Once they had taken their places, the ball resumed. Jared took the first opportunity he had to sneak off to the terrace in the hopes of finding Alandria, only to be disappointed once more; she wasn't there. "Where is she?" he asked himself.

"I don't know" came a reply from behind him.

"Robert! You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry."

"That's okay. Now, what were you saying?"

"I was just commenting on the fact that I didn't know where Alandria was either, She hasn't arrived yet. What happened? You guys were together all week. How can you not know where she is?"

Jared turned his face in embarrassment and blushed "I kissed her."

"You what?" Robert screamed.

"We were getting ready for the ball and... she looked so beautiful that I...I couldn't help myself...it just..."

"Okay, okay I get it. You don't have to say anymore" Robert interrupted him. "What happened after that?"

"Well... I was embarrassed, so I just ran from the room."

Robert's eyes widened with shock and rage. "What!" He grabbed Jared by the shirt. "How could you do that to her?"

"I'm sorry Robert, but... please believe me. I had no intention of hurting her."

"That isn't going to save you from getting punched" he raised his fist.

"I love her!" he said straightforwardly. Robert stood there unable to move. He released his grip on Jared's shirt and turned to face the ballroom. Jared stood there nervously contemplating what to do. "I know there is no excuse for my actions, but I never expected to fall in love. And now it's driving me crazy. I have to find her Robert!"

"I don't think that will be a problem" Robert replied.

"What do you mean? It's been hours! She's probably..."

"Jared!" Robert interrupted him as he lifted his hand and pointed towards the ballroom entrance. "Look" he said as though he were in a trance.

Jared moved closer to the doorway to get a better look and was shocked by what he was seeing.

"You should go to her" Robert said as he patted him on the back.

"Thanks Robert!"

"Just go! Before I really hit you!"

Jared walked out into the ballroom and nervously approached Alandria. As he did, everyone respectfully moved out of the way and bowed. They watched to see where he was going and whom he would be speaking. When he arrived in front of Alandria, she gave a proper curtsey. He gave a slight bow, and then he held out his hand and said "Lady Alandria, I would be honored if you would dance with me."

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes and saw the hand in front of her. She slowly rose and placed her hand in his and said "The pleasure would be mine."

Jared escorted her to the center of the dance floor and, as the music started, they began to dance. The ballroom became flooded with the sounds of gossip as they danced.

"Why did he choose her?"

"That can't be Alandria!"

"Wow! When did she turn into such a looker?"

Jared could tell she was starting to get nervous from all the chatter, so he said "You have nothing to worry about."

"Forgive me, my Prince, but what do you mean?"

Jared chuckled "You're nervous about their gossiping."

Her eyes widened "How did you know?"

"Haven't you realized who I am?"

What is he talking about? He is the Prince, isn't he? Confused by his question, she nervously looked up at his face. As she looked into his hazel eyes, her jaw dropped. "Susan?" she questioned breathlessly.

Jared smiled "I owe you an apology for my behavior. I hope you can..."

"Please stop, your Highness. You don't owe me anything." She looked around nervously. She was hoping that no one could hear their conversation.

"Alandria, there is much we need to discuss. Would you join me on the terrace?"

"Yes, I'd be glad to."

The song ended and he offered her his arm once more. She accepted his arm graciously and he escorted her to the terrace so they could talk privately.

Once they were alone he turned to face her, but couldn't look her in the eye. "Alandria... About earlier..."

"Earlier? How about we start at the beginning of the retreat? What were you thinking? Why the hell did you dress up as a girl?"

Jared knew that Alandria was going to be surprised. "When I first heard about the retreat, I told my father that I wanted to go. He told me that it would be 'impossible' because I was the Crown Prince."

"Well, I can understand that. You wouldn't have had the chance to enjoy yourself. You would've been chased all over the place."

"Exactly! That was my father's argument. That's why he said it would be impossible. He told me to forget about it, but I couldn't. That's when my mother suggested that I wear a disguise so no one would recognize me."

"I understand that, but why a girl?"

"My father didn't really like the idea, but he said that if I could fool him, he would let me go. So, my mother and I tried to find a disguise that would work, but everything we tried; failed. Nothing we did could fully disguise who I was. So in the end I was unable to fool my father."

"And how did you come up with the female disguise?"

"It was something my mother had said when she was getting frustrated. 'If only you were a girl. Then we would have more options.' She had just said it in passing, but I began to think hard on it. What if I were to dress up as a girl? Would he still recognize me? So I sneaked out one night and went to Robert's house."

"Wait a minute.... Robert's house? You mean he knew?"

"Yeah, he was the one who helped me with the disguise. I told him about wanting to go to the retreat and my father's condition. Then I told him what I had in mind. He said I was crazy and that it would never work."

"I probably would have said the same thing."

"Well I didn't blame him. It was a bold move, but it was my last hope. In the end he agreed to help me and we stayed up all night trying to get the disguise to be fool proof. The following morning, when his parents came down to breakfast, they yelled at both him and the maids for not telling them they had a guest." Jared and Alandria both laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds like something they would do."

"The best part is, they couldn't tell it was me. When we realized that, we knew I was ready for a go at my own parents. Luckily, his family was going to the palace to have tea with my family that afternoon. So Robert worked his magic and got his parents to agree to take me with them."

Alandria smiled and said "He was always good at that."

"Yeah, it really worked to our advantage that he could convince them so easily." He took a relaxing breath, so he could gather his thoughts. "When they brought me to tea, Robert introduced me as his friend Susan."

"And? What happened? Did they realize it was you?"

Jared laughed "If they had realized it was me, they wouldn't have let me come to the retreat."

She giggled "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"We enjoyed tea with my parents and just as we were leaving, my father said 'Susan, it has truly been a pleasure to have entertained a respectably lady such as yourself. I'd be honored if you'd accept this invitation to the upcoming retreat next month'." Jared started laughing. "Can you believe it? My own father invited me without realizing it was me. It was so laughable that I almost blew my disguise."

"Are you serious? I can't believe it!" Alandria laughed as well.

"I know! Thank goodness I was able to keep my cool. I graciously accepted the invitation and then took my leave with Robert. When we finally returned to his house, I changed and then went home. My father was furious that I had missed afternoon tea, but then he started raving about the young lady who had accompanied them. He started saying 'You really ought to find a nice young lady like her'."

"What? No way!" she laughed "He didn't!"

"Yeah, I couldn't help but laugh when he said that too. Then he started getting mad at me again. He said I wasn't being 'serious' enough. So I told him that the young lady he met was actually me and that I had met all the conditions he had placed forth to attend the function, but he didn't believe me. That was... until I showed him the invitation."

"What happened after that?"

"I could have sworn I saw steam coming out of his ears. He was so pissed at me, but he couldn't deny I had fulfilled his condition."

"Yeah, I'd say so" Alandria chuckled. "You had all of us fooled. I can't believe we shared a room for a whole week and I still couldn't tell."

Jared couldn't believe she was able to smile and laugh about the whole matter. He was afraid that she was going to hate him for lying to her. He couldn't help but smile. "Well, now you know why I was dressed that way."

"Yeah, but..." She stopped mid sentence. She couldn't bring herself to ask the question that had just come to mind. Why did he kiss me?