We needed to get outside and reach a pair of horses. I was sure Theo would be able to help us.

Just before we could reach the doors. Dozens and dozens of guards came and surrounded us from all sides. Mathew looked at me worried.

"What do we do?" He asked.

I did not know. I did not know what to do that did not involve putting Mathew is severe danger.

"What is going on here?" someone asked. The guards made way for that person to come through. The king made his way through before his eyes widened at the situation. He was staring at the dagger I was holding against the lord's neck. "Lord Forkshir! What has happened?!"

"I found the prince about to elope with his guard. I could not let the princess become a laughing stock at the alter and could not see Garain suffer because of the prince's affair and tried to stop them, that is when they tried to kill me," said the lord.

This pig! How dare he manipulate it to make us seem like the bad guys.

"Your highness with all the respect, this man threatened our lives, we were only trying to make it out of here without being imprisoned or worse when this man ordered all his guards to attack," I defended us.

"So you are saying that you and the prince have no relationship going on?" The king eyed me as if saying he thought the later.

My cheeks blushed.

"Father!" Alana pushed through the gathering crowd. "Father stop this immediately. They are saying the truth."

"Alana! Silence! Stay out of this," he ordered.

"No!" She stood her ground. "If I am to be queen one day then I should at least start right. That means making sure there is justice. Lord Fokshir has been planning this for a while, he had Lady Clarissa imprisoned without your consent."

The king looked at the lord with a raised eyebrow. "Is this true?"

"Well yes your highness but I did it for you. To protect the royal family. To protect your daughter from this vixen."

"For a person that cares for the royal family so much it seems awfully weird that you would send orders that only the king and the captain of the guard could send, I've heard multiple rumors of you abusing your power and ruining lives of those who don't abide to you," Alana stated.

The king's nose flared. "All this and right under my nose? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You will thank me one day when you realize all the good I have done for Garain!" cried the lord.

"Maybe, but today I am highly disappointed. Guards, take him away... Take all of them away," he ordered, motioning to us as well.

I tensed and looked at Mathew who looked equally as nervous.

Alana gasped. "No father! What are you doing?! They did nothing wrong."

The king scowled. "They were going to leave you at the alter my child. I could not allow this."

"And I would have been the happiest girl alive! Daddy, I don't want to marry Mathew. I never did. We both agreed to try and find away around this wedding. If you are going to arrest them then you might as well arrest me too," she said putting her wrists in front of her.

"Put your hands down," gasped the king. "What is this talk?"

"I love another man. Clearly love is forbidden in Garain, so either you imprison me or arrest me because I cannot be in a place that will force me to be with someone I could never love," she said.

The king looked faint. "In love? W-with who?"

"It does not matter, you will probably imprison him too," she glared at him.

"Is this what you really think of me? As some tyrant?" Her father asked in disbelief.

Alana clamped her lips, her jaw tight.

Sadness crossed the king's face. He took a step towards his daughter. "I am sorry if I made you think this. My intention was never to hurt you. I only wanted what was best for your future. I heard only great things about the prince I thought maybe you could learn to love him."

"Maybe in another life but my heart does not belong to him daddy, I should be able to give it to whoever I want," she said.

He looked at her long and hard. "Is that really what you want?"

She nodded her head. "More than anything."

He let out a long sigh. "And I want more than anything to see you happy my sweet." He now looked at us. "You are free to go. I am sure a new negotiation can be made by the future king and queen as a friendly alliance."

"Yes!" Alana jumped forward into her father's chest giving him a big hug.

I took the knife away from the lord's neck before turning to look at Mathew who had the most glorious smile on his face. I ran to him, jumping into his arms. He hugged me even tighter lifting my feet off the ground.

Mathew pulled back, that smile still on his face. "We did it."

His eyes shot behind me and fear took over. Before I could turn around, a loud grunt sounded behind me. Immediately turning, I found Sebastian holding the lord's hands behind his back and a sword on the ground.

I looked at Sebastian and mouthed a thank you. I think he had just saved my life.

He gave me a wink before taking the lord away.

Alana came up to us engulfing us both in a tight embrace. "Thank you two for teaching me how to never give up and keep fighting, even when all odds are against you."

"Thank you for saving us," Mathew answered. He could say that twice.

She shook her head. "It was my duty to stand for what is right. I hope we continue to see each other in the future. I have to say I am going to miss you two."

"Me too," Mathew said.

"I really hope you and Theo work out. I am rooting for you," I said wholeheartedly.

"I hope so too," she smiled. "But this is not the end yet. We still have an alliance to discuss."

***

Alana and Mathew discussed new plans for their kingdoms. The kings and queens each gave their approvals towards their children's plans. Alana had come forth with Theo's identity to her parents. They were appalled at first but decided to let her see where I would take them. Meanwhile, the prince and I were going back home by train. It had been too long since we had been home.

I sat in Mathew's laps with my head on his shoulder, the sound of the train running along the tracks was soothing. He running little torturous patterns on my thighs with his fingers.

"You know, we never discussed what we are going to tell our parents," I told him.

He bit his bottom lip thinking. "You're right. When we left we hated each other."

"Hated?" I teased. "I still sort of hate you."

He let out a wonderful laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I sort of hate you too."

He captured my lips with his in a breathtaking kiss. I pulled back remembering something earning a frown from the prince.

"I just remembered something," I said. I pulled out my father's dagger. I placed it in his hand. "I want you to have it."

He furrowed his brows looking confused. "B-but this is your dagger. I know how much it means to you."

"My father gave me this to give me strength, and now I am giving you it to give you strength. I want to always protect you, even if I am not with you, I want a piece of me to protect you," I said forcing his fingers to close around it. "Maybe one day you can pass it on to someone else to give them strength."

"Maybe one of our children," he said earning a gasp from me. He was thinking that far into the future?

"You want to have children with me?" I whispered.

He placed the dagger down and cupped my cheek running his thumb in a pattern along my cheek. "I want to have the rest of my future with you. That is, if you want to be my future?"

I nodded my head, a wide smile on my lips. "Of course! Of course I want to spend forever with you. I would be honoured to be the mother of your children one day."

He smiled an even wider smile. "Good, that being said I am assuming you are saying yes to being my wife one day."

"Of course," I said, my heart beating erratically. He wanted to marry me. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I could not believe it.

"Good," he said before claiming my lips.

The rest of the train ride involved us discussing plans for the future, plans for the present and of course a few stolen kisses in between. We had finally arrived to Faraine where we found our families waiting for us right outside the train.

I ran towards my family throwing myself into their arms. My mom wrapped her arms around me tightly and my father had his arms wrapped around the both of us.

"You're finally back," my mom said through tears. "I have been worried for weeks."

"You did well soldier," my father said. "I am glad to see you are okay."

"Can I get my turn now?" I heard Gabriel's voice from beside me. My parents laughed and let me go before Gabe hugged me tightly. He had gotten taller since the last time I had seen him.

"I can't believe I missed you this much, I even missed you telling me to watch my posture," he mumbled into my uniform.

I let out a laugh kissing the top of his head. "I give it a weak before we go back to normal."

He now laughed along with me, I could see the tears in his eyes that he refused to shed.

"Okay, my turn! Move you brat!" Grace said pushing Gabe aside who just glared at her.

She hugged me tightly. "God, I missed you so much. You do not know how dull the castle has been without you or Mathew."

She pulled back from the hug before eyeing my face. "Why are you lips so swollen?"

A bit further down I heard Queen Adeline asking Mathew,"Why is your hair such a mess? When was the last time you combed?"

Grace's eyes widened in shock as she connected the dots. "No way!"

"Shh!" I begged her to keep it quiet.

"Oh my!" I heard the queen say who was now looking my way. "I knew it!"

Oh god. I think everyone had connected the dots. It's a shame we did not even get the chance to tell them ourselves.

The queen smiled at her son before looking at her husband. "I told you it was Clarissa and not some girl he met!"

My face turned a dark red, very similar to the shade of the prince's face right now.

"Oh my god! You need to tell me all the details right now!" Grace said dragging me away. My parents looked at us laughing while Gabe looked disgusted.

She took me towards a tree not too far from our family but far enough for no one to hear us. "Come on, spill it. I want all the dirty little detail." She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively making me gasp and blush even darker.

"Grace!"

"What?" She shrugged her shoulders. "From the looks of you two, it looked like you had a fun train ride."

"Grace!" I gasped again earning a full hearted laugh from her.

She put her hands up as if to surrender. "Okay, okay. I will stop... for now. Just tell me everything."

"Where do I start?" I sighed in defeat.

"The beginning," she said with eyes wide open in excitement.

I told Grace everything from the moment we left Faraine, to our time in the forest and on the trail, to when we got to Garain and all about Alana, to the wedding and how we escaped until now.

"Wow, what an adventure. Now I sort of wish I was the cool sister," she said in awe.

"The cool sister?" I raised my brows in confusion.

"Well yes, you were always the interesting one. I had nothing but my looks but you were both beautiful and so talented. I guess you could say I always was a bit jealous of you," she admit looking shy.

Grace jealous of me? "B-but how? I was always the one jealous of you."

She let out a laugh in which I joined. "I guess we both can learn from each other."

"I guess so," I agreed.

"So what now?" She asked.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist pulling me close to his back. I recognized his smell and touch anywhere.

"Well now I would like some time with your sister please," said Mathew.

Grace was fighting off a wide smile. "Oh please, take all the time you want."

She gave me a wink before walking away leaving me very tomato coloured.

I turned around to look at Mathew who still had his arms around my waist pulling me flush against him once more.

"It looks like the cat is out of the bag," he said with a wide smile.

Indeed it was.

"Well of course, everyone is also starring at us," I pointed out.

"Well then let's leave before our mother's start discussing wedding plans with us. They have already started with each other, you should see how excited they are. But I don't want to rush you into anything, whenever you are ready you just tell me and I will make you my queen," he said.

That just hit me. A queen. By marrying Mathew I would become a queen. The thought scared me. Mathew was right. Right now I did not want to rush into marriage but I did one day, but for now I just wanted to live in the moment. "One day, but for now let's just go somewhere private. I don't think I'm ready to be bombarded with wedding questions."

Mathew laughed before taking my hand and taking me somewhere were we could be alone.

Just us.

------------------

This is the last chapter! There is just the epilogue yet! Thanks to everyone that supported me this far!

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