Ella hugged Alice tightly before taking Kit's hand and the two of them turned to leave. Lady Tremaine stood in the middle of the staircase, staring at the young couple leaving her home. Ella turned to look at her and smiled before saying she forgave her. Lady Tremaine sank down slowly to sit on the steps before chuckling harshly.

"Go along then, have your precious King and the Kingdom. I still have Alice." Every muscle in Kit's back seemed to lock in place and he grabbed Ella's hand tightly to keep her facing forward. The Captain moved away from the wall in anger but Alice held her hand out toward him with a small smile on her face. She shook her head slightly before turning to Lady Tremaine and brushing invisible dirt off her dress.

"You seem to have forgotten Lady Tremaine that I am a servant, not a slave. I am not your servant either, technically. You may live in this house but I worked for Ella's family and therefore my contract carried to the next living relative, not the owner of the house. I work for Ella. I have never and I shall never work for you." That being said, Alice took the Captain's hand and began pulling him toward the door. "Come along, I would fancy some dress shopping. This one seems rather out of sorts."

She pushed past Ella gently and the Captain smiled shyly at the King who shooed him away with his hand. This meant that the Captain was free to spend the rest of his day with Alice in whatever way Alice preferred. Without waiting for a helping hand, Alice jumped sidesaddle onto the horse that bore the Captain's insignia and waited for him to catch up. The soldiers stared at her face in shock before looking away. It was a terrible crime to hit a woman, especially if she was a servant. They were the spine of the country and without them, things would be much different.

"The Lady in this house is going to be held under house arrest. She has three days to pack what she needs and leave with her daughters and the Grand Duke. None of them are ever to set foot in this country again." The King's voice was colder than anyone had ever heard it but his face was soft and held a certain light in it when he looked at Ella. It was very obvious that the two loved each other already. Alice was smiling softly at them and blinked in surprise when the Captain swung up onto the horse.

She turned to smile at him and leaned into his chest slightly. Together, they rode into town to find Alice a new dress. Once that was done, Alice having picked out a beautiful green dress, they walked around the small town in the general direction of the palace. Alice told the Captain what had happened since they had left the ball that night, trying her best to remember every detail. The Captain listened without interrupting but his face gave away each emotion he felt. Anger, frustration, sadness, and finally his face settled on pride which thoroughly confused Alice. She asked him about it and he took her hand gently.

"You're so brave and so kind Alice. You did everything and more for your friend simply to give her the smallest chance at happiness. Not matter what it cost you." Alice shrugged and looked down, her cheeks flaming brightly in embarrassment. The Captain noticed immediately. "You are not good at taking compliments. Why is that?"

"Well usually when I've been complimented, it's on my work. That type of praise I can handle because I had a direct effect on that job. My hands cleaned or scrubbed the thing that is being complimented. However when someone compliments my looks or tries to tell me I'm a good person, I had no hand in that. None of that was my doing." Alice shrugged again, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. The Captain sighed before shaking his head and pulling Alice to a stop. Turning her to face him, he grabbed both of her hands in his and waited until she looked up at him.

"If I have to tell you every hour of every day for the rest of my life how beautiful I think you are, inside and out, then I shall do it. You are truly the most beautiful person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. You care for people without reservation and you would give up your own happiness if it meant they would get even a moment of joy." Tears ran down Alice's face but he could tell they were from happiness due to the smile on her lips. Without another word, Alice threw her arms around the Captain and hugged him tightly. He grabbed her around her waist and began spinning her around in a circle, causing her to laugh loudly.

He put her down and kept his hands on her waist to keep her steady while she rocked on her feet. They stared at each for a moment, large smiles covering both of their faces. Leaning closer to each other slowly, their lips barely brushed each other when someone loudly called out Alice's name. The moment gone, the two jumped apart from each other and looked around for whoever was calling. Alice groaned softly in the back of her throat when she saw Liam standing a few feet away, arms crossed in front of his chest. The Captain immediately pulled Alice into his arms when the boy started walking towards them. Loving the feeling of his arms around her, Alice went willingly enough and pressed her back against the Captain's chest.

Liam stopped right in front of them and looked Alice from head to toe before shaking his head and dropping his arms to his sides. "Alice, why didn't you ever tell me you were being abused by Lady Tremaine? I could have gotten you out, taken you someplace safe and we could've been together. Now I hear that Ella is to become the Queen, Lady Tremaine and her daughters are being banished from the country, and you're engaged to some palace guard!" Alice giggled softly and reached out the pat Liam's shoulder gently.

"Well Liam all of that is true except for me being engaged. I am simply being courted by the Captain of the palace guard." For the first time, the boy seemed to notice John standing there with his arms wrapped around Alice. They stared at each other for a moment before Liam nodded and held his hand out to the Captain. They shook hands and Liam threatened to duel him if he ever hurt Alice, to which the Captain laughed heartily.

"I think the only one in danger of being hurt in this courtship is me. However, if anything happens please feel free to come to the Palace and challenge me." Alice rolled her eyes and said goodbye to Liam before taking the Captain's hand and pulling him away in the direction of the Palace.

Time passed and Ella married Kit, making her the new Queen. They were very happy together and Ella had demanded that Alice stay in the Palace as Ella's personal handmaiden. Alice readily agreed because she knew it would be easier to continue her courtship if she were in the same general area. Months passed happily, the kingdom was thriving, Ella was extremely happy with her husband, but Alice was getting worried.

Typically if a man was serious about marrying a woman, he would court her for two months at the longest then ask for her hand in marriage. They had been courting for a much longer period of time and Alice began wondering if the Captain was changing his mind about marrying her. Speaking her worries aloud to Ella only made her more confused as her friend seemed to avoid the topic and kept talking about other things.

Her worries turned to be for nothing however, when a week later the Captain planned a romantic walk through the royal gardens and asked Alice to marry him just as the night blooming lilies were showing their petals. She agreed immediately and they got married a month later. Though it was supposed to be a small wedding, most of the guard showed up along with a fair amount of servants that had worked with Alice before. Kit officiated the wedding and Ella gave them both her blessing.

Despite everything they had been through together, things had finally worked out in their favor. They lived happily ever after to the end of their days.

A.N. Well, it's finally over! It has been an adventure writing this wonderful story and I would like to thank everyone who has read it! Your support means a lot to me!