When Seth got home he found his two best friends, Newel and Doren, greeting him. Unbeknownst to Kendra, Seth had told them about their powers. Surprisingly, they're really good at keeping secrets. Must come with all the prank-pulling experience.

"Hey Seth, how'd it goooo?" asked Newel, prancing over to the prince's side.

"Good and bad. On the bright side, they agreed to heal Fablehaven," he answered with an uncertain tone.

"And on the bad side?" Doren inquired.

"Kendra had to agree to marry the prince," Seth informed them, grimacing.

His friends looked at him, at each other, and then back at him, jaws dropping. "But the prince is horrible?!" Newel exclaimed.

"Believe me, I know," the shadowcharmer agreed.

"Why did they want a betrothal in the first place?" Doren asked incredulously.

"Apparently the prince is a little like us and likes to disobey and cause trouble. The queen said if he had more responsibility he would calm down. I'm not sure how much I believe that, but Kendra said she would do anything for this kingdom, anddd agreed to it," Seth explained.

"Oh, how noble," Newel lamented, wiping away a fake tear.

"So what you're saying is put a hold on the glitter bomb for Ms. Sparkly until a few weeks after she gets back?" Doren asked.

"Basically," Seth agreed.

"Damn," Doren said dejectedly.

"Hey, that doesn't mean we can't glitter bomb the prince…" Newel pointed out with a devious smile.

"I like the sound of that," Seth smirked.

"Let's get started then! We can't keep the prince waiting on his shiny new makeover!" Doren exclaimed. The trio laughed and ran to Seth's room to prepare their master plan.

Kendra's POV

This had to be a fever dream. Not only was Kendra now betrothed to the prince of Aldera, but she had unknowingly flirted with him in the gardens. And had liked him. The prince who said all those bad things about her people, humans, he always said with disgust. The humans for whom she had just sacrificed her future.

On their way to the queen, the fairykind girl didn't say a thing to her betrothed. However, she did feel a twinge of regret at the hurt look on his face when she kept her hands to herself, unlike their walk to the castle. She shouldn't feel that way, but she couldn't shake the memory of the kind boy who walked her back. Nevertheless, when the pair reached the queen she remained silent as the mother and son talked.

"So when were you going to tell me I am betrothed?" the handsome prince asked with frustration, arms crossed.

"You would have known if you had attended the meeting as instructed. Instead, you further proved the need for this arrangement," the queen reasoned, straightening her already perfect posture.

"So that's what this is, then. A punishment for my actions. That doesn't seem fair to Kendra, now does it?" he asked, gesturing to the princess. That was odd. Why would he care about her feelings, she wondered. Care about what was fair to her?

As if reading her thoughts, the queen turned to Kendra and said, "Didn't I say you would be in good hands?"

"I must admit, I didn't believe you at first. But each moment I spend here tells me otherwise," the princess replied with a tight smile, knowing she shouldn't display any hostility towards the monarch's son.

"What do you mean 'good hands'? You knew we both hated each other! Well, I thought we hated each other..," Bracken trailed off.

"If I didn't know any better I would say you two met, and did so without recognizing each other," the queen remarked, displaying her knowledge of our afternoon, amusement glinting in her silvery-blue eyes. Bracken's eyes.

When the two of them didn't respond, the queen continued, "You know, rumors traveling from kingdom to kingdom can be nasty. Now that you two are tied together, I believe a fresh start should be put in order. Forget everything you've heard about the other, and start anew."

Unable to wrangle her temper any longer Kendra heatedly replied, "With all due respect, Your Majesty, if Prince Bracken really said those things about my people, the people I just sacrificed my future for, then this will be difficult for the both of us."

The queen's gaze softened. "I understand, my dear. If anything, just be willing to try. If it doesn't work out, perhaps we can arrange something to help with your differences."

The princess of Fablehaven sighed. "I guess there should be no harm in trying." Bracken nodded in agreement while biting his fingernails, an odd habit for a prince, eyes distant.

"Excellent!" The queen exclaimed, her mood unaffected by the grumpy royals. "You may head your separate ways for the night, but I expect you two to get to know each other the following days, yes?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Kendra said, bowing her head.

"Yes mother," Bracken said curtly. She couldn't help feeling bad for him. He didn't even get a choice. Ugh. Maybe that was the fresh start talking. Or maybe it was the kind boy who offered to walk her to the castle, talking with her. The silly prince that got himself stuck in a bush. Trying wouldn't be so bad, she decided, if he would do the same.

Bracken's POV

He didn't want to think anymore. Pacing around his room, his silver hair tousled from running his hands through it, Bracken couldn't decide what he wanted. He didn't know if he wanted to give the benefit of the doubt, or if he wanted to continue hating Fablehaven in earnest. However, the more he thought about his time with the princess, the more he wanted to give Kendra a chance. Her looks, her personality, and her humor were making a foothold and not giving ground. He couldn't stop thinking of her, no matter how much he wanted to stop thinking altogether.

He was never going to sleep at this rate. Kendra said she had liked to read. Maybe he could get a headstart on their 'bonding' by spending some time in the castle library. Making up his mind, the prince stopped his relentless pacing and started towards the library.

But as Bracken walked he realized he was not alone. He could hear footsteps in a nearby room. Footsteps and.. humming? Only his sisters Celeste and Emerald hummed, and they were likely asleep by now. His sisters. He wondered if they knew of this arrangement. Celeste probably did, involved as she is. But even as the thoughts of his sisters ceased the humming persisted, and as he drew nearer he could tell it was neither Les nor Em, though the voice was just as lovely. The prince looked around, trying to locate the source, entering the library as he did. He scanned the stacks, the tables scattered around the place when something caught his eye. One of the tables was in use, containing several books strewn about, with pieces of paper, ink, and a quill adjacent to them.

Tearing his gaze from the table, they roamed the stacks once more until he caught a glimpse of a head with wavy brown hair. He took in a sharp breath as he realized who it was. This had been a bad idea, the prince thought to himself. Bracken started to slowly back away when a shelf suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Because he definitely had not run into it. At that, the humming abruptly stopped and the beautiful human (as he just figured out) girl turned around and spotted the prince, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," the princess started, "I hope it's okay for me to be in here, I just couldn't sleep and I thought it would be nice to see the library-"

"It's okay," Bracken interrupted, "I couldn't sleep either." He hesitated, his hand floating to the back of his neck. "Mind if I join you?"

"Oh! Um, yes. Make yourself at home! Well I guess you already are home but-"

"What's got you so flustered tonight, princess? Surely it can't be little old me," the prince interrupted again, stepping closer to Kendra, wearing a playful grin.

"Well surely this night hasn't been easy for you either. I'm just, taking it all in, I guess," the princess replied, casting those alluring, green eyes anywhere but him.

His gaze softened, remembering that this situation didn't affect him alone. "Well, maybe we can take it all in together," he offered, outstretching his hand, palm facing up. Conflict flittingly graced her features before she took his hand. He lifted it to his lips with a small smile, like he had in the garden. He hoped that memory would help soothe the tension between them.

She smiled softly before taking her hand away and turning back to the table. That smile. Mere hours ago he'd decided to never let that smile leave her face. How did her being the princess of Fablehaven change that?

"So, what were you reading about?" the prince inquired.

"Well, I picked out a few old legends from your collection. I like learning about other cultures and that seemed like a good place to start," Kendra replied absently without turning around, flipping a page as she spoke.

Bracken stepped closer to her, resisting the urge to place his hand on the small of her back. "Which legend do you have right there?"

The princess finally raised her eyes to his as she said, "Something about 'fairykind' and 'shadowcharmers'. Have you ever heard of it?" With his Fae hearing he noticed that her breathing quickened at the question. Perhaps he was too close for her liking.

Bracken took a step back as he answered, "I've heard it mentioned, but nothing more. Something about human-born Fae, how they were originally created to keep Fae Royalty in check, but now they're born very rarely and spontaneously without reason. Hey, you live with humans, have you ever seen it?"

Kendra quickly looked away, hair whipping around her as she opened another book. "No, I haven't ever seen it. Just curious, is all."

"You know, I'm surprised you're not more curious about the plague in your lands. How did it start?" he asked, trying to discern whether she cared for her people as much as she claimed.

Her hands stopped at his words. "I have no idea how it started. I just know that it killed like no other."

That piqued the prince's interest. "Well, wouldn't you like to know?" he asked. "'Killed like no other' sounds like magic, dark magic. Since I know more about that than you do, I could help you," he offered, in an attempt to gather more information.

Kendra turned to face him. "You think dark magic killed my people?" she asked, concern in her face.

If she was acting, Bracken thought, she was good. Especially since all he wanted to do at the moment was wash away her worries. "Well I'm not sure, I said we could find out," he finally responded.

"And you would help me?" she replied slowly, her words laced with suspicion and doubt. Was that so unbelievable? What had she heard about him? He had to change her mind.

"Of course I would! Plus it could be our 'bonding' that my mother expects us to do," he responded lightly, trying to help her mood.

The princess's eyes narrowed, not appeased. "So it's not just about helping my people. It's also about satiating your boredom. I should have known," she said stiffly.

"What?! No, that's not-"

"Goodnight Bracken. We'll look into it in the morning," she coldly interrupted, stiffly walking away, leaving him and the books behind. The prince sighed, running his hand down his face. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Kendra's POV

Kendra hurried back to her quarters, turmoil stirring within. She shouldn't have been so quick to lash out at Bracken, especially when he was trying to help. She should have never gone to the library, looking for answers. She should have waited until they had both slept before interacting with the prince again. Her world was full of 'should have's and 'shouldn't have's. What she should do is calm down. So she continued down the hall, mastering her breathing and stilling her mind.

When the fairykind entered her room, she was surprised to find a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies and a mug of hot chocolate—just like her aunt Lena used to make her, before she passed from the plague. Lena wasn't really her aunt, though; she just called her that. Yet once she was gone it had only made the loss hurt worse.

Shaking away her unpleasant thoughts, she wondered how the 'meal' had gotten there. The room changed decorations at her will, maybe it gave her food too? The princess yawned, chasing away those thoughts too. She ate and drank her fill of the treat left before her and switched to sleepwear. As Kendra climbed into bed and sleep claimed her, all she wished was for the next day to be better.