William steps out of the helicopter and then turns around to offer me his hand. I take it and jump down, landing lightly on my feet since I have white pumps on under my sky blue dress. One side of his collar is turned up and he tries to straighten it.

After a few fruitless tries he asks. "Is it alright?"

I smile and shake my head. Reaching up I tug on the collar to straighten it out and then pull my hand away.

We go in through the door and back into the palace. William's phone starts to ring and I take the lead down the stairs with him right behind me talking on his phone.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and turn around to face him. He finishes talking and is putting his phone into his pocket when a voice behind me makes me turn around.

"I was just talking to Molly." Ronald says.

"Yeah, she called me too." Then he mutters to himself. "I hate when she does that."

I sense that there's a long discussion about to start, so I take the opportunity and ask. "Who's Molly?"

William answers me. "She's my aunt and dad's sister."

"Oh!"

He sighs. "Why is she suddenly coming to visit us after what...seven years and not to mention right after I got married?"

His father stares at him. "Can't she come visit her brother?"

"I didn't..." William's cut short as his father shouts. "I perfectly well know what you meant." With this he storms out of the open entrance door.

"What was that about?" I ask William, who is sitting on the stairs staring at the spot where his father was standing a few seconds ago.

"My aunt is someone who one can never understand." He sighs. I raise an eyebrow at him asking for an explanation.

"She has like five daughters. I think three are married. The oldest one she's I don't know...six years older than me and I clearly remember her trying to get us together over the last summer I saw them." He tells me.

I cross my arms. "But she failed. Why?"

I think I see a few tears in his eyes but he wipes a hand over his face and they're gone.

"My mother is what happened. She's the reason Molly failed. Mom was someone who believed in love, real love. And now that I think about it she didn't just save me from my aunt. If it hadn't been for her I wouldn't have you here."

He takes my hand and plays with it. This is the first time I've heard him speak of his mother as someone who actually existed.

With my hand still in his, I sit down next to him.

"But what did your father think you meant that made him so angry?" I ask, softly.

He shakes his head.

"He might be a great king but he was very different from mom. They were complete opposites. I have no idea how they ended up together. My father is a real family man. He believes that your sister comes before everything else even his own family. So, he ignored what she tried doing and every time I try bringing it up, he goes off. And now that I'm married to you, Molly has all the more reason to try and make things difficult for us."

He rubs the back of my hand and then looks me in the eye. "Promise me that whatever she tries, you won't fall for it."

I look down at our hands and then look back up. "I promise."

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

I'm sitting at the dining table with William on one side and Helen and Harrison opposite from us. They're helping me out since this is the first visit that I'll be organizing, after this I'll be on my own.

"They'll be staying for two days. The breakfast will be here served here. A grand dinner will be held on the second night with guests. What do you propose for lunch?" Helen asks me.

"Umm...We could eat outside." I suggest.

"Yeah, we could do that." William agrees and Helen jots it down.

"Does anyone want sandwiches, I'm starving?" William announces.

I smile as I pull a few menus towards me and start going through them looking for the best one. By the time I finish a knock sounds on the already open door.

Without looking up, Will calls out. "Come in!"

I look up just as someone timidly enters the room carrying a tray.

"Anna!" I exclaim in delight.

She seems startled and barely manages to keep the tray in her hands. "Sorry." She mutters.

And then it hits me. She knew I'd be here but I'm not the reason she's startled. It's Harrison! She wasn't expecting him to be here.

I let her set down the tray and then say. "I'll walk you to the kitchen."

I follow her out of the room and we walk side by side till I ask. "So, you and Harrison, huh?"

She stops walking. "Who told you that?"

"You told me yourself at my wedding, remember?" I remind her.

She shakes her head. "But I just said that he asked me out not that we're dating! Who even told you that?"

"I have my own sources." I decide to keep the fact hidden that Harrison is more open with William about his relationships. I cross my arms and refuse to let her deny it.

Finally, she sighs and says. "Fine. Yes, we're together and dating. Are you happy now?"

I smile and nod my head. "Of course! I'm really happy for you. I don't really know him but he seems to be a great guy."

"He is. When he asked me out the first time it was a huge shock for me because no guy has ever taken me seriously. But then I reminded myself of you and how you're married to a prince. So, I believe that things might actually work out."

She just said the same thing that Ella from the premiere told me. She looked up to me as a hero while she dealt with pain and Anna here looked up at me as her guide in her love life. How can I help two different people through two different situations; pain and love?

"So, you're happy with your decision?" I ask her.

"I am, it's just that..." She trails off without finishing her sentence.

I frown. "Just what?" When she refuses to speak, I say. "Anna, you can tell me. Talk to me as a friends or as a sister whatever you feel comfortable with."

She shakes her head. "It's just that at times he's open with me and then at time he just shuts up as if he's not sure about his feelings for me."

"Can you give me an example?" I ask, trying to help her out.

"Umm...For example on our second date he held my hand and he even played with it. Isn't that supposed to be an intimate gesture?" I nod my head and she continues.

"Yesterday William wasn't here, so he was free and he suggested that we go out for a walk together after I finished with work." She pauses for a moment. "I thought that since he wanted us to move on, I...I kissed him but he pulled away and told me that he wasn't ready for it."

Tears are spilling out of her eyes and she reaches up to wipe them away. "I think that I might have damaged things beyond repair."

"How can you be sure?" I ask, softly.

She shrugs. "He didn't say anything. He just acted as if nothing had happened and kept walking, leaving me hurt and shocked."

I reach out and pull her into an embrace. "Oh Anna. I'm so sorry. Is there anything that I can do that will make you feel better?"

She shakes her head and I add. "I could get William to scare him or something." This makes her laugh a little which makes me happy too.

She wipes away her tears and rubs her eyes to make them look normal. "I should get going and you should get back too."

I nod and start to turn away when a sudden thought strikes me. "Anna! Wait!" She stops walking and turns back to me with her eyebrows raised in question.

"I want to offer you a new job, will you take it?" I ask her.

"I don't know, depends on what it is." She replies.

"Look, Mitchell is gone and Helen now works under me, so her position as head of housemaids is vacant. Would you like to fill it up?" I offer.

She seems shocked for a moment and then a smile breaks across her face. Before I can register what's happening she runs to me and throws her arms around my neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Than..." She trails off making me pull away and look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm one of the youngest housemaids. Don't you think that people older than me wouldn't want to work under me?" She explains.

"Annabelle, you're eighteen which makes you a legal adult and old enough to boss people around, right?" I ask.

She nods. "Right."

"So, now you have two options. Either you accept it or you don't. If people don't want to work that's their problem not yours." I tell her.

"I accept it." She replies.

I give her a smile. "You made the right choice."

With one last hug she goes back to the kitchen and I make my way back to the dining room. Helen walks out just as I walk in and William is not there.

"He had to take a call." Harrison informs me and I nod as I take my seat again.

I pull the menus back towards me and separate some of the ones I liked earlier. After a few minutes of silence I look up to see him going through some pages in a folder.

I rest my arms on the table and lean forward so that my chair is balanced on its front two legs.

"Anna really loves you." I say, making him stop flipping pages and stare on one point on the table.

After a few moments he looks up and meets my gaze. "I know."

With this he goes back to flipping through his folder, leaving me confused as I try to put two and two together to make any head or tail of what's going on in their lives.

"But then why did you hurt her?" I ask.

He stops again but this time he doesn't look at me. "I didn't hurt her. I'd never do that."

I scoff. "Oh really? Is that why you let her down yesterday?"

This makes him look up at me. "What about yesterday?"

"She told me about what happened on that walk and how she tried." I pause letting him take that in. "But you pushed her away. Did you think she'd be happy about it? She's hurt real bad."

He stares at me and then says softly. "I didn't know she'd take it that way. I'm sorry."

"I don't think I'm the one who deserves the apology." I tell him.

At that very moment William reenters the room, bringing our conversation to an end.

2K reads! yaay!

A couple of people voted on the ship name and it's going to be "Cassiam" which fangirlandproud_ came up with.

please leave lots of comments and thank you so much for all the votes! :)

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