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We made it back to the stables in a few minutes, which was still pretty fast despite Victor walking the whole way. I tried to ignore the stares of the stable hands when they saw me and Ashton returning together on the same horse.

A few of them exchanged knowing glances.

"Do they know who I am?" I asked Ashton as he helped me down from his horse.

"They don't. But they have their suspicions."

"Looks like more than suspicion to me," I sighed as one of them rushed over to us.

"Are you hurt, my lady?"

"Umm... no. I had a bit of a scare, but I'm fine," I smiled.

He nodded, bowed to Ashton and then went back to his station. He, like most of them, was an Omega.

Two more persons appeared and took charge of Midnight and Victor. Midnight looked back at me, and if horses could laugh, I would have said that was what she did. They led them back to their stalls, while Ashton showed me around the rest of the stable.

I even got to see CaVaughn's horse and Brooke's pony which was just as adorable as she was.

"I'm sorry for what happened today," Ashton began, twisting some strands of hay between his fingers. "I didn't expect Midnight to just dart off like that."

"It was my fault," I said, running my fingers across his. My skin came alive when we made contact and he moved closer to me. "I should have been more careful."

"You could have gotten hurt. Like, very hurt. It would have been bad."

"But I'm fine," I said softly. "I didn't get hurt."

"I need to do a better job of protecting you. You don't heal as quickly as I do and sometimes I forget that."

"I want you to forget. It wouldn't be fun if all you did was worry about me every second of the day."

"I know, but you're my soulmate, Elizabeth. I can't help but worry about you," he said before placing a kiss on my forehead. My eyes drifted closed and I leaned into him.

His lips found mine and he kissed me slowly and tenderly. I found myself not wanting to pull away from him, but, we had no choice.

"Your highness?" a voice called from just outside the door.

We glanced at each other and Ashton shot an annoyed look at the door.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, worriedly.

"Technically, we're not supposed to be on this side of the stables," he grinned. "It's kind of off-limits, even for me."

"You didn't think of mentioning that before?"

"I forgot," he protested.

I stared at him as the door swung open slowly.

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"Hmm... I could have sworn I heard someone in here," the voice said before closing the doors again.

"Ashton!" I whisper-yelled, trying my best to hold back my laughter.

"What?" he grinned, his teeth flashed in the darkness that surrounded us. "I saved us."

I rolled my eyes as we squeezed out of the tight space in the wall, just behind the door. Ashton tried the doors and then shook his head.

"They're locked."

"So we're stuck in here, then?"

"Not quite. Fortunately for you, princess, you've got a knight in shining armor on your side."

"I think my knight's broken because he's the reason we're stuck in here in the first place."

Ashton rolled his eyes and pulled me along behind him. He stopped right at a part of the wall where there was a large, circular metal door.

"I did say it was off limits, but I didn't say I've never been in here before."

"Of course," I laughed as he twisted it open. He wouldn't be Ashton without his love of jumping head first into an adventure.

"To be fair, Cav found it first," he explained after the door opened with a low creak.

"CaVaughn was in here too?"

"I wasn't the only one to break a rule or two," he grinned, gesturing towards the chute. "Granted, I was the one who talked him into coming in here."

"Sounds like you," I mused. I bent down to examine the chute and then shot Ashton a wary look. "Please tell me, you're not implying that we go through there?"

His eyes glittered and I sighed in self pity. I climbed into the chute, which was only big enough for one adult person at a time, gave Ashton a 'you better hope I make it out alive look', and pushed off.

The slide-like ride didn't last very long and I could see the literal light at the end of the tunnel after a few seconds. I was ejected onto a large, scratchy pile of hay on the outside of the stables. Ashton came flying out of the chute a second later with a smug smile and a triumphant 'I told you so', look plastered on his face.

The same stable hand who had asked if I was okay earlier, stared at us wide eyed as he froze mid-step to pick up a bale of hay.

"You didn't see anything," Ashton said.

"I saw nothing," he nodded, quickly grabbing the hay and striding off.

I turned to glare at him, but he just burst out laughing. I tried my best to keep my angry glare in place, but his laughter was just too pure to not laugh along. It was like music to my ears and I could listen to it all day.

"You should see yourself," he chortled and my jaw dropped as I realized that I probably looked like the scarecrow straight out of The Wizard of Oz.

"You too," I chuckled, brushing hay out of his hair.

Madame Lucille definitely would not approve of any of this. The thought made me giggle even more.

After we'd shaken the majority of the hay out of our clothes, Ashton drove us back to the palace. His good mood seemed to fade little by little as we neared the palace until just the hint of a smile remained. I wanted him to be happy.

We managed to evade everyone as we went up to the third floor. Being in Ashton's room again after so long felt weird. The last time I was in here was when he'd woken up after the king knocked him out.

It still wasn't a pleasant memory and I was happy not to run into him today. I'd been avoiding him all week and sadly that meant I didn't get to see the rest of his family and the guys.

After we'd cleaned up from our trip in the hay, Ashton emailed some documents to Jackson and read through a couple papers. I felt a pang of guilt for having him help me with Midnight when he was still so busy.

I perched on his bed while he worked and the next thing I knew, I was being awoken with a kiss.

"Mmm," I groaned, sitting up. "What time is it?"

"A little after four o'clock," he said, sitting beside me. "Sorry I got wrapped up in so much work as soon as we came back."

I shook my head with a reassuring smile. "It's your job after all. I've been distracting you."

"You are very distracting," he agreed, a smirk playing on his lips. His eyes drifted to mine and he leaned in again slowly.

I giggled as his hand trailed a path down my neck and shoulder that his mouth followed. It felt so good!

My heart hammered against my chest at how addictively he invaded my senses. I could only hear him. I could only taste him. I could only feel him. It was destabilizing. An explosive reaction, but it wasn't dangerous. I liked it. I welcomed it.

My whole body tingled at the slightest touch and my toes curled as his hot breath fanned over my skin. His eyes were dark, yet vibrant and his gaze made my will to stop dissolve into nothingness.

His hair brushed against my forehead as he hovered over me. My eyes drifted closed as his hands explored underneath my shirt. His kisses made me float, as if I was unhindered by gravity. They were magical.

My breathing stopped momentarily. The moment felt so good. I stared deeply into his beautiful eyes. He leaned in and rested his forehead on mine. I was completely and hopelessly mesmerized.

"Elizabeth... f*ck," he moaned as I kissed him back with more passion than I'd ever felt before.

We broke apart, breathing heavily.

"I... we... wow," I breathed.

"You're too tempting, princess," he growled, gripping the sheets. "I have to be careful with you."

He gave me a final kiss and tore himself off me which looked like it required a great deal of willpower. I stayed rooted on the bed, not sure if my legs would even allow me to stand at this point.

I was still floating on air and I wanted more of him.

He ran the back of his hand down my cheek absent-mindedly.

"I've never felt this way before," he muttered.

I placed my hand on his and he gave a forlorn sigh.

"You don't know how much I want to make you mine right now," he growled. "I want to mark you fully, and it's driving me crazy."

I pushed myself into a sitting position and clasped my hands in my lap. The sound of his voice was stirring up all my feelings and I wanted to just throw my arms around him, but then that might lead to something else.

"F*ck," he sighed, running a hand across his face and lying down on the bed.

I threaded his silky hair through my fingers as he battled with his emotions. I had to be logical here. We still weren't dating and maybe we would never get to that point.

We couldn't allow ourselves to lose control like this.

"Maybe I should go," I said, sliding off the bed, but he shook his head.

"Stay."

"I think it's best if I go," I insisted, but he refused to let me get up.

"Ashton," I protested.

"Stay."

"Make me."

I gulped as his gaze darkened again.

"Be careful what you wish for, princess," he growled. "Don't say that so casually."

My face heated up and he sat up to frame my face with his hands.

"Ashton..."

"You feel this too, don't you?"

"... I do."

"Us being soulmates doesn't make it any easier," he sighed.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sex with your soulmate is the best."

In that moment, I was convinced that my face was the same shade as a tomato. I tried to hide the furious shade of red that colored my cheeks and this amused Ashton as he chuckled beside me.

"You're so innocent."

"Sh-shut up," I blushed, hitting him with a pillow. "Anyways, doesn't this soulmate thing faze you at all?"

"In a way it does. But I've known about this my whole life, so it isn't as big a surprise for me as it is for you."

"It still seems crazily impossible," I admitted with a frown.

I twisted around to face him better. "You realize that if things continue like this, we're going to end up at the aisle in the Royal Cathedral, right?"

"You're scared of getting married?"

"I don't know," I mumbled, thinking of a way to put my thoughts into words. "It's a bit daunting."

He nodded understandingly and I raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't it faze you?" I asked with a frown. "I didn't think you were the type who was willing to get married, especially so young."

"I didn't say I wanted to get married now," he laughed, straightening out my frown. "But again, as the prince I've always known it was imminent. There's no point in me trying to go around it."

"No point in fearing the inevitable, huh," I murmured. "That takes a lot of guts."

He contemplated that for a moment. "I won't force you into anything, but if I had a choice, I would choose being with you over anyone else."

"Don't say that," I sighed, looking away from him.

"I'm being serious," he stated. "I do like you, Elizabeth."

His blue eyes met mine and they burned with sincerity. I still wasn't used to him saying that and it made the butterflies in my stomach flutter dizzily.

But what if I was getting carried away? What if the 'me' Ashton liked was actually Elizabeth, the girl from his childhood; the one who he'd gotten betrothed to. I didn't remember her and I wasn't even sure if she existed anymore.

The Elizabeth in front of him now was the one who always followed the rules and lived a somewhat predictable life up until now. Did he really like me?

"What are you thinking about?" His voice cut through my thoughts and I gave him a sad smile.

"Why did you take me to the Royal Stables?"

He thought about it and then smiled. "You wanted to see the horses back then... but you didn't get a chance to."

I nodded with a sigh. "It's what the old Elizabeth wanted, then."

"The old Elizabeth?" he frowned.

"Yeah," I pursed my lips as I let it sink in. "Which part of me do you like? The girl you met eleven years ago or me?"

"You're the same person," he countered.

"I know..." I said, finally turning to look at him. His eyes were laced with confusion, but I kept going. I needed to ask. I wanted to know.

"But a few months ago, we would never do this." I motioned between us. "We were practically enemies who couldn't stand each other. You would never say you like me. Why is everything different now?"

"A few months ago, we didn't know each other," he said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "But being with you has changed the way I see things. It's weird, but now I don't want to be away from you."

I stared down at the ground and he tilted my chin so that I was looking at him. A gentle light danced in his eyes as he looked at me.

"I like you, Elizabeth. Every part of you. I liked the girl who got stuck in a tree in the palace gardens and I like the beautiful princess in front of me even more than I'd dared to imagine."

"I got stuck in a tree?"

"That's the part that stood out to you?" he laughed. "And yes, you did. It was hilarious actually."

"Whatever," I smiled and he chuckled.

"It's you that I like," he continued. "The 'you' that's in front of me right now."

I giggled as he planted soft kisses on my cheek.

I glanced at the time and then slipped off the bed. "I really should be leaving now.

"Already?" he sighed. "Are your parents ever going to drop that stupid curfew?"

"Maybe when I'm forty," I joked, pulling him up. "Don't pout, I'll see you tomorrow."

After another kiss, he finally got off the bed and we made our way downstairs. He was holding my hand and the simple action kept a smile on my face. I wasn't even paying attention to anything in particular until Ashton suddenly froze.

In a second, the king came into view. Ugh, just my luck. He was literally the last person I wanted to see right now.

"Elizabeth, what a pleasant surprise," he smiled.

I remained silent at his one-sided happiness.

"We're leaving," Ashton hissed. "So save it."

"I think she can spare a few minutes," the king pressed, he turned to me. "Can't you?"

"I have to get home by five."

"In a moment, dear," he said. "I haven't seen you since that little talk we had. I trust you're thinking things through?"

"You already know how we both feel about it," I sighed.

"And I was hoping our talk changed your mind." He clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk. I need to try harder to get you to see things my way, then."

I stared at him suspiciously as he came closer to us.

"I understand that you've applied to the Royal University to study medicine."

Seriously? Was nothing in my life private anymore? This man had access to every detail of my life.

"Yes I did."

"It has a four percent acceptance rate," he continued.

"I'm aware."

Where was he going with this?

"If you decide to see things my way, getting into such a school would be no more difficult than any other. Of course, the royal family would also support you financially."

So he was trying to bribe me with university now. By offering me the thing that I wanted the most, he would ensure that I would become his puppet and follow through with his plans. Well, if that was his grand scheme, he would be sorely disappointed.

"Thank you, your majesty, but I'll have to refuse your offer."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'll get in with my own abilities. Everyone else is working hard to accomplish their dreams, so I should do the same. I can't take an advantage like that."

A slow smile spread across his face and he chuckled lowly. "Consider this carefully, Elizabeth. Many outstanding students are also denied entry."

I nodded at the slight threat. I wanted to leave. The longer I stayed, the more he found a way to get under my skin and irritate me. He gave Ashton a meaningful look and then strode off.

"Let's go," I seethed, storming down the stairs.

"Wait up!" Ashton called, running down the stairs behind me.

He sped off the second I got into his car. "I'll make sure he doesn't hurt your chances of getting in," he mentioned as we entered the highway.

"So will I," I said, finding the electronic copy of the Biology text on my phone. I flashed him a determined look. The king just fuelled my motivation even more. "I have studying to do because losing is not in my vocabulary."

This was one thing I would not allow him to take from me.

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