Prince James' twin, David, was too good to be true. At the moment, he was sifting through a catalogue to find the perfect gift for their grandmother's birthday. "I think she'll like this one. What do you think, James?" David thrust the catalogue under James' nose.

This was a one-of-a-kind assortment of jewelry. Exclusively for royals. Sometimes, the sellers brought a few choices to the castle. In this case, they sent a thief they never trusted off to the castle on a rundown horse to drop off the parchment full of magic-imbued paintings of their items.

Prince James pretended to study the necklace thoughtfully. "I don't know. Looks more meant for a dowager princess than a dowager empress."

"Stop mocking me." David took the catalogue back, studied the necklace, and asserted, "I'm getting it for her if you have no serious input to deliver."

Prince James patted his back. "Of course you are. And should," he added, making a sketchy attempt to be supportive. There was nothing wrong with the necklace. He was certain their grandmother would love it. But Prince James wasn't good at these things.

Knowing his brother, David had surely picked a winner. David was remarkably thoughtful at giving gifts. Never regifting. He usually only bought for people he knew well enough to hit the nail on the head.

Prince James had witnessed David moving numerous people to tears over a gift that screamed "I know you and love you—just the way you are."

It was sickening.

Men as handsome as they did not need to be thoughtful or buy their grandmother a gift for her birthday. Prince James would never!

"How is your beloved Snow White?"

That was another thing Prince James found maddening about his twin. He was hopelessly naïve. The sight of James always made David smile with his eyes—because David genuinely liked who he believed his twin was. Granted, David gave James the best gifts, the stuff he secretly wanted but never voiced aloud—or had no idea existed. Like those amazing arrows James had used to make his pet sharks swim frantically in a sort of dance. One of his pets even ended up being eaten by his pet orca whale in its attempt to outswim the arrows. It seemed if David didn't know James' heart, he should give him lame gifts, but he never did.

"Everything's fine," Prince James informed his twin honestly. "She's the greatest girl I ever met. I never met a woman who made me dizzy and…romantic like she does. But we still aren't ready to publicize our relationship. I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone."

David had seen the unusual glow on Prince James' face after sharing Love's First Kiss with Snow. Of course, Prince James had shared some of the news. David was his best friend.

He merely had hidden his dark side from his brother. They did talk like best friends. Occasionally, Prince James was perhaps a bit too honest—siding with a predator instead of his/her prey. Maybe occasionally admitting he saw it as if you didn't eat, you deserve to be eaten. Prince David would give him a shifty-eyed glance but seemed to attribute it to James being the heir. David was the backup prince who'd only become king of this land if James died.

He could become king if he married the heir-princess to another land, but David expressed the desire to marry a commoner and escape the semi-spotlight he was under. He had his eye on Prince Gaston's land, thinking it'd be nice to vanish there, find a love somewhere. "Or Prince Eric's," he had added speculatively."That's a man I'd like as my king." Their father didn't and couldn't know of this longing; it'd kill him.

"It's a shame," David murmured now, thinking of his brother and Snow White, "our countries are at war with each other."

Prince James shrugged. "It's that Reul Ghorm character's fault. Our countries almost had a peace treaty several years ago, but she absolutely despises our father, King George. She convinced King Leopold and Queen Eva to retract the offer."

David, who wasn't told this until now because he wasn't the heir, looked like Prince James had electrocuted him. "She sounds awful."

"Yes, and she's an advisor."

There was a knock at the door. A delivery boy ambled in and handed Prince James a heart-shaped bouquet of red roses.

"For your princess?" asked David when the scrawny twelve-year-old left.

Smiling dreamily, Prince James answered, "Most certainly."

David gripped his wrist. "I'm happy for you! Though I wish I had someone special to me. I'll find her someday…"

"Yeah. I love her. I mean…I did not know I could fall so swiftly." Scratching his ear, Prince James mused, "I suppose you fall fast or not at all. Me anyway."

"I feel bad for those women who wait a lifetime for their lover to propose," David murmured. "After five years, he clearly has no intention."

Prince James nodded his agreement. "Today is our three-month anniversary. I'm proposing."

"Good for you!" cheered David.

Prince James left his brother and stepped outside into a courtyard buried six inches below a heavy snowfall.

A sorcerer had given Prince James two magical items upon his request. One was a set of purple and gold compact mirrors. Hers was gold where his was purple and vice versa. The purpose of this mirror set was so Snow could warn James if their planned meeting was a bad time.

They couldn't speak in these mirrors. She wouldn't show up if she was tackling something. In that case, he'd check every hour after until he received word from her.

If she was busy but had time for the mirror, she held her thumb down and held up a piece of paper with a better time. If there were no problems, she beckoned him.

Being royal meant their schedules could be erratic. What was an awesome time yesterday could be terrible five minutes before their planned date.

Prince James flipped his compact. Snow's rosy cheeks appeared. His smile was the result of his heart flooding with love at the sight of her.

She beckoned.

Prince James lifted the second object the sorcerer had given him. A necklace chain with a prowling tiger charm. The charm made tiger breathing noises and was unusally warm.

The prince gripped the charm firmly in his hand. It glowed and pulled him to the woman who owned his heart. Coughing on it would return him to his orginal area.

He held the heart-shaped bouquet as gently as he could in his other arm.