The night before her wedding Brenda was plagued by the most bizarre dreams: some where achingly beautiful; some were heart-poundingly passionate; some were side-splittingly funny; and they were all about Prince Jasper and what life with him would be like. But the last dream was the one she woke from with a start, for it had been highly upsetting. In the dream she had awakened early on the morning of her wedding, heading happily down the stairs of the palace only to find Simon bragging to Princess Georgina about how he had cast some kind of sleep spell on Brenda that had given her the sweetest dreams of her life and would ensure she would race down the aisle to marry Jax. Fed up with the young sorcerer's and Jax's manipulations, Brenda had taken one of the royal coaches straight to the Prince's castle, where she informed him that she would not be going through with the wedding and nothing he could say or do would change her mind. She was on to all of his manipulations and they were not going to work!

     She had watched, stunned, as her tirade against him was met not by a reciprocal contradictory tirade as she'd expected, but a cloud of silent emotion passing through eyes of velvet blue. The Knight Ian suddenly appeared behind her and rudely snatched something out of her hand. It was a key, she noticed. The key to the secret garden? As if reading her thoughts, Ian said coldly, "Not that key, Lady Brenda. This is the key to the heart of my Prince. Something that no longer belongs to *you.*"

     Then the Knight Steven appeared from nowhere on the other side of her and snatched a key she had been clutching in her other hand. Brenda gazed at Steven questioningly and shrank back at the hostile look he shot back at her. "The key to my Prince's dreams, all of which he would have shared with you, but those dreams no longer belong to *you.*"

     Brenda gazed quickly at Jax, who was staring past her, his eyes seeming devoid of any partiuclar emotions.

     "Jax?" she had said. He had shifted his eyes to look at her but then she heard the sound of clanking coming along the vast castle hallway. It was all the rest of the knights, and they were carrying golden chains that one would use to bind something. She saw them all converging upon the Prince and cried out in alarm for them to stop as she raced to stand in front of the strangely emotionless Jax. "Stop this! What are you doing to him?!" she demanded.

     "It is not *we* who are doing anything to him," The Knight Owen sneered at her. "It is *you.* You have sealed His Highness's fate by your deeds this day. He can love no other but you. You have refused his love, and therefore his heart is to be bound so that he is incapable of loving anyone else. Eternally."

     Brenda swallowed in horror, and then shook her head, refusing to move from in front of Jax and allow them to so much as touch him. "No! You cannot do that to him! You cannot, I tell you! I will not let you!"

     "You will not *let* us?!" The Knight Steven raged at her, looking perfectly stricken at what he was required to do to his beloved Prince. "This is all your fault!" he seethed, while the others nodded and muttered angrily in agreement, staring daggers of hatred at her. "This is all because of you! Because you spit in the face of destiny and disparage the gifts of love. And for what? For your promise to that despicable excuse of a man, Michael Carruthers?"

     Brenda shook her head. "No… no…this has nothing to do with that man. He and I are…"

     "You think *he* is your destiny?" Steven continued, with a sarcastic sneer. "You think he is the earth-shattering love that has from the beginning of time been set aside for only you? Waiting for only you? Then go to him, you little fool! Go to your great love, the troll! Because you have sacrificed your *true* love for this farce. You have sentenced my Prince to a loveless future because of this farce. You have sentenced him to emotional death! To a loveless life. *You* have done this!"

     Brenda was shaking like a leaf at the accusations and her vision was blurred due to the huge tears dropping from her eyes. Still, she refused to move from in front of Jax, terrified they would really chain his heart with those golden chains. She would never let them hurt him! And yet, they loved him, these men, his Knights of the Realm. They loved him and would die for him. And in their mind it was *she* who was hurting him.

     "So you go," Steven said in a deadly voice. "For you are not even worthy to breathe the same air as Jax does. You do not deserve him, and even though bloody destiny says you do… well, I curse that destiny! I curse that destiny that brought you into his life, sent him crashing into love and suffered him to come to this sorry end all because of *you!*"

     The other knights roared their approval of Steven's emotional tirade against the girl who would have been their princess that day. Brenda was stunned by everything going on around her and was ready to slump to the floor as the emotions tore at her.

     Behind her, hands gently steadied her, preventing her from collapsing.

     "Hold, Steven," the soft voice of Prince Jasper commanded, ordering his most outspoken knight to cease his lashing out at the beautiful girl.

     Brenda was so relieved just to hear Jax say something that she spun around and threw her arms around him. "I am sorry," she said, her tears wetting the rich blues of his royal blue vest. "I am glad that Steven said those things to me. They were awful but I think I needed to hear them said. Jax, I will never let this happen to you! I will never sentence you to a loveless life! I love you. I know I am a stubborn one and I was angry with you for the things Simon had done behind my back to advance our relationship, but that *never* meant I didn't love you. Only that I was angry and stubborn. Oh, Jax, you know me!"

     He nodded. "I do know you. I do love you. But I do not believe that you love me. And at any rate it is too late," he said with a nonchalant shrug.

     "Well, I do love you, for heaven's sake! Madly, I do! And it is most certainly *not* too late!" she informed him, her eyes flashing with determination. "We are going to get married this instant, do you hear me?!"

     "You cannot do that," Ian informed her, standing in between her and Jax. "You have changed *destiny.* Do you not see that? It is too late, Brenda. Just go. You do not want to see this."

     In the next instant, several of the Knights were behind her, taking her away, as Jax was bound with the golden chains, and with each chain that wrapped itself around him, the emotions evaporated out of his eyes. As his heart was bound, his vibrant, velvet blue eyes turned a shade of brilliant blue ice, and it was evident to Brenda that no love would ever light up those stunning eyes nor penetrate his bound heart ever again. Not even love for her. Love was something lost to Jax forever now. And lost to her forever too, she realized. Just as Malvodio had said it would be. Her sense of misery was more profound than she could have ever imagined. She had to fix this awful thing she had caused!

     She was screaming at the top of her lungs to get somone to listen to her, but no sounds emerged, and then to her horror, loud strains of wedding music began to play and suddenly they were in the grand Cathedral of Westminster Abbey, and it was full to the rafters with wedding guests, and she saw her sister Geneva gliding down the aisle towards the emotionless Jax, who was content to marry just about anyone now that love and burning passion for one person only was no longer an issue.

     Brenda woke from the horrible dream and shot up in the bed flinging one of her pillows maniacally across the room. Realizing she had been only dreaming, she sighed with relief and tried to clam down her madly pounding heart. She glanced at the poor pillow and wondered if in her waking moments of the dream that had been Geneva she was hurtling across the room?

     Brenda scurried out of the bed and tossed on a pale violet, silk robe over her matching snug sleeping attire. She had to find Jax. She had to find him this instant! It had been her determined intention today to somehow trick him into postponing this wedding. She had thought that faking a dreadful bout of illness while walking down the aisle would have done quite nicely and provided great amusement and gossip, but now all she wanted to do was make sure that nothing on earth would stop this wedding today!

     Scampering down the vast palace hallways, Brenda had several near-collisions with the palace staff.

     "Odd," commented one of the kitchen staff, "Lady Brenda is normally so adept at racing about here collision-free. Yet just now she nearly bumped into three of us!"

     "'Tis wedding jitters, I would imagine," one of the palace attendants responded, waving his hand. "After all, 'tis a royal wedding we are having in the kingdom today. Such a thing of pomp and circumstance and overwhelming magnificence would make *any* young girl quite out of sorts. Most espeically the bride!"

     Brenda flew down the steps in search of someone in the royal family who could summon the Prince to the palace right away. She crashed into the object of her affections at the foot of the stairs, just as he was rounding the corner to ascend to the second floor. She had already been out of breath from her mad dashing about the palace, and the collision with Jax's body knocked the remaining breath out of her.

     He caught her quite easily and eagerly, she noticed. "Hmm. Now, this would not by any chance be your attempt at making a hasty retreat would it, my love?" he asked her, assuming she was trying to do exactly that, which was why he had decided to come to the palace so early, in case his beautiful, stubborn, little bride got it in her head to make a run for it.

     Jax heard her trying to catch her breath. She was still so out of breath she could not answer him, but she made sure to shake her head vehemently to let him know he was mistaken in his assumption. And then her arms slid around his neck and she held herself as close to him as she possibly could. "You," she finally said in between rushed breaths. "I was looking for you."

     Jax lost his teasing air of amusement and gazed down at Brenda seriously. "Why? Brenda, are you all right? Did something happen?"

     She finally managed to catch her breath enough to speak to him in a somewaht normal tone of voice. She pulled away from him slightly and looked up at him, meeting those vibrant blue eyes, and delighted to see just how full of emotion and alive with warm shades of blue they were.

     "I believe in it, Jax. In destiny," she whispered to him.

     Jax arched a blonde eyebrow. "Since when?" he asked skeptically.

     "I believe in *our* destiny," she continued. "I am yours without a doubt, and without a doubt, you are mine. Isn't that true?"

     "Yes, that is true," Jax said, gazing at her curiously as he caressed her hair. "And you are admitting this to me . . . because?" Then he grinned and felt her forehead. "Are you ill?" he teased her.

     "I love you," she told him.

     Jax cocked his head to the side slightly, fascinated by this entire conversation. "Yes, I know that," he said quietly, giving her a tender smile.

     "You believe me then?" she asked, smiling.

     Jax nodded. "Of course, I do."

     "You will never doubt that I love you then?"

     "Never," he told her. "What has brought on this bout of true confessions, may I ask?"

     But she was laughing and tossing her arms about him again, crushing her soft, curvaceous, silk-clad body against the hard, chiseled strength of his. "I want to marry you today. I *will* marry you today!*" she said, her arms wrapped around him tightly. "I want to wake up every morning next to you and go to sleep every night next to you as well. I want to make you laugh; I want to endlessly fascinate you. Oh, and I want to occasionally make you furious as well, because I do confess I often enjoy that," she admitted as a smile tugged at Jax's lips and he nodded in acknowlegement of this fact. "And most of all I want to make you happy, Jax. Oh, and I want you never to look at another woman as long as you live!"

     Jax laughed softly. "I adore you, my sweet Brenda," he murmured softly. "Although I fear I shall never understand you," he added, coercing a soft giggle out of her.

     "May I make a request of you, Your Highness?" she asked, gazing up at him, her eyes darkening with passion, as she became fully aware of how it felt to be so wrapped up in his arms and against his body like this, dressed only in her thin nightgown and robe, the robe section of which was falling away anyway.

     "Anything," Jax whispered.

     "Kiss me," she whispered back.

     "You always do ask the most difficult things of me," Jax said, his eyes never leaving hers as he gave her a look that could melt icicles in the far lands and lowered his lips to hers.

     Brenda expelled a blissful sigh, as their lips touched and connected in simmering passion. They kissed endlessly, and she waited with tingling, delightful anticipation for the moment his tongue would slide over her lips and inside her mouth, and when it did, she felt the familiar, melting sensation flood her as the flames of passion burned hotter and hotter. She melted into his arms as the kisses grew ever deeper and became impossible to stop. She felt Jax's hands sliding along her body through the thin material of the violet silk she wore. When his hands slid over her breasts, his thumbs brushing sensually over their responsive peaks, she gasped in pleasure and Jax lifted his lips from hers, remembering that they were at the foot of the bloody stairs, in full view of anyone who would pass by.

     Brenda was breathing as hard as she had been when she'd been racing about the palace in search of him.

     "I love you more than anything," Jax said, gazing down at her dazzled eyes as he gently stroked her face with his fingers. "Tonight I will show you how much."

     She shivered with an unknown delight at his promise. She didn't want this moment to ever end.

     "Show me now," she said stubbornly, not wanting to wait an entire day for the fulfillment of so delicous sounding a promise.

     Jax gazed at her… her beautiful face… her sparkling eyes… those inviting lips… her young, flawless body, sculpted perfectly in what she was wearing - his eyes shifted upwards to the swell of her breasts, that were showing full evidence of his affect on her. "Do not tempt me," he warned her with a wickedly attractive smile, as he brushed her lips with his three times. "I will see you soon. Unless you change your mind…"

     "I shall never do that!" she said, glaring at him. "Please do not say that," she added softly.

     Jax grinned and nodded. "Just checking," he said, kissing her again, and then letting her go before he reached the point where he could not. "Now tell me you love me and then run along upstairs to do whatever it is you women do on days like this," Jax said, poking her stomach playfully.

     Brenda gave him a radiant smile. "I *love* you!" She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips passionately to his, and then she happily flew up the stairs to prepare for the biggest day of her life. She turned around once she reached the top of the stairs to curiously ask Jax if he would be wearing his crown for the ceremony, and if it were true that the Prince's crown contained every precious gemstone known to man. But then she watched as Simon entered the palace and passed by Jax, the two of them exchanging very male, very conspiratorial smiles. Brenda's eyes narrowed suspciously as she folded her arms and gazed down at the two of them for a moment and then with a mischevious arch of one slender, dark brow, she went into her room to be fussed over and endlessly instructed on all of the royal ceremonial customs and regal trappings of her wedding.

     Michael Carruthers awoke midday with a pounding hangover to find himself naked in the bed of a snoring strumpet. He groaned in disgust as he slowly eased himself out of the creaking bed, clutching his throbbing head. From the open window of the small bedroom he heard such a great amount of noise as to make his head explode. There were blaring royal trumps sounding throughout the kingdom, bells pealing gloriously from Westminster Abbey and the loud shouts and cheers of the subjects as thundering hooves could only signify some immense royal procession making it’s way through the streets towards the vast cathedral.

     "What the devil is going on out there?!" Michael roared to his haggard reflection as he tossed on his rumpled breeches and staggered over to the window, cursing the infernal happy noise going on outside. He drew the shabby white curtains apart and scowled as brilliant busts of warm sunlight hit his face. He was stunned to see the streets packed with people and a processional of at least forty Knights of the Realm following the gold and white royal carriage, which was too far up ahead for Michael to see whom it carried, although he assumed it was the swine Prince. What else would ever cause such ridiculous joy amongst the people but to see the damnable blue-eyed golden boy in their midst?

     "You there!" Michael shouted at a red-haired youth who was racing after the grand processional. "What the devil is going on out there?"

     "‘Ave you been in a coma?" The teenager asked with a giddy laugh. "The proclamations went out last night all throughout the kingdom. Today our Prince takes a bride, sir! The Royal procession just passed us!" The boy added excitedly. "I saw His Highness first in his royal carriage of course. I’d kill me own mother to look like’ im, I tell ye!" The boy exaggerated, clueing Michael in on just how magnificent Prince Jasper must have appeared. "And then the future princess followed in her own carriage. And I saw her with me own eyes! More beautiful than a Fahrlane sunrise, she was! In all of her shimmering beauty, wavin’ at us, no less! Surrounded by Realm Knights – it was magnificent I tell ye, sir!"

     Michael’s dark eyes turned murderous. "Prince Jasper *marries* today?" he demanded. "*Marries*, you say?!" he shouted, demanding the youth repeat the impossible thing he’d just purported.

     "Oh yes, sir! This very minute, I’d be sayin’ sir," he added as the clock in the square struck 3.

     "Describe the bride to me!" Michael spat out furiously.

     "Oh, but I can’t sir. There’s no words to do her justice, you see sir. A more beautiful girl I’ve never seen in me whole life! But I can tell ye that she had the most beautiful dark hair that spilled over her shoulders. She wore it loose if ye can imagine such a thing! Not all bound up and neatly, boringly coifed like ye’d expect for the occasion of such a regal, stuffy affair of matrimony, but spilling over her shoulders like a sensuous waterfall of black diamonds they was! And there’s no exaggeration about the diamonds, sir. She had *real* diamonds in her hair. she did! Tiny ones, scattered throughout those gorgeous dark waves - sparkling like fairies in the sunlight as she passed me. Shame ye missed it sir! Do ye always sleep so late?"

     "Shut UP!!" Michael thundered as he pivoted away from the window furiously. This could not be happening! Prince Jasper was to be married today? *Today*?! There was no doubt in Michael’s mind whom the bride was. The boy’s breathless, tantalizing description had only confirmed it. "Damn her to the bowels of hell! She promised herself to me!" Carruthers raged, hurling a brush at the mirror, smashing it to bits, but not managing go wake the loudly snoring strumpet in the bed who was obviously enjoying the sleep of the dead.

     How in god’s name had things happened so quickly? There had been no advance proclamations of the wedding, no announcement of the engagement – only rumors -- and rumors never counted. He had been taken completely unawares, having not even spoken to, nor managed to lay eyes on, Brenda ever since the fateful day he had planned to take her virginity to make her an unacceptable bride for His Highness. The day she was supposed to meet him by the palace gates and never showed up, he reminded himself furiously. He had never heard one word of explanation from her as to why she had stood him up that night. And all the while she was basking in the luxury behind the palace walls, lying upon silken sheets, soaking in soft, sweet smelling baths of exotic oils, gorging herself on the most divine meals, and bloody well engaging herself to the man he loathed more than anyone on earth! She was just like all the rest of them! Besotted by the swine and all the glorious trappings that came with him! Falling at his feet, swooning at his gazes, shedding tears if he so much as got a splinter, shedding clothing if he so much as glanced with interest in their direction!

     Putting on his boots as his temper flared dangerously, Michael cursed loudly as he realized there was not a damn thing he could do to stop this wedding now. But there *was* something that could stop this infernal wedding ceremony. Yes, there was. The little girl. Kayla. The end should be *very* near for that unfortunate child now and, if he were lucky, the child would meet her demise in the midst of the royal ceremony, halting it in it’s tracks and buying him some more time to make sure it *never* happened. Yes, Kayla Barrett’s death would stop this accursed wedding!

     "Die, little girl! *Die,* damn you!!" he muttered as he grabbed his remaining clothing and strode, still disheveled, through the door, heading towards Westminster Abbey where he was sure a massive crowd was gathered outside waiting to cheer like fools when the Prince and the new Princess emerged from the church bound in marriage. "Die Kayla Barrett!" Michael willed once more as he walked out into the dazzling sunshine, covering his eyes against it’s beauty as he quickly followed the crowd towards the cathedral.

Song Credit: "Storybook" written by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton, available on the album entitled The Scarlet Pimpernel on Angel Records.