"These will be your chambers for this evening should you choose to stay my lady." The female maid informed her. She looked out of place in the room. Her clothes were old and ripped, her brown in a messy bun while the room she stood in was the picture of luxury. The four post bed had a large wooden box with eagles hand carved into the sides. A long wooden table was on the left of the room, opposite the bed. It was laid out with a gold plate and cutlery with a big bouquet of freshly cut white flowers that she recognised from the gardens she had walked through. The servant girl stood with her hands clasped at in front her.

"Thank you." Jade had said it without thinking about it but soon regretted her actions when she saw the look of surprise on the maids face. She had forgotten, Zachariah had told her that in private the Princess looked down on everyone, she was a spoilt brat. The words thank you would never have been used by the Princess on a servant.

"It was my pleasure my lady." She said giving her a curtsy. She looked grateful for her small act of kindness though it worried Jade. It had been out of character for 'the princess.' "Can I help you with anything my Lady?" Jade needed to assert herself as the Princess again, to make her kindness less strange and out of character.

"Yes, fetch the knight I came in with and Zachariah I need to speak with them." She ordered her. Jade didn't like it. The words felt wrong to her as they came out of her mouth but it erased all the suspicion from the girls face. She curtsied again.

"Of course my Lady. I shall fetch them right away." With that, she left. Jade let out a sigh of relief when she had gone. She was alone but she was welcoming it. She walked over and sat down on the bed, the soft mattress feeling like a cloud after a night of sleeping on the forest floor. She laid back and stared up at the ceiling of the posted bed. The hair that had been bothering her stretched out all around her. She closed her eyes and let herself drift. What seemed to her like seconds after she had relaxed that there was an impatient knock on the door. Jade jumped up and smoothing her green dress a little, walked towards the centre of the room.

"Come in." She called. The door opened and in came two familiar figures. Zachariah was first, Ethan followed closely behind and the maid that had fetched them slipped into the rom behind him. "Leave us." She ordered her. The girl curtsied and turned to leave the room but not before Jade noticed the longing glance she gave Ethan. A pang of jealousy ran through her. She knew that she could never look at him like that, not just because she was in the body of the Princess but also because she wouldn't be staying long in that world. She would leave with a broken heart if she allowed herself to look at him like that. Jade shook her head and pushed the feeling aside.

"Giving orders now I see." Zachariah commented as he held his staff close to his body. Jade shot him a glare.

"I made a mistake. I said thank you to her."

"I see, well that is definitely not something a Princess would do. Neither is calling two men to her private chambers. The servants may talk." Zachariah warned her.

"I had to talk to the two of you. The Prince has invited me to this ball he is having tonight, he wants me to join him."

"I have heard about this. It's the talk of the Kingdom at the moment." Ethan informed them.

"You have to accept." Zachariah said bluntly.

"But do we have time? You said we still have a long way to go and only a month to do it in."

"It's true yes we do have a long way to do but we can spare one night. We already have two of the jewels and you only arrived yesterday morning. We have plenty of time, beside it would look strange for you to turn down this offer and head home straight away. Especially after coming here to supposedly show the support of your Kingdom."

"As much as I hate to admit it, the wizard is right. We have orders from our King to keep suspension at a minimum, refusing this invitation would do just the opposite." Ethan said stepping a little more into the room. Jade looked between the two men.

"Alright, I'll tell him we will stay and leave tomorrow morning." Zachariah nodded with approval.

"That is the wisest choice. I however shall not be there, I do my best to avoid such things. I shall wish you a good evening now then and leave you too it. Just be careful not to give yourself away." Zachariah warned her.

"Since as you won't I shall remain by her side." Ethan spat bitterly towards the wizard.

"I expected that you would whether I was present or not." Zachariah responded coldly. The two glared at each other, the tension in the room slowly rising to the point of it becoming unbearable.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow Zachariah." Jade blurted out breaking the silence. Zachariah took his eyes from Ethan and had her a nod, then he left the room without another word.

"Damn wizard." Ethan said with a pure disdain. Jade noticed his hand was clenched tightly in a ball, his hate for Zachariah and his great need to protect her merging into one powerful emotion.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." She assured him.

"That's beside the point. You're new to this world, you know little of the world around you and there are only two people that can guide you through it. One of which is a self serving wizard who decides to turn his back on you simply because the situation is inconvenient for him." Ethan words were sharp and venomous, full of anger. Anger that scarred Jade a little.

"I'm sure he has his reasons, beside I have you to help me if I need it." Ethan stopped glaring at the door and looked back at her. Her worried expression instantly making him remember where he was and calming him down.

"Yes...I shall be there should you need anything. Should you ever need anything that is." Jade could feel her cheeks becoming redder at the soft words he spoke.

"Actually there might be one thing..."

"And what might that be?"

"Well it's a ball and I'm gonna be expected to dance...but I can't...I mean, I don't know how to." She said nervously.

"I see." Ethan whispered to himself. He put his right hand on his sheathed sword and unbuckled the brow leather belt holding it up. He wrapped the belt around the sword on what appeared to be pure instinct, like he could do it all in his sleep. He carefully placed the sword on the ground and then walked closer to Jade. For the first time since she has met Ethan he appeared unsure of himself, nervous even. He held his hands out towards he waist. "May I?" He asked gesturing to her hips with his eyes and a small nod of his head.

"Oh...um yeah, sure." Jade watched as Ethan moved closer to her.

"Posture is important when ballroom dancing. You must keep your back straight at all times." Jade straighten her back as Ethan moved to take her right hand in his left. "You hold onto your partner's hand with your right and then you place your left of my shoulder, at where the seam of a shirt would be." Jade did as he told her, ignoring the fact that his metal armour was cold to her touch. Ethan placed took right right arm and placed it under her left, planting his hand firmly on the back of her shoulder. "Since you are female your partner will take the lead. If you ever get lost simply follow them but in theory you will be creating a box shape with your feet to the rhythm of 1234." With that he began to move with Jade following. He took a step back, she took one forward. He moved to the side so did she, he moved forward she took a step back. It was a lot easier than Jade ever thought it would be, maybe that was because she was Ethan. It was so easy for her to switch off her brain and follow him, putting all her trust in his need to protect her in every way her could.

"So how does a knight learn how to ballroom dance anyway?" She asked him after she was sure she had got a handle on the memover. Ethan smiled. It was a beautiful smile, but fleeting. A sight that made Jade's heart jump a little, a sight she knew was very rare.

"When I was younger I used to follow my brother Simon around like a lost puppy. I wanted to be a knight so badly, I spent my days watching him and the other knights train. Memorising all their moved before I was old enough to pick up a sword of my own. Then when he would attend balls to act as the King's guard I would follow him there too. Hiding in the shadows, pretending to be protecting the royal family in my own little way. Then when turned 16 I became a knight and I began attending balls alongside my brother. You pick up a few things in all that time."

"Was that before or after Alicia..." Jade trailed off. The question had come out without her even thinking about it but she didn't have the heart to finish it.

"The wizard...he told you." Ethan said with a pained voice.

"Yeah last night, I hope you don't mind. I asked and he told me."

"No it's fine. It's only naturally to be curious." Silence fell between them and they stopped moving, as if the mention of his younger sister made Ethan freeze in pain...but he didn't let go of her. "It was after...after she...parted that I became to set on becoming a knight. Before that I had never wanted to become on. I lost my father when he was out fighting on behalf of the kingdom, my Mother has given her life bringing Alicia into the world. I wanted no part in the life of a knight but after she passed....after I helplessly watched as she died becoming a knight was the only thing I truly wanted. The power to protect the weak, that was something I lacked with Alicia and I never wanted to lack that again."

"But you're sister was ill right?"

"Scarlet fever. She had always been a sickly child, ever since her complicated birth."

"Well then you couldn't have protected her from what you can't see. You can't fight an illness for her...there is no way you could have protected her from something like that."

"Maybe not but the feeling of being completely helpless...weak. It's something I despise, I don't ever want to feel like that again. I want to be able to protect people in every way that I can."

"I understand that but it's not Zachariah's fault that he couldn't save her." Ethan gritted his teeth at the mention of his name.

"He was the only one that could. The only one in this world that does have the power to fight off an illness for someone and he stood by and did nothing. He just let her die."

"Maybe so but he has rules he has to obey just like you do as a knight. I would have thought you of all people would understand that."

"Being a knight and being what he is are completely different. As a knight I do everything in my power to protect those I can, giving my life if needs be. That is the code a knight stands by he...he has no such code. He cares only for himself, he can go so much more with power he has and yet he does nothing with it. I just don't get how someone an stand by and watch a small, defenseless girl die knowing that they could save her so easily." Jade sighed inwardly. It was no good, there was no getting through to him. She has hoped that she could make him see, make him hate Zachariah a little less. Ethan's hate for him however was strong, developed over years upon years of hating the same man, mixed with the pain of losing a loved one. She couldn't undo all of that with a few simple words, it was silly of her to think that she could.

"Okay." She said calmly. "I understand where you are coming from but in the next few weeks the three of us are going to have to face a dragon together. Can we not just learn to be civil with each other before that? If we have any chance of surviving that encounter we need to be able to work together. I'm not asking you to trust him...or even like him...just try to be civil with him." Ethan looked up at Jade, he could see from the look in her eyes that she was serious. He sighed, calming himself down as he did.

"You are right, I shall do my best to be civil with him." Jade smiled. She felt a small sense of accomplishment at that. Maybe now the tension she felt whenever the two were in the room together would be less. "I probably should not say this but between you and I...I think the Kingdom of Mountains would have been lucky to have you as it's true princess. Our Princess has everything a princess needs but she lacks the heart and comparison for it, that's something you have in abundance." Jade knew her cheeks were becoming redder and redder by the second, there was no way she could have hid it.

"Thank you but this world Jade is just a version of me. If I had been a princess, grown up with everything she has I would have been just like her. It's only because I didn't grow up with those privileges that I am not the same as her."

"Perhaps but it is a shame, it simply proves that our Princess has the ability to be a deserving Princess...much like you and yet I know that she never will be. She does not have the heart for it."

"Well maybe she does. You can never truly tell and you said before that although you are put in charge of protecting her and the royal family you don't really know her. People, even spoilt Princess' have the ability to surprise you." For the second time that day Jade saw Ethan smile. It seemed that he had let his guard down while the two of them were alone in that room and she found that she liked him a lot more. Understood him more. She had always found him physically attractive but it wasn't until that encounter that Jade started to see the real Ethan, the man and not the knight.

"You are certainly full of surprises, what's to say that this world is you is not the same?" It wasn't a question he needed an answer for and silence fell between them.

"Will you dance with me tonight?" Jade asked softly. She instantly regretted it. It seemed like her question reminded him of who he was, who she was, their situation and his duty. The moment they had shared was then over and he took several steps backwards, putting distance between them that Jade wished he hadn't.

"I cannot. I am here to watch over you and make sure you are safe nothing more. It would not be right for a knight to be dancing with a Princess." His walls were back up. The knight once again taking charge and the glimpse of Ethan gone for her sight. In that moment she was angry, if she has been anyone else, she would have been able to spend more time with the real Ethan. Instead the body she has inhabited happened to be a Princess which stopped her from getting to see him as anything but a knight, a man sworn to protect her. Not her friend and not someone she could share any romantic feelings with.

"I see." Jade whispered feeling disappointed. There was a deafening knock on the door that made Jade jump. "C-come in." She called. The door opened slightly and the female servant that had showed Jade to her room slipped in. She looked to Jade and then to Ethan, she smiled slightly at the sight of him, sending another wave of jealousy through Jade. Even stronger than the first.

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you my lady but the ball is due to start in the next hour. I was instructed to come and help you prepare." She said timidly. Ethan took that as his que to leave and picked up the sword he had so carefully left on the floor by the bed. He strapped the belt back on and looked to Jade.

"I shall leave you too it them my lady." He bowed and turned to leave without another word. The servant girl longingly looked after him as her left. She proceeded to gently close the door behind him.

"Do you find him attractive?" Jade asked suddenly. The girl shuffled from foot to foot nervously.

"It's really not my place to comment on such things my lady."

"But do you?" Jade insisted. Knowing that she was demanding an answer the girl frowned and replied.

"Yes I do. He is very attractive and very young for a knight...do...do you find him attractive my lady?"

"Yes I do, but that doesn't matter. He and I could never be...for more reasons than one..."