"That sounds great." Ariala said, perking up. "I'm not sure what colors to do just yet though." She admitted. "I haven't had the time to think of colors for the wedding. I don't want to do colors like pink or purple for Dimitrius's sake. We'd have to talk about it." Ariala said, smiling to herself. "I can't believe I'm getting married." She said, feeling suddenly giddy. "Of course it is to one of the most stubborn elves there are but at least he's cute." She giggled.

Cindalina smiled while Ariala gushed about the wedding, "My dear, I do not believe Dimitrius will care one way or another what colors you have at your wedding. The moment he sees your smiling face, his thoughts and eyes will only focus on you while everything else simply fades to grey. As for his stubbornness, you've got that right. That boy's head is as hard as nails, but you'll soon lessen that fault I'm sure as time goes on."

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

Dimitrius sighed out of boredom as the courtiers gushed about him, asking him when he was to return to the palace and if he'd changed his mind. Dimitrius simply ignored them, wishing, for the first time in his life, that his father would get there soon.

After a few moments, Dimitrius' wish was answered as guards began announcing the arrival of the King with a flourish. While the courtiers quickly went into formation to bow before the King, Dimitrius remained seated upon the couch, still looking entirely bored and unimpressed, feelings that were true - Dimitrius couldn't wait for this 'visit' to be over with.

"I still want him to be a part of the plans." Ariala said. "I know I'll only be focused on him as well but I still want him to be part of the planning." She said. "I can't wait to see his face when I walk down the aisle. My favourite part of weddings is the split second where the bride enters and instead of watching her I look at the groom's face. Its as if he's the happiest person alive. It gives me chills every time and I can't wait to see Dimitrius with that same look in his eyes." She said.

Cindalina smiled as she finished up Ariala's clothing and placed it among the large piles behind her, "I don't believe I've ever heard those words uttered before in my life, other than from my mother. Did you know, that you can tell a lot about a marriage by looking at how the groom sees his bride when she first walks through those doors? My mother used to say that if he had a glisten in his eyes, their love was true and their marriage would blossom and flourish with the patter of little feet. But if his eyes were unchanged, the marriage was doomed from the start and would end up unhappy with forced children. This, unfortunately, was her philosophy. Too bad the latter rang true with my sister.. 'tis a shame she got caught up with such a man. But, he was a Prince, what was she to do? She couldn't very well refuse the creature, she'd be marked untouchable if she did. However, I'm sure the former will ring true with you and Dimitrius - I've seen the way he looks at you when you're not looking, and I've seen the look he gets when simply speaking your name. His love is true, Ariala, and you two are destined for a great and wonderful future together."

------

"Dimitrius, my boy! What an honor this is! Have you come to apologize and accept the throne?"

"Never. I came on matters of marriage," said Dimitrius as he stood and walked towards his father.

"What, you mean you're finally growing up and settling down with Emelaide? Good for you, of course I'll approve the m-"

"Not quite. Emelaide and I are seeing other people. I came to speak to you of another, someone more dear to my heart."

"What? Not Emelaide? Who else could possibly have your attention?"

"A Spring Elf, her name is Ariala Gallagher. I love her with all my body and soul, I wish to wed her. Will you please speak with the Elimlee Royals and arrange it to be so?"

"My son, a Prince of Winterglade, marrying an Elimlee Commoner?! Out of the question! Simply out of the question! It was bad enough you left the Palace and pursued a commoner in the village, but at least she was powerful and was a Winter Elf and came from a prestigious family! What do we know of this Spring Elf's heritage?"

"Look into her if you wish, but I will marry her, your majesty," Dimitrius spat as he glared at the man in front of him, "whether you like it or not. I simply came out of protocol. Whether you acknowledge my marriage or not, I will marry her. Good day to you," Dimitrius added with a smirk as he shoved past his father and stalked out of the Palace, his mother entering the Court moments after his departure carrying a young girl the age of twenty-two, three in human years of course.

"Dimitrius? Dimitrius? Where are you?" she inquired as she looked around the room. Upon reaching her husband, the woman asked breathlessly, trying to catch her breath after rushing to see her beloved son, "Where's our son, my love?"

"What son? We do not have a son unless you carry one in that womb of yours," the man growled furiously before stalking off to mingle with a lady within his harem.

The Queen, Elinadette, picked up her skirts once more and ran out the opposite door, trying to catch her son before he left so that he could meet his sister and so that she could see his darling face once more before he left her.

Ariala blushed, turning her cheeks a deep scarlett. "I think so to." She said. "But I won't be of age until two more months. In Elimlee we're allowed to marry at 120 while I'm only 119. I think that'll give us plenty of time to prepare. And even so, there's no need to rush. I'd wait forever to marry Dimitrius." She said. "Though I probably sound like every other lovesick elf." She said, another blush reaching her cheeks. "I should be heading home." Ariala said, glancing again out the window. "Thank you for letting me vent. I owe you so much, Cindalina." Ariala said.

Cinalina smiled as she stood up from the table and gave Ariala a hug, "Of course, my dear child. Anytime you need me, day or night, I'll always be here for you, no matter what you need to talk about."

Kissing Ariala's cheek, Cindalina tucked a few strands of hair behind Ariala's ear before going over to the cupboard and and taking out a small cloth. Placing the cookies in the cloth and tying them up tight, Cindalina brought the cookies over to Ariala, "I look forward to seeing you again, Ariala. Would you like me to walk you to the border? I don't want you getting lost in the dark, it can sometimes play tricks on your eyes and cause you to get lost very easily."

"That's alright, but thank you. I have a pretty good sense of direction." Ariala said with a smile, taking the cookies. "Thank you for everything, I'll see you again soon." She said, turning to leave.

After she was out of the house Ariala broke into a run, hoping to get to at least the border before the sun was completely set. Her feet moved quickly over the snow covered ground, leaving hardly anything of footprints behind her.

Cindalina smiled as she watched Ariala head for home. Sighing, she got the packages ready for her hired-hand to come and pick up the following morning before she headed off towards the Palace, "Dimitrius has been gone far too long.. surely he's gotten into another quarrel with that wretched man over the marriage.. Well, I'd better go there and make the fool see reason before Dimitrius does something recklessly foolish.."

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

Dimitrius heard his named being called behind him, the voice soft and sweet and so very familiar. Stopping in his tracks, he looked behind him to see a seven month pregnant elf running with a small child in her arms. Running to her, Dimitrius hugged her, "Mother..."

Wrapping her free arm around him, Elinadette broke into tears, "I didn't think I would catch you in time..."

Wiping her tears as she smiled up at him, Elinadette gently caressed her son's face, "You've grown up so much... I've missed you.."

"And I you, Mother... please forgive me," Dimitrius barely managed to whisper as he brushed the tears from his mother's face.

"There's nothing to forgive, my darling boy. Why are you leaving so soon? What has your father said?"

"He's just being his loving self once more, Mother, nothing to concern yourself with. But now I seem to be forgetting someone," he added with a smile as he turned towards the shy child who was an exact replica of her mother, "and who might you be? You have the same eyes, the same hair, and the same face as this stunning young woman right here, could you be her twin?"

The young girl blushed and buried her face in her mother's hair before shyly peeking out, "N-no, I'm her daughter, Dimeria."

"Dimeria, now isn't that the prettiest name! But you couldn't possibly be the Princess Dimeria, I hear she's much taller than you are."

Elinadette chuckled softly, "Dimitrius, do not tease her so. Dimeria, my dearest girl, this is the brother I've told you about all these years, Dimitrius. Dimitrius, meet your sister, Dimeria."

With a gentile bow, Dimitrius took his sister's hand in his and placed a gentle kiss upon it, "'tis a pleasure to meet you, my dear Princess."

Ariala reached Elimlee quickly, faster then she had expected. As she climbed the rope ladder she saw a familiar pair of feet hanging over the edge of the bridges. "Adan, go home. You're not wanted here." She said.

"Ariala, please just talk to me. I've made a huge mistake but I want that put behind us." Adan said, his voice soft as he looked at the elf he had foolishly given up.

"I'm actually kind of glad you did what you did. You should've left me more tactfully yet if we were married it would complicate things between me and Dimitrius." Ariala said with a smile.

"If we were married you wouldn't have met Dimitrius." Adan hissed angrily.

"Oh, I beg to differ. Dimitrius and I were meant to be with each other. We would've met anyways. And I'd still want to be with him. You've lost. Go home." Ariala said, walking into her cottage and leaving Adan outside.

Barging into the Palace, Cindalina called out, "Where is he? Where's that mangy brother-in-law of mine?"

"His majesty is in his bedchambers, my Lady, he does not wish to be disturbed," a guard said as he blocked her path.

"What he does with his cheap whores is nothing I'm concerned about. All of Winterglade knows of the cruel way he treats my sister, so get out of my way. I need to speak to him about his son."

"My lady, I can't allow that."

"I think you can."

"But-"

"But nothing. You know very well what he's doing is wrong, and I know very well you're one of the few decent guards in this Palace, do let me through," Cindalina said as she pushed her way past the guard and headed off towards the King's chamber.

Meanwhile, Elinadette, Dimitrius, and Dimeria all sat in the Parlor talking and getting to know one-another once more; oblivious to Cindalina's appearance in the Palace.

During Dimitrius' visit, he told Elinadette of Ariala and of their soon-to-be marriage. He also told her of Emelaide's new-found happiness and of all that's been happening in his life since he left the Palace. Elinadette in turn filled him in on Palace life and of the short, but eventful, life of her dear little Dimeria.

Ariala ignored Adan's knocking on her door. "Ari, come on. Just talk to me." He said, his voice sad. Ariala hummed lightly moving around the kitchen and tidying things up. She unwrapped the cloth around the cookies, taking a bite out of one.

"Fine. I'm leaving." Adan said before storming off, leaving Ariala to enjoy her cookie in peace.

After barging in on the King and a couple of courtiers, Cindalina stalked over to him and slapped him across the face, ignoring the screeches of the courtiers trying to cover themselves.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves! What would your parents think of you? Nevermind, I can guess what they're thinking, 'Make sure you conceive so you can snap him up and become Queen'. Get your things and get lost, I've got a bone to pick with my idiotic brother in law."

"What gives you the right to come in here like you're the Queen of Shiva and boss everyone around like that?" roared the King in fury.

The courtiers, however, quickly dressed and ran out of the room after one hard glare from Cindalina.

Laying back in his bed, the King didn't even bother covering his naked body as he roughly asked, "What do you want, Cindalina."

Shoving his clothes at him, Cindalina walked over to him and punched him in the jaw, "Now you listen to me, my sister may put up with your nonsense and your forced pregnancy attempts, and there may be nothing I can do about that, but I will not have you ruining the life of my nephew as well!"

"Elinadette doesn't seem to mind, she moans enough to be pleased," retorted Joenarthene.

Slapping him across the face, which after all her other hits was sure to leave a bruise upon his face, and put her face so close to his, he could feel her breath against his skin as she spoke, "Never speak like that again, do you understand me? You're a vile pig who only got my sister because he was the King's brat. Now I may not be able to change my sister's fate, but I will sure in Hell change my nephew's! Did you agree to his marriage or not?

"No." replied Joenarthene with a sadistic smile on his lips, "I did not."

"Then go to him and tell him you've changed your mind!"

"And why would I do that? What do I have to gain to marrying him off to a Spring Elf? A common one at that?"

"A son," replied Cindalina simply, "A ruler for your Kingdom. If you refuse this marriage, Dimitrius will leave and you will surely never have an heir to your throne."

"Nonsense, Elinadette has conceived once more, surely it will be a son."

"And if it's not?"

"Then I'll simply try and try again until we conceive a male heir!"

"Don't you think you've hurt this family enough? You don't love your wife, you simply took her because you could, don't you think she deserves a bit of happiness in this wretched life you've given her?"

"She does have happiness, she has Dimeria and the Kingdom at her fingertips, what more does she need?"

"Her son. She loves Dimitrius so dearly, how can you not see that?"

"She has no son."

"She does, and so do you if you'd quit being a stubborn prick and making him hate you!"

"I make him hate me? I do no such thing!"

"You think he would love and respect a man who's married to his mother, forces himself upon her night after night until she conceives, and then beds with whores all hours of the day and night while his mother carries his child alone in their bed? I think not, my wretched brother, I think not."

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

As the visit came to a close, Dimitrius found himself promising Dimeria to return to the Palace with Ariala so that both she and their mother could meet his finacee. Kissing them both goodbye, Dimitrius took his leave and began making his way towards Elimlee, hoping Ariala would speak to him and allow him to apologize.

Ariala moved to her bedroom, and shook her hair out of the loose ponytail it had been in. She pulled out a silk nightgown in a golden yellow and pulled some of her hair in front of her to rest of top of the silk. Grabbing her brush, Ariala began to run the brush through her thick curls, keeping them from becoming knotted.

Moving back into the kitchen, still brushing her hair, Ariala paused to put a kettle of water on the stove before helping herself to another cookie from Cindalina. Sitting at the table, Ariala resumed brushing out her thick curls while she waited for the water to boil for tea.

When he reached Elimlee, Dimitrius paced back and forth in front of Ariala's door; too nervous to knock, yet not allowing himself to be a coward and return home. Taking a deep breath to collect himself, Dimitrius tried to think of how he could go about apologizing to Ariala.

Ariala yawned, her eyes beginning to droop slightly. She moved to pour the whistling kettle into a cup and placed a tea bag in as well. She sat at the table, hearing footsteps just outside her door. Sighing, Ariala decided that Adan needed to leave, even if it meant using force. She'd never be able to fall asleep knowing he was out there.

"Adan, I told you to leave already." She said, opening her door. "Oh." Ariala said, realizing that it was Dimitrius who had been outside.

Dimitrius blushed, "S-sorry.. I didn't mean to wake you.. I-I'll come back tomorrow," he added quickly as he turned to leave, rebuking himself for coming this late.

"Dimitrius." Ariala said, reaching out and taking his arm. "I wasn't sleeping. I was actually staying awake to see if you'd come." She admitted sheepishly.

"Will you come in?" She asked, looking up at him, yet her hand didn't leave his arm for fear that he would leave her. Ariala ushered him to the table then moved to make him a cup of tea. Placing the cup on the table in front of him, Ariala sat back in her chair to wait for him to speak first.

Dimitrius, feeling as if he was a young child getting scolded for being caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner, took a sip of his tea before speaking, "Ari.. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for being horrible to Marreck, I know he was only trying to stick up for Emelaide - but he honestly didn't know what the quarrel was over, he only heard the raised voices.. and the one thing I regret saying.. But I truly am sorry for fighting with you over it all. Forgive me.."

Taking a sip of his tea, he looked out the window at the night sky as he continued, "And forgive me about our wedding.. My father, the wretched scoundrel he is, refuses to acknowledge it. But, he has no true say in the matter; I only went to him out of protocol because he is the King. Besides, that low-life doesn't deserve the title as King.. He's no better than a common.. a common... a.. dammit, he's a word too delicate for any woman's ears. If you'll allow it, I will go to your Royals tomorrow to discuss our wedding. They know of my state within the Palace at the moment, so they will not have expected me to go to the King. I will leave that incident out of our discussion and simply focus on us. Would you like to come with me?"

"Of course you're forgiven." Ariala said. "I only wish you weren't so stubborn." She said with a smile.

"I was planning to go to my Royals tomorrow as well. I'm sure there will be no problems with them. They're very kind. Our village is lucky to have them." Ariala said with a smile before taking a sip of her tea. "I wanted to talk to you about the wedding itself. Do you have an idea of we should hold the wedding?" She asked.

Dimitrius smiled as he took Ariala's hand and placed a gentle kiss upon it, "I'm always stubborn, love, part of being a Cordei. As for the wedding," he began before taking a sip of tea, "I was thinking in the meadow beside the border. That way it will be easier for Emelaide and a few others to keep the temperatures down for my guests, and the temperatures will still be warm enough for your guests. Besides, I thought you'd wish for a colorful Spring wedding instead of a White-Christmas wedding," he added with a wink as he took another sip of tea.

"I wouldn't mind either way." Ariala said with a smile, pleased that things were back to normal between them. "But the meadow does sound like a good place. I've told Cindalina that I want Erreminette and Ilsa to be my bridesmaid and flower-girl. Who will be the best man and ring bear?" She asked, still holding Dimitrius's hand.

"The Ring-bearer shall by my cousin Caroline's son, Niaphen. As for a best man," Dimitrius began as he linked his fingers through hers and gave a nervous half-smile, "I was thinking of asking Marreck, as a way of reconciling with him, do you approve?"

"I think that your best man should be based on who you truly wish to celebrate our marriage with, not someone to use to make up for fight. However, if you want Marreck to be your best man then it is okay by me." Ariala said, stroking his hand with her thumb. Ariala opened her mouth slightly to ask why he had never told her about his sister but decided it would be best if Dimitrius told her without her prodding. "What about colors for the wedding?" She asked.

"Ah, but there is no one to be my best man if Marreck does not be it. Sure, I could order anyone from the Kingdom to be my best man, but that's not the same. As for colors," he began after he took a sip of tea, "You may choose. As long as there is a Winter-blue in the arrangement, I shall be satisfied," he added with a smile, "What colors did you have in mind?"

"I hadn't put much thought into colors until your Cindalina mentioned planning today." Ariala admitted sheepishly. "I guess I've just been basking in the engagement part I didn't think about the wedding." She said with a laugh. "But I think if we put a light green and a Winter blue together. Kind of a combination of both our seasons. What do you think?" She asked, taking a sip of her tea.