and returning his attention to Nancy.

'Why?' I asked curiously. How could he be the lucky one when this girl didn't even know how he felt for her?

'Because, I get to see her everyday and even if she doesn't know how I feel, spending time with her makes me the luckiest man in the world.' I nodded absently, looking down at my feet, lost deep in my own thoughts. What must it be like to be in love like Justin is? How can he still feel lucky when the girl doesn't even know how he feels? She doesn't even know how lucky she is.

'Justin, why don't you tell her?' I asked finally.

'I already answered your one question Nia,' he answered looking over at me with his usual amused smile, all discomfort from before gone.

'But-'

'We had an agreement Harmonia Nicoletta Schreave,' he scolded, putting away all of Nancy's things.

'Fine,' I groaned, following closely behind him.

'Don't you have to get back to the palace?' Justin asked, easily changing the subject.

'Yes,' I sighed looking down at my dirty ridding clothes and knowing I needed to change before dinner.

'Well, you better get going then,' he answered, shooing me out of the stables.

'Are you trying to get rid of me Justin?' I accused, narrowing my eyes at him as he pushed me out the door.

'No, I just have things to do and you're distracting me,' he answered.

'Oooh, I understand,' I replied with a knowing smile, crossing my arms over my chest.

'What do you understand?' He asked dubiously.

'You're going to see her aren't you?' I accused excitedly.

'No,' he answered quickly, looking around nervously.

'I have a brilliant idea,' I squealed, causing Justin to step back in alarm. 'Invite her to my birthday.'

'Um…I don't…I'm…' he stuttered, pulling at the sleeves of his shirt nervously.

'No, you have to invite her,' I answered adamantly. 'I'm your best friend and I want to meet this girl.'

'That'll be interesting,' he grumbled.

'It's going to be amazing,' I insisted.

'I don't know.'

'Trust me,' I beamed spinning away from him before he could protest. I heard him mutter something behind me but I couldn't understand what he said so I continued off to the palace, even more excited for my birthday ball now.

So nothing really happened in this chapter but the next ones will be much more exciting, I promise. I could give you hints but I don't want to give it away. I'm sorry it took such a long time to get such a short chapter but I've been rather busy with homework and work. I feel bad that I've given you such an uninteresting chapter after such a long time :( Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next one out soon :) However, I did include a little Justonia (Thank you prnamber3909) scene so I hope you liked it. When do you think she'll finally realise that the girl he loves is in fact her? I mean how can he invite her to her own party? Poor Justin.

Theoneforever, so glad you enjoyed the last chapter and sorry for making you cry. No Antherly in this one but there will hopefully be some in the next chapter depending on timing. Something tragic is coming, I'm just not going to tell you too much about it yet because I don't want to give too much away but it will be something that will have effects on both sides of this storyline. Thank you for your awesome review :)

lola5147, I'm so excited to hear you liked it. I love writing Elliot, especially when he interacts with both Anthony and Amberly. He's just a little bit cute :)

As always thank you to all those who have read and reviewed my story, you are all amazingly beautiful people :) Happy reading story lovers...