At first she was hesitant to make herself comfortable in this room. Why did he bring me here? She wondered, what does this mean? Does he think I'm not guilty? Does he know something I don't?

She drew a bath in the huge tub and noticed that there were different kinds of perfumes and bath salts on the side of the tub, so she decided to add a coconut bath salt to her bath. Once she got out she went into the closet she found earlier that was attached to the bathroom, and she noted that the only clothing in there were extremely expensive looking Royal Duchess type clothes. Not the rags she was used to wearing. Am I supposed to wear one of these? She wondered bewildered.

She chose a pale pink dress, that she found at the back of the closet, and matched it with a pair of flats that she found under an assortment of shoes at the bottom of the closet. She quickly brushed out her long brown hair then braided it into an up do, and looked into the mirror and thought, Wow, I look really good.

The guard arrived to escort her to the dining room. As she followed him she started to worry If I'm just a maid servant, and this party is for illegitimates. Why the heck am I invited? Crazy thoughts raced through her head as to why she was released from the cell, given that room, and the beautiful clothes to wear. What if this is some kind of last chance at luxury before I'm sentenced to death? She worried.

"We're here." The guard said gruffly stopping suddenly. She almost ran into him because she was so caught up in her thoughts. He opened the door, and she noticed that there were a lot more people than she was expecting. Everyone in the room stopped talking and turned to look at her when she entered the room. No one was sitting yet. The silence was defending.

The room was large and rectangular, with four tall windows, on the longer side of the room, draped in purple fabric. The hand carved chairs were covered in red, and the long oak dining table was situated in the center of the room.

"Alex" Bash said as he walked up to her, and wrapped her arm in his. Suddenly the room once again began to be filled with talking and laughter, as they all walked to take their seats.

She looked up at Bash questionably asking a silent question with her eyes.

"You're slightly late, and you look stunningly beautiful. Who wouldn't stare." He stated with a smirk, answering her question, as he pulled the chair out for her.

When they brought out the food, it smelled so good as it filed her nose making her mouth water. Her stomach, which had only eaten porridge and water for 24 hours, started to make loud growling noises. Everyone near her that heard it laughed lightly, her cheeks went pink with embarrassment.

It was after they had eaten and everyone was standing again and talking. She only knew a few people in the room from past parties, which made it difficult and awkward for her to talk casually, so she just made small talk to the people that came up to her, but most of the time talked to Bash. Even though he made her nervous. She talked to Bash about the nice room, wanting to get some answers, and asked why she had been moved there, he blushed and scratched the back of his neck but didn't answer. Instead he went on about life in the castle and the person who decorated her room.

She suddenly heard someone yell "Alexandria Ellement!" Making the room go silent. She looked towards the door, where the voice came from, and at the a member of the Royal Guard that had just called her name. The guard was pretty average height, wearing the usual red and purple royal guard uniform.

"Yes?" She asked curiously turning towards the guard.

"Please come with me." The guard said. Then Bash took a step next to her and grabbed her hand. The guard sighed, seeing this action and said, "You may come as well, Bash Winston."

"Follow me." The guard demanded as he walked out the door before they got to it.

He lead them to the same courtroom that they had her trial in a week ago, shortly after she was put in the cell. The king and queen awaited her arrival. She gulped wondering if she had just eaten her last meal and now would be executed.

The guard, that escorted her to the dining room earlier, sat in the front row, reading the evening paper, but he looked up and smiled when she walked in. A dirty beat up man was sitting in the back row as well, we was in chains though and looked very uncomfortable. He looks familiar. She thought, as she was escorted to stand in front of the king and queen.

The king read from a paper. "Alexandria Element, you have been hereby declared not guilty, on account of Jake Yaholt's confession." Now she remembered why he was familiar, he was her mentor back when she was first starting out as a castle servant, and he didn't like her very much.

The queen the continued During your rather thorough investigation, we did some extensive background research, and we found that an uncle of yours, was looking for you, but unfortunately he recently passed away. He had no spouse, nor heir, and has listed you in his will, entitling you to his entire inheritance. This is a fortune of over 80 million, and you are the only heir left to the crown of Yemny." Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes went wide as she gasped all at the once.

"I haven't seen him since I was a little girl, I didn't even know if he was alive anymore." her heart ached at the new the he had passed on. "I didn't know I meant so much to him." She stated in amazement.

She looked over at Bash with wide eyes, realizing that if he loved her she could marry him, because of her new royal status. His actions earlier seemed to hint that he did love her. She looked at him and their eyes locked for a few electric seconds, the world fading into the background, before his eyes turned to the king who was staring at us with interest.

"Your majesty," he stated. "If you will bless us, I desire to have Alexandria's hand in marriage. Not because of her fortune, but because I have fallen haplessly in love with her. We have known each other for almost year now, but I fell for her the moment I met her." He states, pulling out a ring from his pocket. Her heart skipped a beat at his statement.

If she wishes it, then I gladly bless the marriage." The king chuckled in amazement. Bash knelt in front of her holding the ring out towards her.

"I've fallen in love with you too, I will gladly marry you Bash." She beamed down at him. He quickly stood back up, put the ring on her finger, and kissed her with so much love it made her knees weak.

Bash and Alexandria married soon after and lived happily in her new kingdom, in a room that Bash had designed especially for her. Though they did argue occasionally, their love knew no bounds and they spent many happy years loving each other and making babies who became the royal heirs of Gardasia.

~~~~~

Authors Note:
Hey my readers, this is the end of the short story. I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!
P.S. the photo is the ring that Bash gave her.